CH_144

『I wonder if Natchi's mission is over yet?』 Time had passed—not too little, not too much.

Tōji didn't expect Kenji to make it back to Konoha alive, but Natchi's mission probably wasn't the kind where death was almost certain—so Tōji still found himself thinking about one of the few friends he had in this world.

Then, after a long absence, Tōji ran into Frog again one day after selling his fish…

"Inoshishi, I want to go see Sweet Potato!" Frog poked Tōji's shoulder from behind with her index finger.

Tōji turned around and looked slightly downward—sure enough, it was Frog.

"Sure—I just finished selling fish. Let me buy some vegetables and fruit, then I'll head home." Tōji knew Frog couldn't possibly be there just to see the dog—otherwise she'd have visited long ago.

To keep Frog from chattering behind him the whole way, Tōji told her where his boat was and had her row her own boat over to wait.

No helping it—this Frog, whatever her deal was, had to keep up her cheerful chatterbox act…

And Tōji also found it strange—didn't Frog need to go out and sell salted fish? He'd never once seen her peddling salted fish on the island.

After buying his things, Tōji and Frog sailed their boats away from Mother Island together. Only then did he ask…

"Frog—aren't you in the salted fish business? How come I never see you running a stall?"

Frog sounded a little annoyed. "I mainly supply salted fish in small batches to the Land of Water. The market isn't here."

Tōji understood—that was a perfect cover for Frog's frequent trips to the Land of Water…

"This time, is it really just about seeing Sweet Potato?" Tōji asked.

"Of course not. You're being transferred into the Land of Water. A lord operating there told me to notify you." Frog didn't seem to think it was anything special—probably just routine to her.

"More details?" Tōji was starting to worry.

"You're just going to the Land of Water to take over someone's position. Your current post can be covered by me alone." Frog's tone remained calm.

"So… what reason does 'Inoshishi' have for moving to the Land of Water?" Tōji needed to know.

"Is there any chance you accidentally started a fire, your house burned down, and now you have nowhere to live so you want to start over somewhere else?" Frog sounded like she was making it up on the spot.

"So nothing's been arranged for me? I have to come up with my own reason to relocate?" Tōji finally understood.

"You can interpret it that way—that's how I understood the lord's words too. First, go to a place called Lanxi Town, a small seaside town. Wait there for someone to bring you news." Frog finished with the key information.

"That's it? I just wait there for someone to find me? No code phrase, no way to identify them?" Tōji was baffled.

"That's what the lord said. Just go—are you really worried no one will find you?" Frog was getting impatient. She thought Tōji was being too fussy about certain things.

"…" Tōji felt this wasn't safe at all!

He knew too little. But maybe this was actually the safer method? Tōji wasn't a high-level spy, nor a veteran—he couldn't easily judge.

"Understood. What about the timing? It's not immediate, is it?" Tōji was especially concerned about the timing.

"I didn't expect you to have a knack for this." Frog didn't bother sparing his feelings—she just said it.

"You really know how to give me a hard time…" Tōji was a little speechless. No time to prepare, no arrangements made in advance.

The main issue was—those Umibōzu he'd cultivated into Mud Monsters probably couldn't be brought along, not even one… 『Should I release them or…?』 Tōji was already weighing his options.

And there was a bigger problem: the Land of Water was far more dangerous… Did that mean he'd have to give up training?

And then… after some time, would he have to go even deeper into enemy territory?