"Have you brought everything? Money, shuriken, Kunai, exploding tags, and Soldier Pills."
At the Uzumaki family's doorstep, Momohime examined the girl's attire for any issues while asking with concern.
To be honest, Amane found it annoying. But corresponding to this feeling, a warmth of being cared for also rose in her heart.
"No problem, most are stored in sealing scrolls, and a small portion is carried on me for immediate use. Don't worry."
Amane lifted the small bag behind her.
Inside were two large sealing scrolls, which also contained some smaller sealing scrolls. So, despite the backpack's small size, it actually held quite a lot.
All were made by Amane herself. If bought with money, this quantity wouldn't be affordable for an ordinary Ninja.
After learning this over the past two years, Amane even sold her used scrolls at discounted prices to other Otogakure colleagues, earning money while gaining much goodwill.
But there were two freeloaders Amane couldn't do anything about.
One was called Orochimaru, and the other was Karin.
"Well, come back early."
Momohime finally smoothed Amane's shoulder-length hair and watched her leave the room.
Strolling leisurely to last night's laboratory door, Amane opened White Snake's tank, and it quickly slithered up her body.
To be honest, it felt quite nice. Cool and very comfortable, with no odor at all.
It was just the forked tongue flicking near her shoulder and neck, constantly sending sensations that felt slightly unsafe.
"Amane, can I bite you again? You smell so good."
It seemed truly unsafe.
Amane refused with a dark expression, making White Snake rub and whine incessantly. It lacked any spiritual feel, more like a countryside dog wagging its tail for pity.
"Sigh... How about this? I'll let you bite occasionally, but you have to form a Summoning contract with me."
Not only did White Snake's appearance suit Amane's taste, but more importantly, its strength was genuinely impressive, and it was growth-oriented, promising for the future.
However, at this mention, White Snake stopped whining. It just glanced twice at Amane's neck, showing a very troubled, thoughtful expression.
"I need to think about it."
After hearing this reply, White Snake's head obediently rested on Amane's shoulder, though it still occasionally glanced at the exposed parts of her skin.
[How interesting]
But that made sense, as forming a Summoning contract wasn't a trivial matter. Amane let the topic drop.
With White Snake, the pair—one human, one snake—arrived at the Sound Village gate. Here, Kimimaro, dressed in a futuristic kimono with exposed shoulders but not as tall in stature, had already been waiting.
"How early did you come? I was half an hour early myself."
Amane asked Kimimaro, who carried very little equipment, with only basic gear in small bags at his waist and thigh.
"Not much earlier than you. Can we depart?"
Kimimaro wasn't one to lie, so if he said not much earlier, Amane could only assume he was competing with her.
It seemed he was still somewhat uncomfortable about yesterday's events.
[Surprisingly, he still has a childish side]
Amane smiled and nodded, but in this context, the smile made Kimimaro uncomfortable no matter how he looked at it.
The two set off.
Their destination was quite distant, and due to some unpleasant events yesterday, even as night fell, neither had actively spoken a word to the other.
The awkward atmosphere was unbearable even for the somewhat naive and carefree White Snake, who had long since burrowed into Amane's clothes to sleep.
Until the two found a clearing to set up camp.
Kimimaro directly jumped onto a tree branch, planning to make do for the night.
Amane raised an eyebrow. With such a careless attitude, even without the Bloodline Limit illness, trouble would arise sooner or later. This guy was just relying on his current good health.
Remembering how he'd been like this during their previous missions, Amane silently walked aside, clapped her hands, and called out as needed.
"Wood Release: Four Pillar House Technique!"
A simple house rose from the ground, with two bedrooms and a living room, even fully furnished.
Honestly, Amane wasn't skilled in Wood Release. Despite all these years, she had gradually mastered Earth nature Chakra, but using Wood Release in combat was never as fast or energy-efficient as Adamantine Sealing Chains.
And the most fatal point: it was too conspicuous after battle, with extremely high recognition.
But this didn't mean Amane had abandoned Wood Release. For techniques like this that offered great convenience, she had to put in effort to study them no matter what.
This was just for field missions. Otherwise, Amane could even build a castle from flat ground. With excellent Chakra control, she could even create furniture along with it.
Glancing at Kimimaro, who in the past wouldn't have hesitated to walk in, but today acted as if he didn't see it.
Truly unusual, not like his usual style.
Since it was a mission arranged by Orochimaru, even if he was still somewhat uncomfortable with Amane's actions yesterday, he shouldn't show such obvious rejection.
If so... "Did Uncle Snake tell you I might make some moves, so you're highly alert around me?"
Kimimaro didn't speak, nor did he turn his face this way, as if he hadn't heard Amane's words at all.
[Too green. If it were me or Kabuto, we definitely wouldn't handle it this way]
So, what did Orochimaru mean by this? Knowing Amane would see through it, was it just to give her a headache?
No.
If Amane wore glasses at this moment, she'd have to adjust them slightly.
Opening the wooden window from inside, Amane looked at Kimimaro and said, "Come in. At least we need to discuss the mission order. Should we go to the Village first, or to its home? There's quite a distance between them."
Kimimaro remained silent.
"In that case, I'll make all the decisions? Later, we'll split up: I'll take it home, and you go to the Village?"
This approach might not have bothered Kimimaro before, but now he couldn't ignore Amane.
Kimimaro, turning slightly, opened his mouth and then closed it.
He couldn't help but think Amane was indeed hard to deal with.
Whether choosing between two options or splitting up, Kimimaro felt he'd be led around by Amane.
For the first time in his life, he doubted if Orochimaru had sent the wrong person. Shouldn't Kabuto have come instead?
But that was impossible! Lord Orochimaru was flawless; this lord must have had his considerations in sending him.
Kimimaro began to think, and he quickly made his choice.
"You and I will first take it home together, then go to the Village together."
No particular reason; Kimimaro trusted this instinctive choice.
But... "Okay, I think that's suitable too. That place is unknown and has the highest danger. If we go there first, both of us will be at full strength, making it less likely for issues to arise."
It made sense, so it inevitably shook Kimimaro's resolve after making the decision.
The Amane he knew had always been like this—her words were always truthful, her actions never wrong, so trust and reliance naturally fell on her.
Though the feeling was different, this was very much like Lord Orochimaru.
Both were skilled at making others willingly provide help, even when fully aware of everything.
Had he made the right choice? Or was this also exactly what Amane wanted?
Just as Kimimaro tried to suppress his doubts and firm up his choice, the branch beneath him seemed to change... Kimimaro immediately became alert and leaped down.
But looking back, he realized Amane had simply made a tree house for him.
"Health matters; don't be so stubborn. If I were really going to slip out of your control like this, do you think Orochimaru would have told you? Wouldn't he have sent Kabuto instead?"
This was also true, but Kimimaro still didn't accept it.
He chose another spot to lie down and rest, making Amane shake her head.
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