A Hidden Frost genin entered the backyard of a house and stopped when he saw Ebi standing in the middle of the backyard. He couldn't put the feeling in words, but he stood silent and still even though he had an urgent report to give to the jonin.

Ebi was in a basic stance with his arms up in guard. The backyard had a healthy growth of grass in need of trimming, but the spot where Ebi stood was bare with the dirt beneath clearly visible. There were multiple lines of missing grass outside the circle, making something like a sun pattern as though someone had uprooted all the grass to make the pattern.

The genin almost missed it when Ebi kicked the air, creating a vicious sound of his foot cutting through the air. He also noticed that the gust created from the kick pushed against the grass, ripping a few blades, thus answering the question of the strange grass pattern on the floor.

"What is it?"

"Huh? Y-Yes, our informant came through with information, sir. We have a location for Chunin Aranai and Genin Ryoya."

Ebi relaxed his stance and walked to a table in the corner to wipe his sweat with a towel.

"Which informant?"

"The one inside the Kumi Family."

"Did he confirm the other thing?"

"No, sir. He only provided an address."

Ebi hummed.

"Tell the squad to be ready and do the preliminary recon—we hit the location in two hours. I'll be personally leading the team."

———

.

Two hours later, a squad of Hidden Frost shinobi had surrounded the abandoned house. They had been observing the place since their arrival and hadn't revealed their presence by doing their reconnaissance under stealth so they could ambush the abductors.

The street in front of the house was empty and quiet but two streets away the shinobi prepared for the rescue mission. The squad was of three chunin-led teams of three genin, who all worked directly under Ebi.

"Sir!"

A chunin stood in attention as Ebi arrived decked in full combat gear for the operation.

"Are the preparations complete?"

"We have set a perimeter and blocked entry into the area. The residents have been warned to stay in the area. The squad is ready to breach at your command!"

"Any movement to and from the property?"

"No, sir. No one has entered or exited the property. The windows are boarded, blocking any view from the inside," said the chunin.

The entire squad gathered around a rough exterior map of the property built through reconnaissance.

"Two teams will lead the breach," said one of the chunin as he drew lines on the map. "Team A will approach from the front. Team B will go in from the back. Team C will stay out and surround the property to intercept the abductors in case they manage to slip past us."

"Sounds good," said Ebi, "but I'll be the first one in through the door. Team A will follow after me."

No one objected. They had no problems with the plan; with a jonin in lead, they practically weren't needed and all but had their safety secured.

Ten minutes later, the squad was in front of the property, hiding behind the walled-fence.

Ebi casually walked into the property and stepped up to the door. He touched the old lock on the old door and frowned at the amount of dust sticking to everything. He pushed the door lightly—light for a jonin—and snapped the door in half after it came off the hinges. He waited for a moment to see if anything would pop up like explosive seals or an attack coming from his throat, but there was not a squeak in response other than the gust of hot wind that hit him in the face.

He clicked his tongue.

He looked back at the squad. Team A was behind him while Team B proceeded behind the house.

"What is it, sir?" the Team A chunin whispered.

"There's probably no one in the house," he sighed, "there never was..."

There were no clean patterns on the door knob, no shoe prints in front, no preventative measures, and the rush of hot air meant that the house hadn't been ventilated for a while.

Regardless, Ebi walked into the house to do his due diligence, and as expected, there was no one and nothing inside the house. Team B breached in from the back and Team A from the front. Both teams converged to the middle as they checked the house, finding nothing—not even lizards or rats scurrying around.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

———

.

A short and thin snake slithered through streets, keeping himself to the corners to stay under the shadows. He was careful not to be spotted by the humans who spelled trouble, and cautiously made his way to his destination. He relied on his innate sense of smell to follow the unique scent his mistress had laid on the path there.

He raised his head to look at the abandoned house that was the source of the scent—it was the scent of blood. It made him reluctant to enter despite his mistress' request, but after mulling over it for a moment, he entered the property. He approached a barred window and coiled his body to jump to one of the bars.

Inside, he saw a completely naked bloody human male hanging from the ceiling.

"Fuck you!" yelled the male with the swollen eyes and face.

"Don't blame me for your incompetence. If I wanted to, I could've killed more than a dozen of your shinobi because you got greedy. Man, I could've killed you when you were buck naked on the bed because you couldn't keep your small dick in check. You're definitely the stupid type who dies quickly."

He looked at the second human male sitting on a stool, who was laughing as he taunted the first male. The second male turned to look at the window, gazing right into his eyes. He was startled and tensed up, but got himself ready for either fight or flight. The second male didn't say anything and pointed with his chin to the door before exiting the room.

He jumped down from the window and slithered to find the second male coming out from another room with a small pot of water that he set down in front of him.

"Drink if you're thirsty," said the human. "Anko sent a message?"

He looked at the pot of water with suspicion before looking up at the human and spitting out a battery sized capsule from his body.

"That's as gnarly as always," the human chuckled as he retrieved the roll of paper from the capsule.

As he drank water from the pot, he looked up at the human whose smile slipped off his face as he read whatever his mistress had written to him.

"Are you going to take a message back?"

He shook his head. His mistress had only asked him to make a one-way trip and then return back home.

"Alright... have your fill before leaving," the human said as he walked away.

The human had a grave severe expression on his face. It seemed that his mistress' message hadn't been a good one.

———

.

Hoshiguro sat in his private office in the Kumi family’s main residence, looking over the ledger of salaries paid out to his men. The family's business had slowed down by half since the shinobi had taken over. They had been able to pay their people, but with the decreased business, that was becoming difficult without actively reaching into their emergency funds—which Hoshiguro did not want to do.

'Perhaps it's time to start holding back the salaries,' he thought.

The sliding door to his office opened and someone stepped in, but Hoshiguro didn't look up from his work.

"What is it?" he asked—but then he recognised the footsteps and looked up to see Takuma standing before him. "You..." He was surprised, but calmed himself down, and thought why would Takuma be in his office like this. "You managed to sneak in unnoticed. Impressive."

"It wasn’t difficult."

"Sit down."

"No thank you," Takuma shook his head. "The Hidden Frost raided one of the properties today."

"What?” Hoshiguro’s stomach dropped and he almost leapt out of his chair. “Which one?"

It was a secret within the family only known by a few people, but the Kumi family had helped Takuma abduct two Hidden Frost shinobi, who were being held at a property procured through the Kumi family connection.

However, Takuma had requested something very specific from Hoshiguro: he wanted to keep the location a secret by giving people fake addresses—everyone who knew was given a unique address and strictly asked to not discuss it with anyone else.

The intention was quite clear: to identify a leak in the Kumi family if one existed.

It was highly offensive to suggest that his family had a traitor in it, but Takuma convinced Hoshiguro to go on with the plan despite his reservations. It was purely a preventative measure and he didn't think anyone from his family would betray their own.

"Who?" asked Hoshiguro.

"Your son," said Takuma, bluntly. "It looks like dear Gyon holds a grudge for the beating you had me give him."

Hoshiguro couldn't believe it—he didn't want to believe it. His own son had leaked information to the enemy who had taken their home hostage. He didn't know what exactly had Gyon leaked, but depending on what was said, the Kumi family was at a great risk. When he had made Takuma fight Gyon, he wanted his son to understand how low they stood on the ladder and if they offended the wrong people, it could spell their end.

It was supposed to be a humbling experience, but Gyon had learned all the wrong lessons.

"What are you going to do?" Hoshiguro asked Takuma.

Gyon had made a mistake, but he was still his son—he would do anything to save his son from the dangerous shinobi who he clearly knew wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he became a problem. Hoshiguro couldn't allow that to happen even if it meant putting his life on the line because it was a father's duty to protect his family.

"Your face betrays your thoughts," said Takuma impassively. "You've been of great help, and I don't want to damage this working relationship we have—so I'm not going to do what I want to do, and suggest that you lock him up and find out what he blabbed to the Frost shinobi. That said, I don't want him leaving the house so he can create more troubles for us; have him spend time with his family and children to understand what's really important... because if I find out that he did something else, it'll end badly for not just him, but you as well."

Hoshiguro studied Takuma's face and eyes to peer at some of his thoughts, but the young shinobi didn't give anything away—yet one thing was clear: if the Kumi family betrayed him again, he would get them back one way or another. Hoshiguro knew Takuma had allies he had kept away from them. Even if they managed to somehow sink Takuma, those shinobi would seek revenge, and there would be no stopping them.

"I will make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble."

"Good."

Takuma turned around to leave but stopped to say one last thing, "The Hidden Frost shinobi might come after you. It might be wise to go into hiding or make some preparations..."

Hoshiguro nodded. “Thank you.”

If the Hidden Frost shinobi heard whispers about the Kumi family's involvement, they would stop at nothing to find their missing men. He put himself in their shoes, and if he had that much power, he would go after every possible party who was even slightly suspicious.

If Gyon really had told them that the Kumi family was involved, then the shinobi would come looking for them—he would do the same and he had done the same.

Takuma opened the door and exited.

Hoshiguro waited to see if someone spotted him, but ten minutes later, no one came to him with the news of a break in. But if one shinobi could reach him so easily, he had no idea what preparations he could make to stop an army of shinobi.