Rei Yozuki's Last Words

"C."

Yugito suddenly looked up and said, "After the enemy killed Yozuki Rei, they vanished using some unknown ability. I need you to search within a ten-kilometer radius outside the village and see if you can find any clues."

"Yes."

C replied respectfully, then led a patrol team, disappearing with a few shushu sounds.

Yugito immediately pulled out a small camera and photographed the code on the blade.

"As expected of a Yozuki clan jonin—even when outmatched, they left us a precious clue."

Yugito sighed with a touch of admiration, then looked at Neji and asked uncertainly, "But... what exactly does this pattern mean?"

The circular pattern was crooked and highly irregular.

From this, she could infer that when Yozuki Rei left the code, he couldn't control his chakra well—he might have even been delirious.

"This circle could be the attacker's face," Neji said, squinting.

His ability to see through Yozuki Rei's code at a glance wasn't entirely due to an omniscient perspective.

Though crude, the code had packed in as much information as Yozuki Rei could manage.

"One end of this circle is slightly wider, the other narrower—it really does look like a face."

Yugito pinched her chin, deep in thought.

With Neji's guidance, she quickly picked up on more details.

"Then this black dot represents an eye?"

"It is an eye, and not an ordinary one at that."

Neji gripped the Chakra Blade and said seriously, "Look closely—the black dot has a barely noticeable tail. That's actually... a tomoe."

"A tomoe?"

Yugito's expression froze for a moment, then something clicked. Shocked, she said, "If it's a tomoe, then that means... the Sharingan?"

"Yes."

Neji nodded and continued, "The enemy has one Sharingan. The black dot is on the right side of the circle, meaning that Sharingan is in the right eye."

"That can't be right."

Yugito scratched her head and said, "Neji, the enemy is an Uchiha? Could there be some mistake?"

The information decoded from the code was too bizarre, leaving Yugito skeptical.

"Captain, I'm just making bold assumptions and careful verifications."

"Even if the assumption holds, it's too early to say the enemy is an Uchiha from Konoha. They could have secretly transplanted a Sharingan, be a rogue Uchiha, or something else entirely."

Neji pinched his chin and spoke gravely.

He couldn't let the Uchiha of Konoha take the blame for Obito's misdeeds.

Yugito shook her head, disagreeing with Neji's reasoning.

"An outsider transplanting a Sharingan can't use its abilities and would only put a huge strain on their body."

"As for rogue Uchiha, in the last few decades, only that Ninja Asura has been recognized as a rogue by the Uchiha clan. Given their pride, if they knew someone had gone rogue, they'd have cleaned house long ago."

"Besides, don't forget—Root is still in Kumogakure."

"Neji, I suspect the enemy is most likely a Root Uchiha."

Yugito was now making bold assumptions too, and her analysis was quite coherent.

If Neji didn't know about Obito, he would have also concluded that the attacker was a Root Uchiha hiding in the village.

Yozuki Rei's death was a golden opportunity for Kumogakure to realize that beyond the Five Great Nations, there was another powerful force lurking in the shadows of the ninja world.

No.

He absolutely couldn't let Yugito go down that path.

"Huh?"

Neji's expression shifted in surprise as something occurred to him. He lifted the forehead protector in the plastic bag for Yugito to see.

"Judging from the battle traces at the training ground, Yozuki Rei had no chance to fight back against that attacker. This forehead protector shouldn't have appeared at all—it was clearly left behind deliberately by the attacker to mislead us. From that, the culprit is most likely not a ninja from Konoha."

"..."

Yugito pondered this, finding Neji's reasoning somewhat convincing.

Two hours later, C returned with the patrol team.

To Yugito and Neji's surprise, he had actually found something.

C took a deep breath, then said to Yugito, "Lady Yugito, it's a good thing you warned me in time. If we'd waited any longer, there wouldn't have been any traces left."

Yugito stepped forward eagerly and asked, "What did you find?"

"I found a single drop of dried blood on a fallen leaf nine kilometers southeast of the village. The residual chakra on it matches Yozuki Rei's."

"9 kilometers?"

Yugito was startled.

Yozuki Rei had died inside the village, his body taken by the killer.

Logically, bloodstains should have been found very close to the site of death, but 9 kilometers away...

That was simply too unbelievable.

Neji clasped his hands together and said.

"The enemy probably didn't travel like an ordinary ninja running on foot—he has a special movement ability."

"The village has a Patrol Team on constant watch, plus barrier defenses. Earth Style ninjutsu or flight techniques can be ruled out, leaving only one possibility."

Yugito realized it too and exclaimed, "Space-Time Ninjutsu?!"

"Yes."

Neji nodded. "That's the only explanation."

"To cover nine kilometers in a single move, that kind of Space-Time ability... only the two Hokage of Konoha could likely pull it off, but they're already dead. Hmph... Is there someone else in the ninja world with Space-Time abilities on par with those two Hokage?"

"That guy has probably awakened the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan!"

The more Yugito thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Elite ninjas excel at analyzing intelligence.

From a single drop of blood, Yugito deduced that Obito had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Neji beside her felt like applauding Yugito.

But the matter wasn't over yet.

Neji took a map of the area around Kumogakure from his Ninja Tool Pouch.

"Senior C, point out on the map exactly where the bloodstain was found."

C squinted, recalling for a moment, then said, "It's this wasteland."

Yugito glanced at the spot C had marked and said, "That wasteland is uninhabited. The killer was probably passing through on his way somewhere."

"Then..."

Neji rubbed his chin with his index finger.

After a moment, he took out a pencil and drew a straight line connecting the place where Yozuki Rei died and the location where the bloodstain was found. He extended the line outward, pointing toward the depths of the sea—the Land of Water.

Yugito exclaimed, "How does this involve the Land of Water?"

"Captain."

Neji said, "We're up against a fearsome enemy. We have to make bold assumptions. No matter how unbelievable, it could be the truth."

Yugito thought it over carefully and realized he had a point.

The enemy was suspected of possessing a Mangekyo Sharingan, was proficient in Space-Time Ninjutsu, and was overwhelmingly powerful.

Such a ninja was bound to be a ruthless character. No matter what background or identity he had, it wouldn't be surprising.

Neji said, "The enemy's base is almost certainly in the Land of Water. That rules out Konoha's Uchiha clan as suspects."