"He's alone inside," Kaoru said quietly.
They stood just beyond the crooked gate of the village head's yard. The moon above cast its silver glow across the rooftops, cold and pale, bathing the worn building in an eerie light. Kaoru's cyan eyes shimmered faintly, unmasked and unwavering as they locked onto the house ahead.
"I wonder where his guards are… I haven't seen the village head without his guards even once these past two days," Misa murmured, falling into step beside him. Her movements were fluid, quiet as breath. Her eyes lingered on Kaoru's side, drawn to the quiet weight he carried - the kind of presence that made lesser men shut up and listen without knowing why.
Kaoru didn't bother sneaking in. He might have done so if the man had guards and he were trying to avoid killing them, but now, the unguarded entrance welcomed him.
The door creaked open. Kaoru stepped into the dim room, a heavy air welcoming him.
"So, you came," a voice rasped from within.
The village head sat hunched in a chair close to the wall, elbows resting on his knees, his head buried in his palms. He didn't move. He didn't look up. His figure seemed sunken, not just physically, but as if the soul had slouched too, weighed down by something heavier than fear.
Kaoru paused. Just briefly. The anger he'd carried into the house faltered. Not enough to soften, but enough to notice the oddity in the room. Something was off.
Still, pity didn't reach him. The kind of people Kaoru despised most were those who betrayed their own and the village head was exactly that.
"Yes," Kaoru responded coldly, pulling out a chair from beneath the table with a loud scrape and taking a seat. "I came. Why are you alone?"
"I figured you'd kill me the moment you walked through that door."
"I was tempted to," Kaoru replied, the corner of his mouth lifting menacingly. "But I want information first. If you cooperate, maybe I'll make it painless. So answer my question, why are you alone?"
The man laughed bitterly, a humorless bark that rang through the empty house.
"Because I've already served my purpose," he said. "You killed the Konoha shinobi, didn't you? Ria's probably dead too. Leaf nin must have killed her after she failed to assassinate them. Poor woman thought I actually gave her a poison… well, at least Konoha shinobi would not have tortured her, they would have realized she knew nothing."
He finally raised his head. Kaoru caught the red haze in his eyes, the capillaries had burst, turning his gaze into a web of crimson threads.
"And now it's my turn, right? Once I'm gone, maybe Lisa and the baby can live in peace."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaoru snapped, his chair legs scraping against the floor as he leaned forward. "Are you really trying to make me believe someone blackmailed you into setting this up… and then just let you live?"
"Oh, I'm not trying to convince you of anything, Lord Kaoru," the man said with a crooked smile. "I'm just trying to buy another minute. That's all. I'd tell you every story I know if I thought it'd help. But whether you believe me or not? I don't really care."
His laugh came again, louder this time, echoing through the hollow walls.
Kaoru finally took in the room around him. It was a far cry from what he expected of a family home. The dust on the table was thick enough to show his palm print clearly where he'd rested his hand. Footprints, old and dried, marred the floor in every direction, despite the ground outside being bone dry since he got into the village. Mud didn't last that long.
This place hadn't been lived in for days. Maybe longer.
"Do you know what the villages fear the most?" The sudden question pulled Kaoru out of his thoughts.
"It's not poverty, like most would assume," the man continued, voice slow, edged with something tired. "Farming our land, herding cattle, fishing… as long as the seasons don't betray us, we survive just fine. It's a good life, really. Simple. Honest." He let out a quiet chuckle, though there was no humor in it. "I wish I'd stayed one. Just a nobody tilling the soil instead of becoming the head of this damn settlement."
His gaze shifted, meeting Kaoru's without flinching. "What villagers fear most… is you, Lord Kaoru."
Kaoru said nothing. Not out of anger or offense, but because he could sense the man wasn't finished. He waited.
"This whole region was peaceful when I was a boy," the village head murmured, as if chasing memories he hadn't revisited in years. "My father used to lead this village before me. Every month, we'd collect tax for the local daimyo, then ride out together to the capital of the Lake Nation. A beautiful place, Lord Kaoru… the next time I visit…"
He paused, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "I won't be going again, of course. But you… you would enjoy it. So many dishes to try, flavors you've never tasted before. And there's a gambling den too, and a brothel. You're young. You'll enjoy that. Some of those women could rival your companion in beauty…"
His voice trailed off, before looking around and taking a glance behind Kaoru.
"Where is she? I was hoping she'd be the one to kill me, to be honest. When I made my deal with them, my wife said I'd be found rotting in some gutter canal, cut down by a filthy thug. I would've liked to prove her wrong. To die at the hands of someone beautiful."
Silence settled for a moment. His thoughts were elsewhere now, far away from the dimly lit room they shared.
"Why did you send Ria to her death?" Kaoru asked, voice calm, yet cold. The village head was clearly lost in thought and was not planning to continue talking without Kaoru's encouragement.
"You already know the answer, Lord Kaoru," he said, his tone softer now. "Don't you…"
"You used her to lure me into killing those Konoha shinobi. But why?" Kaoru pressed, eyes narrowing slightly. "No one will ever know it was me who killed them, there are no witnesses. And now you're going to die too. There's nothing you gained from this. I don't believe you were blackmailed and just… allowed to live."
The village head chuckled, low and broken.
"Maybe that's exactly why I'm still alive," he said, shoulders shaking with the effort. "Who would believe that a poor village head was used to trick the heir of the Takime clan into killing Konoha shinobi? That a man like me could spark a war between nations with a single lie? And after doing so, wasn't silenced to erase the trail. Unless…"
"Unless they knew you wouldn't say a word," Kaoru finished for him. "Even if they left you, you'd choose to die without revealing the information you know.
"If I'm going to die either way," the village head said with a crooked smile, "then I might as well keep the information to myself."
Kaoru understood it was more complicated than a mere spite. He could see that much. To play with death like the village head was doing, one had to be fearless. But the man in front of him was clearly scared - his posture, the way he kept exhaling through clenched teeth, the occasional twitch of his fingers. Fear clung to him like sweat. And yet, that fear was being held back by something else. Not defiance. Not madness.
Worry. Maybe for his family.
Kaoru didn't speak right away. He simply observed.
No one stared calmly at death unless they had something left to protect. No one gambled with their life just for the thrill of it. If this man truly had nothing left, he wouldn't be posturing. He wouldn't be buying time with smug remarks.
"Don't you want the ones who pushed you this far to be punished?" Kaoru asked, fishing for what the man wanted. "Don't you want them dead?"
The village head chuckled. "Are you saying you'll let it end here, Lord Kaoru? That you'll kill a helpless, powerless village head and call it justice?" His smile widened, but his eyes didn't match it. "You don't trust me, and you don't believe that I was blackmailed. I get that. But I know you. You won't stop until you uncover who's behind all this. So I might as well make the path harder for you, you are the one who's going to kill me after all."
Kaoru's jaw tightened. He'd felt a faintest sympathy during the man's story. A flicker of understanding. But now it was gone. Snuffed out. The man wasn't just stubborn. He was aggravating. And worse, there wasn't an ounce of regret in his voice. No guilt. No shame.
Only pride in the chaos he'd helped set in motion.
But in the end, there was just one thought that kept Kaoru from killing him - was it all an act?
"Then what about your family?" Kaoru asked, hissing. His voice sharper now. "If you really love them, as you claim, don't you want them protected? Would you rather leave them in the hands of the same criminals who dragged you into this… or let a strong village care for them?"
That hit something. Kaoru saw it. The man's smug veneer cracked. His eyes darted to the side, lips parting slightly. That same look of desperation had returned, the one he wore when Kaoru first entered the room. For a second, maybe two, he looked like a man who wanted to believe in salvation.
"If only…" he murmured.
But then the annoying smile returned. Weaker this time, but still there.
"I doubt my family would be any safer in a village about to be dragged into another war."
Kaoru's patience snapped.
His chakra surged, cold and controlled. In the blink of an eye, a dark blue needle shimmered into existence. It struck with brutal precision, piercing the man's foot and nailing it to the wooden floor. The sound it made was sickening, the blood pooling beneath the sandal.
The village head gasped, biting down a scream, eyes wide with shock.
"If you won't answer willingly," Kaoru said coldly, stepping forward, "then I'll resort to other methods."
"You finally started showing your true colors…" the village head muttered through clenched teeth, his voice strained, shaking with pain he could not hide.
Kaoru's eyes narrowed, but he didn't bother responding. The man's words were noise. What mattered was the pattern - his behavior. His choices. And none of it added up.
'He waited for me. Sat here in his house like a man who already knew he was going to die. He didn't try to bargain. Didn't ask for mercy. Didn't beg for his family. Just rambled and tried to stall for time.' Kaoru's gaze sharpened. 'Actually… he even admitted that his goal was to buy time.'
A suspicion crept in.
Without a word, Kaoru formed another needle. It shimmered into existence, then drove down through the man's other foot with a sickening crack as it met the bone. The village head groaned in agony, one hand flying to his mouth as he bit down hard, refusing to cry out.
'He's trying to stay quiet… but why?'
Misa was outside, stationed to keep the area secure and prevent any interference. That should have worked in Kaoru's favor. It should have left the man desperate, trying anything to get attention, to scream, to summon help. But he hadn't even tried.
'He's not trying to attract attention and get help. He's trying to delay.'
Something was wrong.
Kaoru studied him closely now. Blood had begun to spill from the man's mouth, trailing down his chin. He'd either bitten his tongue or cracked part of the inside of his cheek. It wasn't fear keeping him silent. It was purpose.
"Who are you waiting for?" Kaoru asked, voice low and threatening. He stepped forward, each stride heavier than the last.
But then, he froze.
His head snapped to the side as he sensed several chakra signatures, powerful and close. His Suijingan also confirmed what his senses already screamed.
The wall behind him exploded.
Misa flew inward, crashing through wood and debris before landing beside him. Dust rolled through the room as she staggered back to her feet, eyes sharp and breathing steady despite the impact.
"You alright?" Kaoru asked without turning.
"They're strong," Misa replied, already reaching for another kunai. She shifted her stance, lowering her center of gravity.
Then they arrived.
Four figures landed in silence, almost gracefully. Their movements were clean and synchronized, too refined to be anything less than elite.
All four wore ANBU masks.
**
The Next Chapter on Saturday
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