The next morning, there was a light mist.

Sōhara Mizu, who was forced to wake up early, felt a bit uncomfortable.

This was a peculiar form of spiritual dull pain originating from his psyche, triggered by having to continue working like a corporate drone after being transported to another world.

In short, it was called "office worker syndrome."

Although this grueling schedule of starting at eight and finishing at ten, seven days a week, had been ongoing for quite some time since the war began, Sōhara Mizu still hadn’t managed to free himself from the grip of this affliction.

Additionally, there were side effects brought on by the external enhancements.

“Consumption of emotional knot points: 1”

“Unlimited Technique · Stage One → Stage Two”

“Information localization, completed”

“External Brain · Sealing Technique Specific Type (S): An external technique affixed to the surface of the brain in the form of a sealing technique, specifically designed to adapt to the 'Six Eyes', activated without side effects. It allows for high-intensity use of the 'Six Eyes' for a short time, thus generating a small amount of 'Stopping Power'.”

“Next stage emotional knot points: 2”

Sōhara Mizu glanced at the information displayed on the panel.

While pondering, he extended his hand, using his fingertip to balance a water pen upright.

If someone were to come very close at that moment, they would see a minuscule gap between the tip of Sōhara Mizu's finger and the end of the pen.

However, the pen remained perfectly still in mid-air.

Yet, this ability only lasted for a few seconds before his head felt like it was being stirred by an iron rod.

The pressure brought by the 'Six Eyes' was not as intense as before.

Before long, he stopped the action.

The water pen fell into his palm.

“Ah...”

“A fifteen-year-old child laborer, how pitiful.”

Sōhara Mizu leaned back against his workstation and couldn’t help but sigh.

However, he quickly fell silent.

Behind Sōhara Mizu, a thin, gaunt figure with sunken eyes, wrapped in a layer of seemingly tangible black smoke, slowly stepped out from the break room on the side of the office.

With a gaze that seemed capable of strangling a person, the figure walked heavily toward the front seat.

As it passed behind him…

“Sō~hara~kun~”

Nara Shikae's voice echoed like a whisper in a valley, elongated: “Just closed my eyes for an hour, and I’m already forced to get out of bed... you should understand, right?”

“Today, don’t think you can just run away so easily.”

“Yes!”

Sōhara Mizu immediately straightened up.

Clearly, today was going to be difficult.

In fact, it truly was; as soon as work started, the number of tasks everyone had to handle increased sharply.

However, it wasn't due to Sōhara Mizu's 'return' from yesterday, but simply because the front lines had launched a new offensive, leading to a significant increase in the information that needed to be processed.

After more than two years of experience in intelligence work, Sōhara Mizu was adept at dealing with these issues.

While working, he also had time to consider other matters.

Even though he now had the system at his disposal, the task given to him by Kurogane Yagura also needed to be completed quickly.

Even for those with external enhancements, growth required time.

Moreover, this time, the task content was not too difficult for him.

“Steal information related to 'Tsunade's Squad'.”

According to the intelligence received from Kurogane Yagura, Kirigakure learned through underground trading channels that Tsunade’s Squad had gone to the front lines four days ago to undertake a high-security mission. The four members of the squad were all Jonin, and they were accompanied by at least three teams of Anbu or Root as cover.

Just this configuration raised a layer of alertness among the upper echelons of Kirigakure.

It’s important to note that this was not the era of the 'First Generation' of the various ninja villages.

A small elite force led by Kin and Gin could surround and kill the Second Raikage and Hokage. Even the leader of Amegakure, who was called a 'demigod', needed a dozen elite ninja to set up barriers to prevent ambushes, while the Third Tsuchikage had organized a special unit codenamed 'Explosion' for defense.

This was a time of war.

Even the so-called 'Shadows' of each village had to be cautious of the elite squad led by Tsunade seizing the opportunity to launch assassinations.

Rumor has it that the technique she invented, 'Super Strength Fist', is a one-hit kill technique.

'Since it involves such high-level covert operations, it should at least be A-rank or S-rank...'

As Sōhara Mizu analyzed the psychological activities of the upper echelons of Kirigakure in his mind, he thought about where to start.

Once the details were clear, he suddenly stood up from his workstation and reported:

“Lord Shikae, the B-group section has been sorted out!”

“Good.” Nara Shikae didn't even lift his head, “You go take those two stacks to the storage room.”

“Eh!”

He deliberately made a somewhat disdainful expression.

Those documents stacked up were nearly taller than him, and carrying them felt quite heavy.

Nara Shikae immediately put on a stern face:

“Hurry up!”

“Yes, yes.”

After being scolded a couple of times, Sōhara Mizu reluctantly walked out of the office.

A satisfied smile broke out on Nara Shikae's gaunt face, and even the dark circles under his eyes seemed to lighten a bit.

Hmph!

This brat just needs a little targeting to understand the authority of his seniors!

......

Once Sōhara Mizu walked out of the office, his expression quickly changed.

Clearly, this was the convenience of being a staff member in the intelligence agency.

Although not all tasks would pass through their hands, when necessary, they could freely enter and exit the storage room for high-security documents.

Due to the specificity of this job, the advisors in this office would only hire those from 'Konoha's good families' who had clean backgrounds, complete families, and who had coherent growth records and many friends vouching for them since childhood.

For most spies, this was almost a death sentence.

However, for Sōhara Mizu, entering and exiting the storage room was part of his job.

“Stop, chakra detection.”

“Yes.”

Sōhara Mizu stopped at the entrance to the storage room, placing his palm on a sealing array and slowly inputting chakra.

At the same time, he opened his 'Six Eyes'.

In an instant, everything within the surrounding area became crystal clear.

At the entrance, there was a standard team led by a Jonin, and inside the storage room, there was also an entire Anbu team hidden in the ceiling, corners, and dark rooms.

In addition, there were very powerful repulsion barriers set up on all four walls of the storage room.

If anyone attempted to infiltrate, unless they blasted down from the upper floors, it would be impossible to breach this secret room.

As for why the ceiling was left as a weak point, the reason was simple—directly above the storage room was the Hokage's office.

The barriers for these two rooms were integrated.

Nevertheless, Sōhara Mizu continued to act as usual.

Upon entering the storage room, he found the spacious room lined with dense filing cabinets like a library.

He walked toward the B area cabinets while quickly searching through the different filing cabinets with his 'Six Eyes'.

Although there were many documents, he actually only needed to start searching from the deepest S-level cabinet, looking for the pages closest to today.

However, with his brain completely occupied by the 'Six Eyes', Sōhara Mizu's movements inevitably appeared slightly slower than usual.

Until he finally reached the file cabinet, his fingertip touched the handle.

“Snap.”

Unknowingly, a hand suddenly landed on his wrist.

Sōhara Mizu's movements instantly tensed.

In his field of vision was a dark figure wearing an Anbu mask adorned with a bobcat pattern.

A young man, resembling him in stature and clad in the dark Anbu combat uniform, stood before him, only his distinctive golden hair sticking up, and he had made no sound throughout the entire action.

Moreover, he was incredibly fast.

At the same time, in the view of 'Six Eyes', the remaining three Anbu members were either crouching or standing, having surrounded him from the ceiling, the top of the counter, and behind him, always wary of his suspicious movements.

However, with Sōhara Mizu's rich experience with Anbu, he did not suspect recklessly like he had at home the day before.

Almost instinctively, he wore a somewhat puzzled yet nervous expression, completely natural:

“May I ask what this is...?”

The golden-haired Anbu, sensing something as he held Sōhara's pulse and detected his heartbeat reaction, slightly relaxed, suppressing his voice, coldly said: “Since ten o'clock last night, the documents in Area B have been transferred to cabinet 17.”

“All other cabinets have been sealed and cannot be reopened.”

Suddenly, Sōhara Mizu felt completely relaxed and smiled apologetically:

“Sorry, I took a leave last night.”

“Hmm.”

Only then did the golden-haired Anbu release his wrist, preparing to continue his concealment.

But Sōhara Mizu seemed to have suddenly noticed the familiar golden hair and figure of the other and asked uncertainly:

“By the way.”

“You’re Namikaze Minato... right?”

“Long time no see.”

Konoha's Namikaze Minato paused slightly in his steps, the voice beneath the mask no longer hiding, though his tone still carried a hint of distance.

“Sorry.”

“During the mission, please do not reveal the true name of the Anbu.”