"Stop."
Hiroki's footsteps came to a halt.
He turned his head slightly. The one who had spoken was Rasa.
…Rasa?
Was he calling out to him?
Hiroki looked over in mild surprise and met Rasa's gaze. The Sand ninja's eyes were locked onto him, sharp and focused, as if trying to pin him in place.
"What did you just do?" Rasa asked coldly.
Just now—?
Hiroki froze for a split second before a memory surfaced from a few months ago. When he had been abducted by Kumogakure ninja, he had used remote mental communication—and Kumogakure had detected it.
His signal had been sensed.
——So sharp.
Inside Konoha, chakra fluctuations were everywhere, like overlapping Wi-Fi signals in a crowded city. He hadn't bothered to scan the full list earlier, which meant he hadn't noticed Rasa's probing presence in time.
Uchiha Fugaku frowned. His gaze shifted from Rasa to the ordinary-looking boy standing at the mouth of the alley. He recognized him faintly—the new administrator of the Archives.
Why would a Sunagakure jonin suddenly stop him?
Yoshihiro's eyes widened as well.
It was him.The librarian.
Why was he here? Had he been watching everything from the start?
"…Tch. This is getting annoying," Hiroki muttered under his breath.
The Third Hokage's instruction had been clear: Do not expose yourself.
Yet now, he was being questioned in public by a Sand jonin.
To be honest, Hiroki's first instinct was simple—copy the ninjutsu of the three… no, four Sand ninja present, then leave. By the time they realized something was wrong, they wouldn't even remember how to use their own techniques.
But since exposure was forbidden, that meant the Sandaime had his own calculations.
——For example, he might be wary of the pressure caused by multiple villages sending high-level figures into Konoha at the same time. A single misstep could turn the situation explosive.
In that case, a disguise would be safer.
Hiroki turned around slowly. His expression was calm, empty of emotion, as his eyes met Rasa's—detached, as though he were looking at a complete stranger.
"You are examinees for the Chunin Exams," Hiroki said evenly. "So am I."
That was all.
He didn't answer the question directly, because there was no need.
Rasa would fill in the blanks himself.
As a Chunin Exams candidate, gathering intelligence beforehand was entirely reasonable. Any chakra fluctuation could easily be interpreted as a reconnaissance technique.
As Hiroki finished speaking, the air at the alley entrance seemed to freeze.
Rasa's gaze did not soften in the slightest.
"An examinee?" he repeated. "Are you admitting that you were using ninjutsu just now?"
His tone was calm, but heavy with pressure. "Are Konoha's examinees always this bold?"
The boy before him looked no more than ten years old—roughly Sasori's age.
He was slightly taller and sturdier, but carried the same unnatural composure. Too composed. Far too mature for a child.
Rasa felt an indistinct sense of wrongness, something he couldn't quite define.
Behind him, Pakura raised an eyebrow and stepped forward with interest. Her eyes flicked from Hiroki to the pale-faced Yoshihiro beside him, and a teasing smile curved her lips.
"This Chunin Exams is starting to look fun," she said lightly. "Stronger than an Uchiha, huh? Is the Uchiha Clan really that weak inside Konoha?"
She tilted her head. "What's this—are you his teammate? Standing up for the Uchiha?"
"I heard ordinary ninja don't get along very well with the Uchiha Clan here. Or was that just a rumor?"
Her gaze deliberately bounced between the two of them.
Yoshihiro instinctively shrank back.
Every person in front of him radiated danger—exactly the kind his father had warned him never to provoke. Yet the librarian he had once looked down on stood calmly in the center of that pressure, utterly unfazed.
Just as the tension threatened to boil over, Uchiha Fugaku stepped forward.
He placed himself squarely between the two sides.
"This is Konoha," Fugaku said firmly. "The Chunin Exams have not officially begun. I ask the ninja of Sunagakure to respect our village's rules and refrain from causing disturbances."
His gaze sharpened.
"And the Uchiha Clan values peace. We will not tolerate slander, provocation, or attempts to disrupt the harmony of our clan."
His eyes locked onto Pakura.
After that, he didn't spare Hiroki another glance. "You as well," he added flatly. "Konoha genin. Since nothing has happened, leave."
It was a clean extraction—firm, neutral, and deliberate.
Rasa studied Hiroki for a moment longer, as if carving his image into memory. Then he looked away.
With a Konoha jonin intervening, pressing further would only escalate things into a diplomatic issue.
He gave Fugaku a brief nod and turned, leading his team away.
Hiroki remained silent.
What a pity.
If things had truly escalated, he had methods to deal with them without revealing anything at all. After all, the moment Rasa sensed him, Rasa's own "signal" had been exposed as well.
"…Um. I'm… sorry."
Yoshihiro's voice was barely audible. His face was flushed red, and the words seemed torn out of him, costing him every shred of pride he had left as an Uchiha genius.
Hiroki glanced at him and responded with a simple, indifferent nod.
"Mm."
He then inclined his head slightly toward Fugaku, turned, and disappeared into the nearby alley.
—
On a quiet path leading toward their temporary residence, the Sand ninja continued onward.
The taciturn young man following Rasa—Tetsusa, around twenty years old—finally couldn't hold back his confusion.
"Lord Rasa," he asked cautiously, "was there something special about that Konoha genin? Why did you stop him?"
From his perspective, everything had seemed normal.
An Uchiha brat caused trouble. Pakura pushed back. A Konoha jonin intervened. The librarian-looking boy had been completely unremarkable.
Rasa didn't slow his pace.
"This is Konoha," he said quietly. "Every action must be taken carefully."
"…You sensed something?" Tetsusa asked.
"A very faint chakra fluctuation," Rasa replied, frowning. "I don't know what technique it was."
He glanced sideways. "Were you not taught how to notice these things?"
Pakura clicked her tongue. "That's it? Rasa, you're being overly cautious."
"This is Konoha," she continued. "Anbu, barriers, surveillance everywhere. Minor chakra fluctuations are normal. You're overthinking it."
"Pakura," Rasa snapped, glaring at her. "I am the squad leader. Watch your words."
This woman was infuriatingly arrogant—but her talent rivaled his own. Had he not been older, she might have been a serious contender for Kazekage.
"Hmph," Pakura scoffed. "A brat with weak chakra. What threat could he possibly pose?"
She clearly found the apologetic Uchiha more memorable than the calm stranger.
Only Sasori remained silent, expressionless, like an unblinking puppet.
Rasa didn't argue further.
They had arrived.
Someone else was already waiting for them at their lodging.
Roshi of Iwagakure.
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To read chapters in advance go to P@treon - harsh07