Ransacking the Library

In the dead of night, only the moon's faint light spilled across the earth.

The secret chamber held countless precious scrolls, yet not even the moonlight could penetrate it. It had been designed without windows from the very beginning. After all, if the goal was to keep it secret, there could be no chance for anyone to peer inside.

Who would come here in the middle of the night to read the sealed scrolls?

No one had expected Shinnō to sneak into Konoha's restricted grounds and risk stealing from them. By the dim light of a candle, he greedily rifled through the documents before him. To make sure he missed nothing, he even copied down anything that caught his interest. Among those things were, of course, his targets: the Eight Inner Gates and the Zero-Tails Jutsu Formula.

Shinnō's eyes were sharp as a hawk's. His gaze darted around as he concentrated, breathing heavily and rapidly.

His desire for revenge was urgent, but now that he was actually committing the crime, he couldn't help feeling intensely nervous. This was Konoha, after all!

If he was discovered, his skills wouldn't be enough to help him break out head-on.

Just thinking about it made his skin crawl, as if someone were standing right behind him.

Shinnō shuddered.

At that very moment, Akashi stood behind him, watching the entire crime unfold. Shinnō's stealth and concealment skills left much to be desired. He should have taken precautions as soon as he got inside.

Thanks to that, this would be over quickly.

Akashi's sleeve twitched slightly.

Two snakes soon slipped from his cuff. Their slender bodies glided over the cold floor, then rose up. When they drew close to Shinnō, they flicked their tongues and hissed softly.

At that instant, the candle flame abruptly went out.

In the darkness, Shinnō sprang up from his crouch and spun around, throwing two senbon at the gray snakes. With a sharp, piercing sound, the snakes were pinned to the floor.

In the pitch-black room, only their breathing could be heard, but the two were already at a standoff.

Shinnō turned his wrist slightly, and a kunai slid silently into his palm. His bones gave off a faint series of cracks. He had carried out the operation with great care. As soon as he'd entered, he had shut the door from the inside, leaving no trace behind. Even if the guards outside woke up, their memories would connect with what had happened before. The part that had been erased would seem like a dream, giving them no reason to suspect anything.

He had a full twenty minutes to commit the crime. It should have been plenty.

But something had gone wrong. Someone had followed him inside, and if not for the faint sound just now, he might have been ambushed. Shinnō broke out in a cold sweat as he thought back on it.

"I didn't expect to be found out. Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm a Konoha shinobi, here to arrest you and bring you before Lord Hokage."

"Damn it, I've still been—No, wait! If you were here to arrest me, you'd have made a big commotion. At the very least, you'd have sent a signal to the Police Force or some other shinobi." Even at a moment like this, Shinnō managed to analyze the situation calmly. "You... you haven't done that."

As he spoke, he raised his weapon.

The moment he'd counterattacked, he had extinguished the candle and cut its wick, plunging the chamber into darkness. This kept his identity from being exposed outright and also gave him a favorable environment.

With both of their vision blocked, he had the advantage thanks to his skill at sensing chakra.

Akashi clapped. "As expected of you. You've thought things through, but I really am here to arrest you."

"Hmph. We'll see if you're capable of it."

Shinnō talked tough, but in his heart, he was already wavering.

After all, he had committed a crime in Konoha's own stronghold. Though the other person didn't seem intent on making a scene, the pressure on him was still almost unbearable. If the Hokage found out, this crime would be enough to get him killed a hundred times over.

And there was something about Akashi's calm tone that gave him an inexplicable sense of pressure.

Suddenly, Shinnō changed his mind. "Wait. Why don't you tell me what you want first? Maybe we can work together!"

"I'm a simple person. I'm afraid you'll trick me, so let's not."

Shinnō was taken aback. This guy wasn't willing to work with him, but wasn't calling for help either. What exactly was he trying to do?

Then he heard a hissing sound by his ear. He leaped—not to attack, but to retreat again, putting more distance between them until he was pressed against the edge of a bookshelf, his back prickling with cold.

"Snakes?"

"Correct." Akashi kept shaking his sleeve, sending out snakes both large and small. "But it won't do you any good, Dr. Shinnō."

Shinnō seemed to realize something. He gritted his teeth and laughed. "That voice... Hahaha, so it's you. A little kid, playing spooky games."

He suddenly felt much more confident. The person in front of him was Uchiha Akashi.

Hah. If he couldn't beat Konoha's elite, surely he could handle a kid?

And at last, he had a chance to get revenge for that meal at the restaurant!

"You think you can arrest me?"

"Since you treated me to a meal, I'll go easy on you. But you'll have to pay for these snakes." Akashi looked rather pained, though his gaze soon sharpened.

Now that his identity had been revealed, there was no need to hold back.

As long as he finished the fight before the guards woke up, it didn't matter if Shinnō knew who he was. Akashi shifted his feet, preparing to subdue his opponent.

At the same time, Shinnō attacked in the darkness.

His raw strength wasn't especially impressive, but he was confident he could deal with a brat.

And with both their vision blocked, his superior sensory abilities let him pinpoint their positions. The instant he pushed off the ground and accelerated, he attacked without hesitation, his confidence soaring.

But several white snakes suddenly leaped up in front of him, writhing as they lunged!

Shinnō swung his kunai. Its sharp edge sliced through the snakes as easily as cutting weeds. The snakes weren't very intelligent, and their attacks were simple. Even though it was a sneak attack, they weren't much of a threat.

Relying on years of experience and superb reflexes, Shinnō broke through the swarm and charged straight at Akashi.

His kunai thrust forward.

Clang!

Akashi remained calm, far calmer than Shinnō had expected. Their kunai clashed, ringing out with a harsh metallic sound.

Shinnō suddenly exerted his strength, twisting his body and changing his grip again and again, hoping to defeat Akashi through sheer speed and strength. It would be difficult to use ninjutsu in this chamber. Beating his opponent was one thing; alerting Konoha was another.

Sparks flew, lighting up their faces for an instant.

But Akashi wasn't defeated. He blocked Shinnō's attacks with ease.

There was no more time to waste. Shinnō deliberately left an opening to lure Akashi in. He would risk getting stabbed to seize the chance to turn the tables. He didn't care if he had to kill the other man.

Akashi chuckled. Even if I fall for such a childish trick and charge in, what can you do?

The kunai plunged into each other's bodies as both men attacked the openings they saw. They were both wounded.

But the next instant, Akashi's body crumbled and scattered into more than a dozen white snakes.

A clone?!

Shinnō sensed something was wrong, and his heart sank.

"Watch your back." A voice suddenly rang out above him.

Shinnō felt a chill at his back and his scalp tightened. The kid hadn't been bluffing.

He sensed a vicious presence closing in and hurriedly dodged, but his legs gave way as his muscles lost their strength. He collapsed onto his knees.

Behind him, an enormous snake reared up, its head big enough to swallow him whole.

The faint scent of lilies drifted through the air.

"How... When...?" Shinnō's entire body had gone limp. He knew he'd been poisoned.

Akashi leaped down from the ceiling and beckoned. The snakes crawled back up his trouser legs and into his sleeves. Only then did he grin and say, "To deal with you, I used a toxin that spreads through the air. It evaporated quickly from the bodies of the white snakes you cut up and filled this room."

"You let those snakes—"

"Why bother saying it out loud if you've already figured it out? Now shut up and have a nice nap."

With that, Akashi cast Genjutsu: Forbidden Binding Labyrinth on him.

The poison might not keep Shinnō incapacitated for long, so adding a second layer of protection was safer.

After taking care of Shinnō, Akashi relit the candle and quickly restored the scene, cleaning up the blood and snake bodies. Then he bundled up the scrolls Shinnō had copied along with some of the original documents and took them with him.

The books and scrolls here were as numerous as the sea. No one would immediately notice if a few were missing.

Inside the chamber, Akashi directed the giant snake to swallow the documents and Shinnō in one gulp. Then he quietly slipped out of the restricted grounds and darted swiftly into the bushes.

The guards were still "on duty." Under the silent moonlight, everything was as it should be.

Akashi returned to the street and happened to look up as a breeze brushed his hair.

"The moon looks lovely tonight."