In the following days, everything was uedly quiet.

  Link had expected attacks to increase after entering the Land of Rivers, but to his surprise, several days passed without i. The voy safely reached its destination—a bustling town.

  The streets were lively, crowded with people and filled with the stant noise of vendors calling out their wares. Many passersby wore straw hats.

  [Is it because we’re close to the Land of Rain? There must be a lot of Amegakure people here.]

  Link sed the pedestriahe voy, diligently fulfilling his role as a bodyguard.

  “Don’t be so tense,” Nara Ensui said casually. “A B-rank mission like this is already more than halfway done once we’ve reached the city. No one would attempt an assassination in broad daylight here.”

  “That would break the rules.”

  While the wealthy and powerful might tolerate covert assassinations, they wouldn’t doant disruptions to public order.

  Despite its fws, the Land of Rivers was a resource-riation, and other tries would at least show it some respect.

  The voy passed through the bustling streets and soon checked into a Inn. As usual, Link patrolled the area with Iris and Ami to ensure safety. During their rounds, he suddenly felt the sensation of being watched and turned his head.

  It was a kunoichi from the Sunagakure. She had a pretty face, short blonde hair tied into four small braids, and wore a light purple long-sleeved, tight-fitting dress over a mesh bodysuit. A rge fan was strapped to her back.

  Her height was about… 155 timeters.

  Link, ever sensitive to height, quickly assessed her exact stature.

  Their gazes briefly met before they each looked away.

  [That outfit, and a Sunagakure kunoichi... is that Temari?]

  He specuted. If the target really was Temari, it likely meant the Sunagakure had sent Baki as the Jōnin to secure the gold mihe same elite Jōnin who, with one move, nearly killed the protagonist, Naruto.

  [If a fight breaks out...]

  Link began pnning termeasures. As a reinator, he had memorized detailed information about notable characters, ensuring he wouldn’t fall victim to a first enter. Armed with foreknowledge, he could simute potential battles.

  Clearly, the Sunagakure pced great importan the gold mine.

  Moreover, by this time, the Sunagakure would have already set the Konoha Crush pn into motion. Both Temari and Kankuro were ically held back from promotion, waiting to participate in the in Exams at Konoha as part of the scheme.

  Even though the Sunagakure and Konohagakure were still allies at this point, vigince was essential.

  After pleting a patrol around the Inn, Link regrouped with his teammates at the agreed time. It was then he learhat not only had the Sunagakure arrived, but the Amegakure had as well.

  The officials of the Land of Rivers had assigned merts from the three nations to Inns adjat to each other, expining their presence.

  The trio reported their findings to Nara Ensui, who was guarding the Land of Fire mert.

  “I uand,” Nara Ensui aowledged. “Everyone will o be extra vigint tonight.”

  …

  That Night: Moonless, Rainy, and Windy

  Perhaps due to their proximity to the Land of Rain, a light drizzle began after nightfall.

  "Drip, drip, drip…"

  Rainwater dripped tinuously, f ripples in the puddles below.

  “Hmm?!”

  Leaning against a wall, waiting silently, Link suddenly straightened up. He felt a noticeable drain in his stamina.

  This sighat his shadow had detected something unusual and shifted from its two-dimensional state to three-dimensional, ing more energy to alert him.

  Gathering chakra, f seals, and releasing—

  Shadow e Teique.

  Link gripped a kunai, opened a window, and climbed onto the rooftop. His shadow e stood at the edge, staring at the neighb Inn.

  It was the one housing the Amegakure merts and Amegakure shinobi.

  From the rooftop, he couldn’t dis exactly what was happening, but the faint st of blood, diluted by the rain, reached his nose.

  Looking dowiced the water flowing from the Inn’s drainage system had turned dark red.

  [Something happened...]

  Link didn’t rush over but heightened his vigince. If Amegakure shinobi were being killed, it had nothing to do with him. However, he had to sider the possibility that the culprit might target his group .

  "Crash!"

  A window shattered, and a Amegakure shinobi wearing a respirator was thrown out, nding ireet below. His face ale, and a gaping wound the size of a bowl pierced his chest and back. Moments ter, his lifeless body y still.

  Link’s gaze shifted to the broken window. In the dim light, he saw the assaint—a man wearing a straw hat, with a Amegakure headband hanging around his neck. Uypical Amegakure shinobi, he cked a respirator and had a knife scar on his right cheek.

  Notig Link, the man smirked provocatively.

  [A rogue ninja? No...]

  Link stood motionless, the se calmly. Meanwhile, his shadow quietly crept through the rain, movih the Inn, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

  In a four-person team, Nara Ensui, the Jōnin, was responsible for the core prote role and wouldn’t leave the mert’s side. Among the remaining three, Link, as a in, was tasked with deaking and tactical leadership.

  Even as a body hit the ground, its fall masked by the rain, Link trusted that Iris and Ami, stationed below, had heard it. Despite the provocation, he refrained from any aggressive a.

  For the mission’s sake, he couldn’t afford unnecessary flict.

  Raindrops fell from his sleeves as Link stood still, like a statue. From his vantage point, he quietly watched the supposed rogue shinobi sughter the entire Inn’s octs before retreating without haste.

  Only when the group of shinobi disappeared into the distance did Link withdraw his gaze, re-ehe Inn, dismiss his shadow e, aurn to his post despite his wet clothes.

  …

  The m, the Land of Fire mert headed to the gold mine au site, with Link, still in damp clothes, trailing behind.

  “Well done,” Nara Ensui said, deliberately falling back a few steps to walk beside Link (though not shoulder-to-shoulder for obvious reasons). He didn’t hold back his praise before rejoining the group.

  Could a Jōnin miss what happe the neighb Inn?

  Absolutely not. In fact, he had probably noticed it earlier than Link.

  Li a flicker of pride. So far, his performance as a in promoted under exceptional circumstances had been satisfactory, earning a pliment from a Jōnin.

  Still... the Amegakure shinobi without respirators lingered in his thoughts.

  Acc to the timelihe Amegakure was still embroiled in internal flict. Hanzo of the Samander should still be alive, given that Amegakure ninjas during the in Exams were shown wearing respirators.

  This meant the rogue shinobi from st night were likely associated with the Akatsuki.

  Would the Akatsuki ighe gold mine? Unlikely.