"I'm heading out for a bit." Samui's delicate, aloof face broke into a slight smile, and she parted her lips to say, "I'll be back soon."
"Are you going to Kiyoshi Uchiha's place?" Atsui vaguely sensed what was happening.
They had several spy locations, with this particular spot mainly responsible for winning over Kiyoshi Uchiha.
His sister was most likely going to Kiyoshi Uchiha's house.
After all, Kiyoshi Uchiha hadn't visited here for some time, and she needed to figure out his true feelings.
"Yes, it's a mission."
"A mission, huh..." Atsui couldn't argue.
Honestly, he didn't like this.
His sister seemed to be prostituting herself for status, stooping low to please Kiyoshi Uchiha for the sake of the Village's mission.
But he was helpless. He was assigned here himself to continue planting deep roots for the Hidden Leaf's espionage network.
Thus, he chose to enroll in the Ninja Academy.
Samui had just recently finished registering him.
"Have a safe trip." Atsui spoke.
"Mm." Hearing her brother's blessing, a warm current flowed through Samui's heart.
Yet, the moment she thought about going to Kiyoshi's place again, the warmth gradually turned into bitterness.
Kiyoshi Uchiha was definitely the kind of person who was insatiable.
Who knew what he would demand this time?
Samui instinctively touched her wrist, where she wore a Summoning Tag. By touching the seal there, she could summon the item stored inside.
This was a technique very similar to the Sealing Scroll, except the Sealing Scroll could store more items and in separate sections.
A Summoning Tag could only store a single, very small object.
Samui had stored a few Ninjutsu scrolls inside, intending to satisfy Kiyoshi's appetite.
"I'm leaving now."
Samui pushed open the glass door and walked out into the busy crowd.
Atsui glanced at his sister's receding back, then turned and went back to work in the sushi shop, wiping down tables.
***
Kiyoshi's house.
"A distinguished guest has arrived. Aren't you afraid your identities will be exposed?" Kiyoshi said calmly.
Samui had found him three minutes ago.
Kiyoshi was quite surprised by the Hidden Cloud Village's audacity and withdrew from his training state.
He had pushed the Lightning Release: Iron Armor Ninjutsu to its limit. The current, which was originally thinner than a hair, had thickened to the size of a wooden toothpick.
These currents were all bound beneath Kiyoshi's skin. As soon as Kiyoshi refined his chakra to the Lightning Release nature, the current would begin to flow.
Thanks to this, Kiyoshi was developing quickly. And through his testing, his resistance to blunt force trauma had significantly improved.
He realized at the same time that his talent must be even more attractive to the Hidden Cloud, making them brave this risk to come.
"In the Uchiha compound, there might be alot of surveillance." Kiyoshi poured Samui a cup of tea.
However, since the Hidden Cloud dared to send someone, they must have already taken precautions.
"Our background in the Hidden Leaf Village is clean and can withstand scrutiny. You've come to the sushi shop many times as a regular customer. This can be explained as a store promotion, or simply that we have a private friendship." Samui took the tea and sipped it, adding a bit of pink luster to her lips.
The fact that the Hidden Cloud had been able to infiltrate the Hidden Leaf for so long meant they possessed real capabilities.
On the table, there was also a delicate small gift box.
It contained several different types of sushi she had brought.
"That's good then." Kiyoshi nodded, just wanting to make sure he wouldn't be implicated.
He then looked at Samui, studying her.
Her thin top couldn't conceal the curves of her body, yet her expression was utterly indifferent, making her an Ice Queen.
This created a sense of contrast.
He then feigned confusion and asked, "So, Miss Samui, why have you come to see me?"
"I wanted to ask why you..." Samui looked up, gazing intently at Kiyoshi. She had meant to ask why he hadn't come for so long.
Suddenly, she sensed the presence of an electric current.
She possessed the Yang Release attribute and was proficient in Lightning Release, though she preferred using a short blade in combat.
According to her perception, the extremely faint current was emanating from Kiyoshi's body.
Samui immediately closed her eyes and focused all her senses.
In her perception, the current began to spread from the largest meridian system in Kiyoshi's heart. His entire body looked as if it were drawn with countless minuscule blue-white electric currents.
From head to toe, there wasn't a single spot that wasn't covered!
Including his lower body...
Samui opened her eyes, startled, and exclaimed, "You've actually cultivated this technique to this extent?"
The decision to give Kiyoshi the Lightning Release: Iron Armor technique was made after consideration by the Hidden Cloud.
This technique demands extremely precise chakra control, requiring the current to be constantly confined within a safe range.
Otherwise, the user's body would be injured by the backlash of the technique if they were not careful.
Yet, Kiyoshi had not only spread the range of Lightning Release: Iron Armor to every corner of his body, but the current was also much stronger than that of an ordinary ninja.
In this moment, Samui had many conjectures.
'Did the Uchiha clan teach Kiyoshi this method?'
Samui immediately dismissed this idea. If that were the case, why would Kiyoshi come to them asking for Ninjutsu scrolls?
They had also investigated Kiyoshi's Jonin squad leader, who did not know Lightning Release at all.
This left only one conclusion: Kiyoshi's self-taught talent!
"I only recently discovered that my talent seems to be quite good." Kiyoshi chuckled, then continued, "You and I both know exactly what we want. I need a bit more time to consider this matter."
Kiyoshi was, of course, referring to the issue of returning to the Hidden Cloud.
'Don't ask. Just assume I'm still thinking about it.'
As long as he didn't explicitly refuse, he would keep their hopes dangling.
Until they reached their limit of tolerance.
Kiyoshi estimated that this time would be very long, allowing him to milk them for more resources.
The upcoming Great Ninja War would be so chaotic that even the Third Raikage of the Hidden Cloud would die at the hands of the Hidden Stone Village.
He died alone, fighting a rear-guard action against as many as ten thousand Land of Earth ninjas.
Ultimately, he was overwhelmed by numbers, his two fists unable to fend off four hundred hands, and he was surrounded and killed.
At that time, the Hidden Cloud Village would be in turmoil, leaving them no time or energy to worry about Kiyoshi.
"Don't you understand? The Uchiha in the Hidden Leaf Village will only be suppressed." Samui, having recovered from her shock at Kiyoshi's talent, calmly advised him, suppressing her emotions.
The conflict between the Uchiha clan and the Hidden Leaf Village was obvious even to outsiders like them, through the villagers' dissatisfaction with the Uchiha police force and the subtle attitudes of the other ninja clans.
If the right catalyst presented itself, a major conflict was bound to erupt.
Samui felt that this catalyst would appear in no more than twenty years.
The Uchiha would definitely clash with the Hidden Leaf Village within twenty years.
But that was too long.
How old would she be when she finished her espionage and returned home after twenty years of wasted time here?
She would probably feel like a stranger in her own Village.
"That may be true, but Miss Samui, you should give me a sense of security regarding the Hidden Cloud. Even you, the one trying to persuade me, once suggested that I likely wouldn't go back, believing I would side with the Uchiha."
"No, what happened that day was..." Seeing Kiyoshi bring up the past, Samui's composure broke somewhat, and she urgently wanted to explain that she had spoken carelessly and he shouldn't take it seriously.
***
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