On the 20th, in the ANBU changing room.
The daily patrol around Konoha had just finished, and everyone was undoing their ANBU vests in front of their lockers.
Yen's breathing was weaker than usual, as if he was afraid of being singled out by the captain.
Can you imagine how terrifying it is to be called on by the captain?
It's like slacking off at work for a week, then being asked by your manager to present a plan.
Or like sneaking back home from the massage parlor, only for your wife to demand you hand over the assignment.
Sure enough, the captain still called Yen by his codename.
"Fox, tonight you're watching Tsurugetsu Tavern."
Damn it, me again.
Yen put the ANBU vest he had just taken off back on.
This wasn't a cloth vest like ordinary shinobi wore, but a gray iron one, just like Kakashi's when he was in ANBU in the original story.
But the iron vest gave him no sense of security at all.
That night, Yen was back in the trees at the street corner, watching the tavern from the shadows.
At one point, his eyes shifted slightly beneath the mask.
He had been focusing so hard, even anticipating, but he still couldn't figure out how the squad leader kept appearing behind him in an instant.
This time, he asked the captain for money again, thick-skinned enough to demand three stacks.
If I bleed for ANBU, ANBU better not short me.
Inside Tsurugetsu Tavern, Yen went straight for the corner seat.
"Bring me your most expensive sake!"
The same tavern owner from last time appeared with a smile, carrying the bottle as she leaned close to him.
Her collar was cut so low.
Yen stared, completely distracted.
So big, so pretty, yet so steady. Not a single tremble. That ruined the beauty just a little.
The steps repeated. Her body pressed against his ribs as she guided him into the courtyard side room.
The woman shut the door firmly.
"Ninja-sama, do you prefer yang release or yin release?"
"Oh, I get this, I really get it. Sometimes I like yang release, sometimes yin. If I'm tired, you go on top, yin release. If I'm fine, I'll go on top, yang release!"
"Hehehe, Ninja-sama, you really do understand."
Yen kept joking with his mouth, but inside his vigilance was sharp.
Something moved!
Something was coming!
From the corner of the room, he sensed something burrowing up from underground.
The surface looked untouched, but Yen knew Earth Release: Fish in the Earth, so he could feel the presence.
At the same time, the woman moved too.
She pressed herself against him again, lips as soft as before.
"I can't wait anymore! Forget the kissing, let's start with yang release!"
Yen suddenly forced her down to the floor, lunging toward the shadow.
From his back waist he pulled the hidden kunai and drove it hard between her legs.
At first she thought this Konoha ninja was just impatient. Then, from over Yen's shoulder, she saw the metal ring of the kunai.
Not good!
Something felt cold between her thighs.
Just as she fell, about to move, a muffled groan came from behind her.
Even worse!
The kunai hadn't been aimed at her at all, but stabbed downward.
Beneath the floorboards, her comrade twitched violently.
By sheer chance, Yen's kunai, thrust from between her legs, pierced the spy's heart.
Her mind went blank.
Iwagakure had sacrificed so many comrades to protect this spy identity of hers. Companions who had stayed by her side for years, even her teacher who trained her, all had died in Konoha.
For the sake of secrecy, she and this teammate had never even met. They only communicated through coded marks.
Now that her partner was exposed, she absolutely could not be.
Her only chance to keep her cover was to pretend she knew nothing.
Exposure meant death. Discovery meant death.
If she "fainted" now, Konoha might misjudge, think she was just a bystander. That was her only chance.
"Ahhh!"
Her head hit the floor hard.
Yen felt her body go limp, as if she had truly passed out.
He touched the ground between her legs, his hand coming away wet with blood. He decided to call for the captain.
Leaving the room, Yen leapt onto the roof, signaled the squad leader, then returned to the courtyard side room.
The door opened. Moments later, the captain entered as well.
He shut it carefully and scanned the scene. "The ground around the kunai is bleeding. There's someone under there! Fox, did you kill him?"
"Captain, my chakra nature is earth. I sensed someone underground, so I tried stabbing the ground with a kunai."
The captain nodded. "Very good. Excellent."
He raised his hand, then slammed the ground open, pulling the body out from below.
The man's body was coated in dirt and blood.
After checking, the captain said:
"Good at Earth Release. Judging from that square face, he's from the Land of Earth. Likely an Iwa spy."
"Fox, you've completed a B-rank mission.
For a newly promoted chunin to pull off a B-rank mission… not bad. Hatake Sakumo once said, luck is also a kind of strength."
So his captain had actually spoken with Hatake Sakumo before.
No wonder Kakashi later said luck was strength too. He must have gotten it from his father.
Yen corrected him: "Captain, my ability isn't that useless, is it?"
"If over a thousand ninja hadn't died on the battlefield in the Land of Hot Water, and if the chunin exams weren't watered down during the war, you wouldn't have become a chunin for another three years."
Yen gave up trying to change the man's view. Instead, he gestured toward the unconscious tavern woman.
"It's fine, she's out cold, she didn't hear anything," the captain said. "First, bring this man in. We'll extract intel from his mind. With luck, we'll trace a bigger lead."
He slung the spy over his shoulder and left the room.
Yen reset the floor, then carried the woman to the bed.
He gave her one last look, a little regretful. Steady or not, soft or not, she was still… big. What a waste.
Collecting his gear from the trees, Yen returned to ANBU.
He and the captain delivered the body to the Intelligence Division.
A Yamanaka took it away.
Yen said, "Captain, can I rest a few days? The patrols, the stakeouts, and now this spy mission… it's left me exhausted."
The captain was about to refuse, but thought about it. With Fox's pitiful strength, having him or not made little difference. Still, he had just completed a spy mission, so:
"You can rest for three days. But stay on standby. The village needs everyone right now. Be back in three days, no excuses."
"Yes, thank you, Captain."
Yen had to endure until the next full moon on the 15th, when his revival chance would return.
Every one of these 25 days he could stretch out was precious.
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