Chapter 8: Surveillance

Chat GPT did an update and I didn't notice. The changes were making it wonky and starting over from the beginning instead of translating the text as requested. I'll have to redo these chapters again from scratch. Now that I know what is going on I know which protocol I need to use moving forward to make sure there are no more repeats. Apologies.

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Staring at the shadowy figure outside the door.

"Mas...Master."

Samui's voice trembled, filled with guilt, fearing that her secret had been discovered.

Spies deserve to be eliminated.

At this moment, she recalled the words Dan had once said to Uchiha Itachi, and the grim fate of the spies who had fallen under his hand. Cold sweat began to trickle down her face.

Thump, thump, thump.

Her heartbeat quickened, her eyes fixated on the suffocating figure outside the door, a sense of dread reaching its peak.

"Judging from your voice, you seem unwell," Dan spoke again.

"Oh, I... I've been suffering from insomnia recently, can't sleep." Samui made an excuse, and discreetly opened the window.

If her cover was blown, she would leap from the window without hesitation and flee from the Leaf Village under the cover of night.

"Insomnia?"

Dan, whether he believed her or not, simply turned around and left, soon disappearing down the corridor.

What should I do, should I run?

Just as Samui was biting her lip in indecision, the shadow reappeared in the corridor with the sound of footsteps, stopping outside her door.

"I brought you some calming aromatherapy. I've left it at your door."

"Thank you, Master..."

Samui, filled with suspicion, watched the figure leave, then slowly walked to the door, pushed the sliding door open, and picked up the aromatherapy from the floor.

It seemed... to be just a coincidence.

"Phew..."

Samui finally let out a long sigh of relief, collapsed onto the bed, the back of her clothes soaked in sweat.

I'll have to be extra careful in the future.

A quiet night.

For the next two days, the gym regained its usual tranquility, not a single customer came by.

As the receptionist, Samui's life returned to its previous boredom.

The business card Dan had left for Shikaku Nara had garnered no response, disappearing like a stone thrown into the sea.

So, Samui's chance to gather information about the Nara clan had, unsurprisingly, come to naught.

It seemed that.

The Uchiha's reputation was indeed poor, to the point where everyone avoided them.

Although Samui thought Dan was a decent person, as long as he carried the name of Uchiha, he could never make any friends in the village.

However.

Samui could occasionally feel the gaze of strangers lurking around the gym.

There were people from the Police Force, and there were people from the Anbu.

Beneath the peaceful surface, it seemed like undercurrents were stirring.

...

Early in the morning.

Itachi arrived at the Hokage building, ready to clock in.

He was part of Anbu Team Six.

These days, under Team Leader Kakashi's guidance, Itachi had been serving as a bodyguard for the Third Hokage.

Simply put, he was standing guard outside the Hokage's office every day.

Working as a security guard.

As a newcomer, he hadn't been given a chance to go on missions yet.

"Itachi, good morning."

A boy with short brown hair and a honest look walked over, greeting Itachi with a grin.

He was Itachi's teammate, codenamed "Tenzō". Like Team Leader Kakashi, he had been promoted to Chunin at the age of 6 and could use the First Hokage's Wood Release.

A one-in-a-thousand prodigy.

Although Itachi also had a reputation as a prodigy, compared to the dazzling Team Leader and teammate, he was currently the least noticeable member of Team Six.

"Where's the captain? Hasn't he arrived yet?" Itachi nodded in acknowledgment to Tenzō, then asked.

"If he weren't late, he wouldn't be Kakashi-senpai," Tenzō leaned against the wall, arms crossed, an expression of helplessness on his face.

After a while.

"Oh dear, I apologize, I got caught at the crossroads of life after leaving home this morning and accidentally lost track of time," came a leisurely voice.

Accompanied by that lazy tone, a silver-haired figure wearing a black mask, Kakashi, appeared around the corner, strolling over.

Itachi and Tenzō exchanged a glance.

This was their team leader, a man who was frequently late and had a knack for coming up with all sorts of peculiar excuses.

"You don't have to stand guard today, we have a new mission."

Kakashi patted the shoulders of his two team members, a mysterious grin on his face as he motioned for them to follow him somewhere.

The trio left the Hokage Building, heading towards the southwest of the village. Shortly thereafter, they entered a tall structure.

Clank.

Kakashi pushed open the door.

This was a spacious room equipped with a few telescopes and monitors. Through a row of one-way transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, several Anbu were performing surveillance tasks.

"Shift change," Kakashi called out.

"No abnormalities," a few Anbu members stood up, relayed their reports to Kakashi, and then left the room.

Kakashi turned his head, glanced at Itachi, and before the latter could speak, he began to explain, "This place is used to monitor the Uchiha clan. What do you think, will you tell your clan about this?"

A direct probe.

Itachi did not answer, but instead asked, "What is my job here?"

"It's simple, just keep an eye on that monitor, it's not tiring at all."

Tenzō stepped forward, pointed at the surveillance screen, and then dutifully moved to a telescope to start his work.

Well, well.

Whether standing guard or watching monitors.

After all that, wasn't this just a security guard's job?

Itachi remained silent.

This was not quite the blood-soaked Anbu life he had imagined.

Kakashi continued to observe Itachi's facial expressions. Seeing that the latter remained silent, he tried to probe again, "It must be hard to monitor your own clan and family members. Do you want me to take your shift?"

"It's okay."

Itachi shook his head, spoke, and walked over to the monitor.

Inside the Uchiha clan's territory.

Children played in groups;

New stores opened, bustling with customers;

Elders lay on rocking chairs, basking in the sun;

Young men and women in love, sneaking into the small woods...

The scenes from the surveillance footage were very ordinary and heartwarming.

The Uchiha clan, compared to other villagers of Konoha, were not that different.

They had been demonized by certain people.

At that moment.

Itachi saw a familiar small figure in the surveillance footage, his little brother Sasuke, with his school bag on his back, heading to the ninja academy.

Itachi couldn't help but smile.

But soon, his smile faded, replaced by a look of surprise.

Because.

He saw his uncle's gym—the Body Alteration Department—on the surveillance footage.

"That camera was just installed recently. You met with your uncle a few days ago, his name is... Uchiha Dan, right?"

Kakashi's lazy voice rang out.

Upon hearing this, Itachi was taken aback.

So, his movements had been under surveillance all along?

"Uh-huh."

He nodded, not revealing any emotions.

After a while.

Itachi saw his uncle, Uchiha Dan, and his employee Samui appear in the alley, carrying a large bucket of milk, apparently just back from outside.

Suddenly.

Dan stopped at the door, lifted his head, and instantly spotted the camera hidden in the tree.

He raised his hand, pointed at the camera, and seemed to ask Samui something, to which she shook her head in confusion.

Due to the surveillance.

Itachi could only see the images, not hear their conversation, but he already had a bad feeling.

Sure enough.

Dan bent over, picked up a small stone from the ground, and then emotionlessly flicked it.

Whoosh.

The stone grew larger in the surveillance feed, until it filled the entire screen.

The next second.

With a sizzle, the monitor went black.

Itachi: "..."

Kakashi, lounging in his chair with one leg over the other, was enjoying his book, "Make-Out Paradise," when he heard the noise, put down his book and asked, "Is there a situation?"