"Looks like it's all wrapped up."
In the forest, Hikaru watched Kakashi approach with a "Iwa-nin" slung in his grip, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
During the fight, they'd split up. Hikaru hadn't seen Kakashi's side of the battlefield directly.
But he could sense Kakashi's condition easily enough—and that piercing chidori shriek had been practically screaming the answer.
Kakashi hadn't struggled.
As for Hikaru himself… there wasn't much to say.
None of these people were jōnin. At best, they were special jōnin-level.
That kind of group was dangerous in numbers, sure—but against someone who'd survived five years in ANBU?
Threatening, but not crushing.
And most importantly—
They had no one capable of countering speed.
Speed was the most terrifying weapon a shinobi could possess.
Back in the academy days, Rock Lee had humiliated Sasuke with pure speed—Sasuke could see it, but his body couldn't follow.
That was with Sharingan.
These imposters didn't even have that.
And Hikaru's speed was far beyond Lee's.
Even if Lee dropped all his weights, he still wouldn't catch Hikaru.
That was what those base-attribute "fruits" had done to him.
They'd screwed him over in plenty of ways—some aftereffects still hadn't faded even now.
But the change they brought was undeniable.
"Yes, Captain." Kakashi dropped a half-dead shinobi at Hikaru's feet as casually as tossing a sack of rice, then swept his gaze around. "Where are the others?"
"Badly injured," Hikaru said with a mild smile. "I sent them back."
"The outpost has med-nin. Their wounds won't wait for us to escort them."
Those defenders couldn't stay here. As soon as the fight ended, Hikaru ordered them to move—fast.
They understood. When ANBU gave orders, you didn't argue. And right now, they were too grateful to argue anyway.
If these two masked operatives hadn't arrived in time, the garrison would've been wiped out.
Besides… if they lingered, they'd bleed out.
So under the help of the least-injured survivor, the wounded had already staggered toward the outpost.
After the brief explanation, Hikaru turned his attention to the two remaining "Iwa-nin."
He walked over slowly, drew a kunai, then stopped in front of them.
"Now it's just you two left," he said, voice gentle—almost warm.
"I'll give you a choice."
Choice?
Kakashi's eye slid toward Hikaru.
He didn't speak. He didn't interfere. He simply let Hikaru handle it.
In the end, these weren't ANBU operatives.
If they were, interrogation wouldn't be so simple.
ANBU went into missions prepared to destroy themselves if captured. Many even carried techniques designed to dissolve their own bodies, leaving nothing behind.
Even Kakashi, who'd only just joined, had that.
And because he knew that, Kakashi had checked the prisoners the moment he subdued them—only relaxing once he confirmed they weren't ANBU.
Then—
Kakashi's expression tightened, almost imperceptibly.
Hikaru had given him a quick, hidden hand signal.
Enemy presence. Stay alert.
More enemies?
Probably whoever was supposed to rendezvous with these guys.
Hikaru acted as though nothing had happened.
He tossed the kunai onto the ground between the two prisoners and continued in the same calm tone.
"I'm not going to interrogate you. Too much trouble."
"And I'm not bringing both of you back. Waste of time."
"So here's the deal: only one of you needs to stay alive."
"The one who survives comes with us to Konoha."
"Interrogation hurts, but at least it's a chance to live. If you cooperate, you can avoid a lot of pain."
He tilted his head slightly, sounding almost polite.
"Alright. Choose."
It was the most disgusting kind of choice.
Kakashi, watching from the side, felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Hikaru's voice was soft and friendly… and yet it somehow felt worse than outright cruelty.
One of the prisoners flinched.
The other's jaw tightened, eyes narrowing, as if he was trying to decide whether Hikaru was bluffing.
Then Hikaru spoke again—still gentle, still unhurried.
"Honestly, even if you don't say anything, I've already figured out who you are."
"You're Suna-nin."
"Must've been rough, dressing up as Iwa-nin. Unlucky for you—didn't expect to get caught, did you?"
"…You—"
One of them jerked his head up, lips parting as if he wanted to snap back—
But the words died in his throat.
Instead, he let out a cold laugh—like he was refusing to believe Hikaru had real intel, convinced it was just a trick to shake them.
"Weirded out?" Hikaru sighed lightly, shaking his head.
"We noticed your movement a long time ago, or we wouldn't be here."
"You think Sunagakure was being subtle?"
"Don't make me laugh."
"Do what I said, and at least one of you walks away breathing."
His tone was so steady it sounded like absolute certainty.
Even Kakashi momentarily believed Konoha had them mapped from the start.
But Hikaru was lying.
He wasn't speaking from some grand strategic net.
As an ANBU squad leader, Hikaru had access to fragments of intelligence—enough to connect dots.
And in truth, the first warning hadn't even come from Konoha's main networks.
It came from the Land of Grass.
When great nations fought, small countries got crushed. Grass Country had been the main battlefield between Konoha and Iwa—there was no way Konoha had zero eyes there.
Konoha was weakened now. Its overseas networks weren't as active as before—especially when the village was trying to avoid unnecessary friction after the treaty.
But small countries didn't matter politically in the same way.
Operations there stayed just as aggressive as ever.
Not every small nation had a Hanzō the Salamander.
Not every small nation had a Taki with the Seven-Tails.
So when too many foreign shinobi showed up in one place, Konoha noticed.
Maybe they didn't know exactly where they were from at first—
But they could guess what they were trying to do.
Unfortunately, these two "Iwa-nin" didn't know any of that.
Hikaru's words had them wobbling in uncertainty.
Had their operation been compromised inside Suna? Had Konoha already anticipated them, which was why ANBU was here?
No answer came.
The two prisoners hesitated—still not moving.
After a beat, Hikaru chuckled softly.
"Still can't decide?"
"Fine," he said calmly, stepping forward.
"I'll decide for you."
His voice didn't rise. It didn't sharpen.
It stayed gentle right up until the end.
"Let's start with…"
"—you."
And then Hikaru vanished.
A blink later, a violent tremor rippled through the air somewhere behind them—
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