Strange

"I... I didn't think it was important information." Shinichi Kishimoto stammered. "They're all nobodies. I thought no one would..."

Kakashi frowned. "It's for me to decide whether it's important information, not for you to make that decision on your own. Understood?"

"Yes! Yes!" Shinichi Kishimoto bowed repeatedly, his forehead covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

He had never imagined that when the youth before him got angry, his presence would be even more imposing than the Daimyo's.

"Go gather those people. There's no need to keep hiding it. If this person really exists, then my movements over the past few days must have been noticed long ago," Kakashi said.

"Yes, Lord Tenzō." Shinichi Kishimoto hurried out of the room, clearly going to fetch them.

Kakashi's frown deepened. It would be understandable if someone were watching Shinichi Kishimoto; after all, he was an influential noble of the Fire Country.

But what possible purpose could there be in watching ordinary clan members and servants?

The mysteries were piling up, and Kakashi was completely at a loss.

Shinichi Kishimoto soon returned, followed by seven or eight people.

"Lord Tenzō, I brought them all here." Shinichi Kishimoto wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Kishimoto." Kakashi nodded to Shinichi Kishimoto, then looked at the group behind him.

Sigh. Kakashi raised his dead-fish eyes in utter despair.

The people before him included men and women, old and young. Some were dressed lavishly, while others wore plain clothes. There was no discernible pattern at all.

After pondering for a moment, Kakashi said, "Describe in detail what it was like when you felt someone watching you."

None of them answered immediately. Instead, they looked toward Shinichi Kishimoto.

Shinichi Kishimoto said, "Do as Lord Tenzō says. Kishimoto Kenjiro, you tell Lord Tenzō about it in detail."

"Yes!" A middle-aged man stepped forward two paces, bowed respectfully to Kakashi, and began recalling what had happened.

"Since last month, I've always felt like someone was staring at me from very close by!"

"I was terrified, especially at night when I was alone in my room. That feeling of being watched became even stronger!"

"When the night wind blew into the room, it felt as though someone were breathing softly behind me. The door beside me kept swaying too, as if something might burst in at any moment."

The people around him, Shinichi Kishimoto included, all shrank their necks as they listened.

"Then, a few days ago, something even stranger happened."

"At night, I would sometimes deliberately speak loudly to bolster my courage. But one day, I suddenly seemed to hear someone imitating the way I spoke."

"The voice came from inside the room!"

"At first, I thought it was my own echo, but the voice's tone and manner were completely those of another person!"

"I was terrified and quickly lit an oil lamp, but there was nothing in the room."

"But I could feel that the person mimicking my voice was right beside me, staring coldly at me, as if hidden just beyond the corner of my eye."

"What was even more terrifying was that over the next few nights, that person's voice became more and more like mine. In the end, even I couldn't tell the difference anymore."

Kishimoto Kenjiro clutched his head in agony. "But whenever I tell anyone about this, they think I'm making up stories to scare them."

After hearing Kishimoto Kenjiro's account, Kakashi keenly picked up on several key points.

He lightly stroked his forehead protector, his gaze sweeping over the others.

"Did everyone start feeling watched last month?"

After thinking for a moment, everyone nodded affirmatively.

Just as expected!

Kakashi continued, "At first, you only felt watched. The strange events came later, and then they became increasingly bizarre?"

Everyone nodded again.

Kakashi looked at Shinichi Kishimoto beside him. "Clan Head Kishimoto, did anything unusual happen at your estate a month ago?"

Shinichi Kishimoto racked his brains, but he could not recall anything.

For someone as busy as he was, the things that had happened a month ago were all too ordinary, with nothing worth noting.

A servant suddenly spoke up. "Lord Tenzō, Lord Kishimoto, if we're talking about something unusual, all the furniture in the estate was replaced a month ago. I wonder if that counts?"

Shinichi Kishimoto immediately nodded. "Right, right! A month ago, I received word that the Daimyo might come to visit, so I spent a great deal of money replacing all the old furniture in the estate."

"In the end, the Daimyo never planned to come at all. We prepared for so long for nothing..."

A servant muttered quietly, only to be silenced by Shinichi Kishimoto's sharp glare.

Furniture, a person hidden beyond the corner of one's eye, someone standing right beside them yet impossible to see...

Kakashi felt as though he had thought of something, but he could never grasp that spark of insight.

"I understand. Mr. Kishimoto, you can have them leave first," Kakashi said.

"Yes, Lord Tenzō." Shinichi Kishimoto turned to the others. "Everyone, disperse for now."

After everyone had left, Shinichi Kishimoto asked nervously, "Well, Lord Tenzō, have you gained anything?"

Kakashi nodded. "I have some leads already. I believe there'll be results within the next few days."

Kakashi was not lying. At the rate this strange phenomenon was escalating, there would definitely be results in the next few days—but not necessarily the kind Shinichi Kishimoto wanted.

Shinichi Kishimoto felt greatly relieved. "Then, Lord Tenzō, I'll return to my work as well. I'll leave everything to you."

Kakashi moved through the shadows, inspecting every room throughout the estate.

As expected, Kakashi still found nothing.

"Looks like all I can do now is wait for the strange phenomenon to reveal itself," Kakashi murmured.

This entire matter gave him a very bad feeling. The strange events at the Kishimoto estate did not seem to be man-made. Instead, they seemed more like...

"Why did I suddenly think of Hidan? Still, now that I think about it, everything that's happened does sound... like some horrifying and evil ritual."

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, night quietly descended, blanketing the sky like a dense net and making it hard to breathe.

With a flicker, Kakashi entered Shinichi Kishimoto's room once more. Shinichi Kishimoto was sleeping soundly, occasionally mumbling in his dreams.

Kakashi moved silently through the room, his Sharingan casting a chilling red glow in the darkness.

As he passed Shinichi Kishimoto's bookcase, Kakashi suddenly felt a sense of discomfort.

Kakashi slowly turned his head—and saw...