After Hikaru finished making all his preparations, he immediately set off—hoisting the unconscious Yashamaru on his shoulder.
Yashamaru had actually woken up once while Hikaru was setting things up, but Hikaru—determined not to let any secrets leak—knocked him out again without hesitation.
Carrying the man was annoying, sure.
But it was still better than letting someone see things they weren't supposed to.
Besides, Hikaru had planted a mountain of basic attribute seeds when he was younger. This kind of weight wasn't a problem at all.
He even felt like he could fight while carrying Yashamaru if he had to.
"…But Yashamaru's a guy. I suddenly feel like I'm taking a loss here."
Hikaru laughed at himself.
Compared to carrying a man, he'd much rather carry a woman—at least psychologically.
He wasn't into "charging straight at men," after all.
But since he was the one who decided to have Kakashi take Pakura back, there was no point whining about it.
With Yashamaru on his shoulder, Hikaru continued forward.
But the expression under his mask grew… strange.
Because this desert wasn't nearly as "quiet" as he'd expected.
"Humans are coming. Be careful."
"What if that human eats us?"
"Relax—he looks like what humans call a shinobi. Probably fine."
"Shinobi are the scariest. If they're hungry, they'll eat us alive. Stay away."
"Eh? There are lizards too… shame they're too close to the human, or we could've had a meal."
"…"
Hikaru swore this was the first time he'd realized the desert had so many… random voices.
Some of them were even eyeing his lizards?
The feeling was unbelievably weird.
It was his first time testing this ability, so he wasn't used to it.
But he had to admit—
Those hidden desert animals were everywhere.
And in their own subtle way, they could feed him information.
His lizards were a perfect example.
Each one was buried underground—impossible to spot with the naked eye.
Even if a sensory shinobi detected something, without full context they wouldn't necessarily take it seriously.
"Once you get past the weirdness… it's actually kind of interesting."
Hikaru kept walking with Yashamaru, thinking to himself.
The feeling was strangely magical—like the world had suddenly grown a new layer.
And it stirred up a bit of playful curiosity in him.
With his perception, he noticed a snake nearby.
It seemed afraid of him, already sliding away the moment he got close.
"Hold on a second."
Hikaru called out.
He could hear animals talking, sure—but he hadn't actually tried talking back.
Communicating with his lizards didn't really count. That was more about chakra resonance and the summon contract—mutual understanding without actual "speech."
But he wanted to know something else now:
When he spoke, would it become an animal language?
Or would it stay human speech?
Reality quickly answered that.
His words were still human.
But when he spoke, a strange chakra rhythm followed along with it.
The snake hidden beneath the sand froze.
Then, in Hikaru's perception, it flicked its tongue repeatedly—like it was checking for nearby kin.
"I'm the human," Hikaru said, amused. "Turn around and look."
"A human…? I'm talking to a human?"
The snake clearly didn't believe him, but it still lifted its head to peek.
And that nearly made Hikaru jump.
Because it was a rattlesnake.
The two protrusions on its head were striking—and its coloring blended so perfectly into the sand that without sensory perception, and without that "animal voice" ability, Hikaru would've never noticed the venomous thing so close.
"This is insane… am I starving and hallucinating?" the snake muttered, like it couldn't accept what it was seeing.
"I don't know if you're starving," Hikaru said, taking a cautious step forward—but not too close. "But I really can communicate with you. It's a skill of mine. I'm just testing it."
"You humans are lunatics."
The snake slid back a little, careful and wary.
"Whatever. I need to hunt. If you're not going to eat me, I'm leaving.
Damn it… a whole group of humans moved into the place I was living. And now I run into you on top of that."
Hikaru chuckled at the complaint—then paused.
A whole group of humans?
That detail mattered.
To an ANBU, every piece of information was worth chewing on—because you never knew what might become useful.
Especially when you were deep in enemy territory.
"Where were you hunting before?" Hikaru asked.
At the same time, he pulled out a few raw eggs and waved them in front of the snake.
"Tell me, and these are yours."
"That way."
The snake didn't hesitate at all. It pointed with its tail.
"It's a place completely different from here. Trees. Water. Lots of food. That place—"
"Alright, I get it." Hikaru cut it off.
The snake kept hissing with its tongue, and the fact that Hikaru could understand it perfectly was… still too bizarre.
But he'd already gotten what he needed.
The place it described was easy to identify—
A small oasis a few kilometers outside Sunagakure.
One of the rare green patches in Wind Country.
And because it was close to the village, nearly every visitor stopped there to rest unless they were rushing.
"Thanks. One more question."
Hikaru set the eggs down, smiling lightly.
"Do you know how many of them there were?"
"Ten, I think?"
The snake's eyes were locked on the eggs like it was starving to death.
"I don't know if more came later. I only saw ten."
"Good."
Hikaru nodded in satisfaction and looked into the distance.
Ten.
That meant they had prepared something.
And it confirmed what Hikaru had already suspected—
They had no intention of letting him walk away cleanly.
"At the end of the day… this mission was never meant to be public."
…
In the oasis outside Sunagakure, Ebizō stood quietly, waiting.
He hadn't retired yet.
He was the head of Sunagakure's ANBU—the man responsible for the village's intelligence and spy network.
Even in the future, after retirement, he would still possess countless hidden lines across the major nations.
That alone said how dangerous he truly was.
Normally, he wouldn't personally handle missions like this.
But this time was different.
Because the order came directly from the Kazekage.
"You know what to do, Chief Ebizō."
That sentence echoed in his mind.
Of course he knew what to do—
Especially with missions like this, where neither side would record anything, and nothing would ever be written down.
It was shameless.
But shinobi didn't care about shame.
Leaving someone alive—like the Yashamaru being returned—
That alone was already "mercy."
Ebizō waited calmly.
According to Suna's intel from Konoha's ANBU channels, the escort should be arriving soon.
He also knew Konoha's escort would never enter Sunagakure.
If the roles were reversed, Suna wouldn't either.
And Ebizō certainly wouldn't allow them inside the village.
If a fight broke out in the village, even if Suna could capture them more reliably…
The collateral damage to civilians would be unimaginable if the enemy went desperate.
An ambush outside the village—
That was the best option.
"Sir."
A Sand ANBU appeared beside Ebizō and dropped to one knee.
"We've found the target."
"Oh?"
Ebizō looked over.
"How many? How far from here?"
"They're close. But…"
The ANBU hesitated, then spoke carefully.
"Only one person. He brought Yashamaru alone."
"One person?"
Ebizō frowned.
"What kind of idiot is that bold? And did Konoha send any additional intel?"
He truly didn't understand.
Konoha couldn't possibly be blind to how dangerous this was.
Yashamaru's identity wasn't simple.
So there were only two real explanations.
One—
The escort was strong enough to ignore numbers.
Two—
The escort was worthless.
An ANBU with no valuable intel. Someone Konoha didn't mind losing.
Ebizō sighed quietly.
Logic told him Konoha probably chose option two:
Send someone with no value, so even if captured, nothing leaks.
But he still needed the full picture.
"Here's the intel, sir."
The ANBU produced a scroll and offered it with both hands.
"According to this… the escort volunteered for the mission.
And he's… apparently a 'captain'—a division-level commander."
"A division commander?"
Ebizō paused—then laughed.
"Well, that's interesting."
A division commander in Konoha's ANBU was not "worthless."
Not even close.
If someone at that rank came alone…
Then Ebizō had to ask—
What was he relying on?
"Did any border units spot them entering Wind Country?" Ebizō asked. "And are you sure you searched carefully? No other escort?"
"Sir, we found no one else," the ANBU answered with frustration. "As for them entering… the garrison didn't detect them. The recent sandstorms have been too heavy."
Ebizō shot him a sharp look.
But he didn't curse him out.
Sandstorms were a problem Suna could never fully solve—
And at the same time, they were also Suna's natural shield, just like Mist's perpetual fog.
Large forces moving through sandstorms risked disaster.
But small groups could slip through them like ghosts.
Still, letting an enemy slip in so close was never a good feeling.
"Go guide him here," Ebizō said, no longer dwelling on it. "And tell everyone to prepare. If he's truly a division commander… we can't let him leave."
"Yes, sir!"
The ANBU vanished.
Ebizō narrowed his eyes.
Now he was truly curious.
What kind of man would walk alone into Sunagakure's doorstep?
…
"Hm?"
As Hikaru walked forward, he sensed chakra approaching.
He slowed slightly—
then smiled.
Because the owner of that chakra made no effort to hide.
The Sand ANBU appeared directly in his line of sight, glanced at him, then made a tactical hand sign—
Follow.
"Interesting. So that snake's intel wasn't wrong."
Hikaru nodded calmly.
This animal communication ability really was useful.
And more importantly—
Now he knew roughly how many people were waiting ahead.
With that, he could make even more preparations.
Without drawing attention, he guided one lizard to lag behind—
while ordering the others to sprint forward.
Only then did Hikaru follow the Sand ANBU.
Everything was ready.
Now he wanted to see what kind of game Sunagakure thought it was playing…
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