Naruto: Wooing Tsunade from Day One!-Chapter 337: The Wandering Miko

Iwagakure, the Land of Earth.

Under the moonlight, a lone figure darted swiftly through the dense forest.

After an indeterminate period of time, she finally stopped before an unremarkable tree. With cautious precision, she surveyed her surroundings, then reached into a small, hidden tree hole and retrieved a scroll.

Using the faint moonlight, she unrolled the scroll and read its contents:

"End of mission in Iwagakure. Hurry to the Land of Rain."

Once she had finished, she set the scroll ablaze, watching as it burned to ash.

"Finally, I can leave," she murmured. "But when will I be able to go back?"

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Her gaze lifted southeastward, toward Konoha. After a moment of quiet reflection, she gathered her emotions and turned away, heading back to her lodging.

Her residence was remote, chosen for convenience and discretion. The small apartment building lacked even basic lighting on its perimeter.

With the sound of her key turning, she opened the door. A card slipped to the ground, and she bent down to pick it up before entering the room.

After switching on the lights, the room's simplicity was revealed. Apart from the essential furniture, it was sparsely furnished, embodying practicality over comfort.

Nonō removed her combat uniform, revealing her curvaceous figure. Her long brown hair framed her soft, feminine features. Over the years, she had grown even more beautiful and charming.

She collapsed onto the tatami mat, closed her eyes, and emptied her mind. It was the most relaxing part of her day.

About fifteen minutes later, she slowly sat up, rubbing her face as her thoughts shifted to her next steps.

"I hope the Land of Rain is the last stop," she muttered.

Uncertain of what mission awaited her, she resolved to figure it out upon arrival. She had escaped from Hidden Villages before and had a general idea of how to proceed. However, this time she had to be more cautious—this was Iwagakure, not a smaller village.

Rising to her feet, she opened the closet to pack some clothes but hesitated. After a moment of consideration, she decided against it. Everything had to appear as normal as possible.

The next morning, Nonō met her squad as usual. As part of her cover, she was posing as an ordinary Chūnin.

Before the squad could exchange any pleasantries, their Jōnin captain approached with a serious expression.

"Captain, why do you look so bad today?" Nonō asked casually, still receiving special consideration as the only woman on the team.

"Forget it, just another scolding."

"What do we have to do with catching spies?"

The captain, clearly irritated, seized the opportunity to vent his frustrations.

"The intelligence department can't do their job themselves, and they say we're not serious enough," the captain grumbled. "That's how spies from other villages got the chance."

"Isn't that just shirking responsibility?" he added, gesturing emphatically. His dissatisfaction was obvious.

"They've gone too far. Then what happened?" Nonō asked, siding with the captain but remaining on her guard.

"Then Lord Tsuchikage lost his temper," the captain explained. "Starting today, we unlucky fools have to team up with the intelligence department to catch spies—until Lord Tsuchikage decides he's satisfied."

He rubbed his head in frustration. If the professionals couldn't find the spies, how were they supposed to manage it?

"So, any clues?" Nonō asked naturally, slipping in the question as if out of curiosity, though her real intent was to gather information. She knew she wasn't the only spy operating in Iwagakure.

"Clues? If only there were clues!" The captain's frustration boiled over, his tone growing sharp. "Those sons of bitches in the intelligence department—this is what they give us! They say there's a female spy who's already moved through several ninja villages. They think she's in Iwagakure right now."

"They call her the Wandering Miko," he continued bitterly. "But they don't even know what she looks like! All they've got is that she's tall and slender. That's it. But hey, at least they're sure she's a woman."

The captain laughed angrily, his tone dripping with sarcasm. I really want to thank all eight generations of their ancestors for this brilliant clue!

"This is really something," one of the other team members muttered, shaking his head. The second chimed in, "This is no different from looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Don't be angry, captain," Nonō said soothingly. "We'll just do as we're told. Whether we find her or not is up to fate."

Her words seemed to calm him slightly, but inwardly, Nonō felt a wave of relief. With such vague information, finding her would be nearly impossible. She thought to herself, It's not going to be easy to find me.

"Let's go. Let's take a stroll."

The captain's tone was casual, clearly indicating he didn't believe his team could actually find the spy. His approach seemed more for appearances than results. Little did he know, the infamous Wandering Miko was in his own squad.

Led by the captain, the four of them ran from one end of the village to the other. Everyone they saw appeared normal, and no clues presented themselves.

"Running around like this won't work," the captain muttered, squatting on a small stone pedestal with a piece of wild grass between his lips. "Has anything suspicious happened recently?"

"The old lady next door gave birth to eight children at once. Is that suspicious?" one team member joked, seizing the chance to lighten the mood now that the captain seemed less irritated.

"Fuck you! Is her daughter-in-law a pig?" the captain retorted, throwing the wild grass at the joker. The entire group was clearly unreliable, treating the mission as a farce.

"There's no direction at all. Where are we supposed to find this spy?" the joker complained, dodging the grass. Aimless searching was proving to be the most tedious part of the assignment.

"Forget it, let's call it a day," the captain said, glancing at the setting sun. He didn't seem inclined to put in much effort, especially with plenty of time left to complete the task.

"Alright, see you tomorrow," he announced.

Nonō heard the dismissal and bolted faster than a rabbit. By then, she had already devised a meticulous plan to make her escape.

For several days, Nonō's team found nothing—just like the other teams tasked with the search. Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, erupted in anger several times, but his frustration did nothing to advance the mission.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. By then, Nonō was fully prepared.

That night, she quietly closed the door to her room without a trace of hesitation. It was time to leave.

Following a route she had scouted thoroughly, Nonō slipped out of Iwagakure without any trouble. She moved swiftly toward the Land of Rain.

The next day, when Nonō didn't show up for the team meeting, her absence raised alarm bells. Reports soon flooded in about other missing ninjas. The situation escalated, stirring Iwagakure like a hornet's nest.

Ōnoki's fury knew no bounds. He declared martial law and ordered a thorough investigation. But after an exhaustive search, the grim truth became clear: the missing ninjas were dead. For some, even their bodies couldn't be recovered.

Nonō was among the missing, and all evidence pointed to the Wandering Miko as the culprit. Left with no alternative, Iwagakure concluded she had already fled.

When this news reached Ōnoki, he flew into a rage, nearly assaulting the person responsible for the intelligence failure. He finally issued a decree: the Wandering Miko must be captured at all costs.

While Iwagakure poured its resources into tracking Nonō, the other spies operating in the village remained undetected. In leaving, Nonō had created the perfect diversion—a priceless contribution to her cause.

As she sped toward the Land of Rain, Nonō felt a sense of liberation, like a bird soaring freely in the sky.