"You're a sensory ninja?"
The Missing-nin Jonin from Kumogakure stepped forward with a mocking grin.
He had absolute confidence in his own strength. Even facing Kaede Kitahara, he showed no fear. Instead, he looked almost amused.
For Kaede to block them before they struck could only mean one thing.
He must be a sensory-type ninja.
Kaede's behavior did not quite match the information they had gathered, and that discrepancy sparked his curiosity.
"Do Missing-nin always talk this much?" Kaede tilted his head and smiled faintly.
"Damn it. You dare look down on us? Trash. Kill him!"
The Missing-nin from Kusagakure could not hold back any longer.
But in the next instant, his expression changed.
He could not move.
"What the hell…?"
His limbs would not respond.
"I can't move either!"
"Something's wrong!"
"Genjutsu. It's genjutsu!"
Panic broke out among them.
The Kumogakure Missing-nin quickly realized what had happened. Unlike the others, he remained composed.
"Genjutsu… Release!"
He bit his tongue hard, attempting to disrupt his Chakra flow.
Nothing changed.
His vision blurred.
Suddenly, he found himself bound to a massive tree trunk.
"This is… Konoha's Tree Binding Death."
Shock flooded his face.
How?
With Jonin-level strength, how could he fail to break free from the genjutsu of a mere Chunin like Kaede Kitahara?
Unless…
He was not a sensory ninja at all.
He was a genjutsu specialist.
But even so, how could he have cast it without a single sound or sign? They had not seen any hand seals. Not even a hint of a trigger.
And even after realizing they were trapped, he could not break free.
Even if genjutsu was not his specialty, that made no sense.
Unless the opponent's mental power completely overwhelmed his own.
But that was impossible.
The boy was barely ten.
"How did you plant the suggestion? You didn't even form hand seals!" the Kusagakure Missing-nin shouted in disbelief.
They had seen no movement. No sign of an attack.
That was why they had dared approach so boldly.
Kaede smiled faintly.
"What made you think I didn't use genjutsu?"
They froze.
Was that not obvious?
Genjutsu required hand seals. Or at least some kind of action as a cue.
Kaede's eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Scarlet light flickered within them.
"That's… the Sharingan."
The Kumogakure Missing-nin recognized it immediately.
He had heard the training lectures back in his village about countering the Sharingan.
He had forgotten most of it.
After all, the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out. Rumor said only two survived.
What was the point of remembering useless information?
Now he understood.
Kaede had not needed hand seals.
He had not needed obvious cues.
The moment their gazes met, they had already fallen into his illusion.
They simply had not realized it.
They had even been subtly influenced to ignore the presence of his eyes.
The three-tomoe Sharingan already possessed formidable ocular power.
But Kaede's Chakra reserves surpassed even many Kage Level fighters.
His ocular strength was approaching that of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
He lacked its unique abilities. He could not summon Susanoo.
But in raw visual power, he was frighteningly close.
Before the Kumogakure Missing-nin could say anything more, his eyes rolled back.
He lost consciousness.
The others collapsed as well, overwhelmed by the Sharingan.
"Who sent you?" Kaede asked calmly. "Or at least tell me who placed the bounty on me at the Bounty Station."
"I don't know," the Kumogakure Missing-nin answered dully, half-conscious under the illusion. "We never ask. The Bounty Station never tells."
"And when people go there, they use the Transformation Technique. Disguises. You can't trace them."
Kaede nodded.
That was typical of the Bounty Station.
Both those who posted missions and those who accepted them often concealed their identities.
Of course, there were exceptions. Some village representatives posted bounties openly to hunt down their own Missing-nin.
Those people had powerful backing. They did not fear exposure.
"But based on our guess… it's someone from Konoha," the Kumogakure Missing-nin continued sluggishly. "You're just a Chunin. Without that bounty, we wouldn't even know who you are."
"They set the difficulty at Jonin level. We thought it was excessive."
Kaede rubbed his chin.
That matched his earlier deduction.
He was an ordinary Chunin.
Outside Konoha, who would recognize him?
And who would issue a Jonin-level bounty just to kill a Chunin?
"Of course. That old dog Danzo."
In the realm of taking the blame, if there was a candidate, you blamed Danzo.
If not, you blamed him anyway.
"Afeng, what's going on?"
Two figures landed lightly on the rooftop.
Amakusa Ryuji and Hyuga Keiko.
They had been preparing for bed when they heard movement and rushed over.
They had not expected Kaede to neutralize the enemy so quietly.
Their gazes fell on the immobilized Missing-nin.
"They took a bounty from the Bounty Station to kill me," Kaede explained. "I sensed them first and dealt with it."
"What? The Bounty Station?" Amakusa Ryuji stared in disbelief.
He knew what kind of place that was.
He had never imagined it would intersect with their lives.
Under normal circumstances, they would never appear on such a board.
"Shimura Danzo?" Hyuga Keiko reacted faster.
Why would a normal Chunin squad like theirs end up with a bounty otherwise?
If the Bounty Station started targeting regular Konoha Chunin teams, the villages would never tolerate it.
The villages used the Bounty Station for dirty work.
That did not mean they would allow it to compete for ordinary missions.
"They don't know for sure," Kaede said. "But I'd bet it's him."
Amakusa Ryuji immediately clenched his fists.
"I knew it. That old bastard. So underhanded."
He nodded repeatedly, reinforcing his own guess as if it had been his all along.
"Shimura Danzo really won't let go," Hyuga Keiko said coldly. "According to what Sensei told us, the Hokage personally confronted him and placed Root under full Anbu surveillance. And he still won't give up."
There was no trace of respect in her tone now.
Only anger.
Earlier, their team leader, Akai Akimoto, had informed them that Danzo was under strict watch by the Third Hokage.
After ignoring Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders twice and acting on his own, Danzo had infuriated him.
Danzo was confined.
Root was monitored.
Root operatives were ordered to remain within their training base.
Kaede had thought that would force him to lie low.
He had underestimated Danzo's obsession.
When Danzo decided something was a threat, he would pursue it relentlessly.
Just like when he stole Uchiha Shisui's eye.
If he believed it was right, he acted.
Now, Danzo believed Kaede was a threat.
So he would hunt him down endlessly.
"His ambition will never fade," Kaede said calmly. "As long as he sees us as obstacles, he won't stop."
"But at least he's under watch. Root can't move openly. These little tricks won't accomplish much."
Kaede was not overly concerned about covert methods.
He still had Flying Thunder God.
Whenever he traveled, he planted a Flying Thunder God Kunai at intervals.
That was why he constantly needed money to produce more of them.
He had not yet reached the level of the Fourth Hokage, who could leave marks directly and teleport at will.
But he was confident in his own survival.
Compared to when he first realized he might be on Danzo's kill list, his mindset had improved greatly.
He also did not expect Sarutobi Hiruzen to truly eliminate Danzo.
Because in truth, Danzo was part of Hiruzen's power structure.
Hiruzen alone was not the entirety of the Hokage's authority.
Hiruzen.
The advisory council.
Danzo's Root in the shadows.
Together, they formed a complete Hokage.
No matter how angry Hiruzen became, the most he would do was restrict Danzo.
He would never kill him.