Drip…
drip…
Bathed in the faint moonlight spilling in through the doorway, Mud Capital gripped his kunai tightly, his pupils trembling as he studied the boy before him.
Even dressed in a sharp black coat…
With his expressionless face…
The black blindfold wrapped around his eyes…
And the cold, oppressive aura surrounding him…
None of it could completely conceal the youthfulness in his bones.
The moment the boy spoke his name…
Mud Capital felt as though his teeth had been hollowed out.
A chilling ache spread through his entire body.
“Who…
is this kid?” He searched his memory frantically.
Nothing.
He had never seen this boy before.
Mud Capital trusted both his memory and his eye for people.
If he wasn’t mistaken…
The child before him was about the same age as the son he’d left behind in the Land of Fire.
Four years old.
At most…
Five.
Yet the murderous chill radiating from such a tiny child completely contradicted his appearance.
The number of lives on this boy’s hands…
Was probably greater than his own.
Mud Capital instinctively recalled the samurai whom the Daimyō had trained as expendable death soldiers since childhood.
Even those emotionless husks…
Didn’t feel this cold.
And more importantly…
“When…
exactly did I get exposed?” His expression darkened.
As he questioned the boy…
His gaze flickered rapidly.
He had entered the city with a completely clean identity.
He had remained undercover for months.
Never taking action.
Never exposing himself.
Was there some surveillance method he’d failed to notice?
Some hidden security measure?
Or had something entirely unexpected happened?
Yet…
Mud Capital had survived countless infiltration missions because of one simple principle.
He never believed in coincidence.
Since he had already been completely exposed…
This mission was impossible to complete.
There was only one option left.
Escape.
With that thought…
His fingers tightened around the kunai.
Chakra surged through his body.
“Your acting really was impressive.” Nagato suddenly sneered.
“But the anti-surveillance measures around your house…” “The strand of hair wedged in your doorway.” “The dust scattered outside your entrance…” “You felt guilty.” “You were afraid.” Before the sentence had even finished…
Mud Capital slammed his palms together.
His fingers blurred into afterimages.
Snake!
Boar!
Dog!
The hand seals for the technique he had mastered best.
Then— He slapped both hands onto the ground.
His roar echoed throughout the warehouse and the rainy night.
“Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!” CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Earth and rubble exploded upward.
Yet— Reality unfolded completely differently from the technique he’d shouted.
BOOM!!
A massive stone wall erupted from the ground.
Instantly surrounding Nagato on all four sides.
Yet…
The moment Mud Capital began speaking— Or rather…
The instant he started forming seals— Nagato had already lowered his stance.
A dark blur exploded forward.
“So fast!” Mud Capital’s pupils contracted violently.
“He wasn’t fooled at all?!” For a shinobi…
Casting a jutsu meant guiding chakra of different natures through specific pathways.
Even the slightest mistake could cause the technique to fail.
Or drastically weaken it.
Most ninja couldn’t control chakra flow perfectly.
Which was why hand seals existed.
They stabilized chakra into ninjutsu.
Shouting the technique’s name also helped focus the mind.
Many ninja had developed the habit of announcing their techniques.
Likewise…
Many opponents instinctively reacted to those names.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.
That…
Was Mud Capital’s true specialty.
He had mastered it to the point of requiring no hand seals.
At full power…
It rivaled high-level Earth Release techniques.
Normally…
Upon hearing “Swamp of the Underworld,” Most shinobi would instinctively leap upward to avoid sinking.
Doing so would cause them to lose their only chance to pursue him.
That trick had never failed.
Until now.
“It doesn’t matter.” Mud Capital rapidly formed another set of seals.
His eyes remained locked on the distant stone wall.
“Whether he breaks through…” “Or jumps over it…” “He’ll have to slow down.” “And once he slows—” Before the thought finished…
His body became wrapped in wavering chakra.
The air around him distorted like heat haze.
Gradually…
His body faded into transparency.
Melting into the darkness like ink dissolving into water.
“Bloodline Limit…” “Transparency Release!” Once Transparency Release fully activated…
Unless they tore apart the entire city…
He would eventually find an opportunity to escape.
A faint smile appeared.
He slowly retreated into the shadows.
Then— SPLAT!!
A sharp whistle tore through the air.
Mud Capital suddenly felt an agonizing pain explode through his abdomen.
Before he could react…
His body flew backward.
Only stopping after crashing into the wall behind him.
Blood blossomed against the stone…
Like a crimson flower.
Slowly dripping downward.
His ninjutsu collapsed.
His invisible body reappeared.
Pinned firmly against the wall.
“Cough!” He spat out a mouthful of blood.
All strength seemed to vanish instantly.
His trembling lips lowered toward the source of the unbearable pain.
A short blade had pierced clean through his abdomen.
Its edge emerged from his back.
Fresh blood…
Mixed with fragments of internal organs…
Clung to the steel.
“…How…” “…Impossible…” The smile on Mud Capital’s face froze.
Replacing it…
Was utter bewilderment.
How?
How had that child…
Seen through a stone wall…
Detected someone rendered completely invisible…
And thrown a blade accurately enough to pin him to the wall?
Far away…
Nagato stood atop the stone wall.
Though his eyes remained covered by black cloth…
It somehow felt as though he were looking directly down at Mud Capital.
“You like playing hide-and-seek with blind people?” His voice dripped with ridicule.
“But the stench of your chakra…” “I could smell it from hundreds of meters away.” In the blink of an eye…
He appeared before Mud Capital.
Looking calmly at the old man’s pale, vacant face…
Nagato grasped the blade’s hilt.
And twisted.
“AAAAAH!!” His shredded organs erupted with unbearable agony.
The true pain finally exploded.
The chakra Mud Capital had secretly begun gathering instantly dispersed.
All strength poured from the wound.
Along with it…
Went every shred of confidence he had possessed.
His scream echoed through multiple floors of the building.
Then drifted into the rainy night sky.
The emptiness of mission failure.
The terror of feeling his blood leave his body.
And…
The regret he had deliberately ignored until now.
It surged over him like a tidal wave.
“N-No…” “No…” Looking at the executioner before him…
Mud Capital’s lips trembled.
His teeth chattered uncontrollably.
His fading consciousness instinctively whispered, “I’m sorry…” “I’m sorry…” “I’m sorry…” But…
Who was he apologizing to?
The old friends he’d betrayed?
Or…
Unkawa…
Who had once given him another chance?
His life here…
Had truly been good.
At some point…
He could no longer distinguish…
Whether he had been hiding his identity…
Or simply pretending to forget his mission.
If only…
He could have remained here.
Lived peacefully.
Built a family.
Raised children.
But…
It was too late.
“Boring.” Nagato looked at him coldly.
“The other one…” “He apologized too.” “Right until the moment he died.” “But…” “Apologies like yours…” “…make me sick.” SPLAT!!
Ignoring Mud Capital’s bloodcurdling screams…
Nagato slowly drew the blade out.
Bit…
By bit.
Blood sprayed across the wall.
Staining the painted mural crimson.
Like scarlet clouds drifting across the very landscape of hell.
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