Counter-Espionage

"Why the hell is the Rasengan so hard to learn?" Nara Kazuki stared at the dissipating chakra in his palm, his lip twitching with irritation. His voice had grown slightly agitated.

He'd just woken up and immediately started training, but every attempt ended in failure. He had to convert his chakra into Wind Release first, then begin forming the Rasengan—and so far, not a single successful attempt.

His proficiency bar for Rasengan hadn't even appeared yet.

Now Kazuki could finally relate to what Naruto must have felt back then.

Still, he wasn't discouraged. He recalled the advice Minato Namikaze had given him and continued focusing chakra into his palm.

"Kazuki!"

A knock at the door snapped his concentration. He let the swirling chakra disperse, sighed, and opened the door.

Standing outside was Uncle Suzaku.

"Uncle Suzaku… good evening." Kazuki glanced at the darkened sky. Apparently, night had already fallen.

Well, not surprising—he had just gotten up from a nap.

"Kazuki, are you really planning to invest in the clan for dividends?" Suzaku's expression was a bit odd.

Not long ago, this kid had been so broke that his coin purse could bring a mouse to tears.

And now he was talking about investing in the Nara clan and earning passive income.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like I have much use for the money just sitting there," Kazuki said calmly. After buying his new shinobi blade, he didn't really need to spend on anything else at the moment. Might as well invest it into the clan and collect monthly dividends.

Honestly, the Nara clan's internal system was kind of brilliant—members could invest in the clan and receive a share of its monthly profits. Payouts were based on how much you invested and how well the clan did that month.

It basically turned the clan into Nara Inc.

It had even inspired the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans to adopt similar models.

These days, a lot of Akimichi preferred eating at their family's barbecue restaurant—officially claiming they were "boosting business."

"Well then, how much are you investing?" Suzaku gave a small sigh and moved into official mode after Kazuki confirmed.

Kazuki did some quick math. He'd given Yamanaka Mai 300,000 ryō, spent 270,000 ryō on his sword, and had around 420,000 left.

"Let's go with 350,000," Kazuki replied. He didn't dump it all in—he'd need a reserve for tools and consumables, especially for missions.

And with how expensive it was to grind shuriken proficiency, keeping 70–80k in liquid cash felt right.

Suzaku looked mildly surprised, but recalling the frequency of ANBU missions and Kazuki's side hustle with Jiraiya, he didn't pry. He simply processed the paperwork and collected the funds.

"All right, Kazuki. Honestly, I think it's time you found a wife. That way, when…" Suzaku stopped himself mid-sentence, not wanting to jinx anything.

But Kazuki knew what he meant.

"I get it, Uncle Suzaku." He gave a helpless chuckle. Apparently, the dividend system extended to family beneficiaries, which was kind of touching.

Kazuki didn't think he'd die anytime soon, but Suzaku was probably being cautious—understandably so, considering Kazuki's current occupation.

In peacetime, ANBU was the second-most dangerous role in the village.

First place? Spies.

But spies weren't just any ninja. You needed guts, meticulous attention to detail, and top-tier infiltration skills. Without those, you'd never make it into another village, let alone survive.

Still, every village knew they were being infiltrated. And everyone knew everyone else was sending spies.

Which meant counter-intelligence work was constant—and Konoha had delegated that task to ANBU.

"So we're on spy-hunting duty now?" Kazuki blinked, staring across the table as Kakashi slurped his ramen. Kazuki was treating today.

"Yeah. The funeral wasn't even cold before Kumo came sniffing around. It pissed off the Hokage," Kakashi said between bites. Kazuki stuffed a chunk of beef into his mouth.

Juicy. Delicious.

"So how does counter-intel even work?" Kazuki frowned. Fighting ninja was one thing—but tracking down spies?

That was outside his wheelhouse.

He thought about all those spy dramas from his previous life. Unless the spies here were as dumb as the ones in "god-tier" bad TV, there was no way to root them out easily. It's not like Kazuki had telepathy.

"We're in charge of combat. The Intel Division handles identification," Kakashi clarified. He didn't know how they identified spies either. That wasn't their job.

Kazuki finally relaxed. But he was also kind of excited.

Combat with enemy spies? Hell yeah. Kill a few, get a chakra boost.

After finishing their bowls at Ichiraku Ramen, they headed over to the ANBU base.

The place was emptier than usual. Most operatives were out in the field. On the night of Biwako Sarutobi's death, several ANBU had been wounded or killed—so manpower was thin, and mission loads were high.

But Kazuki wasn't here to accept random assignments.

He followed Kakashi to meet Byakko, who was waiting at the base, and received a fresh mission dossier.

"This is a high-priority mission. Enemy village operative. Entered Konoha three months ago hidden within a merchant caravan. Currently working at the Konoha Sewer Maintenance Company." The ANBU intel officer wore a standard mask and spoke clearly.

They even handed over a hard copy of the intelligence—just in case anyone misheard a detail.

"Sewer… maintenance company?" Kazuki blinked. Damn, this guy's hard-core.

He resisted the urge to ask whether "sewer work" meant actual sewer work.

"They went that deep?" Kakashi looked equally stunned. The sewer workers handled Konoha's most disgusting, thankless jobs. Crawling through filth, keeping the mainlines running.

Most of them were just average civilians. No shinobi wanted that kind of gig.

And yet, here was one.

Kazuki was impressed.

That spy had guts.

But he was even more impressed with Konoha's Intel Division.

They actually managed to find this guy?