"Lord Yuan, that bastard dared to disrespect you like that. He deserves to die!"
Yamazō Qiichi glared angrily as he watched Yamamoto Torashi being carried away by two men.
Uchiha Yuan slowly swept his gaze across the other shinobi of the outpost.
The moment their eyes met his, they all lowered their heads.
Finally, Yuan's gaze landed on Hayakawa Mito.
A faint smile curved on his lips.
"Yamazō, we've only just arrived here. The village's eyes are still on us."
"When fools offend us, we must show a certain degree of tolerance."
"That is… giving face to the village."
Hearing this, Hayakawa Mito's eyelid twitched slightly.
After all, Yamamoto's miserable state could hardly be called mercy.
Typical Uchiha… domineering as ever.
Noticing the subtle shift in Hayakawa's expression, Yuan asked with a smile,
"Vice-captain Hayakawa, do you have any objections to what I said?"
Hayakawa immediately replied,
"Of course not. Captain Torashi's behavior earlier was indeed inappropriate."
Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at him for several seconds.
Hayakawa suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine.
His ninja instincts screamed at him to leap away.
At that moment—
Time seemed to freeze.
The surroundings fell silent.
It felt as if a terrifying beast were staring straight at him.
After a moment—
The invisible pressure suddenly vanished.
Hayakawa quietly exhaled.
Only then did he realize his back was drenched with sweat.
What terrifying killing intent…
A monster has arrived at this outpost.
At that moment, the smile vanished from Yuan's face.
"If certain idiots continue making suicidal mistakes…"
He paused briefly.
His gaze swept across every ninja in the outpost.
"I believe someone said something quite correct earlier."
"This is the border."
"During patrols… it's very possible to encounter shinobi from Kirigakure or Sunagakure."
The meaning behind the words was obvious.
Accidents happen often on the border.
Night fell.
The sky glittered with stars, and the bright moon bathed the earth in silver light.
A gentle wind carried the salty scent of the sea, along with the distant sound of waves.
Suddenly—
The faint flutter of wings broke the silence.
A black shadow shot up from near Outpost No. 58, disappearing quickly into the night sky.
It was a communication hawk.
To maintain secrecy, the outpost itself was built underground.
Inside the largest chamber of the underground base—
Uchiha Yuan sat listening as Yamazō and the others reported everything they had learned about the members of Outpost 58.
This room had originally belonged to Yamamoto Torashi.
Now—
Yuan had taken it without hesitation.
"Lord Yuan," Yamazō said.
"Someone just released a communication hawk."
"They must have reported today's incident to the platoon headquarters."
He hesitated before continuing,
"I'm worried the command unit may summon you for questioning."
Yuan simply smiled faintly.
"Yamazō."
"There's no need to worry."
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