Hamura Jaku's lips moved slightly.
"More or less. We've found him."
Helian did not quibble over his wording. He simply set the black jade box on the table.
"Chisen is heading south-southwest now, with only a few people beside him. Leave now, and you can intercept him beyond the second stretch of woods."
Hamura Jaku did not ask about the location first. Instead, he looked at the box.
"Is that really Flowing Water's brand?"
"Yes."
"Who planted it?"
"Someone from a branch family," Helian said. "Already dead."
At the word "dead," Hamura Jaku did not so much as lift an eyelid, as though it had been a used tool rather than a life.
"Good," he said. "A worthwhile death."
Helian looked at him and said flatly, "I know you hate him. But tonight isn't for venting your anger."
Only then did Hamura Jaku raise his eyes.
"Afraid I'll kill him too quickly?"
"I'm afraid you'll forget to use your head when you see him," Helian said. "Chisen is no ordinary man. If hatred makes you go for his throat with your first strike, he might not be the one who dies."
Hamura Jaku actually smiled.
"Helian, sometimes you remind me of my dead second uncle," he said. "Always assuming other people will act rashly."
"Your second uncle died young. Clearly, he didn't warn you enough."
"Or perhaps it was because that lineage of yours in Konoha killed too quickly." Hamura Jaku's voice was soft, as though he were discussing the weather.
Silence settled over the tent for a moment.
The middle-aged man standing to one side had already pressed his hand to his sword hilt.
Helian merely watched Hamura Jaku calmly.
"So you'd better not disappoint me tonight," he said. "Chisen has to die, but he has to die where