Ranmaru said nothing,
Still nothing.
The four shadows' operation seemed to encounter no setbacks. It could even be said that they completed it with remarkable ease.
And once they had finished,
the net tightened, and Ranmaru staggered.
Then one of the shadows pulled out a strange object and fired it directly at Ranmaru.
Ranmaru quickly began to feel drowsy. It was an anesthetic.
Yet despite completing the mission so easily,
they did not seem to find anything amiss.
Because they believed in only one thing: they did not care how their targets might react.
Over the years, they had carried out far too many missions like this. They had seen every kind of reaction imaginable.
The group immediately began gathering the tools and other items from the area.
Then two more shadows appeared by the courtyard wall. One, clearly a ninja of higher status, said, "All right. Next, clean up everything here."
"Make it look like this place was attacked by the Sky Ninja as well."
Another shadow immediately replied, "Yes."
After that brief exchange ended, the shadow led the other four away.
Then two more shadows appeared beside the remaining one, and he commanded, "Move."
They immediately entered the courtyard.
But at that moment, Aunt Yamada's voice came from inside again. "Ranmaru, haven't you come over yet?"
The three paused slightly, but the leader immediately said, "Take care of her."
One of them dashed toward Yamada.
He returned shortly afterward.
The three said nothing more and immediately began staging the false scene.
Although this place had not been heavily affected,
it was still very close to the area attacked by the Sky Ninja.
Among the surviving residents in this area, those who were more timid had already retreated toward the rear. However, Konoha had not issued a mandatory evacuation