Hikaru and Kakashi rested properly for the night, then set off again at first light.
But Kakashi kept stealing glances at Hikaru.
In the second half of the night, when Kakashi woke up to take over watch, he'd clearly seen it—
Hikaru was reading a sealing arts scroll.
Fūinjutsu wasn't something ordinary shinobi could casually get their hands on. It wasn't just rare—its difficulty was on another level.
Kakashi could understand how Hikaru might obtain it. He was a veteran ANBU operative; with enough merit, accessing uncommon materials wasn't impossible.
Still… learning sealing arts wasn't something you did on a whim.
Even with references in hand, the number of people who could truly grasp it was painfully small. In every village, anyone proficient in sealing techniques was considered elite.
Even if their combat strength wasn't impressive, they'd still be assigned to a sealing unit and protected carefully.
Just look at the barrier seals each village used to detect infiltrators—those systems alone proved how valuable a fūinjutsu specialist was.
Sure, against monsters strong enough to brute-force their way through, those seals might feel flimsy…
But at the very least, they gave warning.
"Captain," Kakashi asked on the road, unable to hold it in, "are you interested in sealing arts?"
"More or less." Hikaru nodded. "I've always been interested, actually. Unfortunately, my talent in it seems… flawed."
"But I'm not planning to give up."
"Is that so…" Kakashi pressed his lips together, as if thinking of something.
"Alright, enough about that." Hikaru smiled and shook his head. "Let's move. We still have a mission—if we arrive late, it'll get ugly."
Kakashi fell quiet.
Their mission mattered more.
But he still filed away the detail: Hikaru wanted to learn sealing arts.
For most people, fūinjutsu was difficult and unreachable.
Kakashi was different.
In the future, he would have a decent grasp of it—when Sasuke was branded by Orochimaru, Kakashi was the first to suppress the curse mark with a seal.
And Kakashi had the right foundations.
His teacher was Minato Namikaze.
His teacher's wife was Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
If anyone had access to that world, it was Kakashi.
They moved fast.
Another day and more passed before they reached the borders of the Land of Fire.
Fire Country was vast; even shinobi needed days to cross it.
Fortunately, they weren't escorting civilians, and they weren't marching with an army. Two operatives could travel light and cut corners.
After arriving, they didn't head straight for the main outpost.
Instead, they surveyed the surrounding area first.
ANBU and border garrisons were different systems. To avoid messy handovers—and for secrecy—ANBU typically didn't make direct contact unless necessary.
More importantly, garrison units could be compromised.
If there was infiltration, their presence leaking would mean the mission itself became dangerous.
Reducing risk was ANBU's job.
They circled the border perimeter and checked several monitoring towers near the outpost.
Hikaru nodded.
No abnormalities.
The area was quiet—dangerous terrain on paper, but calm in reality.
"Looks alright," Kakashi said after scanning the surroundings. "But isn't there one tower we haven't checked yet?"
"Yeah." Hikaru nodded. "Let's go. Once we finish that one, we can rest for a bit."
Each monitoring post was set at a different position, but all were arranged in a ring around the outpost with clear sightlines.
If the outpost was attacked, as long as the enemy wasn't overwhelmingly strong or too numerous, the garrison could fire signal flares and call for help.
But if ANBU had been deployed…
It meant the attackers might not be few.
"Hm?"
Mid-stride, Hikaru's brows drew together.
His senses caught chakra disturbances in the distance.
His perception had always been sharp. He didn't have to strain to pick up movement.
And this fluctuation was violent—active combat.
Which meant the last tower—
Had likely already been hit.
"Speed up. Combat ready." Hikaru's voice turned crisp. "We've got trouble. There are probably a lot of them."
"Yes, Captain."
Kakashi didn't question it.
He already knew Hikaru had excellent sensory ability. He didn't know how deep it went, but it was trustworthy.
Their pace jumped instantly. As they ran, both began prepping weapons and tools.
Soon, they could see it with their own eyes—
On a tall watchtower ahead, more than a dozen shinobi in Iwagakure's signature red were assaulting Konoha defenders.
"Iwa-nin?" Kakashi frowned. "So they're disguising themselves on purpose—to sabotage the peace treaty?"
"Obviously," Hikaru replied evenly. "Everyone can tell what this is."
"In the end, it comes down toprofit—profit."
interests. Interests.
Kakashi's brows furrowed. He didn't fully understand what Hikaru meant—
But there wasn't time to ask.
Because they were close enough now to see the Konoha garrison breaking under pressure.
And then—
Hikaru suddenly drew a kunai.
In the next instant, powerful Water Release chakra gathered along the blade.
Kakashi's eye flicked wider.
The water chakra grew denser—then began compressing and spiraling with frightening speed.
And then, abruptly, it went still.
But the "water" no longer felt like water.
It felt…
Sharp.
Like a blade.
Like pressure honed to a point.
Even Kakashi felt his scalp prickle.
"That's… chakra shape transformation and nature transformation pushed to a ridiculously high level…"
Kakashi thought.
Hikaru's arm snapped forward.
The kunai launched with a violent screech of air friction—
A whistling streak of compressed killing intent—
Driving straight toward an enemy's chest.
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