Plop… plop…
The cold autumn rain blanketed the entire forest.
The dark green canopy overlapped into a dome, while mist drifted between the branches, weaving a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere of nature.
Several black figures flickered across the trunks and branches. Rainwater trickled down the folds of their jet-black rain cloaks, carving winding trails across the waterproof fabric.
Among them, also clad in a black rain cloak, was Hyūga Kumokawa. He walked near the middle of the formation, carefully scanning the escort party with the corner of his eye.
Out of the fifteen people in the group, twelve were ANBU — three full squads, four members each.
That in itself was already a great show of importance.
After all, ANBU were the Third Hokage's personal guards; they would not normally leave the village for outside missions so easily.
As for the remaining three — aside from Kumokawa, who was half the object of protection, there were two Konoha jōnin.
One was from the Akimichi clan, the other from the Aburame clan.
The rest all wore different shaped masks, exuding a chilling aura of cold sharpness.
This escort team could be said to possess overwhelming combat strength — virtually free of any security concerns.
But…
"The danger doesn't necessarily come from the outside."
Kumokawa's gaze swept over the Aburame jōnin, keenly sensing a familiar chill radiating from him.
Root shinobi.
So Shimura Danzō hadn't given up after all. But that was fine. Their goals were the same.
"Stop."
Kumokawa's sudden words made everyone halt instinctively. Their eyes turned toward him in unison.
"Two o'clock direction, one kilometer away. Thirteen ninja gathered there. Their chakra is chaotic — likely rogue ninja."
As he spoke, Kumokawa removed his goggles to wipe them, revealing the skin beneath his eyelids, pale and swollen from the damp mist.
"Let's bypass them." The Akimichi jōnin's voice was distorted by the sound of rain.
Rogue ninja, as the name suggested, were mostly wanderers not affiliated with any hidden village. They drifted between nations, stealing and imitating jutsu from all countries, usually learning only scraps — shadows without essence. Most of them were weak.
Of course, if a dozen or more rogues gathered together, there was a high chance they had been recruited by a missing-nin from a major village.
Their mission was only to escort. The sooner the corpse was delivered to Kumogakure, the better. It was unwise to create unnecessary trouble along the way.
"How far are we from the Land of Hot Water?"
The Aburame jōnin — Aburame Ryōma — suddenly spoke.
Kumokawa glanced at the map and replied, "Around one hundred fifty kilometers."
The Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning did not border each other; they were separated by the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon. Their destination lay within the Land of Hot Water.
At a normal shinobi's pace, without using Body Flicker, traveling from Konoha to Sunagakure would take three days and nights. Konoha to the Land of Hot Water was a bit shorter — about a day and a night.
"Senior Dōtō," Aburame Ryōma turned to the Akimichi jōnin beside him and suggested, "We're still far from the destination. How about we rest here? With the Byakugan in our team, we don't need to worry about surprises."
"…"
Akimichi Dōtō's small eyes were squeezed into slits by his plump cheeks.
He tilted his head slightly, glancing back at Kumokawa.
Inwardly, he was secretly impressed by the boy's performance so far.
Dōtō was a veteran jōnin who had fought in the Third Shinobi World War, once part of the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato's team.
At first, he thought the Third Hokage placing Kumokawa in the escort squad would only be a burden.
But to his surprise, the boy had completely kept up with them.
Thanks to his Byakugan, they hadn't run into a single problem.
That level of insight, stamina, and calmness…
"Rumors really can't be trusted."
Dōtō thought to himself, and without rejecting Ryōma's suggestion, said aloud, "Then let's rest here."
After he spoke, he looked at the ANBU of Squad Four and Squad Five. They exchanged knowing nods, then flickered away instantly.
Since they were going to stop and rest here, they might as well take the opportunity to eliminate the rogues. After all, this was still within the Land of Fire — rogue ninja were little more than tumors.
The rest found places to rest, the rustle of their dark rain cloaks sounding like soaked owls preening their feathers.
Akimichi Dōtō summoned a hawk, tied a written scroll to its leg, and sent it back toward the Third Hokage.
They had to stay in contact with the village. If communication was lost, the village would immediately dispatch reinforcements.
Kumokawa also found a place to sit. Since someone else was taking his place, he deactivated his Byakugan to refine and recover chakra.
But just as he lifted his water flask to drink, his eyes flickered slightly.
A bug crawled into his sleeve.
Tiny and ordinary — anyone else, even Dōtō, would never have noticed.
But Kumokawa's perception wasn't limited to just the Byakugan.
"Aburame clan's destruction bugs, huh?"
Kumokawa calmly lowered his flask, as if unaware.
Destruction bugs were scouting-type, used for gathering intel, unlike the dangerous parasitic insects or nano-venomous ones.
Still, they could interfere with his next move.
As he considered how to dispose of it, his eyes shifted suddenly — down toward the ground.
"Careful, underground—"
He spoke without hesitation, but before he could finish, the muddy ground beneath them split open.
Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!
Bang!
Hands shot from underground without warning, kunai in their grip, slashing toward Kumokawa's ankles.
They wanted to cripple him — to rob the squad of its "eyes."
Hands also burst from beneath Akimichi Dōtō and Aburame Ryōma.
But the former simply formed a seal, then stomped his muscled legs down with full force, while the latter was instantly shielded by swarms of insects.
Crunch! Splatter!
Red-and-white blood mixed with rainwater, spreading across the mud, while countless bugs burrowed underground with a terrifying gnawing sound.
Both men eliminated their attackers in an instant, then turned instinctively toward Kumokawa.
And saw him dodge the strike, seize the two hands protruding from the soil, and forcibly drag the enemy out of the ground.
With one palm strike, a massive hole was punched clean through the enemy's abdomen, blood and organ fragments gushing out uncontrollably.
"They're Iwagakure missing-nin," Kumokawa said after glancing at the corpse's forehead. "Must've been that group ahead who noticed us…"
As he spoke, he looked up — only to meet astonished stares.
It was no wonder. His way of killing was far too brutal for the Hyūga's reputation.
That these enemies, at best chūnin-level, could be slain wasn't surprising.
But a Hyūga crushing someone's belly with a single palm? That was savagery unheard of.
Meanwhile, Aburame Ryōma frowned faintly, sensing his destruction bug's death.
He glanced at Kumokawa's sleeve, but saw only smears of blood.
He assumed the insect had simply been caught in Kumokawa's strike, and quietly released more scouts.
But no matter how many he sent, it was useless now.
Because Kumokawa's true body, already clad in a shadowed cloak, had slipped away silently.
The one smiling here was merely a shadow clone.
He had gone ahead to set the stage.
For his "puppets."
In the dense forest shadows, Hyūga Kumokawa's cloaked figure melted into darkness. As he advanced, he muttered inwardly:
"Materialize — Ōtsutsuki Ruins…"
This time, the one he planned to deceive was no longer just a person, or a few people.
But the entire shinobi world.
Including both Kumogakure and Konoha.
Hyūga Kumokawa…
was about to tell the greatest lie of all.