"..."
Uchiha Itachi watched silently as Hayato Kawajiri crossed at the crosswalk and approached the sports car. Cloaked in spirit form within the shadows, he was essentially invisible.
If events unfolded as before, Rohan Kishibe would appear at Hayato's side in an instant.
*Tap...*
The trajectory matched exactly.
Even with his Sharingan continuously active, Itachi still couldn't perceive how Rohan suddenly materialized beside the boy.
'So this is "time stop"?'
He suspected temporal manipulation—and he wasn't about to underestimate it.
Observing Rohan's posture, Itachi hesitated.
By all logic, he should reveal himself now, just as before. Use genjutsu to lure his victim into triggering Bites the Dust and blow Rohan apart.
But caution was second nature to him. He didn't make the same choice.
Something felt wrong.
Even though time had reversed, the mechanics didn't add up.
According to Yoshikage Kira, Bites the Dust should rewind a full hour upon activation.
The actual rewind just now had been a handful of minutes at most. That was a glaring discrepancy.
'Why hasn't he shown himself yet?'
Rohan maintained the same demeanor, the same actions as before—but this time, no enemy Servant appeared.
Impossible...
Amber had rewound time. By all accounts, the opponent should emerge again.
*Tick... tick... tick...*
Seconds bled past the earlier moment. Rohan began to doubt.
'Assassin?'
'All clear.'
He confirmed he wasn't trapped in that eerie silence from before—but he still couldn't make sense of the situation.
Just moments ago, using Amber's time stop, the two had formulated a plan.
Rohan would replicate his previous behavior exactly, risking himself as bait once more.
The goal: expose the enemy Servant's powers.
'Killer Queen is on that Servant. Kira's exact circumstances are still unclear.'
'If anything goes wrong, rewind again.'
[My thoughts and spirit will not be affected by abnormal influences]
During the frozen interval, Rohan had used Heaven's Door to inscribe that "setting" onto Amber.
Confident his Servant wouldn't fall prey to mental manipulation, he'd steeled himself and repeated his initial actions.
Every movement. Every expression. Flawless. A consummate performance.
Yet this time—even after intercepting Hayato—the Servant didn't appear.
'Did we slip up somewhere? Does he know?'
'Shouldn't be. Your actions and expressions were identical to before.'
'Then...'
'Master—if time rewound, but what was supposed to happen... didn't happen...'
'Then there's only one possibility.'
Amber's voice resonated in his mind. Rohan's thoughts clicked into place.
'He sensed the rewind. He may even retain memories from before it occurred.'
'To avoid walking into a trap, he's choosing not to appear this time.'
Amber analyzed the scenarios. Only this explanation fit.
Without such awareness, there was no reason for the enemy to deviate at the same point in time.
Rohan was wide open right now—vulnerable. Given how the Servant had already attacked once, passing up this chance made no sense.
And yet... he hadn't shown.
Which could only mean—
'He can detect when you use your temporal abilities!'
Rohan's brow furrowed as comprehension dawned.
This was problematic.
He'd assumed time rewind would let him farm intel for free.
He hadn't anticipated the enemy could detect it.
Things just got complicated.
'What now? If we keep waiting, he's not going to show.'
'For now... hold position.'
...…
"Goku?"
Subaru Natsuki returned from a quick errand to find Goku swatting something away.
"Oh—there was an old man inside a piece of paper talking to me, and then something kept jabbing my back, so I smacked it."
Goku scratched at his gi with his stubby hand. Subaru noticed the fabric had a small puncture—something sharp had tried to pierce through.
'Old man in a photo? A Stand user?'
"Probably just a mosquito."
"You think?"
Subaru brushed it off, more interested in what had just happened moments before.
Someone had triggered "Return by Death." Incredible.
8:25 AM...
He checked the time. If he remembered right, it had just been 8:28.
'This war isn't as easy as I thought.'
Chin in hand, Subaru sensed something was amiss.
From yesterday until now, time stops had occurred with suspicious frequency. And now time reversal?
What kind of Masters and Servants were they up against?
...…
"!"
"What's wrong?"
Inside an abandoned residential building, Miyu noticed Homura's expression shift subtly after she finished her meal.
"Time was rewound."
"?"
Seeing Miyu's confusion, Homura elaborated.
"A moment ago, it was 8:28. Now it's 8:25."
Miyu followed Homura's finger toward the clock.
"But... I didn't sense anything."
From last night's dream, she'd learned Archer's ability—so this revelation left her puzzled.
"That's normal. Only those with the same type of power would notice."
Miyu's abnormal mana output suggested she wasn't entirely human—but Homura didn't press the issue.
Temporal manipulation was, by its nature, taboo.
What concerned her more was this:
A time stop lasting several minutes had occurred. Then a rewind.
Was this the maid's doing?
If that woman also possessed rewind... this war would be far harder to win than anticipated.
While they conversed inside, a thin slip of paper drifted in the air outside, watching the building below.
"The Arrow couldn't pierce that brat..."
Yoshihiro Kira replayed the scene he'd just witnessed, utterly stupefied.
He'd never seen the Arrow fail before.
Normally, stabbing the target awakened their Stand. But that kid with the staff—his body was absurdly tough. The Arrow had tried multiple times and couldn't break the skin.
If anything, the Arrow itself had started cracking.
Yoshihiro was flabbergasted.
This was unprecedented!
Shaking off his bewilderment, he refocused on the house.
"Well... forget it. That Servant's just special."
"But—is the Arrow's next target that weak-looking little girl?"
"The brat I can understand, but does she also possess unimaginable potential?"