Ranmaru's nerves didn't move a muscle on either Itachi's or Kisame's face.
If an outsider saw this, they might think the two grown men were bullying a child—but no one in the shop felt like meddling.
Itachi kept his gaze on Ranmaru, voice cool. "Your purpose."
"U-um… there's something important on this. I'm supposed to give it to you."
Ranmaru pulled a folded slip of paper from his pocket, small face serious, tone solemn.
From riding around in a pocket, the paper was crumpled and creased.
Itachi frowned at the paper and didn't reach for it.
Kisame, meanwhile, looked mildly entertained.
Just then, soft footsteps approached from the other side.
A figure in a plain robe appeared before Kisame and Itachi.
"Haku-senpai."
At the sudden arrival, Ranmaru turned at once, hiding the slip behind his back and bowing to Haku.
"So here you are, Ranmaru. It's time to go."
Haku spoke softly, then lifted his eyes to Kisame and Itachi with a faint, apologetic smile.
"If Ranmaru was rude a moment ago, I hope you'll forgive him."
Hearing that, Ranmaru casually tossed the paper behind his back to the floor and scampered to Haku's side.
Haku smiled, took Ranmaru by the hand with one hand, opened an umbrella with the other, and headed for the door.
The rain still fell. Within a few breaths, their figures had vanished into the mist.
"They're both shinobi," Itachi said, frowning as he watched them go.
"No forehead protectors. Could be from somewhere else, or from Kiri." Kisame's eyes glinted with interest as he added, thoughtful:
"This is a border town in Water Country. Shinobi from other villages showing up isn't strange."
"Speaking of which, you used Genjutsu (Illusion Technique) on the brat just now, didn't you? Get anything?" Kisame tipped his chin toward the folded slip Ranmaru had dropped, grinning at Itachi.
"Nothing."
Itachi's face didn't change. His tone stayed flat.
If he hadn't sensed a decent chakra inside the kid, he wouldn't have bothered with Genjutsu (Illusion Technique) at all.
Kisame shrugged at Itachi's chill, curiosity tugging at him instead.
He slid Samehada (Sharkskin) off his back and flicked its tip; the folded paper hopped neatly into his hand.
He opened it. Only two messy symbols were scrawled across it, like random doodles.
Kisame's pupils tightened—then, in an instant, his expression smoothed out.
"What is it?" Itachi glanced up, as if feeling the shift.
"Nothing. Just thinking that brat might be interesting," Kisame said with a toothy smile, eyes narrowing.
In the rain—
Haku, holding Ranmaru's hand, asked with gentle curiosity,
"Why did Yuto-sama have me accompany you here?"
Before coming, Haku hadn't known the mission's purpose. Yuto-sama had only told him to assist Ranmaru.
Ranmaru's happy face turned sheepish. "Ranmaru doesn't know either. Yuto-sama only said, if I ran into men in black cloaks with red clouds, and one of them had a shark face, I should give them the paper."
Seeing Ranmaru's baffled look, Haku almost laughed. Two people on the same mission, and neither knew the details…
But thinking of those two, and the slashed forehead protectors—one of them a Kiri missing-nin—Haku's heart stirred with a guess.
Maybe that was why Yuto-sama had Ranmaru do it.
——
Time slipped by.
Before anyone realized it, the Chūnin Shiken (Chūnin Exams) had arrived, and the Suna delegation led by the Fourth Kazekage had begun filing into Konoha.
At the same time, as Suna entered Konoha, Kiri—whose relations with Konoha had been tense—lowered its banners and quieted down. The shinobi world, for a moment, looked peaceful again.
For some, though, that "peace" was only the hush before a storm.
Iwagakure.
Onoki paced a rooftop, agitation creasing his face.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Iwa was being isolated from the other four great villages.
And the whole shinobi world—though outwardly calm—felt strangely oppressive to him. He hadn't sensed this since the end of the Third Great Ninja War.
"Monga." Onoki's voice dropped low.
Ssst!
With a whisper of air, a stern-faced shinobi appeared behind him.
"Any suspicious movements from the other villages lately?"
Onoki looked out over Iwa and asked without turning.
"Konoha and Suna are about to hold the Chūnin Shiken (Chūnin Exams). The Kazekage should be in Konoha now. As for Kiri, they've been oddly quiet—no clear moves." Monga paused, then continued:
"Kumo's ninja deployments have been unusually frequent for unknown reasons. We haven't confirmed the cause yet."
Onoki nodded faintly, eyes thoughtful. After a moment, he waved Monga off.
Monga bowed and vanished.
"Akatsuchi, summon Kitsuchi," Onoki said to the nearby Akatsuchi.
Akatsuchi blinked, then hurried off.
Before long, a burly, bearded middle-aged shinobi arrived beside Akatsuchi, stepping into Onoki's view.
Kitsuchi looked puzzled—clearly unsure why the old man had called him in so suddenly.
"You two will each lead a shinobi unit," Onoki said before they could speak. "One to the Earth–Lightning border, the other to the Earth–Fire border. And keep this discreet."
Lead shinobi units?
Akatsuchi and Kitsuchi both looked startled.
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