Mask: "I've found the information you wanted, sending it to you now. Commission complete."

After bidding farewell to Guan Tong, Uenoshi also did not leave Sakura Prayer Country.

Guan Tong went to the forest, while she herself went to the border between Antu and Beixing, finding an abandoned civilian house to settle in here.

Afterwards, she sent the information Guan Tong gave her to Mask online, commissioning the latter to search and analyze it.

Now, looking at the message sent by Mask, she immediately downloaded the attachment.

After opening it, inside was information about her parents that she had been searching for all along. Moreover, the information stated that this data was officially collected by government departments only after the Doomsday Rules were established.

And the reason the official intelligence department of Sakura Prayer Country collected this intelligence was because of her.

The content of the information is as follows:

[Classified File · Number A18201]

[Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from viewing]

[Target individual Uenoshi has been selected by the Divine Child, investigation into her blood relatives has been archived]

[Father: Noda Ken, suffered from a blood disease, deceased]

[Mother: Uenoshi Mitsumi, confirmed to have worked as a shop assistant in a large shopping mall. As of archiving, this target has been secretly arrested and handed over to the Yuzawa Family.]

[According to the investigation, Uenoshi was abandoned by the two when she was young, and was later adopted by a civilian institution. Through interrogation of Uenoshi Mitsumi, it was learned that the reason for abandonment was that she was a child born out of wedlock, and they could not bear the family pressure.]

[Considering the two have had no contact with Uenoshi for years, there is no emotional foundation. The arrested Uenoshi Mitsumi may not be effective in threatening the target.]

After reading the brief one-page document, Uenoshi felt momentarily lost in her heart.

"So, the reason was that simple."

She had always thought that perhaps her parents had some unspeakable difficulties for abandoning her.

Or perhaps, like in some movies and TV shows, the abandonment was due to some coincidence or mistake.

Yet the truth was so mundane.

A child born out of wedlock, abandoned because they couldn't bear the pressure.

Such things are not uncommon in any country, not dramatic at all.

She looked at her parents' names on the document; her surname "Uenoshi" undoubtedly came from her mother.

Perhaps even though she chose to abandon her, she was still her flesh and blood, so she left her own surname for the child.

As for the records about her, the intelligence department stopped collecting information after handing the person over to the Yuzawa Family.

The Yuzawa clan is the family to which the Divine Child belongs. The reason this family wanted to take Uenoshi Mitsumi away is also mentioned in the information.

They intended to use her as leverage to threaten Uenoshi at a critical moment.

Based on Uenoshi's understanding of the Divine Child's operational style, it's not surprising he would do this.

But the intelligence department had already mentioned in the information: "There is no emotional foundation between the two parties, it cannot serve as an effective threat."

And indeed, that is the fact.

Using a mother who abandoned her child from a young age to threaten that child, the effectiveness is easy to imagine.

Uenoshi looked at her mother's photo in the document, an ordinary woman just like herself, unremarkable.

Even so, she still wanted to see her once.

Uenoshi hesitated for a moment, then picked up her phone.

...

Guan Tong had been controlling the Shadow to lurk beneath the Falling Sakura Official Residence's underground prison for over twenty-four hours.

During this time, no newcomers had come down from above; it was still those dozen or so ninja guards taking turns on duty.

Although there had been no gains all day, Guan Tong wasn't particularly anxious either.

He believed that with patience, he would surely grasp the crucial clue.

However, he hadn't been idle during this time; he carefully observed the composition of the prisoners inside the prison.

Apart from the former Andai State people, the rest were all from Sakura Prayer Country.

Being imprisoned rather than executed indicated these people were still useful.

Being imprisoned in the Yuzawa Family's private prison, rather than the official Sakura Prayer prison, indicated these people were only useful to the Yuzawa Family.

Take that Peace Officer surnamed Suzuki, for example. She was tortured, likely because the Yuzawa Family wanted to obtain information about Guan Tong through her, but got nothing.

In this situation, releasing her was unlikely. If she were sent back to the Police Department and revealed she had been tortured, what would the other Peace Officers think?

Executing her would be a bit of a waste; although her [Profiling] ability had no combat power, its functionality was good, and it might still come in handy in the future.

So the Yuzawa Family could only keep her imprisoned here, to be brought out whenever her ability was needed.

But people are not tools or machines. Based on Guan Tong's observation, this Suzuki had been in a daze all day, her eyes vacant, probably not far from a mental breakdown.

Apart from her, there were several cells holding groups of people. Dozens of people were crammed into a single cell.

These people had been tortured much more severely than Suzuki, but their will was very firm. Not only were there no signs of breakdown, they often shouted loudly or punched the cell doors, appearing utterly defiant.

Guan Tong guessed these people were probably opponents of the Yuzawa Family.

He was also very concerned about the situation of that Serpent Servant.

Since yesterday, it had been banging its head against the wall, continuing for a whole day without stopping, but the force had diminished significantly, probably related to physical exhaustion and lack of replenishment.

What he didn't understand was, why was the Yuzawa Family imprisoning it?

This was a monster entirely created by Uenoshi's ability, uncontrollable by anyone else but her.

While pondering this, he suddenly received a message from Uenoshi.

The content included the information she obtained from Mask, as well as a plan of her own.

To investigate the whereabouts of her biological mother, Uenoshi Mitsumi, with the Yuzawa Family to which the Divine Child belonged.

After reading the information, Guan Tong thought to himself, what a coincidence.

Wasn't the private secret prison of the Yuzawa Family exactly what he was currently monitoring?

If Uenoshi's mother was imprisoned by the Yuzawa Family, then she should be inside this underground prison.

He told Uenoshi about his discoveries here, and she immediately replied, wanting to go into the prison to search for her right away.

Guan Tong told her to stay calm, to wait for the key figure to appear before taking action.

So Uenoshi decided to first go to a location near the Falling Sakura Official Residence to lie in wait, to rendezvous on-site only after receiving Guan Tong's signal.

After that, two days passed in a row. Just as Uenoshi was about to lose her patience, she finally received a call from Guan Tong in the middle of the night.

"Let's move."

"Has the key figure appeared?"

"It's that Divine Child's personal bodyguard."

"Okay."

Guan Tong put down his phone. Through the vision shared by the Shadow, he clearly saw someone entering the underground prison.

This person was precisely the one who could use invisibility on the day he attempted to assassinate the Divine Child.

Since this person could serve as the Divine Child's personal bodyguard, even if he wasn't a member of the Yuzawa Family, he must have an extremely thorough understanding of the Yuzawa Family's affairs.

Just like the drivers or butlers of some high-ranking officials or wealthy magnates, only a trusted subordinate could be placed in such a position where they could spy on secrets and have contact with relatives.

He opened the door, and in less than two minutes, Uenoshi, dressed in black, arrived.

"Didn't expect to meet again so soon," Guan Tong said.

Last time, hearing Uenoshi speak like that, he thought it would be a permanent farewell. Who would have thought fate would play such tricks, giving them another chance to act together so quickly.

"Mhm. The guards here have all been withdrawn," Uenoshi said. "Seems like a deliberate smokescreen to make others overlook this place."

"Right, that makes it very hard for outsiders to imagine the existence of an underground prison."

"How do we get in?"

"I've been monitoring for several days, I've already figured out the location of the mechanism to go down. However, once the mechanism is activated and the stone slab opens, the guards inside will hear the noise. So you go through the mechanism, I'll enter using another method. While they are distracted by you, I'll launch a surprise attack."

"Understood."

Guan Tong took Uenoshi to the room containing the mechanism, which was an incense room housing a Statue.

"The mechanism is on the Statue's right ear. Twist it, and the stone slab behind the Statue will open. Go down the stairs, and that's the prison."

Uenoshi nodded, leaped onto the Statue, and reached out to twist the right ear.

The next moment, he appeared in the shadows beside the stone steps.

Since his entire body was wrapped in the black Shadow Armor, he now completely blended into the darkness, nearly impossible to see.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

The sound of the entrance stone slab moving reached below. Someone immediately came out of the guard room, whispering to each other, seemingly puzzled.

At that moment, the key target, the Divine Child's personal bodyguard Shin, also emerged from the room.

This person was fully clad in tight-fitting clothes, wearing a headscarf and face mask, with only a pair of eyes exposed.

And at this moment, those eyes were flashing with alertness and sharp light.

As the entrance stone slab shifted open and Uenoshi's figure was revealed, the guards let out low exclamations.

A flicker of surprise and suspicion also flashed in Shin's eyes. Almost at the same time, Guan Tong launched his attack.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!"

A large number of shadow spikes abruptly appeared from all directions, attacking all the guards.

Shin reacted the fastest, instantly drawing that black blade from his Storage Box to slash at the shadow spikes closing in on him.

The other ninja guards were pierced through their bodies one after another, dying instantly.

The Shadow's speed was already extremely fast. Combined with Guan Tong choosing to attack when their attention was focused on Uenoshi, it was no surprise they were instantly killed.

As for that bodyguard whom the Divine Child addressed as "Shin," after several slashes, his body vanished, using his invisibility ability.

Guan Tong directly expanded his Shadow Domain.

He had no method to see through invisibility, but if he filled every corner with attacks, what use was invisibility?

Within the Shadow Domain, a sky-blotting mass of "shadow needles" fell from above.

This was Guan Tong's special preparation for the invisible opponent. As long as one needle touched Shin's body, he could determine the latter's location.

"Moving in darkness is a ninja's fundamental skill."

Before all the shadow needles had finished falling, an icy voice sounded from behind. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Shin swung his blade down, aiming to split Guan Tong's head in half from the back.

The blade fell, the Shadow Armor split in two, but inside was empty.

"I won't make the same mistake twice."

Guan Tong's voice sounded from above.

He had already experienced this Shin's "invisibility speed slash" before. Even with his triple defense of Shadow Armor + Mind Power protective shield + Liu-Jin Guardian, and even the [Life-Saving Pendant] as his trump card life-saving item, he was unwilling to take the risk.

"Think you can get away?"

The Shadow Domain switched to Small Space mode, appearing in Guan Tong's palm. The next moment, he used Body Swap to exchange positions with a shadow spike in front of Shin.

Faced with Guan Tong suddenly appearing before him, a trace of disdain flashed in the ninja's pupils. It seemed to say that the intelligence about "teleportation + spatial attack" had been leaked before, and he was already prepared.

However, his preparation, along with time itself, stalled for an instant.

What's going on?!

By the time Shin regained his senses, Guan Tong's hand holding the Small Space attack was already pressed against his waist. From the corner of his eye, he seemed to catch a glimpse of Guan Tong holding a small hourglass in his other hand.

The silent and unstoppable Small Space attack almost instantly bisected him at the waist. His right arm holding the teleportation item was also immediately severed by a shadow blade at close range, falling to the ground.

The excruciating pain and the shock of losing sensation in his lower half nearly caused Shin to faint on the spot.

Instantly, a flood of illusions filled his vision. His brain could no longer withstand the successive intense stimuli. With a muffled groan, he hung his head and fell unconscious.