Araki sighed inwardly. In the past, he had only wanted to keep a low profile and had never planned to kill anyone in Konoha. This time, Sora Hyuga had come looking for trouble with him.
Since he could not solve the problem, he could only eliminate the person causing it.
It was precisely because of this that, while disposing of Sora Hyuga's body, he realized he was inadequately prepared.
Next time, he had to bring Corpse-Dissolving Water capable of dissolving a body.
He might not need to use something like that, but he could not afford to be without it. If he had brought Corpse-Dissolving Water this time, things would have been much easier.
Corpse-Dissolving Water was frequently used by Anbu ninja, often on the battlefield. When a ninja from the village died and there was neither time nor suitable conditions to deal with the body, they would dissolve it with the water.
This greatly reduced the chances of the enemy obtaining the body and studying the secrets of the village's ninjutsu.
Corpse-Dissolving Water was not particularly easy to obtain, but it was extremely useful. Araki planned to find an opportunity to get some after returning and keep it on him.
Araki quickly tore off Sora Hyuga's clothes, then attached an Explosive Tag to his body.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
As soon as Araki attached and activated the Explosive Tag, it began hissing.
In an instant.
Araki's hands began forming practiced hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
Araki extended his right hand. As though his palm possessed magic, surging streams of water poured out and quickly engulfed Sora Hyuga's body.
Boom-
A muffled explosion followed, but it sounded as though a soundproof wall stood in its way, robbing it of all force.
The Explosive Tag had detonated entirely within the water prison.
The tremendous force blasted Sora Hyuga's body to pieces, which strangely began burning underwater. Not a single drop of the splattering blood fell onto the ground; it merely stained the enclosing water prison red.
The entire process looked as though it served no particular purpose, but Araki alone knew best that he was disposing of Sora Hyuga's body this way so that none of this would ultimately be traced back to him.
Suddenly.
A puddle appeared at Araki's feet.
Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, it transformed into another human figure identical to Araki-a Water Clone.
After exchanging a glance with Araki, the Water Clone began forming hand seals with deliberate precision.
"Earth Release: Earth and Stone Flow!"
After forming the seals, the Water Clone slapped both hands against the ground. Instantly, the ground before him became a swirling mire resembling a whirlpool, though it covered such a small area that it would be of little use in actual combat.
Araki had no intention of using this ninjutsu in actual combat, either.
He wanted to destroy the body and erase all traces!
Araki steadily shrank the water prison held in his right hand. With the water sphere stained scarlet, its contents were no longer visible.
Immediately afterward.
The red water sphere touched the swirling mire.
The surface where the water sphere made contact began spinning, funneling down into the ground along the mire and staining the soil a slightly darker shade.
A few seconds later.
The entire water sphere carried Sora Hyuga's remains deep underground.
The swirling mire stopped.
The ground began returning to its dry state.
There was no visible difference whatsoever.
Chapter 23: Hidden Mist Technique
These clothes have to go.
Araki tossed Sora Hyuga's clothes onto the ground he had already dealt with, rapidly formed a series of hand seals, then spat out a small flame.
He was not particularly familiar with fire release ninjutsu, but producing a small flame was no problem.
What Araki excelled at most was actually water release ninjutsu. This was thanks to his Wood Release: among his chakra natures, water and earth were the ones with the greatest affinity.
This was not Araki's own guess. He had purchased special testing paper at a ninja tool shop. It was made from a special tree that drew nourishment by absorbing chakra. Simply channeling chakra into the paper would reveal what his nature was.
However...
The paper was primarily used to identify the nature best suited for in-depth study of nature transformation.
It was not used to detect every nature.
Back when he watched the Naruto anime, Araki had gained a basic understanding: each person could possess multiple natures, but generally, they were most proficient in only one or two.
If anyone could master some ninjutsu of every nature, it would be Hiruzen Sarutobi, the current Hokage known as the Professor of Ninjutsu.
When Araki had channeled chakra into the testing paper, after a brief delay, the paper had immediately grown damp at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This indicated that the basic nature most suitable for him was Water Release.
From then on.
Araki had incorporated Water Release into his daily training.
However, he generally practiced Water Release late at night, after three in the morning.
At that hour, he could be fairly certain that the Third had gone to bed and would no longer observe him with the Telescope Technique.
This allowed him to keep some trump cards hidden more safely.
Of course.
The reason Araki had trained in water release ninjutsu...
Was that he had never intended to conceal it excessively.
For a period afterward, water release ninjutsu could serve perfectly well as his regular means of fighting, presenting him to the world as a Water Release ninja.
It was just that...
Araki did not want to reveal his Water Release right away.
Strength had to be revealed gradually.
He always had to leave himself room to maneuver.
Only then could he remain in a position where he could handle things with ease.
"Good thing I usually carry this..."
After burning Sora Hyuga's clothes to ashes, Araki reached into his ninja tool pouch and took out an unopened bottle of ground pepper.
He had prepared it and begun carrying it long ago.
There were many secret techniques in the ninja world that could track someone's scent, such as the Inuzuka Clan's ninja dogs and the Summoning Technique Kakashi had used.
Araki was not particularly familiar with other methods and did not know whether the Anbu had even more capable tracking specialists, so he always carried a bottle of ground pepper. At the right moment, it could mask many scents.
Araki opened the bottle and gently sprinkled the pepper over the ground, covering the area around this patch of earth.
Scents lingered longer on objects but lasted only briefly in the air. On the way here, Araki had taken Sora Hyuga on a long, winding detour through many places. Those traces of scent would all disperse in the wind.
As for the Telescope Technique...
The moment Araki decided to act against Sora Hyuga, he had immediately sprinted toward the east of Konoha. On the way, he had quietly formed hand seals and cast the Hidden Mist Technique, a water release ninjutsu, blanketing the nighttime woods in layers of thick mist.
The mist would not last forever, but maintaining it for half an hour posed no problem. As Araki kept moving, he had shrouded the forest along his route in mist.
This served to conceal him.
The Hidden Mist Technique was the first ninjutsu Araki had practiced after learning that he excelled at Water Release, and he used it specifically to obstruct the Telescope Technique.
Now, everything was over.
Araki's figure flashed away as he swiftly darted between the trees, heading toward the stretch of forest where he had always trained.
Araki knew very well that disappearances were nothing particularly unusual in Konoha. Orochimaru had conducted many human experiments. If Araki's wood release kekkei genkai were discovered, even if he disappeared, no one would care too much.
Sora Hyuga belonged to the Hyuga Clan, but he was only a member of the Branch Family. The ribbon covering his forehead concealed the Caged Bird Seal that symbolized his fate.
A member of the Main Family would have been more troublesome, but there was not much to worry about with the Branch Family.
Perhaps the Hyuga Clan would search for him.
But it certainly would not cause much of a stir.
Before acting, Araki had analyzed all the stakes involved, and he understood inwardly what consequences his actions would ultimately have.
The organization responsible for investigating such matters in Konoha was the Konoha Military Police Force.
The vast majority of the Konoha Military Police Force's members belonged to the Uchiha Clan. It could even be called the Uchiha's police force.
The Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan had no overt conflicts or disputes, but behind the scenes, they had always competed.
Because...
Both the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan claimed that theirs was the strongest clan in Konoha!
As everyone knew, the Four Heavenly Kings could have five members, but there could only be one strongest!
The Konoha Military Police Force would investigate a matter involving the Hyuga Clan, but how much effort they would put into it remained unknown.
Araki normally kept such a low profile that even as a classmate, he would hardly be considered a suspect. Moreover, he had handled everything extremely thoroughly and left no evidence behind, so it would not affect him at all.
Especially since he had forfeited outright during the practice match that day. People's impression of him would surely be that he was no match for Sora Hyuga, further reducing the likelihood of suspicion.
As for the immediate benefit of doing this, it eliminated the possibility of Sora Hyuga running his mouth afterward.
Sora Hyuga had threatened to tell others about his training.
Although this was not a secret he absolutely had to keep, and it would be fine if others found out, Sora Hyuga would certainly not merely reveal it-he would publicize it far and wide.
Araki did not want to attract attention because of this, making people realize he was deliberately hiding things and ultimately drawing even more attention.
Araki had already spent more than three years developing in secret. If someone this troublesome latched onto him, it was hard to imagine what his days would be like afterward.
Especially...
He had a very strong feeling.