His body warped. His shoulders widened half an inch, his chin grew squarer, his cheekbones rose slightly, and his eyebrows thickened.
In just a few breaths, his face became someone else's.
Shinichi Sarutobi. An ANBU squad captain and a member of a branch family of the Sarutobi Clan. A name that would arouse no suspicion.
His black clothes changed too. The cloth over his face vanished, and his night clothes became a dark gray ANBU uniform. A Ninja Tool Pouch hung at his waist, and a short blade rested across his back.
A little later, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the gate of the Shimura Clan compound.
Jiraiya stood at the entrance with his arms crossed, staring at the bodies covered in white sheets inside the courtyard. His white hair stirred in the night wind, hiding most of his face.
The one visible eye churned with worry and conflict.
Shinichi Sarutobi walked up beside him and stopped.
"Jiraiya."
He kept his voice so low that only Jiraiya could hear.
"It's me."
Jiraiya stiffened. He turned and studied Shinichi Sarutobi's face, then his eyes. Only after several breaths did he recognize him. He lowered his arms and glanced guiltily from side to side.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked away from Jiraiya and toward the row of bodies. "Well? Have you figured it out? I wasn't the killer!"
Jiraiya's expression turned furtive. He spoke with care.
"That kid Uchiha Yongye came."
"He knows Impure World Reincarnation!"
"And he used it in front of everyone to question the victims."
"Danzo's eldest son said there really was a masked man in black who seemed to be fighting the killer."
"But Danzo's grandson, Hiroki Shimura—"
"Said he saw more clearly. He said you were putting on an act!"
"That you were working with the killer."
"Otherwise, you would've