The moment Byakuya saw the innkeeper's eyes, he knew something was deeply wrong with the man's true identity.
The innkeeper looked at the four of them with delight, as though he believed he was about to rise through the ranks.
Beyond forty meters, Byakuya's senses were no match for Izumi Orange's. Within forty meters, though, Heaven Release gave him terrifying perception—enough to detect fluctuations in emotion.
The innkeeper behaved perfectly normally afterward. Even so, Byakuya took the other three out of Shark Village as a precaution and climbed to this high ground to see whether his suspicion was right.
Byakuya frowned as he gazed at Shark Village, suddenly ablaze with light, and listened to the shouting that came with it. "Word of this will reach Kirigakure soon. Yagura colluding with Konoha ninja? The Mizukage won't let an accusation like that go."
"Captain, the innkeeper said Kirigakure was a long way from here. How did those Kirigakure Ninja arrive so quickly?" Mi asked, thoroughly puzzled.
This time, Snow Hawk worked it out without Izumi Orange's help. "The innkeeper sided with the Mizukage. He must have revealed Yagura's arrangements too. All the Mizukage had to do was station people nearby in advance."
Byakuya smiled. "Looks like those Kirigakure Ninja were too cautious. They stayed too far from Shark Village, so by the time they got the news and rushed over, they'd missed us."
After all, the four of them had waited a while before leaving.
Of course, even if the Kirigakure Ninja had stormed the inn to capture them, they would have been no match for Byakuya's group unless a Kage Level fighter from Kirigakure led them.
And if they could not win, Byakuya could still take his companions away with the Flying Thunder God Technique, just as he had earlier.
However