Chapter 19: The Ambush

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After parting ways with Rinjin, Amai spent the rest of her day preoccupied with her thoughts.

As the sky darkened and the workday came to an end, Amai left her office right on time and returned home.

Her home was located in a high-end residential area perched atop a majestic mountain.

Even among the luxurious homes in this area, her residence stood out as particularly spacious and elegant.

After taking a shower, Amai, with her damp golden hair draped over her shoulders, slipped into a loose bathrobe. Rubbing her sore shoulders, she slowly made her way to the massive floor-to-ceiling window in her living room.

This was her habit.

Whenever she had something on her mind, she would stand before this enormous window, gazing at the brightly lit village below, and quietly reflect.

Today, she had tested Lemuyi.

But the results were far from satisfactory.

Amai's feminine intuition—her sixth sense—told her that Lemuyi was Rinjin. He was the kid from Amegakure, the one behind the recent attack on the village, or at least an accomplice.

However, her rational side, honed through years of paperwork and analysis, told her otherwise: Lemuyi was just Lemuyi. She had no concrete evidence to prove otherwise.

His appearance, behavior, and way of handling things all aligned perfectly with the village's norms.

The so-called "evidence" she had gathered wasn't even convincing enough to persuade her own rationality.

If Lemuyi truly was Rinjin in disguise, and if she weren't from Kumogakure, she would be utterly amazed by his flawless infiltration.

After all, she had worked as an undercover agent herself and knew all too well how difficult the job was.

Infiltrating a village was easy; surviving long-term in a well-established network of relationships was exponentially harder.

Take her own experience, for example. Even in a small village like Amegakure, establishing her cover had been an uphill battle.

To maintain her disguise, she had even spent a fortune renting a storefront in the most expensive district of Amegakure's Kabukicho.

Yet despite her efforts, she was still frequently harassed.

Her store was always a priority target during inspections.

This was why, despite her beauty, her business was so poor, with only a handful of regulars like Mizuguma.

The constant anxiety of undercover work was so overwhelming that she didn't dare interact with others more than necessary.

Thinking of this, Amai let out a soft sigh.

Just then, a playful voice sounded behind her.

"Sighing at such a young age? Careful, or you'll get gray hairs~"

"Who's there?!" Amai exclaimed, spinning around and scanning the spacious living room.

Nothing. There was nothing there.

But Amai knew she hadn't imagined it.

Her scalp tingled as realization dawned on her.

There was no need to guess—it had to be Lemuyi or someone behind him.

Her eyes darted around the room warily as she slowly moved toward the wall. Hanging on the wall was a ninja blade, a gift from her uncle, the Third Raikage, for her tenth birthday.

Just as her fingers were about to reach it, a sudden assault on her rear made her yelp in surprise.

With a high-pitched scream, Amai, with her curvaceous figure, leapt into the air, completely forgetting about her exposed state.

Turning around, she saw Lemuyi standing where she had just been, staring at his hand with a bewildered expression.

"Uchiha Rebound?"

Rinjin looked at his hand, utterly speechless.

What the heck? All I wanted was to leave a Flying Raijin marker, and you almost bounced my chakra back at me? That's insane!

Amai, clutching the front of her robe with one hand, glared at Rinjin with a mix of anger and embarrassment. Her stunningly beautiful face was flushed bright red.

"No one—no one has ever dared to humiliate me like this! You're dead!"

With that, Amai released her grip on her robe and began forming hand seals at lightning speed.

Seeing this, Rinjin quickly raised his hands.

"Wait, wait, wait! Don't! If you break the furniture, I'm not paying for it!"

But Amai, whether out of anger or shame, wasn't listening. Her hands moved faster and faster as she prepared to attack.

Realizing he had no choice, Rinjin sighed inwardly. Sorry about this.

In an instant, Rinjin appeared behind Amai, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Sorry!"

The next second, both of their figures vanished.

A whirlwind of disorientation later, they reappeared in Rinjin's underground base.

The space was vast and dimly lit, with only a few flickering candles casting light across the expansive underground chamber.

"Where is this?" Amai quickly got to her feet, putting distance between herself and Rinjin.

"Uh..." Rinjin paused for a moment before replying with a serious expression, "Your happy place?"

Amai was speechless.

She was now certain—this guy was definitely Rinjin.

Not just because he had attacked her, but because of his infuriatingly flippant attitude.

Still, she needed to buy time to relay this information to her uncle.

But with this guy's bizarre space-time ninjutsu, capable of teleporting directly to her side, could she even escape if she found an exit?

Damn it!

For now, her only option was to stall until morning.

By then, the Raikage would notice her absence and send someone to check on her.

At that point, the ANBU would surely mention that she had taken a team to confront Lemuyi earlier.

Hmph!

Even if you kill me, I, Amai, will never yield for the sake of my village!

Resolving herself, Amai decided to give this guy nothing but the cold shoulder.

Rinjin, on the other hand, had no intention of harming her. In fact, he was feeling a headache coming on.

Ironically, his thoughts mirrored Amai's exactly.

It seemed that when two scheming individuals clashed, their minds often ran in strangely similar directions.

As Rinjin pondered, a mischievous idea began to form.

Moments later, a beautifully crafted lie was ready.

Rinjin looked at the wary Amai in the distance, then slowly sat down cross-legged. Forming a series of hand seals, he muttered under his breath.

"Magnet Release: Iron Mask Technique!"

With a soft grunt, Rinjin's temples seemed to split open. Streams of blood-tinged iron sand oozed out like liquid, coalescing into a mask in his hands.

Amai, arms crossed and visibly annoyed, watched this scene unfold. Her pale green eyes narrowed sharply.

Magnet Release!

This guy actually has Magnet Release!

And he used iron sand to create a mask hidden beneath his skin!

At that moment, Amai couldn't help but feel an itch on her own face. She instinctively rubbed her cheeks, muttering under her breath.

No wonder... No wonder he could keep transforming into Lemuyi. I knew the Transformation Jutsu alone couldn't fool my uncle's eyes.

Rinjin smirked as he saw her reaction. Snapping his fingers, he summoned a shadow clone behind her, holding a chair.

With a puff of smoke, the clone disappeared, leaving the chair behind.

Amai glanced at the chair and, with a faint smirk of disdain, sat down without hesitation.

Watching her icy demeanor, Rinjin chuckled inwardly.

Oh, playing it cool now, are we? Your aloofness is completely clashing with my style!

How am I supposed to chat with you, let alone break through your defenses?

Well then, let's see how long that icy facade lasts!