CHAPTER 169: CHAPTER 169

"?!"

"...Do you even know what you’re saying?"

A cold drop of sweat ran down Baki’s face. Whether it was the place Hatake Satoru picked or the way he was talking, it was all too strange.

Even though Kazekage was supposed to be close by, Baki still couldn’t help but feel shaken inside.

He had never once considered this possibility, and deep down, he believed there was nothing wrong with the orders given by Kazekage-sama.

Hatake Satoru wasn’t aiming at their plan—he was going straight for the Kazekage.

Sure, some recent instructions had caught him off guard, but the Kazekage always explained things well and gave them clear missions.

Baki trusted him completely and followed his orders without question.

Now Hatake Satoru was talking about the Kazekage—that was even weirder than if he had exposed their plan.

Baki could vaguely sense that Hatake Satoru was standing at the center of everything, looking down on them like a hawk from above.

"Kazekage-sama is supposed to watch the exams today. How can a dead man show up to watch anything?"

As tools, ninjas simply do what they’re told. There’s not much close interaction with their superiors.

Baki had never thought the Kazekage might be replaced.

Even if he tried to remember anything odd about the Kazekage recently, nothing really came to mind.

"Well, yeah, a dead guy wouldn’t show up. But someone else could pretend to be the Kazekage, right?"

"His face is always covered except for his eyes. And when he gives you orders, it’s always from behind a curtain, isn’t it?"

"With things like that, it’d be really hard to tell if he’s been swapped out or not."

Hatake Satoru landed lightly on both legs, casually swinging them a little.

Even though he sounded laid-back, like he was just chatting, everything he said was spot-on.

But the thing is, Hatake Satoru shouldn’t have even met the Kazekage before this!

Those details about handing over missions behind a curtain—only someone who had actually been inside the Kazekage’s office in Sunagakure would know that.

"How do you know all this... are you a spy?"

"No... that’s not it."

Baki’s lips trembled slightly. Even though it was a dumb question, the moment he said it, he realized it couldn’t be true.

Hatake Satoru was someone with a strong, flashy personality. He didn’t seem like the kind of person who could pull off being a spy.

And his abilities weren’t normal ninjutsu—they were easy to recognize. If someone like him had shown up, they would’ve noticed right away.

Unlike the Hokage in Konohagakure, the Kazekage didn’t just walk around casually for people to see.

Everyone handled important matters inside the Kazekage building.

If someone were undercover at that level, they’d have to be very deep in—basically the Kazekage’s right-hand person.

"You don’t need me to say it. You know it yourself—I can’t be a spy."

"And that’s not all I know. I’ve got your whole plan figured out, too~"

"You’ve already placed your ninjas around outside, right? And that exam proctor who died—wasn’t that your doing too?"

Everything he said hit the mark. All their so-called ’secret’ actions might as well have been done in the open.

This guy had seen through everything.

How did he even do it? Was their information security really that bad?

No—something else was going on.

Other than Hatake Satoru, the people in Konohagakure hadn’t made any big moves.

Aside from quietly placing some Anbu to watch nearby, they hadn’t really paid much attention to him.

That guy from Otogakure—Kabuto—was the one who gave himself away, so the Anbu were more focused on him.

Even after Gekko Hayate died, no one in Konohagakure suspected Sunagakure.

They knew something was off, but all they had was a theory that *maybe* Orochimaru might team up with some village to attack Konohagakure.

In other words, other than the man in front of him, Konohagakure was still just guessing.

"..."

Baki’s face grew darker and darker. The more he thought about it...

Maybe what Hatake Satoru said about the Kazekage already being dead... was actually true.

Hatake Satoru leaned forward, resting his cheek on one hand. Baki’s changing expression and silence said it all—he was starting to crack.

At this point, saying "I’m an all-knowing god who sees everything" would sound pretty badass.

He rubbed his chin, thinking about it, but in the end decided not to say something that cringe. He still had a bit of shame left.

Hatake Satoru had already found the Kazekage’s body a week before the exams.

He could’ve told Baki back then, told Sunagakure to break things off with Orochimaru early, and maybe even convinced them to pull their troops back.

That would’ve saved him the stress of having to bring this up now.

But he didn’t go looking for the body just to give Sunagakure a heads-up.

"You keep saying the real Kazekage-sama is already dead—what proof do you have to back that up?"

"I know you’re good at messing with people’s heads, but if you’ve got no proof, then none of this means anything."

"Right now, no one in Konohagakure knows that we’re the ones behind it. You’re the only one who knows that, right?"

"..."

"The plan is about to start. You can’t stop it now."

Whether the Kazekage is real or fake, dead or alive, there’s no way Hatake Satoru could just dig up the Kazekage’s body and show it to him on the spot.

Without a body, he could still believe the man standing here was the real Kazekage.

Hatake Satoru was always good at messing with people’s heads. If he backed out of the plan now, that would just mean he fell into Satoru’s trap.

Satoru probably found out only recently, which is why he rushed here alone to throw things off.

Baki had no idea how Satoru knew so many details, but telling himself that was the only way he could stay calm.

He couldn’t explain why this guy knew so much but didn’t report it to Konoha, and instead came straight here to give him trouble.

"Found it."

"If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here so confidently talking to you."

"What’s going on in that head of yours?"

Satoru gave him an innocent look.

He had planned out the entire situation like a chessboard—there was no way he’d make some dumb mistake like that.

Satoru looked down at his watch, then turned to look at a hawk speeding toward them from the distance.

"Hmm... it’s about time."

"That should be the bird. With the Kazekage gone, once the people back in the village see the body, they’re going to panic."

"You’re about to get a message."

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