"Hyūga Hinata, you—"
Just as the two boys before her were about to speak again, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air, followed immediately by a pained cry of "Ah!"
Startled, Hinata raised her head.
One boy clutched the back of his head in agony, crouching on the ground. The other spun around in panic, only to let out a wretched scream himself, both hands pressed to his skull as his body trembled from the pain.
Hinata saw two objects drop to the ground. Looking closely, they were wooden kunai. The dulled tips of the wooden weapons still carried faint traces of blood.
Those blows had surely split both their heads open.
"You're still just as timid." A familiar voice reached Hinata's ears. She looked up to see Hyūga Neji walking over.
"Neji-oniisan…"
Ignoring the two boys clutching their heads, Hyūga Neji stood before Hinata, his face expressionless. "No one can protect you for life—not even justice finds it easy. If you don't want to be bullied, throw away the airs of a Main House lady and abandon that meaningless cowardice of 'not wanting to hurt anyone.'"
Then he lowered his head slightly and addressed the two boys. "Next time, if I see you verbally bullying your classmates again, it won't just be your heads split open by wooden kunai."
The two students had already recognized him—the academy's number-one prodigy, Hyūga Neji.
One of them, clutching his forehead, gritted his teeth and said, "Aren't you a Branch member? Why are you helping this Main House princess? Hasn't your Branch already beaten the Main House? Or have you gotten so used to protecting her that you've become the Hyūga Main House's dog?"
His companion was struck dumb by his reckless words.
If Hyūga Neji got angry now, both of them were sure to get thrashed!
Yet Hyūga Neji's face showed not the slightest ripple as he said, "I'm stepping in from the standpoint of [Absolute Justice] to put a stop to your bullying—not from the standpoint of a Hyūga Branch member protecting her. The difference between the two is fundamental."
Neji-oniisan's tone was a little like that terrifying man's. It felt as though he was deliberately trying to imitate him, though not very skillfully—such was the thought that flashed through Hinata's mind.
Then, she heard Hyūga Neji speak to her: "Next time you run into something like this, you can tell me directly."
Hinata watched wide-eyed as Neji finished speaking and walked past her.
It seemed…
Neji-oniisan wasn't as resentful of her as he used to be.
So Hinata murmured in her heart.
…
"What… what are you even saying, I don't understand?" Kagawa Shō's innermost layer of clothing was already soaked with sweat.
But after all, he was a spy carefully trained by Orochimaru, so his acting skills were solid.
His face showed no cracks.
He affected just the right trace of fear, as if only just realizing Uchiha Keizumi was wearing the Police Force uniform. In a foreign accent he stammered, "Um… did I accidentally break some Konoha regulation? I only just came here, there are so many rules I don't know. Surely in Konoha you uphold 'ignorance is no crime,' right?"
"Your acting is fake, meow."
Tachibana Jirō mercilessly tore through Kagawa Shō's lie, sneering, "Those micro-expressions of yours might fool inexperienced shinobi. But to me, I can smell the emotions on you. You're shocked right now, aren't you?"
"You're shocked Keizumi-sama found your trail, shocked Lord Keizumi knows you're tied to Orochimaru, and even more shocked that Keizumi-sama caught you before you could lay a hand on the Byakugan."
"Meow, Orochimaru may have been banished from Konoha, but he's sure doing well outside, always managing to sneak spies back in."
Kagawa Shō was sweating so badly it seeped even from between his buttocks. Terrified, he staggered back a few steps, staring at Tachibana Jirō in disbelief.
"A c-cat… this cat…"
"It talked!?"
"Keizumi-sama, looks like he still hasn't given up," Tachibana Jirō said.
"Hand him over to the Yamanaka clan," Uchiha Keizumi said slowly. "Let their shinobi check his memories. That way we'll know whether he really is Orochimaru's spy."
Kagawa Shō: "!!!"
Damn it!
Though he had already heard in Konoha that Uchiha Keizumi was an extremely radical man, only when he himself became a "victim" of Absolute Justice did he realize just how outrageous the other truly was.
Do Konoha's shinobi really just let this man run wild through the village?
Without Orochimaru-sama, Konoha really has become a mess!
A thousand thoughts flashed through Kagawa Shō's mind as he suddenly clenched his teeth.
He bit down hard and shattered one of his own molars. Instantly, a cloud of black smoke spread through his mouth. He drew a sharp breath through his nose, then spat the smoke out. In the blink of an eye, half the street was shrouded in dense black miasma.
Kagawa Shō spun on his heel and bolted without hesitation!
He actually had confidence that he could hold his own for a few exchanges against Konoha's elite jōnin—but in front of Uchiha Keizumi, he didn't even have the will to fight. This extreme Uchiha's strength had already far surpassed the scope of a jōnin.
There was no way he could handle it.
Damn it…
Orochimaru-sama had just given him a mission, and he had already botched it. Now the only thing left was to run with all he had and find some way to escape Konoha.
[Whoosh—]
Just then, an orange figure tore through the layers of black smoke like an arrow loosed from its string, chasing straight after Kagawa Shō.
Tachibana Jirō's cat paw suddenly swelled to an enormous size.
With a single swipe, he brought it crashing down on Kagawa Shō.
[Boom!!!]
Kagawa Shō's body burst apart into white mist—it was only a shadow clone.
"Huff… huff…"
In a secluded alley corner of Konoha, Kagawa Shō let out a shaky breath, cold sweat pouring down, his heart still pounding in fear.
'Even the ninja cats around that monster are monsters. If that paw had landed on me, I'd be nothing but a bloody smear.'
Just when he thought he had slipped out of danger—
A crisp voice sounded beside him: "What are you sneaking around here for? You look a little unfamiliar. And you've got a scent I know all too well."
Kagawa Shō: "!!!"
He whipped his head toward the voice and saw a short-haired kunoichi of Konoha walking in his direction. Behind her was another kunoichi in the Police Force uniform of the Uchiha.
"Is it just my imagination?"
Mitarashi Anko's fine eyes narrowed sharply. She stared at the plain-faced man before her and declared, "I smell the same scent on you that I have on me. Or rather… this scent comes from Orochimaru!"
This woman…
It was Mitarashi Anko! Orochimaru-sama's disciple in Konoha!
Hiss!
Which meant the Police Force kunoichi behind her was Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Keizumi's subordinate?
Not good!
"Anko, wait!" the Uchiha Izumi behind her called out. One hand already rested on the hilt of her ninjatō, her eyes locked onto Kagawa Shō as she quickly warned Anko: "It's not your imagination. You didn't smell wrong. He really does carry Orochimaru's scent. He's Orochimaru's spy!"
Kagawa Shō: "???"
No.
It was one thing for Uchiha Keizumi to pierce straight through him without reason—but how could she see through him too? Did he have the word "spy" written brazenly across his face?
He was numb with disbelief!
"Hehe, no need to keep acting." A sinister voice rose up. "Once Uchiha Keizumi has his eye on you, you're not escaping."
A tiny, slender white snake slithered out from Kagawa Shō's sleeve.
It wound up his arm.
Climbed onto his shoulder.
And the instant the snake's words fell, Uchiha Keizumi's voice sounded from right behind Kagawa Shō: "Orochimaru, it's been years. Even just hearing your voice is enough to stir my killing intent all over again."
"Keizumi-senpai!"
"Keizumi?"
Izumi and Anko had also noticed Uchiha Keizumi's presence.
The small white snake lifted its upper body, scarlet eyes fixed on Uchiha Keizumi as it spoke again. "Keizumi-kun, do you still hate me so? I never even wronged you. Or is it all because of your so-called [Absolute Justice]?"
"Hehe, your killing intent toward me is meaningless. Even if you kill me, how much can you really change in this incurable shinobi world? Your shinobi path won't save this twisted world."
The white snake paused, tongue flicking, before continuing: "Speaking of which, you did surpass my expectations. Somehow you managed to make my former disciple into your vassal."
Mitarashi Anko clenched her fists, teeth grinding as she cut in with a demand: "Orochimaru, where exactly are you hiding?!"
"You won't even call me Orochimaru-sensei? How very disappointing, Anko."
The snake's tone turned mocking. "I was never hiding. It's only that you Konoha shinobi lack the skill to discover me."
Then it looked back toward Uchiha Keizumi.
"Keizumi, your talent shouldn't be wasted on useless years. If you'd cooperate with me, I'd show you what a shinobi's true essence really is—and what a powerful shinobi should truly seek."
"Hehe, surely you—"
[Swish—]
A flash of steel cut across, and the thumb-sized snake's head flew high into the air.
Uchiha Keizumi had no patience for Orochimaru's nonsense. He stepped forward.
With one hand he clamped down on Kagawa Shō's throat.
As the man's eyes bulged and he began to choke, Keizumi drew his blade across the spy's chest, slicing open his garment to reveal a wide swath of grotesque cursed seals.
Then Keizumi released his sword, curling his chakra-wreathed fingers and slamming them hard against Kagawa Shō's chest.
"Adamantine Unsealing!"
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