“This is my first one,” Katsuko said. She pushed her mask aside and smiled back, unashamedly. “Never seen someone slip into a cover persona that fast.” It wasn’t an empty compliment; Genma had shifted his weight, changed his posture, done something with his expression, and all of the sudden it was like looking at a stranger who just happened to be wearing the same clothes.

He grinned. "I had a good teacher. And I've done this one a fair amount, so it comes easy." He rolled his shoulders, gloved fingers flexing. "Hajime's the one you want to take your cues from, once I'm in the middle of things."

“Thank you, Shiranui,” Hajime said, dryly. “Everyone, we’re moving out. There’s a cave a quarter-mile east where Gen and I’ll change, then head in the main gate. Ueno, after we’re done you circle around and enter the town through the opposite gate.”

“Sure thing, Boss.” Katsuko rose to her feet, arching into a full-body stretch as she tugged her mask on again. Hajime tucked the scroll away and took off running, followed by Genma with Katsuko bringing up the rear.

The cave they found was dry, if a little dark, and was blocked from view by an outcropping of craggy rocks near the entrance. Genma started stripping down as soon as Hajime gave the all clear, revealing sleek muscle and thighs to die for. Katsuko crossed her arms and leaned against the cave wall, dividing her attention between keeping watch and the small show Genma was making out of changing into civilian clothes.

He glanced at her. “When we meet up here after the mission’s over, don’t freak out if I’m a little...”

“That’s what Eros handlers are for,” Hajime interrupted smoothly, and started stripping down himself.

Katsuko met Genma’s eyes and nodded. “No problem,” she said, cheerily. “It’ll be fine.”

The guards at the town’s east gate were a mixture of highly trained civilians and low-tier shinobi. Both were easy enough to slip past with a simple concealment jutsu. The mild headache that came out of forcing her oversized chakra into shape was easy enough to ignore, and didn’t even slow Katsuko down as she slid through the shadows.

The castle was a looming monstrosity of fancy architecture and paranoia, with armored sentries posted at every feasible entrance. Katsuko wiggled in through the kitchen courtyard, hiding among the crates of fancy biscuits until the cook was called away on an emergency. The drainpipe Hajime had pointed out to her was situated near the kitchen’s swinging double doors; Katsuko clambered up it with practiced ease and swung herself into the outlet, unbuckling her swords and preparing for a long wait.