After leaving the village, Umeka Nara produced two sets of civilian robes and face coverings.
"We need to disguise ourselves as retainers for the Land of Fire's nobility. We can't wear our Leaf flak jackets," she instructed. While changing, Umeka stole frequent glances at Fox, trying to deduce his identity, but his movements were too swift; she saw nothing but a blur of motion.
They traveled to a town in the western region of the Land of Fire. Dressed in the long, drab tunics typical of a noble's household servants, they entered an abandoned house on the outskirts of town.
Yagami wasn't sure where Umeka had sourced her intel, but this derelict building housed a branch of the Underground Exchange. The tattered cobwebs were meticulously realistic, making the place look untouched for years. A thick layer of dust covered the floor, kicking up clouds with every step.
Reaching the stairwell, Umeka led the way into the basement. In the oppressive darkness, she tapped against the wall with a specific, rhythmic cadence. A hidden door creaked open, spilling a sliver of warm light into the hall.
They entered. A long counter bisected the room. Behind it sat an old man, backed by a wall filled with industrial-sized body lockers for cold storage. Four guards stood like statues at the corners of the room.
Yagami scrutinized the old man; his presence suggested a level of skill at least equivalent to a Special Jonin—a formidable figure among rogue ninjas. The four guards appeared to be around Chunin level.
"I'm here to post a commission," Umeka said.
The old man cracked one eye open and slid a ledger across the counter. Umeka wrote down the name of a Sand Jonin and a bounty of 16 million Ryo. She unsealed three heavy cases filled with stacks of cash.
The old man inspected the bundles meticulously. "Tade, the Sand Jonin... his previous bounty was 11 million. It seems his reputation has grown. However," he looked up, "is this your first time at an Exchange?"
Umeka nodded, unsure of where she had tripped up.
"Bounty postings require a 20% processing fee," the old man grunted. "That's another 3.2 million Ryo."
Umeka stiffened. She had prepared what she thought was an ample sum, but her intelligence on the Exchange's inner workings wasn't quite granular enough. She summoned another case and counted out the remainder.
"Mr. Kaneo," Umeka said, using a name she'd uncovered to project authority, "my companion and I serve the nobility of the Land of Rivers, but we are also bounty hunters. Let us see the bounty manual."
The old man, Kaneo, paused. It had been a long time since anyone had addressed him by name. In a place like this, names were irrelevant; he was simply the "Manager."
"The manual," Kaneo muttered, sliding a book over.
Umeka browsed quickly. Yagami leaned in from behind, curious if his own name—or one of his aliases—had made the list.
"Why are there no bounties for Land of Fire nobles or Leaf ninjas?" Umeka asked.
"This is the Land of Fire," Kaneo replied dryly. "We don't list locals. If you want to see what a Leaf ninja's head is worth, go to another country."
It was a survival tactic. The Exchange didn't shit where it ate. Yagami recalled that in the future, Kakuzu would cash in a bounty on Chiriku right inside the Land of Fire and kill Asuma Sarutobi.
It seemed that twenty years from now, the Leaf's decline would be so severe that the Exchange wouldn't even feel the need to hide.
...
Once they were far from the building, Umeka stopped. "Fox, we need to track them. The Exchange is shrouded in mystery; the village still doesn't know who pulls the strings behind the scenes. 16 million Ryo is a fortune; Kaneo won't keep it. He'll move it to his superior."
"Tracking them isn't a problem," Yagami said, "but we shouldn't go together. I'll do it. I specialize in Earth Style; it's nearly impossible to detect me underground. You would be a liability."
Umeka's pride stung, but she knew the reality. She was a Jonin, and Fox was a Jonin, but their power levels weren't in the same league. In the Jonin Commander's office, Fox's name was whispered alongside missions involving Jinchuriki and Uchiha Madara. In those scenarios, she was a strategist or a report writer—not a front-line combatant.
"I'll wait here," she conceded.
Yagami wove a sign and used Earth Style: Underground Projection Fish to submerge. Once deep enough, he switched to Mayfly and vanished.
Back at the Exchange, Kaneo was dozing in his chair. None of them realized that directly beneath the wooden counter, a face was staring upward through the floor. Using Mayfly was unique; Yagami was literally fused with the organic material of the counter. Even Sasuke and Itachi hadn't sensed Zetsu when he used this.
Hours later, a locker door clicked open. Yagami tilted his head. 'A ghost?'
Kaneo climbed inside the locker. Yagami tried to phase through the locker wall but failed—it was made of iron, not organic matter. He pressed his ear against the metal and heard a muffled, mechanical voice.
"My Lord, a new bounty has been posted..."
Yagami's eyes widened. 'A long-distance communication system?' It wasn't a ninja technique; it was technology. Kaneo was brief and professional.
Later that night, Kaneo left with two guards, leaving the other two on watch. Once they were gone, Yagami moved. The two guards suddenly found themselves unable to move as sealing formulas raced across their skin, locking their jaws.
Yagami climbed into the locker Kaneo had used. As he lay down, he heard a rapid *beep-beep-beep*.
Wait... that sounds like a countdown.
Just as the thought occurred, the device's self-destruct triggered. *BOOM.*
Yagami barely scrambled away through the earth. He reappeared behind Umeka later that night, startling her. His hood was shredded as if he'd been caught in a point-blank blast.
"A cylindrical explosion?" Umeka analyzed, looking at his singed clothes. "Uniform damage? Did you trigger a room full of tags?"
"Close," Yagami grunted. "Kaneo has a comms device in a locker. I tried to use it, but it had an ID lock. It exploded. But I salvaged this."
He handed her a small, scorched circuit board. Umeka examined the intricate paths. "The Great Villages monopolize ninjutsu talent, so the Daimyos have invested in technology to compensate. This looks like the work of the Land of Lightning's Electromagnetic Guild. So... the Daimyos are indeed the patrons of the Underground Exchange."
She sighed. "The Exchange exists because nobles see ninjas as natural disasters. They can't fight the Great Villages openly, so they use money to prune the rogue elements. It's a partnership of necessity."
"Now," Umeka continued, "we need to kill Tade the Sand Jonin and claim the bounty ourselves. If another bounty hunter gets to him first, we don't just lose the 3.2 million Ryo fee—we lose the whole 16 million."
...
They reached the Land of Wind. Yagami summoned a scroll. "Umeka, step back. This is ANBU business."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm the chief assistant to Lord Shikaku. I know most secrets in this village. That's a Root-to-ANBU spy communication scroll, isn't it?"
Yagami didn't blink. "I know you know. But respect the protocol. Turn around."
He opened the scroll and smeared blood on it—not his own, but a sample from Gibbon (Ennosuke Sarutobi), Yellow Dog's new assistant. He summoned two messenger hawks. These birds were trained to recognize specific hidden ciphers from spies on the ground.
Days later, the hawks returned with a tiny scroll: 'Tade is on a mission in the Capital of the Land of Wind. He will likely return to the Sand Village soon.'
Yagami and Umeka laid an ambush outside the Capital. Tade eventually emerged under the cover of night, leading three genin. Like the Leaf, the Sand was forcing its veterans to mentor the youth to recover their numbers.
The desert air was chilling, dropping to nearly 5°C. Tade reached out to feel the breeze. "The wind is cold tonight," he muttered.
He didn't realize it was the last thing he would ever feel.