Kairen's mind spun quickly, and he started spouting nonsense:
"It was two people wearing black cloaks with red clouds. One was a blue-haired woman flying in the sky, constantly releasing explosive tags. The other had orange-yellow hair and kept shouting for people to feel pain…"
"They were the ones who attacked Sunagakure's camp, and that's how I found a chance to escape."
The Anbu member rubbed his chin. Kairen was the only witness, and since he was under his Genjutsu, his words couldn't be false.
But it was still strange. Who in the middle of the night would randomly shout about making people feel pain?
Was that something a normal person would do?
The Anbu shook his head, still puzzled.
"Why was Sunagakure's Anbu chasing you? What are you hiding?"
Kairen's brain turned quickly, and suddenly he thought of something.
"I discovered one of their secrets—the truth behind the disappearance of the Third Kazekage!"
The Anbu's breath suddenly quickened.
"Speak!"
"It was Sasori of the Red Sand. He killed the Third Kazekage and turned him into a puppet."
Kairen couldn't see the Anbu's expression, but he was certain that behind that mask, the man's face must be full of excitement.
"Didn't expect to stumble onto such huge intel, haha… You little brat are my lucky star!"
Whether or not the intel about the Third Kazekage's death had practical value, the information itself was massive. In an instant, this Anbu had just scored a huge merit.
The Anbu formed a hand seal, and the Genjutsu on Kairen was instantly released.
Kairen looked around in feigned confusion, playing the part convincingly.
Having gained such valuable intel, the Anbu's mood improved.
"Kairen, your threat has been neutralized. Stay in camp and await new orders."
With a flicker, the Anbu vanished. Kairen slowly stood up, sneering to himself.
That bastard clearly wanted to hog the intel all to himself, not even leaving him a drop of soup.
But even if Konoha learned of the Third Kazekage's death, it wouldn't change much.
The war would still have to be fought. At most, it would disgust Sunagakure a little.
Hey! Your strongest Kazekage was killed by a missing-nin. How pitiful!
"Byakugan—open!"
Chakra surged into Kairen's eyes, and his Byakugan activated instantly.
After checking that no one was nearby, he pulled a blade out of his system space and slashed his own throat.
"Ding!"
"You were killed by your own blade. EXP +4!"
After resurrecting, Kairen's injuries were completely healed, and the pain from before vanished without a trace.
Looking down at his abdomen, he revealed his abs—eight well-defined blocks of muscle. He looked robust and powerful, as if even dying 2000 times wouldn't leave him exhausted.
But his musket hadn't leveled up yet, so it still couldn't achieve large-scale destruction.
Kairen wrapped his bandages again and slowly walked toward the medical tents.
...
Shizune had been frantically searching for Kairen. When she spotted him, she immediately rushed over.
"Kairen!"
"The Anbu didn't bully you, did they?"
Kairen shook his head.
"They're so rough in how they do things. Couldn't they have questioned you properly here? Why drag out an injured patient like that?"
Kairen sneered inwardly.
If he had the Uchiha or Sarutobi name on his head, would the Anbu have treated him so roughly?
In the end, he was just a civilian ninja. Without some big shot backing him, surviving this war at all was a question.
Under Konoha's ninja clan rule, even the extraordinarily talented Fourth Hokage was marginalized. Only after the Fifth Hokage took the seat would things slowly improve.
Shizune gently tugged Kairen's hand.
"Come on, you still need a month to recover. You can't just stand around outside."
Kairen allowed the cute black-haired girl to pull him back into the tent.
...
That night, the patients inside the tent had some free time. Once idle, people began bragging, cracking jokes, and tossing out dirty stories.
Shizune, exhausted after a full day of work, was too tired to find a proper seat. She grabbed a stool from somewhere and leaned by Kairen's bed.
The two began reminiscing about funny moments from their school days.
"You don't know how timid Obito was back then. I even told him to write a love letter, but he just stammered, too scared to act. The whole class knew he liked Rin, and he thought he was hiding it so well."
Shizune laughed, resting her chin in her hands as she teased Kairen.
"And you were the same, always coming up with weird ideas to bother Kurenai. You got beaten up so badly by Asuma but still wouldn't give up."
Kairen curled his lips.
"I'm this outstanding, of course I had to show off more. Otherwise Kurenai would never see my brilliance."
Shizune covered her mouth, giggling.
"Outstanding, you? You, Guy, and Obito were always dragging at the back of our class."
"Obito and Guy were at least decent. Obito's Fire Release could make a small fireball, and Guy's Taijutsu was the strongest in the academy."
"As for you, Kairen… you didn't really have any specialties. Unless being annoyingly persistent counts, then maybe that's your talent!"
"Shizune, that was cruel!"
Kairen puffed himself up again.
"You don't know how bravely I fought breaking through enemy lines. I went into Sunagakure's camp alone, seven times in and out, cutting down Sand shinobi one after another."
"Shabei, Dōheimon—all of them fell to my blade. The Fourth Kazekage Rasa grinds his teeth in hatred against me, and old lady Chiyo nearly keeled over from the rage…"
Kairen's words were half-true, half-fabricated, but to Shizune they were clearly just tall tales.
She didn't argue, simply resting her cheek in her hand as she quietly watched the boy brag.
As the night deepened, she slowly drifted off, falling asleep on Kairen's blanket.
Kairen got up and gently moved Shizune onto his bed.
Her long black hair flowed like silk, her delicate features already showing traces of allure despite her young age…
A wounded Chūnin nearby smirked and called out crudely.
"Careful, boy, don't go committing crimes!"
Kairen turned his head toward the man, whose body was missing an arm.
"You got a wife?"
The one-armed Chūnin blinked.
"No… what are you thinking?"
Kairen gave him a pitying look.
"Good thing you still have one hand!"
With that, he sat on Shizune's stool, leaned against the bed, and slowly closed his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The one-armed Chūnin kept staring at Kairen in confusion as he fell asleep.
After thinking for a while, he suddenly looked down between his legs, then burst out laughing.
"Damn brat, you really do know your stuff! But I'm a Water Release user—something like this, ninjutsu can take care of it."
...
The next morning, Shizune was woken by the noisy commotion around her. Opening her eyes, she saw Kairen's black hair.
"Kairen…"
Shizune blinked in confusion, suddenly realizing where she was.
She had fallen asleep without noticing last night and hadn't even returned to her own tent.
Shizune smiled wryly, glancing apologetically at Kairen.
Seeing that he was still sound asleep, she didn't wake him. Instead, she quietly watched the handsome boy's peaceful face.
His serene sleeping expression contrasted sharply with the surrounding clamor.
Leaning closer, Shizune whispered softly after a long silence.
"Why is it that in your eyes, there's only Kurenai?"
Kairen slept like a log, no different from a dead. No amount of noise around him could rouse him.
For a whole month in Sunagakure's captivity, he had been dissected nonstop. At night the pain had kept him awake. Though death and resurrection restored his energy…
Not sleeping still felt unnatural. Like… doing that thing but forgetting to bring tissue.
"Ahhh… so comfortable…"
Kairen stretched lazily, rubbing his drowsy eyes. Then he noticed a blanket draped over his back—it must have been placed there by Shizune.
It had been a long time since he'd slept so well. His whole body tingled with soreness, and unless he slit his throat again, he just didn't feel right.