"Then we'll leave it to Konoha's people."
"Rest assured. A mad cult like this—no one would let them walk away. And thank you for providing intelligence. It will help us deal with them more effectively."
"It's only what we should do. You're far too polite."
Inside the residence of Hidden Hot Water Village's leader, Senju Hikaru spoke gently to the elderly man before him.
The old man was clearly the village head.
Any village had a leader, but the title Kage belonged only to the Five Great Villages.
This man looked kind and soft-spoken, and there was no chakra fluctuation in his body at all—an ordinary civilian.
Yet the way he handled himself was… impressive.
Even Hikaru, picky as he was, couldn't find fault.
He carried himself like the leader of a shinobi village, but never forgot his village was small. That calm, balanced manner—neither groveling nor arrogant—was genuinely comfortable to deal with.
If nothing changed, though… this old man would probably end up dying by Hidan's hand.
Hikaru knew too much about what was coming. And from this conversation, he could tell the man truly wanted peace.
After they parted, Hikaru led his four men back into concealment. As ANBU, they didn't like standing under everyone's eyes for long.
"My lord… that old man didn't tell the full truth," Sparrowhawk, Senju Kenichi, suddenly said after they entered a forest. "He gave us plenty of information, but I don't think he gave it only to us."
"Oh?" Hikaru tilted his head, curious. "How did you notice?"
"When we arrived, I felt… someone was probing us," Kenichi admitted. "My sensory skill isn't strong. I only sensed chakra. I couldn't confirm more, and it vanished quickly, so…"
"I understand." Hikaru was mildly surprised. He hadn't expected Kenichi to have any sensory ability at all.
Then again, the Senju having that sort of gift wasn't strange. Hikaru himself had excellent sensing by nature.
But this alone wasn't enough.
He wanted to see if Kenichi had noticed more.
"Anything else?" Hikaru asked calmly. "That isn't quite convincing."
"The room," Redhawk, Senju Kaisho, said. "The traces inside. It was cleaned, but whoever cleaned it wasn't a shinobi—probably servants. They left too many marks."
"And my lord," Harrierhawk, Senju Keita, added, "Hidden Hot Water Village wouldn't bet everything on us. They border the Land of Fire, but they also border the Cloud's sphere. They'd never put all their chips on Konoha alone, so…"
He stopped there.
Hikaru nodded.
These four were ordinary ANBU. They could access some intelligence, but never the full picture—only Hikaru had that.
Yet they were still piecing together the situation.
That at least meant the clan's training hadn't been wasted.
Still, it wasn't enough.
They needed to do better, or Hikaru would have to reassess what "elite" meant inside the Senju.
"Not bad," Hikaru said with a small smile. "You noticed the inconsistencies."
"But you still need to improve. This is far from enough. Someone came—and you didn't react properly."
"Apologies for disappointing you, my lord." All four lowered their heads instantly, posture rigid with respect.
"Disappointment isn't the issue," Hikaru said lightly. "And what would truly disappoint me… I think you understand that very well."
His eyes swept over them once, then he turned.
"Come on. Let's go see them. We might get useful information."
With that, Hikaru strode toward the shadow clone's position. The four exchanged glances, then followed quickly.
No one needed to explain what he meant.
They also understood that saying the right words wouldn't help. Only results mattered.
At the same time, they couldn't help but feel that familiar dread again.
Their captain was younger than them, yet already sat in a division commander's seat—and his ability was terrifying.
Kenichi had sensed something watching them.
But Hikaru had noticed it long before, identified exactly where they were, and even tracked them cleanly.
They'd always known his sensing was strong—
this was the first time they truly felt how hopeless the gap was.
Back when Hikaru threatened them, they'd carried resentment deep inside.
Why should a kid control them?
But they didn't dare speak. As ANBU captain, Hikaru truly held the authority to decide whether they lived or died.
What really drove the lesson into their bones was the Senju Ryota incident.
Hikaru hadn't cared that Ryota was a clan elder with real power.
He'd used ruthless means and forced him out—cleanly, decisively.
They could all sense it: if Ryota had refused, the outcome wouldn't have been "punishment."
It would have been death.
And not just Ryota's—his whole household would have suffered a convenient "accident."
And then there were the rumors.
After enough ANBU training, they'd begun brushing shoulders with other divisions.
And through hints and half-whispers, they'd learned something that shook them.
Their captain had left Konoha after threatening them… and done something unbelievable outside.
They didn't know the details.
The Third Division's lower ranks had been training; Hikaru hadn't told them anything.
But other divisions?
Most of them knew.
Even if the story was fragmented, it was still enough to make their blood run cold:
Hikaru had supposedly killed over a hundred Suna shinobi alone—then returned safely.
Even without details, the implication was clear.
Their captain was not someone they could even dream of challenging.
If they showed the slightest "problem," they knew exactly what kind of ending waited.
They moved fast. Soon, the five reached a secluded stretch of forest near the village.
Hikaru sensed it, confirmed the distance, and felt the other side had already noticed him approaching.
Then he spoke calmly.
"Four Cloud ANBU, about six hundred meters ahead. I'll go restrain them first. Move quickly."
He paused, and a hint of amusement entered his voice.
"Don't make me finish everything before you even arrive. That would truly disappoint me."
The moment the words fell, Hikaru vanished.
And in the next instant, his presence appeared—silent as a ghost—near the Cloud ANBU.
They had a sensor among them. That was how they'd noticed Hikaru's group.
But his sensing was weak. If it had been any better, he would have found Hikaru's shadow clone long ago.
Still, now that they'd detected pursuit, they couldn't just sit there.
Especially because they already knew who they were facing.
Konoha's Nightingale.
"Damn it!"
Hikaru's speed was beyond their imagination.
In a blink, he was behind them, dozens of meters away—
then another flicker, and he was in front.
And this time, he struck.
Bang!
A single punch.
One Cloud ANBU, sprinting at full speed, was launched backward.
His ribcage collapsed inward, and blood seeped through the edge of his mask.
Hikaru didn't slow.
The instant his fist landed, his body blurred—gone—then reappeared beside the second Cloud ANBU like a nightmare wearing human form.
"Watch out!"
Only now did one of them manage to shout a warning.
Too late.
Hikaru's fist had already moved.
Bang!
The second ANBU flew.
Worse luck than the first—his mask shattered.
He hit the ground and didn't move. Dead or alive, no one could tell.
"Lightning Release—!"
The third Cloud ANBU began forming seals in panic—
and then froze.
Hikaru had appeared right in front of him.
Too close.
Too sudden.
He reached out, grabbed the hand mid-seal, slid upward to the fingers… and twisted.
Crack.
"AAH!"
Two fingers snapped.
Ten fingers were connected to the heart—pain tore the scream out of him without permission.
But the scream didn't even finish.
Hikaru drove a kick into his abdomen.
The Cloud ANBU flew back and slammed into a tree, trunk shuddering violently.
Leaves spiraled down—
and before they could touch the ground, Hikaru vanished again.
He appeared in front of the last Cloud ANBU, drove his knee into the man's stomach—
and in the instant the body folded from pain, Hikaru's hand clamped onto his throat.
The first leaf finally drifted to the forest floor.
Only then did Hikaru speak—still not turning his head.
"Looks like you're late."
In the moment his words fell, the Senju four arrived.
They stared at the three bodies sprawled on the ground… and the fourth man in Hikaru's grip.
All four dropped to one knee.
"Enough. Don't waste time on apologies." Hikaru cut them off flatly. "They're not dead. Clean the scene and bring them. We need information."
"Yes, my lord!"
The four responded instantly.
Their voices were respectful—yet strained.
Even behind masks, the shock in their bodies was obvious.
Six hundred meters wasn't far for ANBU.
They hadn't taken long at all.
And in that brief span, Hikaru had dropped four ANBU by himself.
And more than that—
capturing was harder than killing.
Yet none of the four had been executed. All had been crushed into helplessness instead.
That level of control, that level of dominance… was suffocating.
Maybe only someone like this could do what the others whispered—
kill over a hundred in the Land of Wind and come back alive.
…
At nearly the same time, out on the sea route toward the Land of Water, Kakashi stared into a wall of thick fog ahead and pulled his coat tighter.
He was dressed as a fisherman.
So were the ANBU with him.
Only Pakura wore her usual clothing.
This mission was meant for Pakura to witness Suna's betrayal with her own eyes. If she disguised herself, the entire point would be diluted.
What drove Kakashi crazy was her attitude.
She didn't resist physically.
She simply refused to cooperate—quietly, stubbornly, relentlessly.
If Hikaru and his teacher weren't trying to turn her…
Kakashi would have knocked her out already—just like in the Land of Wind.
He sighed, watching patrol boats from Kirigakure slide through the mist in the distance.
All he could do was murmur inside his head:
Please… don't let this go wrong.
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