After Shisui left, Jin Uchiha lingered at the mouth of the alley.
Slanting rain soaked one of his shoulders. He turned toward Konoha Hospital. The hospital stood just east of the village center, and getting there from the Uchiha Clan Compound meant crossing half of Shopping Street and a ninja residential district. The route was usually bustling, but tonight's rain had left the streets almost deserted.
Halfway there, he suddenly stopped.
At the corner ahead, a broken streetlamp stood with its shade hanging crookedly from the pole, its bulb long since dark. The shadows there were thicker, heavier than those around them. Jin Uchiha's Sharingan turned silently in the darkness, its three tomoe slowly revolving.
Someone was in those shadows.
Not a ninja. At least, not an ordinary one. Their chakra was completely suppressed, making them seem like a stone or a wooden post. Had Jin Uchiha's perception not far surpassed that of ordinary people, he would never have noticed anything.
He stood still without speaking. The sound of rain filled the entire street.
A few seconds later, the person in the shadows moved. A figure stepped out from behind the streetlamp, dressed in an ANBU uniform and wearing a cat mask. But Jin Uchiha recognized that build and gait at a glance.
"Shisui?"
The newcomer raised a hand and removed his mask. It was indeed Shisui. But his expression was strange, his jaw tight, his eyes holding something Jin Uchiha rarely saw on his face. Hesitation.
"Why did you come back?" Jin Uchiha asked.
Shisui approached him, rain dripping from the ends of his hair. "Jin, I ran into someone on my way to the hospital."
"Who?"
"A Root ninja." Shisui kept his voice very low. "He was hanging around the hospital's back entrance. He withdrew when he saw