Cold. Trembling.
Shaking----
Where was this?
His consciousness slowly rose, like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake.
The first thing Hanzo of the Salamander recovered was his sense of touch.
His body was heavy, and his limbs felt as though they were filled with lead. It was a normal reaction to the poison taking effect, and he knew the feeling well.
But then, a stranger sensation surfaced.
His abdomen felt----empty.
It wasn't the pain of a wound. It was the sudden disappearance of a faint pressure and weight he had grown accustomed to over the years. It was as if someone who had carried a heavy load for years had suddenly set it down, leaving his body feeling strangely light, almost as if it no longer belonged to him.
That poison sac----had they removed it?
Hanzo's thoughts gradually cleared, and he struggled to open his eyes.
Before him were the damp stone ceiling of the makeshift prison and several familiar faces he loathed. The Sannin of Konoha, and that----white-haired assassin who had caught him off guard.
"He's awake." Tsunade's voice carried a trace of weariness.
Hanzo ignored her. His gaze passed over the others and settled on the black-haired boy they were all subtly protecting at the center—Sawada Hiroki.
The boy was looking at him calmly. There was no victor's smugness in his eyes, nor the innocence one would expect from a child. There was only a calmness that made Hanzo feel a pang of unease.
At least they had managed to wake him.
But----something felt wrong.
"----Looks like you've reached a decision." Hanzo rasped, trying to hide the unease within him. "What? Has that old man Sarutobi lost his nerve? Is he unwilling to risk escalating the war, and planning to let me go?"
His tone