"Hatani!"
Nawaki looked at him immediately. He knew Hatani possessed specialized sensory abilities that the rest of them lacked.
"Go help my brother and the others. I'm going to check on the situation," Hatani commanded.
He had already caught the metallic tang of blood and an ominous chill carried on the wind. He gave Nawaki a sharp nod, funneled chakra into his legs, and blurred toward Dan Kato's hiding spot.
His heart, however, was sinking. He knew deep down that Dan Kato was likely already beyond saving.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Biting Explosion!"
Fumikawa didn't know exactly what was happening, but seeing Hatani's retreating figure, he didn't miss the opening. He unleashed another jutsu, targeting Nawaki while the boy was still distracted by Hatani's departure.
Yamanaka Inoichi had also reacted the instant the situation shifted.
Previously, in the chaos of the battlefield, his Mind Transfer Jutsu would have been nearly impossible to land. But the moment Dan Kato's possession broke, the Iwa Jonin named Ichi was left in a state of brief, paralyzed terror.
Inoichi made a split-second decision. With Dan Kato likely out of commission, the three of them—all young Chunin—stood little chance against three veteran Jonin working in tandem.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
He ignored the need to save Nawaki from the sneak attack, choosing instead to ambush the stationary Ichi.
Under normal circumstances, suppressing the psyche of a seasoned Jonin would be a monumental task for someone of Inoichi's level. But Dan Kato's prior possession had done the heavy lifting for him. Ichi's spirit was already a fractured mess of confusion and fear, allowing Inoichi to seize control with ease.
"Minato!" Inoichi barked through Ichi's mouth as Choza rushed to Nawaki's aid.
Minato understood the intent immediately. The smile was gone from his face, replaced by a look of cold, grim resolve. He knew they couldn't afford a single moment of hesitation. He could only pray that Inoichi was fast enough to return to his own body a half-second before Minato's blade ended Ichi's life.
"You damned Konoha bastards!"
Kyu roared, seeing Ichi neutralized yet again. With Fumikawa busy pinning down Nawaki, Kyu faced a dilemma: stop Minato from killing Ichi, or ignore Ichi and kill the defenseless, unconscious body of Inoichi.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
In the end, he chose to save his comrade. Trading a veteran Jonin like Ichi for a mere Chunin was a loss Kyu wasn't willing to take. Besides, he was confident that as long as Ichi survived, their superior strength would eventually allow them to grind these talented Konoha brats into the dirt.
Grim.
When Hatani found Dan Kato, he almost couldn't bear the sight.
It wasn't that the death was particularly gruesome. In the original timeline, Dan Kato's death was a nightmare—eviscerated and left with his internal organs harvested, a sight so traumatic it triggered Tsunade's lifelong hemophobia. Compared to that, this was "clean." His throat had simply been slit.
But Hatani couldn't stop thinking about the irony. In the original history, Dan Kato had at least successfully won the heart of his "goddess" before he died, leaving a mark on her soul for decades.
In this life, Hatani had worked so hard to save him, and it looked like they were finally going to have their happily ever after. Yet, even that couldn't overcome the terrifying curse of that necklace. Dan Kato had died just before the dawn, and he'd died without ever even getting a chance to truly "simp" for Tsunade one last time.
Swish!
Suddenly, Hatani's body flickered. Without any visible movement, he shifted two meters to the side.
In the spot where he had just been standing, a small black insect hovered, looking like a hunting hound that had suddenly lost its scent. The moment the bug tried to burrow into the earth to hide, Hatani waved a hand, and a thin blade of wind sliced it in two.
The moment the insect died, a spark of pure, predatory joy flashed in the depths of Hatani's eyes. He quickly suppressed it, his mind racing through a list of names. He turned toward the seemingly empty air to his left and spoke in a voice like ice.
"I used to think that even if Root was dark, it wouldn't be this depraved. But it seems I gave Danzo too much credit. The man is absolutely deranged."
"As I thought... you are far more than the files suggest."
Aburame Shikuro didn't bother hiding any longer. He rose from the earth and stared at Hatani from a distance, his voice equally cold. "Why did you hide your strength to infiltrate Team 13? What is your objective?"
"Heh." Hatani let out a short, mocking laugh. "Have the bugs eaten your brain? I didn't have the power to choose my team assignment."
He folded his arms, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "If anything, that old fox Danzo is the one with the power to arrange which graduates end up with Nawaki—graduates who wouldn't pose a threat to his little 'plans,' right?"
"Hmph! Sharp-tongued brat."
Hatani's words clearly hit a nerve. Hearing the boy call his master an "old scoundrel" and a "fox" repeatedly sent a surge of irritation through Shikuro. "I truly hope you can keep up this arrogant act once I drag you back to Root to face Lord Danzo himself."
"Secret Technique: Insect Jar!"
Shikuro wove a single-handed sign. A swarm of black insects erupted from the earth around Hatani's feet at a nauseating density. They swarmed up his legs, a frenzied mass of black crawling upward. Within seconds, they had completely encased Hatani, forming a thick, writhing cocoon of bugs.
Looking at the boy who had been captured without even a moment to react, Shikuro felt a wave of profound disdain.
A civilian ninja is just a civilian ninja. No matter how much talent or "street smarts" he had, he was still just a frog in a well. Hatani probably thought that because he had spotted a single toxic bug, he held the upper hand. He'd been so overconfident that he didn't even use that strange Wind Style to attack, choosing instead to stand there and talk.
Pure ignorance.
But just as Shikuro walked toward the cocoon to seal it and carry it back, a hand suddenly thrust out from the center of the pitch-black mass.
If one looked closely, they would see something impossible: the hand was overlapping with the insects, passing through them as if they occupied the same physical space.
More importantly, that hand held a kunai. It struck with surgical precision, driving straight into Shikuro's throat.
How... how is this possible?!
Shikuro's eyes widened behind his sunglasses.
Even for a high-level Jonin, being covered by Kikaichu meant certain doom. Unless they immediately blew the insects off their body, their chakra would be drained dry in less than a minute. Without chakra, even if they didn't die instantly, they should have fallen into a deep coma. How could he possibly have the strength to pierce through the swarm with such a ferocious strike?
Shikuro's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. He didn't even have time to process the sight of Hatani's hand "phasing" through the bugs.
As the master collapsed, the Kikaichu fell into a state of panic. Accompanied by a high-frequency vibrating hum, the insects covering Hatani were suddenly shredded as if they had collided with a thousand invisible, microscopic razors. They were ground into fine black dust, finally revealing Hatani's form.
Shikuro stared at the shimmering "Scale Mail" surrounding Hatani—a swirling armor composed of countless tiny, high-velocity wind blades. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a spray of blood emerged.
With a mind full of unanswered questions and a heart full of bitter regret, the Root operative finally slumped over, dead.