Chapter 196: Suspicion

Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Suspicion

Guy returned to the village, not even bothering to wipe the sweat pouring down his face as he searched everywhere for Hyuga Kagami and Shisui.

The first place he went was the Kumo delegation’s residence, the area Team 11 had been assigned to guard tonight. But even after circling the place several times, he found no trace of Kagami or Shisui.

Countless questions immediately flooded his mind.

"Where did those two go? Did they chase after the bounty hunter just like Kakashi and I did? But if they did, why didn’t they meet up with us? Did they chase in the wrong direction?"

Naturally, Guy knew there was another possibility.

Kagami and Shisui might have encountered Kawa and Homura somewhere else... and been defeated.

He had simply been avoiding that possibility all this time.

But given the current situation, he could no longer afford to ignore it.

So Guy returned to the area Kagami and Shisui had been guarding, estimated the direction they might have pursued the enemy in, then sped off along that route toward the outskirts of the village.

Before long, Guy crossed over the outer wall and entered a forest outside the village.

"Kakashi and I intercepted that bounty hunter more than ten miles ahead. Judging from the route he was taking, he should’ve passed through this forest first before running into us. If Kagami and Shisui encountered him, then it was most likely somewhere around here!"

After roughly calculating the direction and distance, Guy concluded that if Kagami and Shisui really had encountered the bounty hunter, their point of contact should be somewhere nearby.

After walking only a short distance, Guy noticed that the temperature around him was unusually low.

His heart jolted, and he immediately quickened his pace. Soon afterward, deep within the dense forest, he discovered Kagami and Shisui—both completely encased in ice.

"Kagami! Shisui!"

With a startled cry, Guy hurriedly leaped over...

......

Early the next morning.

The four members of ANBU Team 11 were summoned to the Hokage’s office by the Third Hokage.

Among the four, Kakashi had one arm wrapped in bandages, and his face was somewhat pale. Judging by his appearance, he had suffered fairly serious injuries during last night’s battle.

Kagami and Shisui were also covered in quite a few bandages.

Their injuries were real enough—they had simply inflicted them on themselves. At first glance, the wounds looked serious, but in reality, they were all superficial flesh wounds.

That was easy enough to explain.

After all, Ice Senbon only possessed so much penetrating power. From the outside, wounds caused by Ice Senbon looked exactly like this—tiny, almost imperceptible flesh wounds.

Of the entire team, Guy was the only one who had escaped mostly unscathed, looking as energetic as ever.

At that moment, the Third Hokage finished reading through the report in his hands and asked wearily, "Why is there no description in your reports of the circumstances surrounding Gloya’s attack?"

As the team captain, Kakashi stepped forward and replied, "I’m sorry, Lord Hokage. Gloya wasn’t attacked inside the delegation’s residence, so our team has no knowledge of the exact circumstances surrounding his attack."

The Third Hokage took out his pipe and drew a puff before asking, "Then where do you think Gloya was attacked?"

Kakashi replied with absolute certainty, "Gloya must have used a Shadow Clone sometime during the day yesterday to slip away from ANBU surveillance. So I have no way of guessing where he was attacked. But he must have had a purpose for doing that. I suspect there’s a Kumo conspiracy behind all of this."

The Third Hokage nodded, seemingly agreeing with Kakashi’s speculation. He then shifted his gaze toward Kagami and Shisui and asked, "How are your injuries?"

Kagami and Shisui answered together, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Hokage. Our injuries are nothing serious."

The Third Hokage said, "I’ve already read both of your reports. Can you confirm that one of your attackers really possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Shisui glanced at Kagami. Seeing that his expression remained perfectly calm, he nodded to the Third Hokage.

"Yes. I’m certain."

The Third Hokage asked again, "Could it have been Uchiha Shinichi?"

Following the story he and Kagami had agreed upon beforehand, Shisui replied, "I’m sorry. Everything happened so suddenly that I couldn’t determine whether he was Shinichi or not. But the other party definitely possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan."

The Third Hokage nodded and said nothing more.

He had no suspicions regarding Kagami and Shisui’s reports.

For one thing, Kawa and Homura had displayed extraordinary strength. Considering Kagami and Shisui had been caught in a surprise attack, there was nothing strange about the two of them being defeated.

For another, Kawa was suspected to be a member of Kirigakure’s Yuki Clan, while Homura was very likely Uchiha Shinichi, who had previously defected from the village.

Given those identities, there was nothing particularly suspicious about Kagami and Shisui either.

The only thing that made the Third Hokage uneasy was the fact that the Uchiha Clan had concealed that Homura possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

In the Third Hokage’s eyes, as the head of the Uchiha Clan, there was no way Fugaku could have fought Homura personally without realizing that Homura possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

If that was the case, there was only one explanation.

Homura was very likely Uchiha Shinichi, who had previously defected from the village. And the reason Fugaku had chosen not to reveal Homura’s true identity was probably because he wanted to bring Uchiha Shinichi—and his Mangekyo Sharingan—back into the clan.

As for Fugaku’s purpose in doing so...

That was something worth being wary of.

Just then, Kakashi suddenly reported, "Lord Hokage, there’s something I noticed."

The Third Hokage looked toward Kakashi and gestured for him to continue.

Kakashi slowly said, "Those two bounty hunters, Kawa and Homura... the only person they killed last night was Gloya!"

The Third Hokage’s brows tightened as he fell into thought.

Kagami was fine. His expression remained perfectly natural, as though he didn’t care about the matter at all.

Shisui, however, swallowed nervously, and the rise and fall of his chest visibly quickened.

Kakashi continued, "Sasori, the rogue ninja from Sunagakure, and Kakuzu, the rogue ninja from Takigakure, are bounty hunters just like them. Yet in a single encounter, they killed five of our ANBU.

"But Kawa and Homura fought their way out of the village and went through several battles along the way. And despite all of that, from beginning to end, they didn’t kill a single Konoha shinobi.

"That... doesn’t seem right!"

Kagami couldn’t help but glance at Kakashi, inwardly grumbling, "This guy Kakashi really is sharp. After everything that happened, he still managed to notice a detail like this. As expected of the Fourth Hokage’s disciple!"

Kagami had known that someone would notice this little detail sooner or later.

He just hadn’t expected Kakashi to catch on so quickly.

The Third Hokage had been overwhelmed by one problem after another and genuinely hadn’t noticed this detail.

But now that Kakashi had pointed it out, he also began to feel that Kawa and Homura’s behavior was somewhat strange.

It didn’t quite fit the lawless, unscrupulous style of bounty hunters who lived with death hanging over their heads every day. And when compared with Sasori and Kakuzu in particular, the difference became even more conspicuous.

After leaving the Hokage Building and parting ways with Kakashi and Guy, Kagami said to Shisui, "Choose our targets as soon as possible!"

Shisui was startled. "That soon?"

"The Third Hokage is getting suspicious. We need to commit another crime as Kamigami as soon as possible and dispel his suspicions."

After a brief pause, Kagami added another reminder.

"Remember—when choosing the targets, prioritize a pair of biological brothers!"