Sanshao Beneath the Shadow

"He really took the bait."

For a spy operating inside a ninja village, being exposed usually meant grave danger. The odds of dying could even exceed ninety percent. But when the intelligence they sought was important enough, making a sacrifice became only natural.

Unfortunately, the whole affair was a hastily concocted scheme. The so-called intelligence had been made up out of thin air, and the spies' actions and sacrifices would earn them nothing.

Tonight was destined to be a chaotic battle. It wasn't just a fight between spies and Konoha Ninja; spies working for different masters would also turn on one another and fight to the death. Who was the mantis and who was the oriole? Which one was the snipe and which the clam? How could those caught in the very heart of the chaos know what role they were ultimately playing—anyone except Hanyu, that was.

He was the most carefully arranged prop in this whole conflict, and its most anxiously attentive spectator.

Faint voices drifted through the night.

"There are a few too many people here. Have all the spies hidden in this village come out? Could this be a trap?"

"Whether Konoha has some ulterior motive or not, we've reached the point of no return. Besides, even if Konoha is targeting us tonight, we can at least be sure the source of the intelligence is genuine. Something must have happened in Konoha today. The whole village feels different—chaotic, but somehow still orderly. They must have received reliable news about the Second."

"Then there's nothing more to say?"

"Nothing more to say!"

The low voices quickly faded, and the clash of weapons grew louder.

The people who had just been talking must have charged into the battle at last.

Hanyu leaned against his pillow, half-reclining in bed as he listened intently to the commotion outside the window. The sounds had gone from nothing to a crescendo, then begun to die down, all in little more than ten minutes. That gave him some idea of just how fierce the fighting had been.

"They're starting to clean up." After all, this was Konoha. If the fighting was dying down, that meant the village's ninja had taken control of the situation.

He hoped Konoha would achieve its objective. They had already spread that rumor, so the more thoroughly the spies were wiped out, the better it would be for Hanyu.

The hospital room was pitch-black, but Hanyu's eyes seemed even darker. Moonlight through the window illuminated only a small patch of the room. That was the spot he had been staring at, and at last, a figure appeared there.

The man wore a tight-fitting black outfit, his entire face hidden behind a mask. His upper body was soaked in blood. The moment he appeared at the window, the stench of blood filled the room... There was nothing about his visible features that could tell Hanyu whether he was a Konoha ninja or an enemy, but Hanyu knew he was an enemy.

So he raised one hand, waved at the man, and greeted him with a smile. "Good evening. Thanks for the effort."

Hanyu felt neither nervous nor afraid. An enemy had appeared right in front of him, but he knew the weapon he had borrowed from Danzo, now gripped tightly in his other hand, would go unused after all... At this point, there was no way the enemy could hurt him.

This was Konoha Ninja Village. Countless Konoha Ninja were fighting outside the window. How could they let the enemy's last stragglers run amok?

Unless Konoha itself intended to kill Hanyu and was using the enemy to do it. But would Konoha really go to such lengths?

Hanyu thought he could wait and see.

The enemy at the window stared at Hanyu with undisguised malice. He must have realized there was no way to complete his mission. Tonight was a trap set by Konoha, and trapped with nowhere to turn, he surely wouldn't mind taking someone down with him. But could he manage it?

A feathered arrow crackling with lightning shot out of nowhere and pierced his neck in an instant. The flickering afterglow, the quivering arrow shaft, and the gushing blood together brought a crimson end to the events of the night.

Hanyu slowly closed his eyes. He knew he'd be able to sleep well now. Not only because the night's events were over, but also because Konoha meant him no harm... The village seemed to have no intention of getting rid of an outsider on the grounds that "you know too much."

Morning.

Fighting in a ninja village wasn't exactly rare, but it wasn't common either, so ordinary people in Konoha didn't pay much attention to the battle that had broken out last night. But eliminating spies had considerable strategic importance for Konoha at present. It meant the village could count on intelligence security for quite some time.

The traces of the battle had already been cleared from the streets. Aside from the faint smell of blood in the air and the marks left by weapons on walls and roads, nothing else remained to show that dozens of lives had been lost there the night before.

But whether it was a strategic decision or a tactical arrangement, none of it had anything to do with Hanyu now. What did concern him was the news he received that morning: he couldn't stay in the hospital any longer. The village had made specific arrangements for him, and someone would soon take him away.

Part of him was worried about his condition, and he would have preferred to remain in the hospital a while longer. But the medical ninja didn't seem to consider his injuries or the chakra damage anything worth worrying about, so he was "cleared" to leave.

He was taken away even sooner than he'd expected. Just two hours after he received the notice, the person who would escort him arrived in his hospital room.

"Hanyu Yu, dear, come with me." The visitor was a woman who looked to be around thirty. She had soft features, a warm, easy smile, and an air that made her seem instantly approachable.

She seemed to know Hanyu's name and identity perfectly well.

"Mm, all right." Hanyu followed behind her as instructed. He had to admit, she made an excellent first impression.

Hanyu had nothing but himself, and there was nothing for him to pack, so the two of them soon left the hospital, one after the other.

As they walked along Konoha's streets, everything seemed pleasantly calm: passersby of all kinds, the hubbub of the crowd, the sun hanging high at noon but looking more cold than bright, and the empty, cloudless sky.

"Nice weather, isn't it?"

"Huh? Oh, yes." It took Hanyu a moment to realize she was talking to him.

"I heard you were the one who brought back news of the Second."

"Yes."

"What was he like at the end?" She seemed hesitant, but in the end, she asked the question.

Hanyu recalled what had happened. The figure amid the blazing flames rose in his mind. "At the end, the Hokage was just like a ninja."

Senju Tobirama had been a ninja all along. Describing him as "just like a ninja" shouldn't have made sense, but Hanyu felt it was the only way he could describe him.

"Just like a ninja...? That's a fitting description of that man." She stopped walking, and at last, a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.

Interestingly, she seemed quite satisfied with that description.

As they continued on, Hanyu realized that the person he was following seemed to have some standing. Many people along the way kept nodding respectfully to her.

But the subject of the Second ended there. She didn't seem willing to talk about it any further. With all of Konoha mourning the loss of its Hokage, Hanyu thought little of her reaction.

"It's getting colder." She gave a light cough, then raised a clenched fist to her mouth. It was hard to tell whether she was changing the subject awkwardly or the weather really had turned colder.

Still, Hanyu went along with it. "Mm, it's already Kannazuki."

"It looks like we'll need to get you some clothes."

For once, Hanyu looked embarrassed. He was still wearing a hospital gown, and the slippers on his feet were from the hospital too.

"By the way, you don't know who I am yet, do you? My name... I can't tell you for now. I'm the director of the Konoha Nursing Home. You can call me Teacher Sanshao." She introduced herself.

If she couldn't reveal her name, then "Sanshao" was probably a code name. Which meant the person before him was probably a ninja too.