Things Just Got Interesting: Konoha Supplies Turned Up in the Bandit Stronghold

Night.

After the revelry, the bandit stronghold had fallen quiet.

In a dense forest outside the stronghold, Tenzo stood atop the canopy, watching a figure race away.

He looked down at Kakashi, who was resting on a branch, and asked:

"Senpai, do we really not need to let him rest?"

Kakashi lowered the water flask he had been drinking from and said coolly, "Leave him be. After all, he never objected once."

Kakashi fell silent for a long while after saying that, then spoke again:

"Tell everyone in Team Six to tighten the perimeter and report any unusual activity immediately."

Hearing that, Tenzo realized his senpai had only been putting on a tough front. He acknowledged the order and jumped straight down from the canopy.

At the stronghold's lookout tower.

A scrawny bandit lay drunk below. He seemed to feel a little cold and reached out, groping around.

After a long time without finding his blanket, the bandit blearily opened his eyes.

He dimly made out a figure beside him and was about to ask him to fetch his blanket.

Schick—!

A Kunai sliced cleanly through the bandit's throat, sending a spray of blood into the moonlight, where it looked especially bewitching.

The scrawny bandit's eyes went wide, and he clutched his neck with both hands, his face full of disbelief.

Ninja sandals stepped across the bloodstained ground. Hagoromo had made it into the stronghold and was racing toward its interior.

He had just reached a corner when he heard two voices talking.

"Yuji, leave with me now. Otherwise, when the boss gets up tomorrow, he'll definitely come after me."

The old man from the banquet earlier spoke to the young man before him, Yuji, a vicious look on his face.

Yuji had been taken in at the stronghold by the old man many years ago and was considered one of his own.

Hearing the strategist's words, Yuji was torn. After all, everything for dozens of miles around was the stronghold's territory. Even if they ran...

Where could they go?

Yuji was just about to suggest that the strategist admit his mistake to the boss tomorrow, so perhaps they wouldn't have to run.

The moment he looked up, his pupils contracted sharply.

A figure in a fox mask stood behind the strategist. A Kunai had already sliced across the strategist's throat, spraying blood onto Yuji's face.

He watched the strategist gradually fall, his eyes full of confusion.

He seemed unable to understand how someone could be behind him at this hour.

Yuji was about to shout an alarm when Hagoromo reached for his neck.

Before Yuji could make a sound, Hagoromo snapped his neck, and his head instantly slumped limply onto his shoulder.

Hagoromo slowly lowered the body, then continued quietly into the stronghold.

"Uzuki, what's the situation?"

Kakashi, having rested for quite a while without receiving any news, opened the communication channel and asked.

"Captain, it's not clear yet, but the whole stronghold is unusually quiet right now."

A woman's voice came over the channel.

"But, hmm?"

"Captain, I see 'Mirror Flower' coming out!"

Uzuki had been about to tell Kakashi that no movement was good news when she saw a figure walk out of the stronghold.

After checking carefully, she hurriedly reported it.

Hearing that, Kakashi immediately rose and raced toward the stronghold.

"Team Six, regroup!"

At his command, the Anbu members stationed at various points emerged and headed toward Kakashi.

Under the moonlight, Hagoromo walked out at a steady pace, wearing his fox mask.

In his right hand, he dragged a man whose arms and legs were twisted at strange angles. The man's face was full of terror, and the scar over his right eye was particularly conspicuous.

He was the stronghold's boss, but a wad of cloth had been stuffed into his mouth, leaving him unable to make a sound.

Suddenly, several figures appeared in front of Hagoromo.

They were Kakashi and the Anbu members of Team Six, who had rushed over.

With a flick of his hand, Hagoromo effortlessly tossed the bandit boss in front of Kakashi.

He pointed at the boss, who was writhing like a maggot, and said, "Captain, this guy really wouldn't behave, so I had no choice but to break his arms and legs."

Kakashi nodded, then turned to an Anbu member beside him. "He's yours."

Hearing that, Hagoromo instinctively looked at the Anbu member.

His black-and-gray hair fluttered in the breeze. Through the eyehole of his mask, Hagoromo caught a glimpse of bewitching red.

Hmm?

Hagoromo paused, then looked at the mask the Anbu member was wearing.

Only then did he realize who it was. Isn't that Uchiha Itachi?

Noticing Hagoromo's gaze, Uchiha Itachi merely glanced at him before casting a Genjutsu on the bandit boss.

In an instant, the boss stopped writhing like a maggot, his body frozen in a bizarre position.

For a moment, everything fell quiet.

Seeing that Uchiha Itachi had begun, Kakashi beckoned Hagoromo over.

Hagoromo nodded and followed Kakashi.

"Did you take care of everyone in the stronghold?"

Kakashi's voice was cold beneath his mask.

Hagoromo paused, then nodded. "There was a woman they'd kidnapped, but when I tried to bring her out with me, she killed herself."

"But, Captain..."

Thinking of what he had seen in the stronghold's storage cellar, Hagoromo spoke up.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Seeing that Hagoromo had more to say, Kakashi asked.

"In their cellar, I found that their supplies didn't look like they'd been looted. They looked more like..."

"More like they'd been shipped in by the batch, and they were organized in a way that looked a lot like a ninja's work. I also found some things in there that belonged to our village."

Hagoromo gathered his thoughts and left it at that.

After all, he had searched the entire stronghold and found almost no one who could use Chakra, yet the supplies bore signs of having been arranged in a way only ninja would.

What's more, there were Konoha supplies. Things had gotten interesting.

Was this stronghold really that well-connected?

"Tenzo, go check and confirm it."

After hearing this, Kakashi immediately instructed Tenzo, who was standing nearby.

Kakashi and Hagoromo hadn't made any particular effort to lower their voices while talking.

Everyone present had sharp eyes and ears, so they had naturally heard every word.

"Yes, Captain."

Tenzo nodded and went straight inside with an Anbu member.

"Ugh—!"

The bandit boss lying on the ground suddenly let out a cry of anguish.

But with the rag still stuffed in his mouth, all he could manage was a muffled groan before his eyes rolled back.

Dead?

Hagoromo looked at the motionless boss, then at Uchiha Itachi, who had risen to his feet.

That makes sense. How could an ordinary person survive after being controlled by the Sharingan?

"Captain, I've gotten all the information."

After speaking to Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi crouched down, took out a scroll, and began writing.

"Captain, it's confirmed. Some of the supplies inside really are the kind only ninja villages have."

Tenzo, who had just gone inside, returned shortly afterward with a scroll in his hand and passed it to Kakashi.