Chapter 11

Hyuga Kagami didn't bother entangling himself with Sasori. He flew straight over to Mitsui Nakazu's corpse and without hesitation, hurled several kunai tied with explosive tags.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of violent explosions tore Mitsui Nakazu's body into scattered remains.

The reason Hyuga Kagami destroyed the corpse was to prevent Sasori from tracing his identity through Mitsui. He didn't know how long he'd have to remain stationed at the border outpost. If Sasori managed to track him down, there would be nowhere for him to escape. The village was already trying to get rid of him—if he fled his post, they'd have a legitimate reason to execute him for desertion.

By obliterating Mitsui's body, it would become much harder for Sasori to find out who he really was.

No matter how powerful Sasori might be, he was still a rogue ninja. Without the support of Sunagakure behind him, intelligence gathering was his weak point.

This particular collaboration between Konoha and Sunagakure was related to internal purging. Only the top brass from both villages would know about it, making it nearly impossible for Sasori to learn the identities of those involved.

One soared through the air, the other gave chase from the ground—the distance between them naturally grew.

Glancing at the furious, distant figure of Sasori trailing behind, Hyuga Kagami laughed heartily.

Sasori hadn't joined the Akatsuki yet. Though he had impressive achievements like killing a Kage-level opponent, he was still operating under the traditional puppet-master framework of Sunagakure. His methods were limited, relying too heavily on puppets, with little adaptability when facing unique or strange opponents.

As soon as Hyuga Kagami managed to seize the Third Kazekage human puppet, Sasori's combat strength took a heavy hit.

The decrease in strength wasn't just about power—it also affected mobility. Without the Third Kazekage puppet, Sasori lost his battlefield initiative. He no longer had control over when or where battles happened.

This was exactly why the Fourth Hokage was able to surpass the Sannin and shock the ninja world in such a short time.

Those who could fight him couldn't catch him. Those who couldn't beat him couldn't escape. He dictated the time and place of every battle. This was the ultimate frustration of every enemy who crossed paths with the Fourth. As his strength grew day by day, soon no one could defeat him one-on-one. That's how the name "Yellow Flash" struck fear into the entire ninja world.

"Right now, Sasori isn't at his peak. Maybe once he joins the Akatsuki and sees the Rinnegan, truly understanding the power beyond Kage-level, then he'll ascend to a higher level."

With that thought, Hyuga Kagami gradually outpaced Sasori, leaving the desert behind and entering the forested regions of the Land of Rivers.

After confirming multiple times that Sasori had been shaken off, Kagami deliberately made a wide detour before finally stopping on a tall tree five miles away from his outpost.

Returning directly would raise suspicion. Kagami would surely be questioned about Mitsui Nakazu's death.

But he couldn't report the encounter with Sasori either. If he did, and the village launched a full-scale investigation, he'd never be able to keep the Third Kazekage puppet hidden.

Worse, if they knew an S-rank rogue ninja was involved, the village would likely dispatch a jonin—or worse, an elite jonin—for a deeper investigation, greatly increasing the risk of his Tenseigan being exposed.

He had to stage a convincing act—make Mitsui Nakazu's death look justified and unrelated to anything suspicious.

After thinking for a moment, Hyuga Kagami got to work.

He wrapped the exposed parts of the Third Kazekage puppet—like the head and arms—in bandages, leaving only its slightly vacant-looking eyes visible. Then, he draped it in a gray cloak.

Since it was made from a real body, the puppet's shape was nearly identical to a living person. Without visible chakra threads, and thanks to Kagami's clever disguise, it looked just like a normal ninja.

After a careful inspection to ensure nothing seemed out of place, Kagami handed two kunai to the puppet and had it lightly wound him.

With everything in place, he began shouting for help while sprinting toward the outpost.

Back at the outpost—

Hearing Kagami's distant cries, Anko—still recovering from her injuries—was startled. She immediately leapt from her room and landed outside the outpost.

At the same time, the other two squad leaders stationed there also jumped out, alert and ready, their eyes scanning in the direction of the commotion.

Moments later, they spotted a blood-soaked Hyuga Kagami stumbling toward the outpost, with a cloaked, unfamiliar ninja chasing after him.

Despite their injuries and suspicions, all three Konoha shinobi reacted without hesitation, rushing forward to intercept the pursuer and protect Kagami.

Even using only taijutsu, the Third Kazekage puppet was stronger than Anko and the others. To avoid overplaying the act, Kagami collapsed to the ground, feigning exhaustion. The puppet, acting as his pursuer, exchanged a few quick blows with the three defenders before promptly retreating.

The three didn't risk chasing the fleeing ninja. Instead, they hurried to Kagami's side.

"What happened?" one of them asked.

Kagami shook his head. "I don't know. Captain Mitsui and I had just crossed into the Land of Wind when we were ambushed. He was killed instantly. I was chased all the way back. Barely made it."

Anko's face darkened even more.

The two squad leaders exchanged glances, clearly shocked and suspicious.

Back in Kagami's room at the outpost, Anko tended to his wounds while speaking in a hoarse voice: "They're all dead."

By "they," she meant the other seven subordinates of Orochimaru who had arrived with her and Kagami. Out of the original nine, only she and Kagami were still alive.

Kagami's team hadn't been the only one sent on a mission. The other two teams had also gone out. But only the two squad leaders—whose backgrounds were suspicious—returned unharmed. Every subordinate who had ties to Orochimaru had "accidentally" died in the field.

Kagami didn't say a word. He simply nodded silently.

In a remote twelve-man outpost, eight had died in under two weeks. Apart from Mitsui Nakazu, who had genuinely been killed by Sasori, the remaining seven were all Orochimaru's former subordinates. Anyone with a brain could sense something was off.

After a pause, Kagami pointed toward the door and whispered, "Be careful around them. I suspect they're from Root."

Anko had already sensed something odd about the three new squad leaders. She nodded grimly, then quietly asked, "What really happened to you today?"

Kagami gave her a glance and replied in a calm voice, "Don't overthink it. I genuinely ran into trouble today."