Why withdraw?
The reason didn't need explaining—none of the four were idiots.
Hagoromo's squad had been assigned to infiltrate, search, and investigate. Eliminating enemies was never part of the mission parameters. Direct confrontation was something they were supposed to avoid whenever possible.
"Kurenai," Hagoromo said, turning toward the least-injured member of the team. "The storm gives us good cover. We need to evacuate immediately. The weather works in our favor, but we can't be careless. You'll take the rear and erase our movement traces."
No matter which direction they retreated in, the torrential rain would quickly wash away most signs of their passage. Still, for safety's sake, Hagoromo issued the order anyway.
Kurenai didn't hesitate.
"I understand."
"Withdraw!"
At Hagoromo's command, the four turned and moved out.
After their respective battles, all four members of Hagoromo's squad had suffered varying degrees of chakra depletion—Hagoromo most of all. In his current condition, continuous combat was no longer an option.
Asuma took point.
Yamashiro Aoba followed, carrying the captive.
Hagoromo moved behind them.
Kurenai brought up the rear, carefully clearing traces as they went.
They didn't blindly retreat deeper into the Land of Fire. Instead, they continued moving parallel to the border between the two countries.
The mission could not be abandoned.
However, given the massive disturbance they had caused earlier, their original route was no longer viable. The plan to silently and quickly slip into the Land of Rain had been scrapped.
Even though Hagoromo's squad was still technically within the Land of Fire, there was no guarantee that Rain Village hadn't noticed what had happened. Enemy scouts might already be moving.
To ensure both safety and the continuation of the mission, Hagoromo decided to extend the operation timeline. The squad would need to temporarily disappear—lying low and waiting for a new opportunity to infiltrate.
For now, their top priority was dealing with the prisoner.
Interrogation
In a secluded mountain hollow, at the base of a towering cliff, there was a recessed overhang that blocked the rain entirely. Hagoromo's squad took shelter there.
Kurenai was treating Asuma's and Aoba's wounds. Even if she wasn't a medical-nin, basic first aid and bandaging were standard skills—especially for kunoichi.
Meanwhile, Hagoromo was considering how best to extract information from their captive.
"Do you want me to release the genjutsu?" Kurenai asked once she finished.
The Fūma clan ninja was bound so tightly he looked like a rice dumpling. Even without genjutsu, escape was impossible.
Being trussed up like that was unpleasant—but still far better than ending up roasted.
Hagoromo had two key questions he needed answered:
Why had Fūma clan ninja appeared within the Land of Fire and attacked Konoha shinobi without hesitation? Was it truly just for bounty money?
How had the enemy been able to accurately identify him by name? Who was collecting intelligence on him?
Releasing the genjutsu and using brute-force interrogation?
Inefficient—and unreliable. There was no guarantee the answers would be truthful.
After a moment's thought, Hagoromo turned toward Aoba.
"Aoba," he asked, "can you perform memory extraction?"
From the personnel files the Hokage had provided, Hagoromo already knew that Yamashiro Aoba possessed a memory-reading jutsu similar to those used by the Yamanaka clan—though he wasn't sure how deep Aoba could probe.
Aoba pushed up the sunglasses perched on his face.
Yes—he was wearing sunglasses in a rainstorm.
There were, in every village, a few people whose true bodies seemed to consist entirely of sunglasses; the human underneath was merely a stand.
"I can try," Aoba said cautiously. "As long as his memories aren't sealed, it should work."
Given that this was a wandering mercenary ninja—not a high-ranking operative from a major village—there was little reason to believe anyone had placed a specialized mental seal on him.
That assumption proved correct.
"Be careful," Hagoromo said. "If it doesn't work, don't turn our best source of intelligence into a vegetable."
Aoba nodded and said no more.
He focused, formed a hand seal Hagoromo had never seen before, and placed his right palm against the Fūma ninja's forehead.
Hagoromo's warning wasn't exaggerated.
Violent mental intrusion was far more dangerous than physical torture. Stabbing someone with a sharp object might cause bleeding or infection—
But a slip during a mental probe could permanently destroy a person's mind. One mistake, and a brand-new vegetable would be created.
Hagoromo removed his mask and watched Aoba work, unconsciously baring his teeth in a grimace.
At that moment, Hagoromo made up his mind: even if he'd never systematically studied mental-protection seals, once he returned, he'd ask Uzumaki Kushina whether the Uzumaki clan had any specialized fuinjutsu for this kind of defense.
If they did, he'd either have Kushina slap a few "brain-protection buffs" on him—or learn them himself.
While Hagoromo's thoughts wandered, Aoba suddenly spoke.
His eyes were closed, his hand still pressed against the enemy's head.
"Found it."
Sweat beaded at Aoba's temples, and his voice was hurried. Clearly, he hadn't yet mastered this mental jutsu.
"These people really are from the Fūma clan…"
"A week ago, they accepted a contract from Amegakure at a bounty exchange. The mission was to infiltrate the Land of Fire and assassinate Konoha ninja for payment."
"The first ones they ran into… were us."
"So that's how it is," Hagoromo murmured.
But Aoba wasn't finished.
"There's more. At the exchange, an unknown individual—or organization—posted a high-value bounty specifically targeting you, Captain."
"They verified and released part of your personal intelligence…"
"..."
Hagoromo's expression finally changed.
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