Seeing the waiter approach, Feng Bai's mouth curled slightly behind the flower basket.
Hmph, he's taken the bait.
As expected, the waiter reached Feng Bai and coldly relayed Yamashita Yūji's exact words.
To make everything appear natural, Feng Bai performed a display of reluctant acceptance—initially hesitating before finally nodding timidly under the waiter's impatient gaze, following him into the magnificent, glittering dance hall.
At a private room door on the second floor, a rōnin wielding a katana blocked their path, scrutinizing Feng Bai thoroughly. Observing Feng Bai's wooden sandals and exposed arms and calves—clearly incapable of concealing weapons—the rōnin nodded slightly, signaling permission to enter.
As for the waiter, the rōnin tossed him a tip prepared by Yamashita Yūji.
"C-customer?"
Under the rōnin's watchful gaze, Feng Bai gently pushed open the private room door, flawlessly embodying a weak, pitiful, helpless maiden.
"Mm."
Yamashita Yūji examined Feng Bai once more, confirming the absence of the Transformation Technique. He exchanged glances with the door guard, receiving an affirmative look.
No weapons, no Transformation Technique. Simply an ordinary girl—the type found anywhere throughout the Land of Fire.
Wait, that was imprecise—girls possessing such exquisite beauty were hardly common.
"Little miss, why are you selling flowers so late at night?"
Striding forward, Yamashita Yūji closed and locked the door, then forcibly wrapped his arm around Feng Bai's shoulder, compelling him toward a sofa while his free hand toyed with the hair strands near Feng Bai's temple.
"Obviously to kill you, you fool."
Feeling the greasy hand wandering across his shoulder, Feng Bai suppressed his urge to vomit. Before Yamashita Yūji could react, Feng Bai drove an ice senbon ruthlessly into his groin.
Stunned by the devastating blow, Yamashita Yūji had no time to scream before Feng Bai plunged another ice senbon into his throat, leaving him clutching his neck and gasping desperately.
"H-hidden... where did you hide them...?"
Collapsing sideways, Yamashita Yūji couldn't comprehend where Feng Bai had concealed weapons to evade detection by both himself and the rōnin.
"Absolutely disgusting. Never cross-dressing again in this lifetime."
Brushing his hair back to his temple, Feng Bai showed no interest in explanations, swiftly stabbing senbon into Yamashita Yūji's palms to prevent any dying jutsu attempts.
After completing this, Feng Bai crouched down, staring coldly: "Look carefully, you vision-impaired fool—I'm male."
Hearing these words, Yamashita Yūji's eyes bulged enormously. His entire body convulsed violently like an epileptic seizure, startling Feng Bai into thinking he might self-destruct. Feng Bai quickly dodged aside.
"Hhhh... hhhh..."
After several violent spasms, Yamashita Yūji didn't explode—instead exhaling his final breath and departing the shinobi world filled with profound regret.
"D-dead?"
Swallowing hard, Feng Bai fired two more ice senbon over the sofa. Confirming no further movement, he cautiously emerged from behind the furniture.
"This guy's psychological resilience was pathetically fragile—literally died from shock?"
After observing the corpse and confirming it wasn't a clone, Feng Bai wiped nonexistent sweat from his brow and used Ice Release to form a sharp blade.
As everyone knows, after eliminating mission targets, shinobi must take body parts as completion proof...
Time to channel Katsura Kotonoha for a moment.
"Time to take my first genuine step into the shinobi world, Feng Bai."
Steeling himself, Feng Bai approached the corpse and began his grisly work.
...
After placing Yamashita Yūji's severed head in the flower basket, Feng Bai stood after several minutes of labor. Just as he prepared to signal the two waiting outside for extraction, a "click" sounded. Looking toward the source, the previously sealed window had somehow opened.
"Who?!"
Abandoning the flower basket, Feng Bai immediately dropped prone, rolled behind the sofa, and raised his arm defensively while forming protective ice crystals.
"Excellent utilization of personal advantages, precise and ruthless strikes, plus remembering to take the target's head for departure..."
Insects numerous enough to trigger severe trypophobia swarmed through the window, rapidly constructing a humanoid form. When the outermost bugs dispersed, Aburame Ryōma materialized before Feng Bai: "Your vigilance has also improved considerably since our first meeting."
"Well executed, Young Master Feng Bai."
Another familiar voice resonated. The instant Feng Bai heard it, his entire body tensed, whip-cracking sounds echoing in his mind as his complexion darkened.
Yamanaka Zen emerged from behind Aburame Ryōma with a smile, approaching the flower basket while placing his hand atop Yamashita Yūji's head, praising Feng Bai simultaneously.
"Excellent. I now know where the remaining treasure is hidden."
Utilizing the Yamanaka Clan's hereditary secret technique, Yamanaka Zen extracted desired intelligence from Yamashita Yūji's severed head.
This operation completely stunned Feng Bai.
Even death can't prevent secret discovery—terrifying. In my previous life, this would've been boycotted by everyone possessing "study materials."
"This way, Orochimaru won't be able to..."
Yamanaka Zen muttered quietly before vanishing via Body Flicker Technique.
Orochimaru?
This involves him?
Emerging from behind the sofa, Feng Bai awkwardly brushed nonexistent dust from his clothing.
Is there anything more embarrassing than having one's cross-dressing discovered?
Especially by two people.
"Let's depart."
Observing blood splatter on Feng Bai's face from the cutting work, Aburame Ryōma indicated he should bring the head before leading the exit.
Outside the room, the rōnin stationed at the door maintained his original posture from when he'd closed it. As Aburame Ryōma departed, a parasitic insect that had been clinging to the rōnin's neck left his lifeless body, slipping through the door crack.
Meanwhile, at the town's southern entrance—
Orochimaru, having rushed here through the night, gazed intensely at the town's structures.
"So Yamashita Yūji was discovered in this location..."
His characteristic raspy voice carried pure avarice.
Treasure worth tens of millions—even after considerable spending, it should suffice to reconstruct a basic experimental system.
Presently, Orochimaru remained unaware that Danzō had already penetrated his plans. His pre-action summons by Hiruzen for alternative missions resulted entirely from Danzō's behind-the-scenes machinations.
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