Below the waterfall, the current thundered into the stone basin, sending a spray of mist that slled of wet earth and fresh grass.
Shisui reached the barrier hidden behind the great falls. His hands blurred through a sequence of seals, and his body rged seamlessly into the crashing water.
Passing through the rushing veil, the view opened up—long stretches of rice paddies lined the valley below, dotted with sparse cottages.
In the distance, the silhouette of the village flickered through the lingering haze.
Quiet. Peaceful. A world away from the chaotic strife of the Great Nations.
Looking at the village, Shisui felt a rare sense of expansiveness. The conspiracies of the shinobi world felt distant here; this was the pastoral life he had envisioned.
"A true paradise. Takigakure... I have arrived," he whispered in his heart, fully embracing the persona of the warm, sunny Takigawa Shu.
He walked directly to the unassuming building at the center of the village—the Mission Command. Inside, the light was dim.
Two Chunin leaned against the counter, talking in low voices. When he entered, they barely spared him a lazy glance.
Slack. Disorganized. That was his first impression.
Compared to Konoha, where the mission audit departnt was a seat of significant power run by elite Special Jonin, this place was managed by two ordinary Chunin who seed to have no fighting spirit left.
It occurred to him that when Sato Yoshisuke called his squad "elite," he wasn't exaggerating—compared to these two, Yoshisuke was a paragon of dedication.
Shisui placed his scroll on the worn wooden counter with a friendly smile. "I am Takigawa Shu. I'm here to submit a final mission report for the Sato squad and debrief."
The recorder was a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and heavy bags under his eyes. He yawned, slowly unfurling the scroll. "Takigawa Shu... ah, the one who was missing? Thought you were dead. Go ahead, speak."
Shisui sat across from them and began his narrative. He described the ambush at the Grass border by "unknown high-level forces," his long period of hiding in the forest, and his eventual encounter with a rchant caravan that helped him cross the border back to his comrades.
He detailed the joint protection mission and the "heroic sacrifice" of Captain Yoshisuke. Every detail—ti, location—was ticulously woven.
The Chunin scribbled on the scroll, grunting occasionally.
"Sha about Sato Yoshisuke," the other Chunin piped up. "He had a beautiful wife and a cute daughter. But you're lucky to be alive, kid."
Shisui heard no real grief in the man's tone, only a habitual, passing sentint.
"Witnesses?" the recorder asked, following protocol out of habit.
"The rchant leader Ida Ryuji, and my teammate Naoto. They can verify everything after I rejoined the squad. As for before..." Shisui gave a bitter smile, "only myself."
The man waved a hand, seemingly too tired to dig deeper. "Fine. Your missing ti is marked as 'interrupted due to combat.' Your pay and points will be calculated based on your contribution after rejoining. I'll process Naoto's supplental report as well."
He stamped the file and gave Shisui a half-hearted smile. "Nothing else to check. Welco ho. Go get your ID plate updated and take a rest. No urgent missions lately."
The process was simple—almost dangerously so. There were no follow-up questions about the contradictions in his story, no testing of his current strength, and no suspicion of his survival. It was far more "efficient" than Konoha's grueling debriefings.
"By the way," the man called out as Shisui turned to leave. "Your accumulated rits from this long-term mission are enough for a promotion. We've lost quite a few Chunin recently. If you want, I can set up an evaluation for you."
"I would appreciate that," Shisui replied with a smile.
On his way out, he passed other ninjas. Their conversations weren't about war or ideology, but about pesticides for the waterlons, when the river cleanup pay would arrive, and fixing roofs. Shisui shook his head slightly.
To these people, "Will of Fire" or "Deep Truths" were luxuries they couldn't afford. They just wanted to live.
He followed his gathered intel to a small house on the edge of the village. It was humbler than he rembered from the files, but exceptionally well-maintained.
The door was free of dust, and a wreath of dried flowers hung from the lintel.
Inside, the air slled of sunshine and soap. Every surface was scrubbed clean. Fresh flowers sat in a ceramic vase on the windowsill.
It was clearly the work of Chiho, Takigawa Shu's fiancée. Even in his absence, she had kept his ho as if he were already there.
Shisui stood in the silence for a mont before closing the door. He washed his face with cool water, rinsing away the dust of the road. That night, lying in the clean bedding, he slept soundly for the first ti since leaving Konoha.
anwhile, in the Hidden Leaf Village...
It had been seven days since Shisui's "defection." The insect pheromones he had used to cloud the minds of the Abura clan were finally fading.
As the fog lifted, the clan elders began to recall details they had subconsciously ignored. They didn't realize they had been manipulated; they simply assud Shisui was more cunning than they had imagined.
"Clan Head, I checked the treasury this morning," an elder reported, his voice trembling with rage. "Many of our secret scrolls have been tampered with. Several rare insect species are missing."
"Which ans... he likely mastered every secret technique we have before he left. This is a disaster. We must inform the Hokage imdiately!"
That day, Shisui's status in the Bingo Book was officially raised. He was no longer just a missing-nin.
Abura Shisui: S-Rank Rogue Ninja.
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