31 Chapter: 31

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'Da faq!?'

[I am asking myself the same thing.]

***

Kaori stared at the interface, glaring at the new mission notification. It would be a pain in the ass, quite literally, if she failed a mission with as low a difficulty as this one,

'So track and neutralize, huh?'

[Sounds like some sort of tacky early 20s game.]

'Now where the hell did you pick that from?'

The system seemed to be getting weirder and weirder by the day, 

'I miss the days when you were still an innocent A.I.'

It... did not respond, not like she was expecting it to say anything worthwhile but still, being ignored left a bitter taste in her mouth.

[Quit acting like an abandoned puppy! You still have plenty of distance to cover.]

Unfortunately, the system was right. After all, even if she's a shinobi and can cover three to five times more distance than an ordinary person, it would still mean she wouldn't reach the town until late evening.

'I guess you're right.'

Part of her wanted to bunk in after the madness she had just been through, but a room and a bath in a nice cozy inn didn't sound all that bad either... plus she had to buy some civilian clothes as well, going around in ANBU uniform didn't suit her needs this time around. Also, she would need to stock up on supplies and establish a base for her longer mission, the B-ranked investigation mission.

'But first, let's see what this Shinji guy is all about."

She unfurled the mission scroll and stared at the portrait of the middle-aged. His face wasn't particularly inconspicuous, with short black hair, no facial hair, and a long scar running down his forehead to his chin...

'How the hell did he become a spy?'

One wanted poster per town and the guy would be caught in less than a week... although, that would also mean he could simply speed up and escape the Land of Fire instead of pretending to be a normal tourist.

'Not like it matters much to me, all I gotta do is kill him, process his body, and stuff him in a scroll.'

[Talk about adapting too quickly.]

***

It has been some time since she left the village. The Land of Fire, in all its prosperity, had enough roads to warrant a separate map, but it was of no hindrance to a shinobi like her, she simply made a beeline straight to the nearest town, hopping from tree to tree. 

Truth be told, the nation's population was just right for the vast fertile plains. There were a multitude of towns and villages, not to mention supply outposts, hideouts, and ANBU report stations along the beeline she took. In just above six hours of journeying, she encountered half a dozen teams returning from missions, several patrol squads, and two ANBU units heading back to the village.

The shinobi squads exchanged nods, and Kaori returned in kind, but there was no interaction. 

The ANBUs did stop to chat, or rather they traded information about the happenings in the village in exchange for information from the frontlines... the ANBU War wasn't going too well... for the Hidden Stone Village,

'Still can't believe they got duped like that.'

Sunagakure and Iwagakure had made a pact to launch a joint assault on Hoshigakure to lure out Konohagakure ANBU members and eliminate them, thus weakening Konoha's combat prowess considerably. But, once Konoha responded to the aggression, the Third Kazekage withdrew his forces and stationed them on the Tanigakure border,

'Onoki must be furious,'

[Well, he is called the Fence Sitter for a reason... maybe he should have stuck to sitting on the fence.]

What Suna wanted was pretty clear, they wanted the fertile territory of the Land of River for themselves. So, they betrayed Iwa and left Konoha with two choices: to fight a two-fronted hidden war or abandon Tani and confront Iwa in a sure-to-win battle.

Of course, Iwa could simply admit defeat and back out, leaving Konoha free to take on Suna but that would mean an insult to Onoki and the old dwarf wouldn't accept such an unpleasant outcome.

Besides, there were still two more Great Nations watching from the sidelines and waiting for their turn to pounce. If either Iwa or Konoha showed signs of weakness, then Kumo would come blundering down the hill and into a bloodbath... basically, a very bad day for the ANBU.

As for the Hidden Mist... well the Kiri weren't exactly all that into battle, but they weren't against it either, and they had the most troublesome Black Ops as well.

GROWL

'I'm hungry...'

[Food pills?]

'No... those are for emergency only.'

Kaori stopped in her tracks, slowly reducing her speed until she finally came to a halt on a tree branch...

'I have some ration with me... I think.'

The standard ration for the hidden leaf village was... hardtack made with a special herb that prevents molding and worming...

'Still doesn't make it taste any better...'

[You said the same thing about the dorm food.]

'I know...'

With a defeated sigh, she rummaged through her back pouch, pulling out a packet of tightly sealed hardtack. This tightly compressed bread-biscuit abomination was the only ration she had on her hand,

'Maybe I can find a decent meal at the next town,'

She grumbled, biting off a small piece from the hardtack.

CRACK

SIGH

'I wonder if that was the ration or one of my teeth...'

CRUNCH

[Now I'm concerned.]

'I can't anymore...'

She sighed and placed the rest of the hard tack on a branch, placed the wrapper back in her pouch, and pushed off the branch.

'Maybe some squirrel or bird would eat it,'

She continued with her journey, rushing through the lush green forest that seemed to stretch in all directions... yep, it was an ambush hazard. At least the forest did end occasionally, giving way to a clearing or two, occupied by a cluster of farmhouses and shops, but no decent dinner.

After another hour or so of traveling, the sun began to set. It was getting darker by the moment but thankfully, the outline of a small village emerged in the distance. Kaori speeds up, occasionally using shunshin to increase her speed. Once at the outskirts of the village, she remembered her clothes and groaned again,

'It's such a pain...'

[Maybe you should have thought about it before leaving the Konoha with nothing but a change of underwear?]

'Fuck off,'

She formed a quick hand sign and used the transformation jutsu,

'Transform!'

As she stood there, a puff of smoke erupted from all over her body. Her hair shortened and changed into an inconspicuous black, her eyes shifted from crimson red to light brown. Her ANBU uniform changed into a silver-black, kimono-style blouse, a light blue obi, matching pants, and a black cloak. The hood off of the cloak was pulled low over her face, obscuring most of her features.

[You haven't been using the transformation jutsu for quite some time now.]

'Yeah, Lord Hokage gave me permission not to after a full medical checkup and an appointment with Inoichi's father.'

[Right... I had to shield almost eighty percent of your memories...]

'...Thanks...'

[np]

'Great, now it's texting me!'

The village wasn't particularly large or insignificantly small, but just the right size to not warrant any law enforcement members of the Daimyo court. They had their militia, about half a dozen villagers armed with spears and crossbows, guarding the entrance. Kaori didn't bother registering with them and simply hopped across the wall'

[That's a crime ya' know?]

There weren't too many people walking about at that time, but just enough peddlers for her to not be noticed. She searched for a place to eat and soon spotted a nice, cozy dinner nestled between a Smithy and a bakery.

'So far so good,'

[What's the worst that can happen in a village this small?]

'I don't know. Bad food?'

A plump woman with tired eyes and a face stained with flour greeted her at the door,

"Welcome traveler! What can I get for you?"

[Wow! The same line as a stating village NPC!]

'Will you shut up!'

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