"C."
Yugito suddenly raised her head. "After killing Yozuki Rei, the enemy disappeared using some unknown ability. Sorry for the trouble, but go search the area within ten kilometers outside the village and see if you can find any clues."
"Yes."
C replied respectfully, then led a Patrol Team away with a few swift movements.
Yugito immediately took out a small camera and photographed the code on the blade.
"As expected of a jonin of the Yozuki clan. Even in defeat, he left us a valuable code."
Yugito sighed briefly, then looked at Neji and asked uncertainly, "But... what exactly does this pattern mean?"
The circular pattern was crooked and highly irregular.
This suggested that when Yozuki Rei left the code, he couldn't properly control his chakra. Perhaps he was already delirious.
"This circle might be the attacker's face," Neji said, narrowing his eyes.
His ability to recognize the code Yozuki Rei had left wasn't entirely due to having an omniscient perspective.
Though crude, the code showed that Yozuki Rei had done his best to leave as much information as possible.
"One end of the circle is a little wider than the other. It does look like a face."
Yugito stroked her chin, deep in thought.
With Neji's guidance, she quickly picked up on more details.
"Then does this black dot represent an eye?"
"It does. And it's no ordinary eye."
Neji gripped the Chakra Blade and said solemnly, "Look closely. There's a tiny, almost imperceptible tail on the black dot. That's actually... a Tomoe."
"A Tomoe?"
Yugito's expression faltered. She suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "If it's a Tomoe, does that mean... a Sharingan?"
"Yes."
Neji nodded and continued, "The enemy has one Sharingan. The black dot is on the right side of the circle, which means the Sharingan is in his right eye."
"That seems unlikely."
Yugito scratched her head. "Neji, is the enemy an Uchiha? Could we have misread something?"
The information they'd deciphered from the code was so unbelievable that Yugito wasn't sure what to think.
"Captain, I'm just making a bold assumption and then checking it carefully."
"And even if that assumption is right, it's too early to say the enemy is an Uchiha from Konoha. He might have secretly transplanted a Sharingan, or he could be a rogue ninja from the Uchiha clan, or something else entirely."
Neji stroked his chin, his expression serious.
Obito's misdeeds couldn't be blamed on Konoha's Uchiha again.
Yugito shook her head, unconvinced by Neji's reasoning.
"An outsider who transplants a Sharingan not only can't make full use of its power, but also puts an enormous strain on their body."
"As for rogue ninjas from the Uchiha clan, in the past few decades, the only one the Uchiha have recognized as a rogue is that Ninja Asura. Given the Uchiha clan's pride, if they knew someone had gone rogue, they'd have already started cleaning house."
"And don't forget, Root is still in Kumogakure."
"Neji, I think there's an eighty percent chance the enemy is an Uchiha from Root."
Yugito was making bold assumptions of her own, and her reasoning seemed sound.
If Neji hadn't known about Obito, he'd have concluded that the attacker was an Uchiha from Root, hiding in the village.
Yozuki Rei's death was a perfect opportunity for Kumogakure to realize that beyond the Five Great Nations, another powerful force was lurking in the shadows of the Shinobi World.
No.
He absolutely couldn't let Yugito jump to the wrong conclusion.
"Huh?"
Neji looked surprised, as if he'd just thought of something. He held up the Forehead Protector in the plastic bag for Yugito to see.
"Judging by the traces of battle at the training ground, Yozuki Rei couldn't fight back against the attacker at all. This Forehead Protector shouldn't have been there. The attacker clearly left it behind to mislead us. Based on that, the culprit probably wasn't a ninja from Konoha."
"..."
Yugito considered this and decided Neji had a point.
Two hours later, C returned with the Patrol Team.
To Yugito and Neji's great surprise, he'd actually found something.
C took a deep breath, then said to Yugito, "Lady Yugito, fortunately, you told us to search in time. If we'd waited any longer, we wouldn't have found a trace."
Yugito stepped forward and asked eagerly, "What did you find?"
"I found a dried drop of blood on a fallen leaf nine kilometers southeast of the village. The chakra remaining on it matches Yozuki Rei's."
"Nine kilometers?"
Yugito was startled.
Yozuki Rei had died in the village, and the killer had taken his body.
Normally, they should have found blood close to where he'd died. But nine kilometers away...
It was hard to believe.
Neji tapped one fist against his palm.
"The enemy probably didn't travel on foot like an ordinary ninja. He has some special means of movement."
"The village has patrols constantly on the move, as well as a barrier protecting it. Earth Style ninjutsu and flight ninjutsu can be ruled out. That leaves only one possibility."
Yugito had realized it too. "Space-Time Ninjutsu?!"
"Yes."
Neji nodded. "There's no other explanation."
"To move nine kilometers in one go... Only the two Hokage from Konoha could probably manage that kind of Space-Time Ninjutsu, but they're both dead. Tsk... Could there be someone else in the Shinobi World with Space-Time abilities on par with theirs?
"That person may have awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Yugito shuddered at the implications.
Excellent ninjas were skilled at analyzing intelligence.
From a single drop of blood, Yugito had deduced that Obito had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Neji wanted to applaud her.
But they weren't done yet.
Neji took a map of the area around Kumogakure out of his Ninja Tool Pouch.
"C, could you mark the exact spot on the map where you found the blood?"
C narrowed his eyes, recalling the location. "It was this stretch of wasteland."
Yugito glanced at the spot C had marked. "No one lives in this wasteland. The killer probably passed through while traveling."
"Then..."
Neji rubbed his chin with his index finger.
A moment later, he took out a pencil and drew a straight line connecting the place where Yozuki Rei had died to the spot where they'd found the blood. Extending the line outward, it pointed deep into the sea—to the Land of Water.
"How could the Land of Water be involved?" Yugito exclaimed.
"Captain," Neji said, "we're dealing with a terrifying enemy. We have to make bold assumptions. No matter how unbelievable they seem, they could turn out to be the truth."
Yugito thought it over and saw that he was right.
The enemy apparently had a Mangekyō Sharingan and was skilled in Space-Time Ninjutsu. He was also powerful.
A ninja like that was bound to be a ruthless character. Any kind of background or identity was possible.
"There's an eighty percent chance the enemy's hideout is in the Land of Water," Neji said. "That rules out the Uchiha of Konoha as suspects."
Before you continue