The Grass Ninja Jonin, Ryuran, took the final payment for the mission and had Hyuga Kagami sign the commission document. Without saying another word, he led the grass ninja and their hired guide away.
Throughout the entire process, he didn't utter any unnecessary words, clearly uninterested in why Hyuga Kagami was looking for the remnants of Loulan.
In fact, after a month of working together, Ryuran had already deduced that the man calling himself "Mr. Ki" was in fact a ninja. After all, no ordinary man could travel across the desert for a month without showing a trace of fatigue. Kagami's stamina and consistent alertness proved he was using chakra.
As a ninja from a minor village, Ryuran had seen all sorts of strange missions. He'd even received commissions to assassinate fellow village ninja from one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. He'd long learned it was best not to dig into affairs that didn't concern him. The less you knew, the safer you were.
Kagami was quite pleased with the Grass Ninja's discretion. If they had pried too much into his motives or tried to investigate the Loulan survivors, he would've had no choice but to silence them.
Once the grass ninjas had left, Hyuga Kagami lay in wait atop a sand dune, carefully observing the distant Loulan survivors gathered in the oasis.
Soon, his gaze fixed on a red-haired woman.
She appeared to be around twenty years old, cradling a baby in her arms, her face shadowed with worry.
"Is it her?" Kagami muttered.
From his memories, the last Queen of Loulan was about four or five years older than Kakashi, who had traveled with the Fourth Hokage. Since Kagami was Kakashi's peer, the Queen should indeed be around twenty now.
The age matched. So did the hair color. In a group of merely two to three hundred people, she was the only one who fit the description. Kagami concluded that the woman with the infant must be Loulan's last queen.
"What a fall from grace..."
With a sigh, Kagami pulled out a scroll and summoned the Third Kazekage Puppet.
Now wasn't the time to approach her. If something happened to the Dragon Vein while he was traveling, the village might suspect him. This two-month expedition was merely a preparatory phase, and it had two goals:
First, to determine what kind of sealing technique the Fourth Hokage had placed on the Dragon Vein.
Second, to locate the Loulan Queen.
Having achieved both, Kagami planned to leave the Third Kazekage Puppet behind to shadow the caravan discreetly. This way, he could monitor the Queen's movements in real time.
He himself would return to the village and clear any suspicion, then later sneak out to steal the Dragon Vein without a trace.
Poof—
A sudden burst of smoke revealed the lazy form of the one-eyed viper.
Kagami blinked in surprise.
Only Orochimaru could send him summons through this creature. It had been a while since their last contact, so the sudden message was unexpected.
Taking the scroll from the viper's mouth, Kagami unfurled it—and his face darkened.
"Persistent bastard."
The message was short—a warning. Orochimaru had informed him that his location had been discovered by Sasori, who was already on his way to the Land of Wind.
In the past weeks, Kagami had interacted with all kinds of people while searching for Loulan survivors. It wasn't impossible that someone had seen through his disguise.
But it no longer mattered. He had achieved his goal. There was no need to remain in the Land of Wind.
After a moment of thought, Kagami took out another scroll and handed it to the one-eyed viper.
Contained within it was intel he had collected on the ANBU, including details on units that had been wiped out during the skirmishes with Kumogakure.
One of Orochimaru's conditions when trading for the artificial tailed beast scroll had been for Kagami to use his Byakugan to gather information on ANBU.
It was time to hold up his end of the bargain.
After all, Orochimaru's warning had just helped him avoid a major threat. That favor needed to be repaid.
Konohagakure, Hokage's Office.
The Third Hokage stood with his hands behind his back, gazing out the window. Danzo sat beside him, leaning on his cane in silence.
The remaining members of Team 11, excluding Hyuga Kagami, stood before the Hokage's desk, visibly uneasy.
After a long silence, the Third turned and asked, "Have you all finished reading?"
Kakashi and the others nodded.
The Third asked, "What do you think? Could Hyuga Kagami be responsible?"
Gai was the first to speak. "Lord Hokage, Kagami would never harm a comrade!"
Kakashi returned the photos and files related to Dingyou's corpse to the desk. "I trust him too."
He recalled how Kagami had returned to the battlefield to rescue him, facing hundreds of enemy shinobi, and how he had fought fiercely against the Two-Tails Jinchuriki for the village. There was no way someone like that would betray Konoha. Even if Kagami had killed a ROOT member, Kakashi believed it was justified.
Shisui also recognized the iron sand particles mentioned in the report and suspected Kagami, having witnessed him manipulate the Third Kazekage Puppet firsthand. But he had already promised Kagami to stay silent about anything involving Danzo.
So, he said nothing.
"Hmph."
Danzo scoffed from the side, clearly displeased.
The Third sighed and said, "Kagami does bear some responsibility for Dingyou's death. I'm suspending his ANBU status for now."
Kakashi calmly responded, "Lord Hokage, Kagami is my teammate. If he bears responsibility, then so do I as his captain."
Danzo interjected coldly, "Last time, your Team 11 withheld the truth. Now one of your members is accused of killing a fellow shinobi. I recommend suspending the entire team's ANBU status."
To appease Danzo, the Third nodded. "Very well. Team 11's ANBU status is suspended."
He figured it was just a temporary measure. Their positions could be reinstated at any time. There was no need to argue with Danzo over such a trivial matter.
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