It was noon at Tsurugetsu Tavern, and business was quiet.
Qiaoyi sat behind the counter, staring blankly at the ledger before her, absently flipping through the pages.
Where had he gone these past few days? Why hadn't he come to see her?
Thinking back to how his movements had grown faster the last few nights, her face suddenly flushed red.
She had witnessed his growth — both as a ninja, and as a man.
Maybe he had taken on a mission outside the village.
Just then, two merchants stepped into the tavern.
"Madam, bring us a bottle of sake."
Qiaoyi froze. That voice…
She slowly looked up and saw a young girl — one younger than herself.
Her little sister.
The shock in Qiaoyi's eyes flickered and disappeared in an instant.
Qiaoyi worked as a spy for the Hidden Stone Village, while her more talented younger sister served as a shinobi there.
All the payments and rewards the Hidden Stone sent for Qiaoyi's work were given directly to her sister, Mei.
But why was Mei here, in the Hidden Leaf Village?
Could she be the contact? Sent here for a handoff mission?
Why would the village do that? Hadn't Qiaoyi already given enough?
She had just obtained extremely valuable intel — Uzumaki Mito's funeral would be held five days from now.
Back when the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, was alive, he never concealed the existence of the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki.
With his strength, the Nine-Tails was nothing to be kept as a top-secret matter.
Everyone knew Uzumaki Mito was the Nine-Tails' host — that was public information.
Qiaoyi knew the Hidden Stone would consider this intelligence vital, but she hadn't expected the village to send Mei to verify it.
Mei's appearance meant that Qiaoyi had to go all out — even if it cost her life — to confirm the truth.
It was the final order given to a spy.
Either succeed in gathering the intelligence and return home as a shinobi once more…
Or fail — and die, along with everything she cherished.
Mei was disguised as a merchant taking on a mission in the Hidden Leaf — a fragile identity that could be exposed at any time.
"Coming right up! We've got mid-grade, high-grade, and special-grade sake. Which would you prefer?"
"Special-grade. Let's see what kind of fine sake a great village like the Leaf has to offer!"
The code matched perfectly.
Qiaoyi's last shred of hope crumbled. Mei hadn't come here by coincidence.
Selecting a bottle, Qiaoyi placed it in front of her sister.
Mei's hands trembled slightly — she hadn't seen her sister in three years.
But they couldn't recognize each other, not here. They had to pretend to be strangers.
Mei lifted her cup, examined it carefully, and found the faint mark engraved on it.
Two days from now, that sake bottle would appear in a nearby trash bin, containing the intelligence Qiaoyi had confirmed.
The village had to know the truth about Uzumaki Mito.
Qiaoyi returned to the back courtyard and entered her room.
She gathered all her money — she would need it to complete her mission in the next two days.
While tidying up, her gaze fell on a razor.
His razor.
Had he found another woman?
Half of the funds for this final mission had come from him.
Every time he visited, he would order the finest beef and the purest sake.
If she were truly a villager of the Leaf, perhaps she would have found a way to be with him.
After knowing him for so long, he had told her only one name — but Qiaoyi knew it was fake.
He said his name was Miku — the name of a sake ingredient printed on the bottle itself.
Still, his calm nature was rare among ninjas.
Many shinobi suffered from mental instability. They might look normal, but once something triggered them, they'd snap.
Some would drink at the tavern, suddenly recall something from a past mission, and go on a rampage.
Maybe they had killed the wrong person, killed too many, been tortured by enemies, or even suspected by their own village.
Fortunately, the Uchiha Police Force was close by. The Uchiha were quick to handle rampaging shinobi.
Leaving the tavern, Qiaoyi headed for the largest sake distributor in the Leaf Village.
"Boss, my tavern's sales have been dropping lately. I'm planning to run a promotion tomorrow. How much special-grade sake do you still have in stock?"
The owner frowned. "How much special-grade can one shop even sell?"
"At least twenty crates a day — for five days straight."
As Qiaoyi chatted, she subtly gestured to one of the salesmen.
He understood immediately and went to distract the owner under the excuse of meeting an important client.
The owner told Qiaoyi to wait in the office and left.
That salesman was one of Qiaoyi's informants. He had rarely been useful — until today.
Qiaoyi entered the office, closed the door, and took out a key she had secretly made earlier.
Carefully unlocking the safe, she pulled out the accounting ledger.
The Senju clan had stopped purchasing sake?
Qiaoyi flipped through the entries. The orders had stopped since yesterday.
Then she found something that made her heart race —
The Uchiha clan had increased their sake orders!
The Senju and Uchiha clans had long been rivals, the fiercest competitors within the village.
Ever since Uchiha Kagami's death, the bridge between them had completely collapsed.
The Senju halting their sake purchases meant they were aware something bad was coming.
The Uchiha ordering extra crates meant they expected something good.
The contrast confirmed it — her fellow spy's intel was real.
Something terrible was about to happen to the Senju clan.
And that could only mean one thing — Uzumaki Mito's death.
Leaving the distributor, Qiaoyi went on to her next location, seeking more evidence.
All across the Hidden Leaf, spies from the Hidden Stone moved quietly through the streets, gathering what they could.
Meanwhile, on the border of the Land of Grass, a man hovered in the sky —
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
Behind him stood five squads of Stone shinobi.
The Five-Tails' Jinchūriki, Han the Steam Ninja, approached.
"Tsuchikage-sama, the forces are assembled."
Han glanced at the old man — even from below, he could see Ōnoki's breathing grow heavier, a sign of unease.
A surprise assault on the Hidden Leaf, striking during the transition of the Nine-Tails' host, while Uzumaki Mito lay dead — a bold move to cripple Hidden Leaf and gain an upper hand in the next Great Ninja War.
It was a gamble — one with enormous stakes. If they succeeded, the rewards would be immense. If they failed, all three hundred elite troops would be lost.
Ōnoki spoke quietly:
"The more critical the moment, the calmer we must be.
We are the great mountain — unmoving until the time comes to descend as an avalanche, crushing everything in our path.
Wait until the spies confirm the intelligence… then we march on the Leaf!"
This was the greatest opportunity fate had ever given the Hidden Stone.
The Nine-Tails was said to be a creature of pure malice — the embodiment of hatred.
After being sealed by Uzumaki Mito for so long, it surely despised both her and the Hidden Leaf.
If they could harness that chaos, they would devastate Leaf.
In a quiet alley within the Leaf Village, Mei retrieved a sake bottle from a trash bin.
There were faint marks etched on it — the code of Stone spies.
The intelligence was confirmed.
Mission complete.
Disguised as a merchant, Mei finished her commissioned task and prepared to leave the village.
Before departing, she glanced one last time toward her sister's Tavern.
Soon, her sister would return home, and the two of them would no longer have to live apart.
On the border of the Land of Grass, Ōnoki raised his hand high.
He would personally lead the assault — and strike a crushing blow against the Hidden Leaf.
***
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