After a few swift leaps, Ding You arrived at the campfire.
He glanced at Hyuga Kagami, who was still sitting calmly on the ground, gnawing on a rabbit leg. A mysterious smile crept onto Ding You's face as he thought to himself, "Go to hell, you fool."
Just then, the mysterious ninja using Magnet Release also arrived at the campfire. A flurry of iron sand transformed into countless senbon needles, shooting toward Ding You like a torrential downpour.
"What the..." Ding You was shocked, then suddenly realized, "His target isn't Hyuga Kagami—it's me!?"
With Ding You's abilities, it was impossible to dodge such a dense storm of senbon. Though he twisted and turned in an attempt to evade, within seconds, dozens of the needles pierced his body.
Compared to shuriken or kunai, senbon were far less lethal, so while Ding You looked horrifying with all those needles in him, he wasn't immediately killed.
Staggering a few steps, he collapsed against a nearby tree, his hand trembling as he pointed at Hyuga Kagami, who was still quietly chewing on his rabbit leg. "You... you're working with him!"
At this point, Ding You had no doubt the mysterious ninja was allied with Hyuga Kagami. What he couldn't understand was how a powerful Sand ninja who wielded Magnet Release ended up working with Kagami.
Hyuga Kagami rose and slowly walked over to Ding You, his face calm as he asked, "What order did Danzo give you?"
*Cough cough...*
After a fit of violent coughing, Ding You sneered, "You dare collude with the Sand Village? Lord Danzo will never let you off."
Seemingly recalling something, Hyuga Kagami muttered to himself, "Root members are all branded with that sealing curse mark. Seems like I won't get any useful intel."
All Root operatives were implanted with the 'Curse Mark of Tongue Eradication,' a special seal on the tongue that prevented them from disclosing any information about Danzo.
Returning to the campfire, Kagami resumed eating his rabbit meat as though nothing had happened.
Ding You looked puzzled as he glanced between Kagami and the silent, bandaged Magnet Release ninja. For a moment, he couldn't make sense of their relationship. Kagami seemed entirely unfazed by the mysterious ninja, and the latter didn't seem to mind being ignored.
Regardless, Ding You knew he had to pass on the information that Kagami was colluding with the Sand. Mustering the last of his strength, he unfurled a scroll from his pouch.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing!"
*Boom boom boom...*
A series of muffled sounds followed as dozens of small, agile ink birds flew from the scroll. In the blink of an eye, they scattered into the quiet night.
Ding You smiled in satisfaction as he watched the birds soar away. But suddenly, his expression twisted into terror. He realized all the ink birds were being sucked back by an invisible force, landing in Kagami's hand before turning into puddles of ink.
Before he could even process the horror, an iron spear pierced through his skull without mercy!
After finishing his meal and wiping the ink from his hands, Hyuga Kagami put away the Third Kazekage human puppet. Then, dragging Ding You's corpse, he headed for the nearest Konoha outpost.
Upon arrival, he reported to the Chuunin in charge: "I was attacked by bounty hunters. During the fight, this Root operative was unfortunately caught in the crossfire. Please send the body back to the village and report the incident to the Hokage."
The Chuunin looked troubled as he examined Ding You's corpse.
Even elite clan members like Shisui and Hyuga Kagami preferred to steer clear of Root. One could imagine how much more wary ordinary ninja were of Danzo's secretive faction.
Seeing the man hesitate, Kagami patted his shoulder and smiled, "Don't worry. Just do as I said. If any Root agents question you, tell them everything you know."
As a Special Jounin and an ANBU directly under the Hokage, Hyuga Kagami had the authority to assign temporary tasks to regular Chuunin.
Though still reluctant, the Chuunin gritted his teeth and agreed.
After a few more instructions, Kagami left the outpost.
To him, sending Ding You's body back to the village openly was better than secretly disposing of it.
First, the village's higher-ups already knew about the massive bounty on his head. He had just survived an assassination attempt by bounty hunters earlier that same day. Blaming Ding You's death on bounty hunters was entirely plausible.
Second, it sent a message to Danzo.
As for how Danzo would respond, Kagami didn't care.
Danzo was never the type to show mercy to those who surrendered. In the original timeline, even Shisui's loyalty didn't spare him. Danzo stole one of his Mangekyo Sharingan and drove him to a tragic suicide.
Even if Kagami had submitted to Danzo now, it wouldn't have made a difference. Danzo would've still branded him with the curse mark. The man didn't trust anyone, not even his own Root operatives.
Two months of vacation was neither long nor short.
Hyuga Kagami couldn't afford to waste time on travel. He studied the map and picked a remote, rugged route. Using the Magnet Release of the Third Kazekage human puppet, he took to the skies and sped toward the Land of Wind.
The journey went smoothly. Two days later, Kagami crossed the Land of Rivers and entered the Land of Wind.
The ruins of the ancient Roran Kingdom lay hidden in the vast desert. Even with a map, without familiarity with the terrain, they were nearly impossible to locate.
Fortunately, Kagami could fly using Magnet Release, giving him a significant advantage over most ninja.
Even so, it took him nearly ten days to find the ruined remains of Roran amid the endless sands.
Staring at the crumbling towers before him, Kagami muttered, "If not for these leaning towers, I wouldn't have known the Dragon Vein was hidden below."
Even at this close range, he couldn't sense a trace of chakra from the Dragon Vein, showing how well the Fourth Hokage's seal had held.
Still, he had anticipated this. If the seal were easy to break, the Sand Village would have claimed this treasure long ago.
Shaking off these stray thoughts, Hyuga Kagami strode boldly into the ancient ruins of Roran...