Silence pressed down unnaturally.
No wind. No insects. Just a sharp ringing in the ears, like damage feedback after a high-impact strike.
Might Guy activated the Eight Gates on instinct.
Too late.
Hyūga Shinya was already frozen in a half-turn stance, knees bent, body aligned. His long hair settled behind him in slow motion.
A clear sound echoed.
Drop.
Blood slid from Shinya's palm, fell from his fingertips, and shattered against the ground.
Guy snapped back to awareness.
"Enemy attack?"
He vanished into motion, sprinting toward the direction of the strike.
When he arrived, there was nothing left to pursue.
Only a pool of fresh blood.
And a severed right arm.
The cut was clean. Bone and muscle exposed with surgical precision.
The assailant had escaped.
Shinya approached, eyes briefly scanning the scene before lifting his gaze toward the trees ahead.
Branches swayed slightly. Sunlight fractured through leaves.
"Did you see him?" Guy asked.
"No," Shinya replied calmly, lowering his eyes. "Too fast."
SYSTEM LOG
Statement Authenticity:Classification: ConcealmentObserver Emotional Response: ElevatedBelief Acceptance: ConfirmedResource Gain: +300 Units
Guy did not question him.
That was exactly why Shinya had chosen him.
"That needs to be reported immediately," Guy said grimly. "An attack inside the village isn't something we can ignore."
He paused, eyes snapping to Shinya's hand. "Wait. Your injury—"
"It's superficial," Shinya said lightly, holding up his palm. Only a thin cut remained.
SYSTEM LOG
Statement Authenticity:Classification: DownplayObserver Emotional Response: StableBelief Accepted
The truth was less comfortable.
If he had caught the blade instead of the handle, the hand would be gone.
Guy exhaled. "Still… you awakened the Byakugan under pressure. That's fortunate."
Shinya smiled faintly.
Guy stayed silent longer than usual, replaying the moment.
That speed.
If the target had been him, would he have reacted in time?
Only if the gate was already open.
The strike had not allowed for preparation.
"…You're strong," Guy said sincerely. "I need to train harder. Five hundred extra handstand laps daily."
"Luck," Shinya replied.
No system confirmation followed.
Guy believed it was skill.
"Let's get your hand treated," Guy said. "Then we report to the Hokage. Someone's already operating inside Konoha."
An operative. Shinya thought.
Or something closer.
He flexed his hand. The skin had already sealed.
That attack hadn't come from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The timing was off.
More likely… cleanup.
"Orochimaru's remnants," he thought briefly.
Then discarded it.
"No," Shinya assessed silently. "Too precise."
Only one candidate moved like that.
Shimura Danzō.
Elsewhere — Forest of Death, Outer Perimeter
A cloaked figure used Flicker repeatedly, forcing distance before collapsing onto a tree branch.
Blood poured where an arm should have been.
The man bit down hard, gasping.
Impossible.
The target had been observed for weeks. Slow. Subservient. Worthless.
He had prepared thoroughly.
He had used the technique Danzō himself had taught him.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade, condensed for silent assassination.
The boy had stopped.
Turned his head.
Activated the Byakugan.
Then caught the kunai.
Bare hand. On the grip. Perfect precision.
At great distance, using perception enhancement jutsu, the assassin had felt it.
Eye contact.
Cold. Empty.
Then the throw.
The forest received it first.
The body followed.
His sleeve split.
Red formed a ring.
Then gravity finished its work.
The arm fell.
"If he's trash…" the assassin muttered through clenched teeth, shaking. "…then what does that make me?"
"Kamaitachi."
The voice was dry.
Heavy.
The assassin flinched instantly.
Shimura Danzō stood behind him, cane grounded, single visible eye cold.
"I failed," Kamaitachi whispered.
Danzō glanced at the severed limb. "Your dominant arm is gone. You are no longer viable."
Kamaitachi's breath hitched.
Danzō's gaze turned distant.
"So Orochimaru left something behind after all," he thought. "That boy is altered."
Hiruzen had taken the Wood Release asset from him.
Fine.
Then he would take this one.