The thin candidate's face paled, but he said nothing more.
Someone changed the subject, guessing in a hushed voice, "Hey, what do you think the 'candidate' on these wristbands means? Candidates for patching holes? Or candidates for membership?"
"What else could it mean? Membership, obviously! Once we complete a mission, we can become full members." Gāngtài sounded utterly certain.
Uchiha En sat on a broken post, wiping his sword without joining the discussion.
His own answer was a little uglier than theirs: calling them candidates was the polite way of putting it. Bluntly speaking, they were expendables.
People with unclear backgrounds couldn't join the Akatsuki and become full members right away. Nagato would certainly test them.
As he wiped his blade, something flickered at the edge of his vision.
Minazuki Ren stood two paces away, holding out a kunai.
She had borrowed it from him to pry up stones while repairing the posts that afternoon.
"Here."
Uchiha En reached out to take it.
Gāngtài leaned over, about to strike up a conversation.
Since Miss Ren had arrived in the village, she hadn't said a single word to him. He still wanted to approach her and get to know her better.
The instant their fingertips touched.
Ren's wrist suddenly slipped sideways.
Swish.
The kunai's edge swept past three inches beneath Uchiha En's ribs, so fast it left only a white mark on his straw rain cape.
Three inches.
An inch closer, and it would have drawn blood.
Uchiha En didn't reach for his sword hilt.
He merely tilted his head slightly, his body completely still.
As the kunai reached the end of its arc, Ren turned her fingers and caught it steadily with the spine facing outward, as though nothing had happened.
Fine threads of rain drifted diagonally between them.
Holding