Akira pushed open the door and stepped out of the cramped room.
There were patrols outside.
Glancing around the sealed underground base, a thought crossed his mind.
If someone planted explosive tags at the entrances and blew them up… wouldn't everyone inside get sealed in here?
If he were the one to do it…
Well, he'd only get experience points. Looting would be impossible.
Seriously—why didn't this system have an auto-loot function? He had to physically go to where enemies died to pick things up. Such a pain.
Thankfully, dropped items couldn't be moved until he picked them up himself. Otherwise, he'd have lost a ton of good stuff by now.
Even so, the experience alone would still be a massive gain.
Akira roughly estimated the number of people in this base. If he wiped them all out, he could easily level up more than ten times in one go.
He stepped out into the unfamiliar corridors. Before leaving for the Hunter world, this was also his first time here—he knew almost nothing about the place.
"I remember Murakami Hana lives on the second floor, third room."
His own room was on the first floor. To get to the second floor, he had to pass through the corridor, cross the central plaza, and take the stairs up.
As he walked, he could clearly feel it—
At least ten pairs of eyes swept over him.
"Even inside their own base, they're this cautious?" Akira was genuinely surprised by the Rain ninja's level of paranoia.
This was way too much.
Konoha didn't even monitor its own people this tightly.
And this wasn't even an alert state—this was just normal.
"That's not right."
Akira slowed his steps slightly.
In that instant, the number of gazes focused on him jumped to at least twenty.
When had he become this sensitive?
He scanned his surroundings. Without activating the Byakugan, he couldn't see a single figure.
Before, he would never have noticed something like this. Now, other people's attention felt like fingers lightly brushing against his skin—subtle, but unmistakable.
"…Nen?" Akira fell into thought.
The job change had boosted him more than he'd expected.
Suppressing his thoughts, he arrived at Murakami Hana's door and knocked.
The door opened quickly.
Murakami Hana's usual foxlike smile vanished the moment he saw Akira.
Wow. That much hostility?
"What? Not satisfied with your room?" Murakami said impatiently.
Akira's eyes lit up.
From Murakami's tone, he realized something important—
The flow of time between the two worlds didn't interfere with each other at all.
Days had passed in the Hunter world, yet no time seemed to have passed here.
Akira tested the waters.
"My jutsu is complete. I was wondering if I can now serve Lord Hanzō."
Mentioning "Hanzō" made him think of that bald Hanzo from the Hunter world.
Then he remembered Hanzo's bruised, swollen face.
Replacing that image with this world's Hanzō…
So technically, I've already beaten Hanzō once, huh?
Spiritual victory was still a victory.
Murakami eyed Akira suspiciously.
"You refused Lord Hanzō earlier today, and now you're saying you've completed your jutsu?"
As expected.
Time had passed there—but not here.
Akira scratched his head.
"I didn't expect it either. The jutsu just… suddenly worked."
Suspicion flickered across Murakami's face.
No matter how he looked at it, this back-and-forth behavior was strange.
If Akira had shown even a little more inconsistency, Murakami might've attacked on the spot.
Given the Rain ninja's level of caution, even a hint of being a spy could get someone killed immediately.
"I'll report this to Lord Hanzō," Murakami said at last. "Go back and wait for news."
"Alright." Akira replied casually.
Perfect. He wanted to wander around the base anyway—he was far too unfamiliar with it.
As Murakami closed the door, Akira caught a glimpse past him—
A spacious, luxurious living room.
Bang.
The door shut.
Akira clenched his fist.
The difference in待遇 was absurd.
He got a tiny room that felt like dying there would be the end of his life.
Murakami lived like royalty.
Just because I'm a genin?
With leadership like this, no wonder the Hidden Rain was doomed sooner or later.
Inside a dark room.
"Lord Hanzō, Kiuame has requested to take on a mission," Murakami reported, kneeling on one knee.
The fake Hanzō frowned slightly.
"He just refused me—and now he wants a mission?"
This kind of abnormal behavior demanded caution.
His fingers tapped lightly on the table as he considered whether to have Kiuame captured and interrogated.
"Does he have any other suspicious points?" Hanzō asked in a deep voice.
He didn't believe Kiuame belonged to any major power.
If he were a spy from a Great Village, this behavior would be far too stupid.
As for smaller villages…
That was another story.
Unbeknownst to Akira, this repeated back-and-forth had already gotten him unofficially "removed" from the list of suspects tied to the Great Villages.
Murakami considered his words carefully.
"I don't know him that well, but Kiuame is… unhinged. He might attack anyone. If he thought he could win, he'd probably attack me too."
That was honestly all he knew.
The fake Hanzō relaxed slightly.
A true spy wouldn't adopt such a reckless persona.
Still, the suspicion didn't vanish.
"Recently, Konoha ninja have been penetrating deep into the Land of Rain," Hanzō said coldly.
"Take him with you and eliminate them."
"At the same time, increase surveillance on Kiuame."
Murakami looked up hesitantly.
"Lord Hanzō—"
"Don't you dare hesitate," Hanzō interrupted sharply. "Are you afraid?"
This mission wasn't his idea—it came directly from the real Hanzō.
"I am willing to give my life for Lord Hanzō," Murakami replied immediately.
Loyalty.
Hanzō nodded.
"Remember—do not use the identity of the Hidden Rain."
"Yes!"
Murakami finally let out a breath.
He strongly disagreed with Masaru's non-resistance policy, but when it came to the Great Villages, fear was instinctive.
Every time the Five Great Villages fought, the Land of Rain—being a strategic crossroads—was trampled by three major forces.
They knew better than anyone how terrifying those villages were.
Akira wandered the secret base once more.
To his complete surprise, there were zero recreational facilities.
Everyone stayed strictly at their posts. If there was no mission, they stayed in their rooms and waited.
Even capitalists would cry at such perfect worker drones.
Truly… peak ninja culture.
Unfortunately, it meant Akira couldn't gather any useful intel.
With a helpless sigh, he returned to his room.
He really wanted to file a formal complaint—this kind of lifestyle was downright anti-human.
Stuck with nothing to do, he could only train and check which skills he could still upgrade.
Completely unaware that his next assignment would be—
Hunting Konoha ninja.
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