Naruto: The Shattered Eyes

"How much have you researched Sunagakure's Real Mirage Formation?"

Suguru was wary. Although he trusted the man before him in some way, Shikaku was still a ruthless individual. His current freedom was only present because he was still a valuable living resource.

Thus, Suguru's answer was a reflection of such a fact.

"...Enough," 

Hearing this single word, Shikaku frowned. He had gone to great lengths to set up this trap-like encounter. With only a limited amount of information on the individual known as Hiryu Suguru, Shikaku couldn't entrust this task to anyone else.

Having to move by himself gave him a sense of danger. At the same time, he was lucky that Kakashi was available to be dispatched.

The variables were much easier to manipulate with only the two of them here.

Suguru had indeed appeared between Konohagakure and the Senju compound.

'Had that boy, Isao, not rushed into Konoha so blatantly, this wouldn't have been possible.'

Suguru was worthy of being crowned the Ghost of the Land of Rivers. He was unpredictable and difficult to track, and it was difficult to guess his motives and goals.

Thus, while Shikaku could only hope for the best, he continued to speak.

"Are you aware of the formation in Konohagakure?"

In reply to his words, Shikaku witnessed Suguru's silver hair cascading down his shoulders. In an uncanny head tilt, the boy tossed them a scroll.

"...I gave the same thing to Senju Kisouma-sama," Suguru said, "This might be a sufficient answer."

Shikaku caught the scroll and nodded to himself. Upon unfurling the scroll, he skimmed its contents. Although his face did not reveal much, his mind spun rapidly. Using guesswork and context clues to understand vague jargon had become normal for him in recent months.

Nearby, Kakashi couldn't help but be surprised. It became clear that the silver-haired boy knew all about the secret formation that Danzo had made. Upon further noticing Shikaku sigh in relief, Kakashi felt that the scroll might contain even more than a mere preliminary analysis.

"..." Kakashi thus opted to stay silent and observe.

Shikaku finished skimming the contents of the scroll and looked back at Suguru. With a nod, he poised himself to leave.

However, for a moment, he paused.

"Suppose the present Hokage never rose to the seat..." Shikaku chose his words carefully, "Would Konohagakure be a place you could call home?"

Suguru smiled, "Ichiraku Ramen can only be found in Konoha."

His answer, though clearly dodging the initial question's intent, made his sentiments towards Konoha clear. Upon hearing this, Shikaku shook his head in resignation and heaved a dry sigh.

Massaging his temples, he reminisced on simpler days.

"What a bother this whole year has been..."

Suguru chuckled in reply.

"Goodluck, Uncle Shikaku,"

Then, the silver-haired boy flickered off into the distance. With his Sharingan already activated, his prowess over the Body Flicker Jutsu was infinitely close to rivaling Uchiha Shisui.

Even Kakashi could barely keep track of the boy with his own Sharingan active. "What monstrous talent..." 

Shikaku chuckled. "Have you not heard of the Ghost?"

"The one from the Land of Rivers?" Kakashi pulled his headband down to cover his left eye.

"Yep." Shikaku hid Suguru's scroll in his pouch. "That's the one. Trying to predict his movements has been driving me insane. Luckily, we made a lucky guess this time."

"Ah..." Kakashi finally understood why he could see Suguru but not sense him at all. The whole time, even with his Sharingan active, he felt as if he was fighting something that didn't exist.

It threw off even his battle-honed instincts.

Furthermore...

"That begs the question..." Kakashi's tone was filled with confusion. However, he was cut off before he could complete his thoughts.

Shikaku put a hand up, "Let's not talk about that."

Hiryu Suguru's former existence had already been a headache. If he was an Uchiha this whole time...

A lot of problems were bound to sprout like weeds.

***

Upon leaving the scroll in Shikaku's hands, Suguru reapplied his Transformation Jutsu and fled into the nearest settlement. With Chakra Field Hacking active, he further veiled his presence using his Shinrakugan.

Upon confirming, several times, that he was safe... He wiped off the sweat on his forehead.

'What the hell? Nara Shikaku's intelligence is terrifying!' Suguru inwardly exclaimed. 'It's clear that he planned all of this. That's so not human!'

From the location to the timing... everything had occurred at the exact moment when he was at his most vulnerable.

Although the Kaisugan could let him see anywhere within a 75-kilometer radius, his actual vision was always localized around a certain point. It wasn't omniscience.

Thus, his main body would usually be vulnerable to sneak attacks at this time. After all, he was not looking around his body.

Suguru thought that masking his presence was enough. However, he obviously couldn't turn invisible.

"That means... Shikaku identified me when he noticed an incongruence between my physical presence and that of my chakra."

There was nothing but awe in Suguru's mind at the moment.

Since he had shown Hiruzen this ability some time ago, Suguru had forgotten that Shikaku already had access to this information. Such a small revelation had become such a powerful weapon in Shikaku's hands.

"Crazy..."

All of these factors combined had turned into the most baffling trap Suguru had ever experienced. In fact, Suguru felt that his encounter with both Hitomi and Isao had also been a part of Shikaku's plans.

If those encounters were indeed included, then Suguru would no longer have any words to describe his shock.

'Luckily, Shikaku wasn't after my life.' Suguru pursed his lips, 'I have Hiruzen to thank for that, I guess.'

Going against such minds would be a nightmare.

"Frankly, I feel humbled."

Looking at it from a certain angle, Shikaku had taught Suguru a valuable lesson — he was an academic prodigy and not a master strategist. Although he could come up with all these theories and calculations... Scheming was not his forte.

The only reason he could act ahead of everyone else was because his Kaisugan gave him impeccable espionage-related abilities.

All it would take was an analytical mind to break his macro behaviors down and identify all of his tendencies. From there, Suguru would then be read just like any other book that exists.

"Sigh... my confidence has turned into arrogance."

It was clear that Suguru had to add something else to his code of conduct.

"I need to end this arrogance of mine, lest I face my own ending prematurely."

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