When his name was called, Sawa Haru's body involuntarily froze. However, it wasn't because of the girl's voice in front of him. In the center of his vision—above the girl's head—was a faint white halo. "Shallow Heart Knot." At that moment, his heartbeat quickened slightly. After a whole day, it finally appeared!

“Ahem.” “Captain Yayoi.” But before the girl could say much more, another older female ninja could no longer hold back and gently tugged at the hem of her clothing to remind her. Only then did Uchiha Yayoi remember that she was still on a mission. She immediately tightened her expression and slightly turned her face, as if she didn't want him to see her intimidating Sharingan. Her tone reverted to the initial cold calmness, but there was a slight unnatural pause when she spoke: “Um... your inspection is complete.”

“If further cooperation is needed, please come to the Uchiha Security Department for follow-up investigation upon receiving notification.” The girl's tone was very official, but still not quite official enough, vaguely mixed with some barely perceptible emotions. “—Captain Yayoi?” The female ninja beside Uchiha Yayoi slowly intensified her tone. You just gave him a casual glance, didn't you? At the same time, her Sharingan, filled with intimidation, fixed its gaze on Sawa Haru.

Uchiha Yayoi turned her head away, secretly pouted, but still couldn't help but sigh softly. Under her assistant's supervision, she walked up to Sawa Haru, opened her Sharingan to look at him a few more times, and then reluctantly said, “Alright. Sorry for the interruption today, please return to work.”

Sawa Haru looked down at the residual flames that had not yet extinguished, the charred corpses, the bodies lying on the ground, and the bloodstains scattered across the floor from the slit throats. No matter how much he needed the Heart Knot points, he knew this was not the time to speak. Moreover, from the corner of his eye, he could see a female ninja in her early twenties standing next to Uchiha Yayoi, her watchful gaze fixed on him like a thief, closely tracking his every move, as if she was ready to strike him down without mercy at any moment.

“Then, thank you for your hard work?” “Mm.” The girl continued to maintain her official cold demeanor in front of everyone, giving a barely noticeable nod. However, as the two brushed past each other, she whispered, “Next time, I’ll treat you to a meal.” Uchiha Yayoi tilted her head and muttered this into his ear. Sawa Haru smiled as if indifferent, and after glancing at the faint white halo above her head, he stepped downstairs under the murderous gaze of the other female ninja.

However, once he left the sight of the Uchiha Security Team, he seemed to casually glance into the distance, a slight smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Long before the fire release appeared, 'Kojima-kun' had already vanished. Quick reactions.

...

Catching a glimpse of Sawa Haru's figure disappear into the corridor, Uchiha Yayoi finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, when she caught sight of the charred marks on the ground left by her earlier fire release, she couldn't help but grit her teeth. Damn it! Wasn't Haru's office on the second floor? She had felt quite majestic when she had appeared, enveloped in the power of the fire release, but now just thinking about how that guy saw her flamboyant display made Uchiha Yayoi's cheeks flush.

The image she had maintained for so long while on the same team was definitely going to crumble! With this thought in mind, it felt as if a heavy dark cloud was hovering over Ms. Yayoi's head, and the swelling Yin chakra seemed to be speeding up the rotation of the tomoe in her Sharingan.

Uchiha Yayoi, fifteen years old. Special jōnin with a specialty in fire release. Currently, the captain of Team Three in the First Division of the Uchiha Security Department. The 'sneaky cat' that Miss Sawa Yukie referred to. Until two years ago, she was a lower-ranking ninja teammate of Sawa Haru.

Throughout their three years together on the same team, she had worked hard to portray an image of a gentle, cheerful, lively, and kind ninja-type teammate.

“Creak—” A subtle, strained grinding sound came unexpectedly from someone’s back teeth. However, what had to happen had already happened; it was pointless to be angry now.

“Ha.” The girl let out a long breath, suddenly turned her head to the other side, and abruptly reverted to her initial swift and decisive attitude. Her crimson Sharingan swept toward a ninja at the back of the crowd who was trying to slip away, and she coldly shouted, “Who told you to leave?”

“Everyone, form a line and get your ninja tool bags and scrolls ready for inspection! No hiding! Direct Anbu members, leave and report to Lord Third. Rin, Gen! You check the remaining people! Tetsuhō, Yuna, you follow me to check the traces.” “Yes!”

There was a continuous murmur of complaints in the air. After all, not just the intelligence agency had been working overtime recently; everyone had been quite busy. After today’s inspection, they would definitely be returning home late.

Unfortunately, the other Uchiha were clearly not as easy to talk to as Ms. Yayoi was with acquaintances. Once the Sharingan was activated, it naturally exuded extraordinary Yin intimidation, and they conducted their inspections with meticulousness. Of course, these steps were also necessary.

Seeing this, Namikaze Minato in the crowd let out a sigh of relief. Even the Uchiha Security Department did not have the authority to inspect Anbu personnel; however, due to some upper-level conflicts that were hard to articulate, the two sides would occasionally confront each other for various reasons. Resolving matters peacefully, like today, was a good thing.

However, just before leaving, Namikaze Minato unconsciously turned to look at a few corpses on the ground, awkwardly lifting the trident kunai in his hand. A sense of inexplicable worry arose. Even for dead soldiers, the resistance of these few... seemed a bit too weak.

He was not the only one with such doubts. Uchiha Yayoi bent down and carefully observed the chakra remnants on the bodies with her Sharingan, frowning. The real big fish still hadn’t surfaced?

...

In the afternoon, by the Yuta Riverbank. Sawa Haru had just finished eating, leaving the empty lunch box and disposable chopsticks on the railing while resting his hands on the edge of the bank, gazing at the large river that separated the Nara clan's territory from the main street, staring directly across.

In his hand, he scattered grains of rice mixed with small paper balls into the river. From a distance, it looked like the most ordinary of bystanders casually feeding fish. However, if the fish under the surface of the water that followed those grains and paper balls were not specially trained summoning fish...

Only three pieces needed to be interpreted with special methods, written entirely in coded language as accurate intelligence, while the rest were just the whiny diaries of rebellious teenagers that were not meant for outsiders to see. This was a double insurance.

Thus, the intelligence stolen from the vault was silently transferred to his superior's hands. However, this was not the most important matter.

Leaning against the railing, Sawa Haru maintained his eyes closed as if resting. However, his distant "Six Eyes" were fixed on the figure of 'Kojima-kun' who had escaped from the Hokage building after several disguises. Just as he had said before, even for the sake of obtaining "Heart Knot points," Sawa Haru could no longer hide as he did before.

Whether for gaining more 'bonds' or for freeing himself from the burdensome intelligence work to gain greater autonomy, he needed to show a certain degree of his 'true strength.'

Sawa Haru had understood this from a long time ago. In this cruel world centered around ninjas, there was nothing more important than the word "strong." As long as one was strong enough, even a fool could become Hokage, control a country, and realize seemingly unrealistic dreams.

However, for an ordinary chūnin working in the intelligence department, even with sufficient strength, one had to be more cautious to avoid startling the snake in the grass and exposing a more important identity. Therefore, he had to wait for the right opportunity.

For example, this 'Kojima-kun' was very suitable for playing the role of a villain. 'Your weight must be heavier than I anticipated...' Sawa Haru thought to himself.