Cold on the outside... warm on the inside?
This Second Pillar.
Hada Ichiba, whose gaze rested on Second Pillar, once again found an assessment of him crossing his mind.
It just felt like...
Then, an inexplicable trace of wistfulness flashed through his eyes, as if he had recalled something sad. In an instant, the indifferent leisure on his face vanished.
It was replaced by an indescribably somewhat dejected, somewhat bewildered expression.
No! It didn't matter anymore.
Now, everyone's attention was focused on Second Pillar.
Their attention on me will probably be scattered quite a bit from here on.
Which meant...
But that expression quickly disappeared from Hada Ichiba's face. The seemingly wistful emotion that had appeared out of nowhere in his eyes was nearly gone in a flash, turning into a gaze that looked perfectly normal to everyone, yet contained nothing upon closer inspection.
Beneath that gaze, the expressions of everyone present on the second floor, along with their eyes focused on Second Pillar, were reflected one after another in his pupils.
At the same time, several considerations passed through his mind.
That Hidden Rain man in the conical hat... Orochimaru's stand-in, perhaps? Is he still completely unmoved? After sweeping his eyes across the room, his gaze ultimately fell on the Hidden Rain man in the conical hat.
Although he had already confirmed Orochimaru's true body, Hada Ichiba would not simply stop paying attention to that Hidden Rain man.
In fact, he was quite concerned about the man in the conical hat.
After all, since Orochimaru had chosen him as a stand-in, his strength could not possibly be poor. And judging from the battle in the Death Forest against Kotetsu, Orochimaru had quite a number of capable subordinates.
That stand-in—the Hidden Rain man in the conical hat—was probably at Kotetsu's