Soon they slipped back to the squad's main, smaller gathering location, rejoining the others as if nothing had happened.
When the squad captain finally called for them after he got back from his patrols, too, Kanae and Renjiro both openly and privately explained the "ambush" in detail.
Okabe's death was pinned on Kumo patrols, just as Ryusei had instructed.
The captain accepted the story with a grim nod.
Okabe had been their team leader, so Ryusei was named temporary captain in his place.
They were then ordered to remain in the squad's temporary hideout, a half-dug shelter in the woods where a handful of other shinobi rotated in and out for rest.
It gave them time to breathe, but Ryusei knew better than to relax.
The squad captain here was only mid-jōnin, the company commander at best a high jōnin.
Ryusei understood what that meant: he still hadn't drawn the eyes of the real powers above.
Orochimaru's central command was far removed.
For now, he was still just one more pawn on the board.
But he also knew his enemies hadn't given up.
They had more than a month, probably preparing Okabe for his suicide task and grooming this squad around him.
Many of these "ordinary" shinobi, team leaders, some squad members, even the captain, were almost certainly tied to Anbu, handpicked to monitor him.
If they tried to transfer him to another company now, it would waste all that careful setup.
More likely, they would just shift him into a new team inside this same company, reshuffling pieces around him until they could tighten the leash again.
With Okabe gone, they wouldn't stop pressing; they'd only get more desperate eventually.
Ryusei smirked faintly to himself, hiding the expression behind his usual polite mask. He could already feel the weight of their plans circling.
"I have to get stronger," he thought coldly. If this war gave him even a sliver of space, he would use it. Reach Elite Jōnin sooner. Break free before they tried their next trap again.
***
For the next month and a half, life settled into a brutal rhythm.
Routine assignments. Patrols. Ambushes. Skirmishes with Kumo squads.
Ryusei's team clashed with enemy groups more than once.
None of those fights were simple, but they were winnable.
With his strength steadily rising, Ryusei had turned battles that might have been costly into relatively clean victories.
It was now close to eight months since he had formally awakened in this world.
But the latest assignment was different.
The tone in the orders, the intelligence given, was clear.
The chances of running into heavier Kumo squads were much higher this time.
As they cut across the trees toward the mission zone, Ryusei's voice drifted out casually.
"It seems I was right that day. They really don't care about you. They'll keep throwing you into more dangerous missions so long as I'm here."
Renjiro gave a short laugh, but there was no humor in it. "You keep saying that. But Ryusei, when are you actually going to reveal your full strength to them? Didn't you promise? That once they see, they'll realize it's pointless trying to kill you with borrowed knives like this?"
Ryusei smirked faintly. His narrow eyes never left the horizon.
"Don't worry. If we're going to survive these next few assignments, it'll be impossible to hide anymore. When that happens, Root and Anbu won't use pawns like you again. They'll come for me directly. And when they do, I'll still need you inside. So, don't expose yourselves under any circumstances. I'll handle it."
He said it plainly, like stating a fact, not a plan.
Renjiro frowned. "And what will you do? If they surround you? If they bring down entire squads on your head?"
"I'll run." Ryusei's voice was sharp now.
"I'll stir a commotion, threaten to expose the attempt to assassinate me indirectly right in front of our own ranks, or even disappear into Kumo territory if that's what it takes for a while. I don't intend to die here. But I can't move if I have to drag both of you with me."
The words cut Kanae deeper than she expected. Her fists clenched, her knuckles pale. She hated how true they were.
Since that time, their bond had grown closer. Almost openly a thing now. Ryusei teased her openly, 'touched' her more and more, under various ridiculous pretenses, like 'helping' her train or 'checking on' her progress, as he pleased, and she found herself blushing but no longer protesting.
Despite the battlefield, despite Renjiro's presence that often made her feel shame and restraint, these moments with him recently felt… almost like happiness. Perhaps the happiest since her parents' death.
But happiness was fragile. She knew it couldn't last. His identity, the revivalist Senju faction bloodline he had revealed in fragments over the last month, was a death sentence hanging over them all.
Her voice was quieter than usual. "And what if running isn't enough? What if they turn off all sensing in the vicinity and turn all the companies away from you on purpose so you can't raise a commotion anymore?"
Ryusei glanced at her, his expression unreadable. Then he smirked. "Kanae, you worry too much."
He slowed just enough to let his words sink in before leaning closer with his usual mocking softness.
"Besides, even if every squad in this division turned on me, as long as it's not Kanae herself again, I will be fine and okay with that, and it wouldn't affect me in the slightest. It won't be a problem. And you wouldn't really raise your hand against me again, right?"
Her cheeks flared crimson, her breath caught in her throat, as she remembered that time again, while also understanding his ambiguous meaning.
She snapped her gaze away, but that only made Renjiro grunt knowingly.
Ryusei chuckled at her reaction and added, "Relax. I won't just rush in blindly. I might already have a way to reverse all of this."
His eyes shifted westward as he spoke, strangely intent.
Renjiro narrowed his eyes. "You're hiding something again."
Ryusei ignored him.
Because he already knew.
The one who could engineer everything against him here, with a snap of his fingers, was Orochimaru.
Hiruzen's and Danzo's close associate, at this time, and the commander of this entire front.
If Root or Anbu were to strike directly, it would be because Orochimaru allowed and helped orchestrate it with his position.
It would truly be possible for them to approach him for the kill quietly all the way around this zone.
He had gone over dozens of options already, every path he could imagine.
Since he couldn't yet reach his uncle and the Senju remnants serving the Daimyō and launch 'that' 'nuclear' plan, then he needed a shorter-term plan.
Something to buy more space.
He smirked to himself, leaping lightly to the next branch.
Ryusei understood the picture clearly enough.
The missions were getting riskier, the opponents stronger.
He had already cut down dozens of Kumo shinobi, even a few high jōnin among them.
They probably took good note of that.
That alone meant the preparations against him were already in motion.
To the higher-ups, he was no longer just some anomaly.
He was a variable that refused to die, a cockroach surviving every trap they set, and worse, one that grew sharper each time he crawled out of the fire.
No one in power could tolerate that for long.
Ryusei had to admit to himself that he had been too optimistic about using battlefield merit as a shield. Hiruzen and his circle weren't fools.
They likely already anticipated that route and cut it off from the start.
With every squad captain and team leader in this company tied to them one way or another, it was impossible for his accomplishments over the past month and a half to leak out freely.
No matter how many Kumo he killed, those reports would die before they reached the wider battlefront, not even companies, not to mention the village.
That was why he needed to push forward with 'that' step, the 'relocation' he had been quietly preparing.
The thought made him smirk despite the grimness, because that plan would be satisfying in more ways than one.
Renjiro, who had been watching him out of the corner of his eye, frowned. "You're plotting something again."
Kanae's gaze flicked toward him as well. She was reserved, introverted, but her 'female instincts' sharpened around him lately.
She didn't need to know the details; her gut told her what that smirk meant. She just snorted coldly for some reason.
Ryusei only turned his head slightly, his narrow eyes gleaming. "When they really attack me next… don't worry if I disappear for a short time. I'll be fine. More fine than ever, perhaps."
Kanae's stomach tightened. Something about the way he said disappear made her uneasy.
She saw that same expression on his face again, the one that always made her feel like he was three steps ahead of everyone else, including her.
So she forced herself to mask it, exhaled sharply, and replied with cold indifference, another dismissive snort to cover the way her pulse had spiked.