CH_138

She had short coffee-colored hair, and because she was so thin, her face had little meat, making her brown eyes look unusually large.

She wore a hemp-colored short-sleeved top and shorts, her arms and legs thin and bony. And she was even darker than Tōji from the sun.

She didn't look like a shinobi at all…

"It's you again, Frog. Didn't you say last time that your salted fish can do backflips?" Tōji said the phrase used to verify her identity.

"If salted fish can do backflips, then cats can do backflips too. So are you buying or not? You said you would last time!" "Frog" ignored the stares from passersby and gestured a little dramatically.

"Fine—let me see your salted fish first." Tōji had confirmed it. This was indeed one of the Konoha spies tasked with passing information to him.

"Sure—but I didn't bring any with me. You'll have to come back to Tarō Island with me." Frog grabbed Tōji's hand and led him to the other side of Mother Island.

Tarō Island was northwest of Mother Island, while Jirō Island was due west. Tarō was slightly bigger than Jirō, but not by much.

Ignoring the occasional glances from the Kiri-nin, the two children rowed their small wooden boat away from Mother Island…

"Inoshishi—this is your first time getting involved…" Frog's tone suddenly changed, completely unlike the rustic girl from Mother Island's main street.

They were now out at sea, with no fear of Kiri-nin overhearing.

"Unless something goes wrong, from now on you'll be the one receiving information from me." Frog looked both ways to make sure no Kiri-nin were watching before she finished.

"Oh… but I haven't received any instructions. Who am I supposed to deliver the information to?" Tōji could tell that this "Frog" had been embedded in the Land of Seas longer than he had—she was his senior.

"Your cover is a fisherman, right? When you go out fishing, head southwest for less than three nautical miles—you'll see a small reef with a broken-down boat on it…" Frog spoke as if this had been her responsibility before…

"Wait near the biggest rock on that reef until midnight. If you hear the code phrase, that's it." Frog finally finished.

"Got it." Tōji didn't bother asking why. It was enough to just do his own small part.

They only exchanged those few words, then fell silent. It wasn't until they were nearing Tarō Island that Frog switched back to her rustic girl persona, chattering away with "Inoshishi" about normal small talk.

But Tōji felt something was off—why would a fisherman buy salted fish from someone else? It didn't add up!

He started thinking about how to change their surface-level relationship…

When they reached Frog's house, there were indeed two rows of salted fish hanging outside the little wooden hut, looking just like the real thing.

"Woof, woof woof woof!" Not just one dog—a whole litter of little yellow puppies came pouring out!

An idea struck Tōji…

"Frog—could you sell me one of your puppies?" Tōji asked, watching her crouch among the five dogs, playing with each one in turn.

"These dogs are my family—my good sons and good daughters! How could I sell them to you! Just buy your salted fish!" Frog refused flatly.

"But…" Tōji looked around, crouched down, and lowered his voice. "I catch fish for a living too. Am I supposed to keep coming to you to buy salted fish every time?"

"Uh…" Frog was stunned for a moment. "What does that have to do with my dogs?!"

"I need a normal reason to keep coming around. Am I really going to keep buying salted fish from you? And not from the stalls, but coming all the way to your house?" Tōji's voice was low, but his tone was firm.

He really couldn't believe it… This "senior" of his had such poor judgment—how was she even a spy?

She'd switched contacts but was still using the same old routine, completely oblivious to how obvious it was!