Sarutobi Mishima glanced at the snowflakes mixed with the rain, walked into the wooden house, and closed the door behind him.

Shigeru took out two bottles of fruit wine brought from the village and invited Sarutobi Mishima to sit down.

"Other places are already covered in heavy snow. It's because of the special geographical environment of the Land of Rain that it's not covered in snow. However, the sleet will lower the temperature even more."

"I didn't expect you to bring such a good thing. It's a pity that it's not sake."

Mishima took the opened bottle, sipped it twice, and the only drawback was that the fruit wine tasted very weak. It was more like a drink than actual wine.

Shigeru picked up the fruit wine and took a sip, joking, "I'm still young and not old enough to drink."

Sarutobi Mishima was momentarily stunned but burst out laughing after a few seconds.

"If you hadn't told me, I would've almost forgotten that you're not even fourteen yet. That's great. When I was fourteen, I was still a Chūnin. I followed my teacher on missions and often got scolded."

Hearing this, Shigeru also laughed, and then he asked directly.

"So, Captain Mishima, can you tell me why you've been hanging around so much? Is it for secret protection, or... are you spying on me?"

"...."

The laughter stopped abruptly. Sarutobi Mishima, who was drinking fruit wine and eating venison, froze in midair, the bottle still in his hand.

He looked at Shigeru in astonishment, hesitated for a moment, then smiled wryly, saying, "I didn't expect you'd catch on so quickly."

"Then, Captain Mishima, can you explain things for me?" Shigeru asked without giving away how he had figured it out.

Placing the bottle on the table, Sarutobi Mishima sighed and admitted, "The Third Hokage spoke to me specifically before we left and asked me to protect you discreetly. Originally, I wasn't even on the rotation list for this mission."

"Captain Honda also knows about my mission. That's why he personally leads most of the patrols, while I stay in the camp to make sure nothing happens."

This explained why, despite being the deputy captain, Mishima was frequently staying behind while Honda was out on duty or patrol.

Protection?

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Sarutobi Mishima's explanation didn't quite sit right with Shigeru. Why would the Third Hokage choose someone from the Sarutobi clan to secretly protect him? Did the Hokage anticipate an assassination attempt?

Piecing together the limited information, Shigeru realized that being included in the rotation list might not have been a coincidence. It seemed deliberate.

The decision to select personnel rested with the Hokage, but why did the Third Hokage send him on the rotation and assign someone to protect him? It seemed unnecessary. If protection was the goal, he wouldn't have been allowed to leave the village at all.

Which meant someone else wanted him out of the village, but the Hokage, unwilling to see Shigeru harmed, sent Mishima to protect him.

So, who was targeting him?

The Council of Elders? Probably not—they shared the same goals as the Hokage.

Then... Shimura Danzo?

If there was one person ambitious and vengeful enough to plot against Shigeru, it would be Danzo. After the warning Shigeru had given him previously, Danzo wouldn't dare move against him inside the village. The only way left was to get him outside the village.

Thus, Shigeru's name appeared on the rotation list.

But how would Danzo plan to strike?

As the only medical ninja in the camp, Shigeru wouldn't leave the camp easily, and with dozens of ninjas around, it wouldn't be easy for someone to kill him under their protection.

Shigeru smiled. "Thank you, Captain Mishima. I suppose you'll have your hands full in the coming days."

"This is my mission. I just hope it doesn't cause any misunderstandings."

He was supposed to protect the medical ninja secretly, but the target had found out within days. Sarutobi Mishima was thoroughly embarrassed by this failure.

After eating, drinking, and feeling fully dejected, Mishima left the medical room.

Shigeru walked to the fire and looked out through the crack in the door at the dark, stormy night sky.

After a long moment, he turned back, went to the table, and took out a seal scroll, some materials, and a dead crow.

This was a bird Shigeru had caught on his way to the camp. His plan was to turn it into a puppet to send messages.

Initially, he had planned to make puppets during the New Year to send greetings to Tsunade and Kushina, but now it seemed they'd be needed sooner.

He prepared the materials and tools, then skillfully started working on the crow's body.

Once he had processed it, he inserted various parts and a puppet core into the body, then infused it with his unique chakra.

"Squawk!"

The once-lifeless crow blinked, sprang to life, and hopped around the table.

Shigeru took out a pen and a special message scroll, wrote down what had happened at the camp, and encrypted the message with a special code. He then tied the small scroll to the crow's leg and commanded it to fly to Konoha.

The puppet crow soared into the stormy night, heading for Konoha.

Because Shigeru controlled the crow's direction, there was no risk of it flying off course or delivering the message to the wrong person.

In just a few hours, the crow had flown from the border of the Land of Rain to Konoha. It landed at the Senju Clan's residence, pecked at the window, and then perched on the sill.

Tsunade, waking up, groggily opened the window and grabbed the crow.

"Whose summon brought this scroll to me?"

Luckily, Tsunade didn't squeeze too hard. Otherwise, she would've realized that the bird wasn't a summon at all, but a puppet.

After taking off the scroll, she tied the crow's wings, tossed it aside, and sat down to examine the message.

The scroll required a password to unlock.

Tsunade felt irritated. She had no idea who had sent the scroll and didn't have the password to open it.

"Quiet?"

Looking closely, Tsunade noticed the word "quiet" written on the scroll.

Could it have been sent by Shigeru?

And the password...

Suddenly, something clicked in Tsunade's mind. Her pretty face darkened as she clenched the scroll and muttered through gritted teeth, "Shigeru Hyuga, you'd better watch out when you get back!"

Two fifty.

The password was indeed correct.

"Curses!"

Tsunade swore under her breath.

She remembered going to the casino recently, losing all her money, and being left with exactly two hundred and fifty ryo. Shigeru had laughed at her multiple times about it.

And now, he'd used that number as the password.

Shigeru Hyuga!

Even when sending an important message, he found a way to poke fun at her.

"You're so dead when you return!"

But as she read the message, her anger shifted away from Shigeru and toward Shimura Danzo.

"Danzo, you're really something."

After cursing his name, Tsunade took the scroll and found Uzumaki Mito.

Woken up in the middle of the night, Uzumaki Mito wasn't in the best of moods. But after reading the scroll, she knew her granddaughter wasn't going to let this go easily.

"Little Tsunade, what do you plan to do? Need grandma's help?"

Tsunade responded, "Grandma, I need a letter sent to the Daimyo's Mansion. I plan to visit him soon."

"Of course. It's almost the New Year. A visit would be appropriate," Uzumaki Mito agreed.