The latter half of the night was when fatigue struck hardest.
Sarutobi Seijirō deliberately assigned Uchiha Yuan to patrol during the deepest hours before dawn. The targeting was obvious.
Yet when Yuan accepted the arrangement without protest, Seijirō's eyes flickered.
He had expected outrage.
If Yuan had objected, Seijirō would have had justification to criticize him—others could take late watch, so why not him? It would have been the perfect opportunity to sow dissatisfaction among Orochimaru's former subordinates.
Because after a full day's march, Seijirō had noticed something unsettling—
They were subtly rallying around Yuan.
And that made him uneasy.
By the campfire, after Seijirō departed, Chiba Sōichi carved off a roasted rabbit leg and handed it to Yuan.
"Yuan-kun, I thought you'd be furious. That assignment was clearly meant to provoke you."
Yuan bit into the meat calmly.
"I know."
"I simply don't care."
"When a tiger is sleeping soundly, it does not bother itself with flies."
With that, he rose and walked toward the outer perimeter of the camp.
Watching his back, Sōichi's eyes glimmered.
"Indeed… How could someone Orochimaru-sama valued most be a reckless brute?"
"Chiba, what are you muttering about?"
Across the fire, Inuzuka Hikaru paused mid-bite, a chunk of meat still between his teeth, glancing over curiously while his ninken Gyūmaru gnawed beside him.
Outside the camp, Yuan's gaze swept slowly across the pitch-black forest.
He could sense several faint, suppressed chakra signatures hidden around the perimeter.
Konoha shinobi assigned to guard duty.
But among them—
There was one gaze.
Focused.
Lingering.
And within it—
A trace of hostility.
Midnight deepened. The forest fell into near-total silence. The moon hung behind heavy clouds like a lantern wrapped in gauze.
Yuan stood near a perimeter torch. Five shinobi stood quietly behind him.
Whoosh.
Torches flickered as several figures landed before them.
The earlier patrol returning from first watch.
As they brushed past, Yuan moved.
A single fluid leap carried him into the branches of a tree ahead.
Several swift flashes—
And he vanished into the darkness.
The night grew heavier.
The moon disappeared entirely behind thick clouds.
Yuan stood atop a towering tree, eyes sharp, scanning the horizon.
Wind stirred the leaves. A few strands of hair drifted across his brow.
Suddenly—
The wind shifted.
Shff—shff—shff.
Five figures appeared on nearby treetops.
"Yuan-sama, no abnormalities detected in the vicinity."
The report came from a kunoichi with a high ponytail.
Yuan did not answer immediately.
His gaze remained fixed forward.
Silence stretched.
Then—
He spoke softly.
"Withdraw another fifty meters."
The five exchanged subtle glances.
"…Understood."
They vanished again.
Now alone in the treetop—
Yuan slowly closed his eyes.
Moments later—
He opened them again.
Sharingan spinning faintly in the dark.
"Come out."
His voice carried no volume.
Yet it cut cleanly through the forest.
For several breaths—
Nothing happened.
Then—
From the deeper shadow between two massive trunks—
A faint distortion shimmered.
A figure stepped out.
Masked.
Chakra restrained to an extreme degree.
Not an ordinary escort.
Not Orochimaru's men.
Not bandits.
Root.
Yuan's lips curved faintly.
"So the ambush wasn't the real play."
"It was surveillance."
The masked shinobi did not respond.
But killing intent seeped subtly into the air.
Far from camp.
Far from witnesses.
A convenient location.
Yuan tilted his head slightly.
"You chose the wrong hour."
The masked figure moved first.
A blur—
A flash of steel—
But the blade passed through empty air.
Yuan had already shifted behind him.
One hand pressed lightly against the man's back.
Not a strike.
Just contact.
"Go back."
"And tell Danzō."
His voice dropped to a whisper beside the masked ear.
"If he wants my life—"
"He should send someone stronger."
A surge of chakra pulsed.
The masked shinobi's body stiffened—
Then he was hurled downward, crashing through branches before vanishing in retreat.
Yuan remained atop the tree.
Wind howled through the canopy.
His eyes turned toward the distant road south.
Tanzaku Town lay ahead on their route.
A place of gamblers.
Merchants.
And informants.
If Root had already begun moving—
Then the next stage would not be subtle.
Yuan exhaled slowly.
"The board is widening."
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