Hidezawa's words truly silenced everyone.
The oppressive air inside the ruined house was heavy, like dust pressing down after a collapse. Shisui and Yugao, both used to keeping their calm even in the face of battle, found themselves unable to counter what Hidezawa had just laid bare. Even Pakura, whose fierce loyalty to Sunagakure was like steel, could not immediately find words to strike back.
What unsettled them most wasn't the provocation in Hidezawa's tone—it was that, when stripped bare, his logic seemed terrifyingly correct.
From the perspective of a shinobi, the world was simple. Missions, enemies, survival. You fought, you bled, you obeyed.
But from the perspective of a village? That was an entirely different battlefield. A village had to weigh lives against resources, pride against survival, and sometimes, the sacrifice of one against the prosperity of thousands.
The realization gnawed at all of them.
After leaving Yugao to guard the still disbelieving but silent Pakura, Hidezawa and Shisui stepped outside into the night air. The ruined village around them was quiet, its broken walls and shattered roofs bathed in the pale glow of the moon. The air carried the faint, dry sting of desert sand.
Shisui walked beside Hidezawa for a while in silence, his thoughts twisting uncomfortably. At last, he broke it.
"…Are you lying to her?" he asked, his voice low, almost hesitant.
"Nope." Hidezawa shoved his hands into his pockets, his tone maddeningly casual. "I said those were my guesses."
He gave an exaggerated shrug, as if he were tossing away the weight of his own words.
"But I think it's very likely that things will develop in that direction." he continued. "Sunagakure doesn't have the luxury of dragging this out. War isn't just about manpower—it's about money. And from what I've heard, the great Fourth Kazekage himself has been reduced to panning for gold with his own hands."
He leaned toward Shisui with a mischievous grin. "Senpai, do you know what that means?"
Shisui's brows furrowed. "…It means the Wind Daimyō has cut Sunagakure's financial support?"
Despite his youth, Shisui was Uchiha, and Uchiha were never ignorant of politics.
"That's right." Hidezawa nodded sagely, turning his gaze to the silver glow of the moon. "Otherwise, they wouldn't be in such a predicament. Think about it: the Land of Wind's environment forces them to import nearly everything. Food, tools, supplies—it all costs money. Training shinobi costs money. Waging war costs even more. And if the coffers run dry…"
"…Then they'll have no choice but to prioritize." Shisui's eyes widened with dawning understanding. "To end one conflict quickly, and then throw everything against Iwagakure. Only then will the Third Tsuchikage hesitate to act rashly."
He exhaled, the full picture slotting into place in his mind. For a moment, admiration flickered in his gaze as he glanced sidelong at Hidezawa.
'How does this guy think of so much?'
Shisui remembered that time in Konoha, when Hidezawa's words had cut him off so abruptly. At the time, it had been uncomfortable, almost humiliating. But looking back… hadn't Hidezawa already seen through Hokage-sama's intentions, when even many elders had misunderstood?
"…Hidezawa, where were you trained before?" Shisui asked suddenly, curiosity slipping through. But then, as if catching himself, he hesitated. "No—if it's inconvenient, you don't have to answer."
"Then I won't." Hidezawa replied without missing a beat, nodding with such decisiveness that Shisui almost tripped over his own feet.
The bluntness left Shisui momentarily speechless, but it also drew the faintest twitch of amusement beneath his mask. Typical.
"Alright then," Shisui said, redirecting. "What should we do next? Your reasoning may be correct, but we don't have solid evidence. Without proof, it's just conjecture."
"No rush." Hidezawa rubbed his chin in an overacted pose of deep thought. "That Pakura probably doesn't know much anyway. To be safe, senpai should give it a try himself."
Inwardly, he smirked. 'Shisui's the captain, but this guy's a bit unreliable. Which is perfect. He can give the orders and take the blame, and I'll handle the details. Division of labor at its finest.'
"As for Pakura," Hidezawa continued smoothly, "it's best to keep her alive for now. She might still be useful."
"Hm." Shisui nodded gravely. His tone grew solemn. "If things are truly unfolding as you say, then she cannot die. She could be the one to bring peace."
"…."
Hidezawa pursed his lips. 'Ah. Now I get it. This is exactly why Shisui would hand over his Mangekyō secret later. The kid's got a missing screw.'
But he didn't explain. With a casual wave, he stepped away. "Then I'll leave her to you, senpai. I'm going to scout around—see if I can locate a water source."
"Understood." Shisui nodded firmly. His earlier doubts seemed to have evaporated. Now, he looked at Hidezawa with trust. "Be careful."
"Yeah, yeah." Hidezawa waved him off, wandering into the moonlit ruins.
The village had been gutted long ago, likely by Sasori's infamous handiwork. The skeletal remains of houses loomed around him, shadows stretching like broken teeth. Kicking a pebble idly, Hidezawa let his thoughts turn elsewhere.
With a flick of intent, he opened his panel.
[Mission Completed: Obtain relevant useful intelligence from Sunagakure and Kirigakure shinobi]
[Mission Rating: C]
"…."
Hidezawa's brows shot up. He had felt the system's subtle tug earlier but hadn't checked. Now that he did, the prompt was almost insulting.
"So… I just guessed out loud, and it counts as mission completion?" he muttered.
The panel didn't answer, of course, but it mocked him in silence.
"It really is a prime example of 'doesn't matter how you complete it, as long as it's completed.'"
Still, he couldn't deny it—his information was solid, one hundred percent accurate. If the system wanted to hand him credit for big-brained guesswork, he'd take it. And if this was how loosely missions could be "cleared", then his confidence in bending the rules for future objectives soared.
[Reward Obtained: 1 Free Point]
[Due to uncontrollable influence, special reward obtained]
[Scorch Style Experience Insight]
"…?"
Hidezawa blinked. Then his eyes widened. "Now that's unexpected."
He quickly skimmed the details. The reward wasn't a Kekkei Genkai itself—his body couldn't naturally obtain those—but rather insight, a record of experiences, habits, and techniques from someone who had mastered it. Specifically, Pakura's own lived expertise with Scorch-style.
Hidezawa's mind churned with the implications.
In the shinobi world, Kekkei Genkai fell into two categories. The first were innate—the Uchiha's Sharingan, the Hyuga's Byakugan, the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku, or the Senju's monstrous vitality. These were bloodline traits directly tied to the Ōtsutsuki lineage, inherited like destiny.
But there was another kind: fusion-based Kekkei Genkai. Powers born from combining elemental chakra natures—abilities that, in theory, could be artificially replicated. Scorch-style, a fusion of Fire and Wind chakra, belonged to this latter group.
And now, thanks to this insight, Hidezawa had a blueprint.
"This is huge." he muttered, eyes glinting. "With this, I can skip years of trial and error. Efficiency through the roof!"
It was like being handed the cheat sheet to an exam.
Still, he tempered his excitement with caution. 'But… to fuse chakra natures safely, I'll need more resources. More help.'
Reining in his giddiness, he pulled a scroll from his pouch. Carefully, he inscribed information onto it, then wove a short sequence of hand seals. Chakra flared, and the scroll vanished in a shimmer of light.
His gaze lifted toward the horizon. "Come quickly. I'm waiting for you."
This technique was a little trick he'd picked up during a particularly bloody Root mission—one where he'd ended up wiping out an entire family of enemy shinobi. The jutsu itself wasn't his creation, though. No, it belonged to someone else.
Yakushi Kabuto.
The future Snake Sage, dreamer, and manipulator of the world. A man infamous for being both scoundrel and genius, and one of the greatest examples of villainous "whitewashing" in history.
And, unfortunately, someone Hidezawa knew far too well.
After all, it had been Kabuto who tricked Hidezawa into joining Root in the first place. The memory still burned, punctuated by the countless times Hidezawa had "thanked" him with fists in the training ground.
Yet, despite those beatings, there was still a thread of camaraderie between them. They had grown up in the orphanage together. Kabuto had carried guilt, and Hidezawa… well, he had grudgingly accepted it.
Most importantly, Hidezawa knew Kabuto's terrifying potential. That was why, instead of burning bridges, he had handed this summoning-style jutsu to Kabuto, ensuring they kept in contact.
Sometimes, he even passed along tidbits about Yakushi Nono that he picked up while in Konoha. That kept Kabuto tethered.
And now, this jutsu—this lifeline—was about to become useful in ways even Kabuto hadn't imagined.
*****
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