CH_139

"Are you stupid or what? It's simple—every time I come over, I say my dog's sick and need your help. That's a perfectly good excuse!" Tōji could see that the clueless Frog was still hesitating.

"You're the stupid one—don't curse my dogs!" Frog still wouldn't budge.

Tōji lowered his voice to barely a whisper and spoke with a threatening edge. "Don't forget—if the Kiri-nin catch on, we're both done for! I really don't know how a spy like you has survived this long."

"You… you just want my cute puppies! Why do you have to be so mean about it!" Frog scooped up one of the little yellow dogs and shoved it into Tōji's arms. "Here! His name is Sweet Potato!"

"Sweet Potato? Does he look like a sweet potato?" Tōji lifted the puppy up and turned it left and right—it didn't look much different from the others.

"He loves eating sweet potatoes!" Frog was still fuming.

"Thanks, Frog." Tōji leaned in closer. "And sorry about earlier—but you really don't seem very professional."

"You…" Frog took the apology as another insult and got even angrier.

A moment later, though, she lowered her head, deflated. "Fine. It's not like I've had the same training you have."

Tōji suddenly realized something…

"Sorry…" This time, he meant it.

No wonder she'd seemed unreliable from the start—this girl wasn't even a shinobi.

He couldn't ask about her background—it went against their protocol.

"Come on—I'll get you the salted fish." Frog got up and went inside.

"Oh…" Tōji knew he'd probably said the wrong thing.

The two fell silent.

Frog tossed a plain-looking salted fish to him and said coldly, "Let's go—I'll take you back to get your boat."

When Tōji had come with Frog, he'd ridden on her boat, so she'd have to take him back to Mother Island.

"I should've just rowed over myself…" Tōji muttered. He really didn't want to be around Frog right now—the atmosphere was terrible.

The whole trip was silent… until they were close to Mother Island, when Frog put on her act again and started chattering with him.

After Tōji got off the boat, Frog shouted after him, "Make sure you take good care of Sweet Potato! If anything happens to him, come find me right away—and if he's not doing well, you'll answer to me!"

"I got it!" Tōji replied, whether genuinely impatient or just pretending.

Clutching Sweet Potato and carrying the salted fish, he walked off without so much as glancing at the Kiri-nin lounging around in the shade.

『These missions sure are cushy.』 Tōji wasn't thinking about his own spy mission—he was thinking about those Kiri-nin, lazing around all day in the shade.

As he rowed back to Jirō Island, Tōji wondered about Frog's true identity…

『Could she be a local orphan "bought" by Konoha?』

Tōji figured Frog was a "local asset"—an ordinary local working as a spy for outsiders.

"Frog" might have been her real name, and she was operating under her true identity.

But Frog wasn't from the Land of Water—she was from the Land of Seas, which made it different. She wasn't a traitor to her country.

The Land of Seas had only ever been under the "protection" of the Land of Water, not a vassal state.

Some of the people in the Land of Seas probably resented the Land of Water, but they had no choice but to submit.

Tōji was only guessing out of curiosity—he had no intention of meddling in anyone else's affairs.

He'd much rather focus his energy on doing tonight's mission right.

When he got home, Tōji retrieved the small scroll hidden inside the salted fish.

Because it was sealed, and because he wasn't curious, he made no effort to peek at its contents.

He just transferred it into a new "container."