Hiro blacked out for a moment.
How strong is this guy?
He severed Matsamaru—and nearly got me—all in one move? Just how fast was it? What about Akira and Shino…?
Reality hit harder now. Hiro's mind cleared as he stared at the man before him—finally recognizing him for what he truly was.
"I might've exchanged words like a fool… but I'm not even close to his level."
Hinami turned his cold gaze toward them both.
"There are more of you? Instant abilities are more dangerous than you think."
Hiro's breath caught. His voice came out rough, stunned.
"In... instant abilities? You don't mean—"
His eyes widened in shock.
"YOU INSTANTLY SENT OUT A KILL COMMAND TO ALL OUR POSITIONS BEFORE YOU EVEN ARRIVED?!"
Hinami didn't answer directly. Instead, he spoke flatly, like reciting facts.
"You kids are trained well. You warded off Ejin and his team. Killed Tanzegtsu. And somehow, avoided the instant kill message... impressive."
Matsamaru sat slumped on the floor, shaking, blood trailing behind him.
Hiro looked at him—and for a second, even he was shaken.
Matsamaru... ended up like this?
The one who stood tall through every raid...
Now broken.
Hiro faced Hinami, his face pale.
"What exactly is your objective? Why leave an eternal scar on them? You choose to torment ninjas just doing their jobs… all because of a ninja you know isn't even here…"
Hinami raised his hand slowly, lazily pointing at Hiro before swiping it sharply to the right.
In an instant, a wave tore through their robes, leaving them nearly naked in the middle of the spot.
Hiro stood frozen, shaken and traumatized by the humiliating assault he had just endured.
Matsamaru's eyes widened as he looked down at himself—his body trembling, his robes shredded into mere rags, soaked with blood and dirt. The realization of his fragility hit him harder than the wounds.
Hinami slowly raised one hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it in a calm, almost absent gesture. His pale face tilted, eyes half-lidded as though closing to a memory.
"My objective?" he murmured, voice low but echoing with weight. "As the leader of Nimo… it's simple. Protect the organization. Discipline the wrong."
He stepped forward once, quietly.
"Someone like me shouldn't be here. We were supposed to die with our eyes closed—quietly, in the palace. But… ambition," he said, almost with a tinge of disgust, "it dragged me out."
His eyes flickered open—cold, resolved.
"Haru Iminaqo... is my ambition."
He paused. The air grew still.
"Because of him, I wasn't executed fifteen years ago. No—he didn't save me. But his value gave me value. His importance resurrected me."
He looked at the boys—battered, broken, stunned.
"Oi, kids…" he said, voice soft, deadly.
"He's my god."
Hiro's eyes widened, frozen in disbelief.
"…god? Haru?!" he echoed, barely able to process what he'd just heard.
One of Hinami's men, consumed by rage, lunged forward—
"DON'T BELITTLE OUR LORD, BASTARD!!"
But before impact, before breath, before thought—
Time stopped.
Everything froze.
The wind halted mid-whistle. Dust hung motionless in the air. The world itself held its breath.
Everyone—everything—paused.
Except Hiro.
Hinami slowly turned toward the frozen attacker. His voice echoed in the stillness, calm and weightless.
"Not everyone can do this," he said. "But I'll allow you to witness it—just this once."
He stepped forward, unfazed by the suspended world.
"Only those faster than time itself… can notice what just happened."
He glanced back at Hiro, detached but clear.
"My strength… wasn't mine alone.
It became absolute—because of Haru-sama."
"Not literally, but don't move. If you do, your body will fracture—your honeki can't handle the speed. Your pulse will race beyond control and tear you apart."
He turned to the demon, which instantly scattered his body part into chunks, blood wetting Hiro's face.
Hiro was shaken to his core as time resumed. Everyone's eyes locked on the shattered demon, unaware of what unfolded. Suddenly, a chilling voice pierced the silence:
"I sense incoming Honeki—two kids your age are approaching... Seems they survived the instant ability."
Hiro knew the danger all too well. Akira and Shino were dead meats, especially with one of them being Giyu. He tried to warn them to run, but Hinami twisted his voice—rendering him mute, only groans escaping his lips. Matsamaru turned to him, panic rising.
"Hiro, what's wrong?! Speak to me! Hiro!!"
Meanwhile, Shino and Akira neared the shelter, eyes catching the severed toes and blood splattered across the ground.
Shocked, they heard Matsamaru's desperate calls and sprinted toward the scene
Arriving at the scene, Shino and Akira froze.
What they saw wasn't a battlefield — it was devastation.
Hiro and Matsamaru lay on the ground, torn, bloodied, their robes shredded like paper in the wind. Hiro's eyes were hollow, unable to speak. Matsamaru barely moved, his breath shallow and erratic.
Shino's eyes widened, one of them nearly sealed shut with blood. Akira, untouched physically, still trembled.
Standing calmly amidst the wreckage… was Hinami.
He didn't turn to greet them. He simply asked, voice firm and fearless:
"Which one of you is Giyu… or Haru?"
The silence was thick. Akira's voice cracked as he answered, "You don't… know who Haru is?"
Hinami turned his eyes lazily, disinterested.
"So, none of you, I see. I don't sense a godly Honeki. One of you four… it's Giyu. No you two who just arrived."
Matsamaru's heart dropped.
He really knew... just by being there.
He remembered what Hiro said—how Haru found out days ago. It wasn't a theory anymore. It was fact.
But Matsamaru, fighting it, stepped forward weakly.
"No! They can't be Giyu! You don't know them like I do! They're my friends… You don't know anything about them!"
His voice echoed—half fear, half denial.
Hiro looked at Matsamaru with pity in his eyes. Akira and Shino exchanged surprised glances, shocked by the words from their supposed mature teammate.
Hinami's pale, detached face remained unchanged as he said,
"I see… You still refuse to deny your friendship with them despite knowing too well..."
His voice dropped cold and final:
"DIE."
Matsamaru's eyes widened in shock before he collapsed, dead with his eyes wide open.
Without hesitation, Hinami commanded,
"Live."
Matsamaru suddenly sprang back to life, gasping for air. He turned to Hiro, trembling,
"What time is this? Has Edo fallen? How many years have passed?"
Hinami cut in,
"Oi. You only died for three seconds, yet you spent over a trillion years in the afterlife. You couldn't pass on because you're bound by me. You died over a billion times there and gained immortality. I brought you back because I willed it so. That's how one of those two feels right now — dead on the outside, but alive inside."
Matsamaru shuddered, clearly traumatized.
"This man is bad news... He must exceed S-rank, stronger than any hekai in the village. Only luck could save us now."
Hinami stepped forward, voice cold and final.
"Apologies, but I must end this here... for all of you."