He didn't need to pay attention to any of it.
Because of their tense relationship with the village, the Uchiha clan had relocated their compound away from the village center.
Combined with their notorious arrogance, not many villagers liked to come near this place.
So the wind and snow… would bury everything here.
Hayashi Ren returned to the living room alone, intending to take a bath. As he turned a corner, he suddenly bumped into Sako, whose face was calm and expressionless. The surprise almost made him jump back.
He gave her a slightly aggrieved look."You nearly scared me to death—do you know that?"
"You killed him?" Sako asked plainly.
"Yeah." Ren nodded.
"Good. The bath is ready—go wash up. Don't let Naruko catch the scent," Sako said as she handed him a bathrobe and turned to leave.
Ren glanced at the robe in his hands, smiled faintly, and shook his head before heading toward the bathroom.
In truth, he had only sensed an unsettling presence earlier. He didn't actually know about the dog-masked Root operative lurking nearby.
But thanks to Sako's early reward from the victory chest—a double tomoe Sharingan—her perceptiveness had dramatically increased.
She had secretly scouted the direction of that strange presence and discovered the Root operative hiding there.
That's how Ren was able to track down the "puppy" and eliminate him.
Otherwise, he would have had to wait for the guy to come out and expose himself.
Now, lying in the warm water of the bath, Ren slowly relaxed and closed his eyes, savoring the heat.
Meanwhile…
In the Root Division office, Danzo's face—which was already as dark as the bottom of a pot—had turned even blacker, as if someone had smeared coal across it.
"The 'Dog' still hasn't returned. That means the operation has failed."
He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk, his tone thoughtful."It seems Hayashi Ren must've gained some powerful abilities from those two chests. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to kill a seasoned elite Chūnin like the 'Dog'."
After a moment of silence, Danzo's lips curled into a cold smirk."Hiruzen… looks like I can't let you have that kid. I've already lost one of my elite."
As he spoke, he stood up and walked toward the office doors.
He wanted to make Hiruzen give him an explanation.
An explanation for Hayashi Ren murdering his subordinate.
The fact that Ren had killed a fellow Leaf ninja would be the perfect leverage. A bargaining chip to pressure Hiruzen into handing Ren over to join the Root division.
"Lord Danzo, it's already late. Are you heading out?"
A Root operative stopped him as he stepped outside.
Danzo glanced at him, then looked up at the sky. After a pause, he murmured thoughtfully:
"Yes… it's already quite late. Hiruzen should be asleep by now."
"Old men sleep lightly. Once they wake up, it's hard for them to fall back asleep."
A trace of melancholy actually appeared on Danzo's stern face—so much so that the Root ninja beside him was visibly stunned.
For a man like Danzo—infamous in the ninja world's shadows—to show a sliver of sentimentality?
If word of this got out, anyone who had heard Danzo's name would be utterly shocked.
But Danzo ignored the Root member's shock and turned back toward his room.
He decided to wait until morning to confront Hiruzen.
The Next Day
The snow had finally stopped falling from the sky, but the weather was still grim.
Thick gray clouds blanketed the sky.
It was the kind of dark, heavy day that made Danzo's already sinister aura seem even more menacing.
"Hiruzen, Hayashi Ren killed one of my subordinates. What are you going to do about it?"
Danzo glared coldly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose face had turned noticeably darker.
"You're saying… Hayashi Ren killed your operative?"Hiruzen asked slowly.
…