Chapter 89: Onoki's Keen Sense of Smell
Seeing Ranmaru's nervous appearance, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame showed no expression changes on their faces from beginning to end.
If an outsider saw this scene, they would probably think these two people were bullying a child. Unfortunately, no one in the small shop wanted to meddle in others' business.
Itachi continued to look at Ranmaru, speaking in a cold tone: "Purpose."
"Th...that, there's something very important on this, I'll give this to you."
Ranmaru took out a folded paper slip from his pocket, with a serious expression on his small face, speaking in a serious tone.
Apparently due to being kept in his pocket, the entire paper slip was somewhat wrinkled.
Seeing the paper slip in Ranmaru's hand, Itachi frowned but did not reach out to take it.
On the other side, Kisame watched this scene with interest.
Just then, a light footstep came from the other side.
A figure wearing a plain robe appeared before Kisame and Itachi.
"Haku Senpai."
Seeing the suddenly appearing figure, Ranmaru quickly turned around, hiding the paper slip in his hand behind his back, and said respectfully to Haku.
"Ranmaru, so you're here. We should go now."
Haku saw Ranmaru and spoke softly, while looking up at Kisame and Itachi, with a hint of apology on his face:
"If Ranmaru was abrupt just now, I hope you two can forgive him."
Hearing Haku's words, Ranmaru carelessly threw the paper slip in his hand onto the ground, turned and ran to Haku.
Haku smiled softly, holding Ranmaru's hand with one, while opening an umbrella with the other, walking out of the small shop.
The rain outside was still falling, and in a few breaths, the figures of Haku and Ranmaru had disappeared into the hazy drizzle.
"These two are both ninjas."
Looking in the direction where the two disappeared, Itachi frowned and spoke.
"They're not wearing forehead protectors, so I don't know if they're from other ninja villages or the Village of Mist."
A hint of interest flashed in Kisame's eyes as he continued thoughtfully:
"This place is on the border of the Land of Water, so it's normal to have ninjas from other villages here."
"Speaking of which, you should have used genjutsu on that little kid just now. Did you get anything useful?"
Kisame turned his head, glanced at the paper slip that Ranmaru had thrown on the ground, and smiled lightly at Itachi.
"Nothing."
Itachi spoke with an indifferent expression and a cold tone.
If he hadn't sensed a considerable amount of chakra from Ranmaru, Itachi probably wouldn't have even thought of using genjutsu.
Seeing Itachi's cold expression, Kisame shrugged. Compared to Itachi, he was actually becoming interested.
He reached back to take down Samehada, gave a light flick forward, and the folded paper slip fell into Kisame's hand.
Opening the folded paper slip, there were two messy symbols drawn on it, as if drawn casually.
But Kisame's pupils suddenly contracted, though in an instant, his expression returned to normal.
"What's wrong?"
As if sensing something, Itachi looked up at Kisame.
"Nothing, just suddenly feel that little kid is somewhat interesting."
Kisame grinned, speaking with narrowed eyes.
In the light rain.
While holding Ranmaru's hand, Haku looked at Ranmaru curiously and said:
"Lord Yuto, what did you have me accompany you here for?"
Before coming, Haku did not know the purpose of his visit at all. Lord Yuto had only told him to assist Ranmaru.
Ranmaru, who originally had a happy expression, suddenly heard Haku's words and spoke somewhat embarrassedly:
"Ranmaru doesn't know either. Lord Yuto just told Ranmaru that if he encountered people wearing black robes with red clouds, and one of them had a shark face, he just had to give them the paper slip."
Seeing Ranmaru's clueless expression, Haku couldn't help but feel a bit amused in his heart. Two people on a mission, and they didn't even know what the mission's content was.
However, remembering those two people from earlier, the scratches on their forehead protectors, and that one of them was a rogue ninja from the Mist Village, Haku had a slight guess in his heart.
Perhaps this was also the reason Lord Yuto had Ranmaru carry out this mission.
Time passed quickly.
Unconsciously, the Chunin Exams had arrived, and during this time, the group from the Sand Ninja Village led by the Fourth Kazekage had also entered the Leaf Village one after another.
At the same time, the Mist Ninja Village, which had been in a tense atmosphere with the Leaf Village, also fell silent following the Sand Ninja Village's entry into the Leaf. The entire ninja world, for a time, returned to its original tranquility.
However, this so-called tranquility, for certain people, was merely the calm before a storm.
Rock Ninja Village.
Onoki stood on a rooftop, pacing back and forth, his expression somewhat irritated.
For some unknown reason, Onoki always had a feeling of being isolated from the other four great ninja villages.
Furthermore, although the entire ninja world appeared extremely peaceful, Onoki felt a sense of oppression, a feeling that had not appeared for a long time since the end of the Third Ninja World War.
"Kenga!" Onoki suddenly spoke in a low tone.
With the sound of a gust of wind, a ninja with a serious expression appeared behind Onoki.
"Have there been any suspicious movements from other ninja villages recently?"
Onoki asked, looking down over the entire Rock Ninja Village without turning his head.
"The Leaf and Sand Villages will soon hold the Chunin Exams. The Kazekage should be in the Leaf Village now. As for the Mist Village, they have been rather calm recently with no particular movements."
Speaking to this point, Kenga paused before continuing:
"For some unknown reason, the Cloud Village has had frequent ninja deployments recently. The specific reason has not yet been ascertained."
Onoki nodded lightly, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes. After a moment, he waved a hand at Kenga behind him.
Kenga gave a respectful nod and disappeared.
"Akatsuchi, go get Kitsuchi."
Onoki looked at Akatsuchi, who was standing not far away, and ordered in a low voice.
Akatsuchi was slightly stunned, then turned and quickly left.
Not long after, a sturdy, middle-aged ninja with a beard appeared in Onoki's line of sight along with Akatsuchi.
Kitsuchi looked at Onoki with some confusion, clearly not understanding why the old man had suddenly called him over.
"You two will each lead a ninja squad to the border of the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, and to the border of the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire. Also, this matter must be done discreetly."
Without waiting for the two to ask questions, Onoki spoke directly.
Lead a ninja squad?
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