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Chapter 91: Cloud Ninja Squad
Near the ruins of Sky Ninja Village, in a small mountain hamlet.
A red-haired girl, Amaru, walked into the center of the village and gently laid the freshly picked wildflowers at the foot of Shinnō's stone statue.
Thanks to the money Konan had left behind in Shinnō's name, the ruined village had been rebuilt quickly. With ample funds, it now stood even bigger and newer than before.
The village square had been remodeled into an open plaza, dedicated to housing Shinnō's statue.
The villagers didn't know exactly who the stone figure was. They only knew it was one of the ninja from that terrifying battle. Not knowing the details, and afraid of causing trouble, they didn't dare move it.
Amaru picked up a rag and carefully wiped the dust off the statue.
This was probably a sculpture of her sensei when he was younger. Her sensei was known far and wide as a miracle doctor—patients carving a statue to honor him seemed perfectly reasonable to her.
"Sensei, Sensei… when are you coming back…"
After finishing the cleaning, Amaru squatted beside the statue and muttered to herself:
"When Sensei comes back and sees I've been cleaning his statue every day, maybe he'll teach me more knowledge and more jutsu…"
Ever since she'd witnessed that battle that had almost destroyed the village, she had been both unwilling to accept her own weakness and deeply fascinated by such overwhelming power.
If she could learn more from her sensei—more medical knowledge, more ninjutsu—not only would she grow stronger, she would be able to protect the village.
Thump, thump, thump!
Footsteps drew closer and closer. A pair of long, pale legs entered her field of vision.
Skin so fair it was almost glowing.
"So white… I don't think anyone in the village has skin that white…"
Puzzled, Amaru slowly lifted her head, her gaze traveling upward along those white legs.
Past the knees, a pair of tight, black short shorts came into view. They hugged those powerful, springy thighs so tightly that the muscles underneath were outlined with every step. Higher up, there was only darkness.
That area was a forbidden zone; from her angle, she couldn't see anything clearly.
Tilting her head back even further, Amaru finally raised her eyes to the newcomer's upper body.
Her eyes instantly went wide and round as she blurted out, without thinking, "Big! They're huge!!"
She had never seen anything like it.
It was like two massive peaks hanging in midair, completely blocking her view of the face above. She literally could not see anything further up.
A faint, pleasant fragrance drifted to the tip of her nose.
Amaru froze, and in the next instant, realization hit.
There was no way this person was from the village.
The mountain villagers didn't have skin like polished jade, and they definitely didn't have the "nutrition supply" to grow… that.
She jumped to her feet in a hurry.
Because she was so petite, the top of her head only reached the other woman's chest.
At such close range, she could fully experience what it meant for something to be both huge and dazzlingly white.
The cleavage in the center was so deep it felt like it could swallow a person's gaze whole.
Even as a fellow woman, Amaru suddenly felt a little hot around the ears.
This… this was way too freaking much!
Was this really something a normal woman could grow?
Did all of this lady's nutrients go straight there?
What shocked Amaru even more was that there wasn't the slightest trace of sagging or looseness. Everything was perfectly perky.
That just didn't seem scientifically possible…
"Hey, kid. Like what you see?"
A lazy, slightly sleazy male voice sounded from behind the woman:
"Captain, I told you those things of yours are ridiculous. Look, you've stunned this kid so much she can't even talk. Her eyes are about to pop out. If I were you—"
Bang!
A fist crashed down hard on Omoi's head, right into his white hair.
Red-haired Karui glared at him, cheeks puffed with anger. "You idiot! Show some respect when you talk about the captain!"
"Stop using that filthy little brain of yours to judge the captain's body! You think I don't notice it every time you sneak a pervy peek at her chest?"
She leaned forward threateningly.
"You'd better rein it in already, got it?!"
Omoi winced in pain, biting down on his lollipop as he gloomily argued, "I'm not being pervy. I'm just concerned about the captain's physical condition. Captain's always complaining about her shoulders being sore, and that's obviously because of all the extra weight she's carrying in front."
"If the captain's combat strength drops because of those things, and the enemy seizes the chance, the captain could go down. If she goes down, I'll be in danger too. If I can't escape, I'll get killed. If I do escape, then the mission fails, and then—"
Bang!
Karui punched him on the head again, cutting off his endless spiral of worst-case scenarios.
Her teammate's mood was always so pessimistic and anxious. He spent all day worrying about things that might never happen, piling up needless troubles. It drove her crazy.
Amaru finally snapped out of it and hurriedly took a step back, managing at last to get a clear look at the woman's face.
Shoulder-length blonde hair. A low-cut top with mesh armor underneath. Delicate features and a naturally cool, aloof expression.
It was none other than Samui, elite jōnin of the Village Hidden in the Clouds.
Flanked by her two dark-skinned teammates, her skin looked even whiter by comparison.
Their squad had followed the Raikage's orders, trekking for several days to reach the ruins of Sky Ninja Village.
Their mission was to investigate the disappearance of the Cloud ninja who had fallen out of contact, as well as the fate of the Sky Ninja fortress, Ankoru Vantian.
Seeing the forehead protectors with the Cloud symbol, Amaru realized who these people were and nervously asked,
"What are Cloud ninja doing in our village? We've never had any dealings with you before."
She didn't want the peaceful village to get tangled up with unfamiliar shinobi.
Samui's voice was cool and even. "We're only here to ask you a few questions. We mean no harm. Just answer truthfully."
"O-okay… ask away. I can't promise I'll know everything, though. If I don't know, I'll say I don't."
Against three fully armed ninja, Amaru knew resistance would be pointless. All she could do was cooperate honestly and hope they would leave immediately once they were done.
"About a week ago," Samui asked, "three men should have come to your village to stay the night. Did that happen?"
Amaru thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, three men did come. They said they got lost in the mountains and wanted to spend a night here."
"Take us to where they stayed."
"O-okay. Their place was in the corner of the village. I'll show you."
Amaru glanced nervously at Samui's group, then turned and started walking ahead to lead the way.
Samui lengthened her stride to walk beside her. "Did those three show any abnormal behavior or injuries?"
"No. They all looked fine—really energetic, actually. I didn't see any wounds."
"Did anyone else come to the village after that?"
Amaru hesitated. She remembered the man who had shown up that night, also claiming to be lost.
Karui immediately noticed and snapped, "Talk. No hiding anything. Tell us everything you know."
"S-someone did come," Amaru admitted, "but it was just one man. He also said he was lost and needed a place to stay, so I put him in the same building with the other three."
Karui pressed for details about his appearance, height, and other features. After hearing Amaru out, she came to a conclusion and leaned close to whisper in Samui's ear:
"Sounds like that stranger must've been using the Transformation Jutsu. He's almost certainly tied to Watanabe and the others going missing. Or rather, it's very likely he's the one who captured or killed those three."
Samui gave a slight nod, a cold gleam flashing in her emerald eyes.
Whoever had dared lay hands on their Cloud ninja wasn't just targeting a few individuals—they were challenging the entire Village Hidden in the Clouds.
There was no way she would let that slide.
Five minutes later, the group stopped in front of a dilapidated two-story house.
"We're here." Amaru pointed at the building. "This is the place they stayed. The first three lived on the first floor, and the last man stayed on the second floor."
"After they all left without saying goodbye, no one else has come by, so nothing inside has been touched."
Samui gave a look.
Omoi and Karui vaulted through the doorway into the building at once, beginning a meticulous search, determined not to miss a single clue.