Once Kinoe's hand was within reach of Hotaru, he—very cautiously—placed his hand on Hotaru's forehead. Then, he waited for a few moments to see if there was any movement from Hotaru's body.
Once he confirmed there was no movement, his hand radiated a soft blue light for an instant.
"There, that should do it. The boy shouldn't wake up for a while. It's all good so far," he whispered to himself. His voice was slightly trembling and his brows were furrowed.
This mission should have been one of the easiest he'd faced in a while—something he could accomplish without even breaking a sweat. Yet failure was not an option. If any of this leaked, it would be catastrophic. The fact that the Root dared to make a move against the Fourth Hokage's son would have a chilling effect on each and every clan.
Kinoe recounted the details of the mission: 'Extract as much blood essence from the target as possible without harming him.'
"As far as I know, neither of the boy's parents had any Kekkei Genkai," he wondered aloud. "The only thing special about the boy's parents, one that could be inherited, was the Uzumaki clan's incredibly strong life-force and chakra."
But this threw him for a loop. Just by observing the boy, anyone could tell the boy had neither of those things. If he did, his body wouldn't be so emaciated. "Since that is the case, I can't understand what purpose his blood essence could serve."
And taking blood essence from a boy—Lord Fourth's son, no less—in such a fragile state… He inhaled sharply and didn't want to think any further.
"However, the village must have a great need for his blood essence to take it from a child. This just goes to show that the village needs Root to do what others wouldn't have the heart to do," he said in a sincere tone. "In fact, the boy should be happy he got the chance to contribute to the village so early in his life."
Wiping the sweat from his brow with his other hand, he took a moment to compose himself, inhaling deeply to steady his nerves.
After a few measured breaths, he slowly lifted his hand, breaking contact with Hotaru's forehead.
Kinoe moved his hand behind him, reaching for one of the ninja pouches at his belt. His thumb brushed against the cold button securing the flap, and he curled the rest of his fingers beneath it. With a soft—
CLACK!
—the flap sprang open. He slipped his hand into the pouch, and a moment later, he fished out a long syringe, a needle, and a few small glass vials, all secured together by a thin thread.
Bringing his hand forward, he carefully untied the thread with his other hand and placed the items on the bed, a few inches away from Hotaru.
Kinoe held the needle between the thumb and index finger of his right hand, and the syringe in his left. As he brought the needle to the syringe, he noticed that his hands were slightly shaking.
"Heh. I feel so nervous for this simple mission. It's almost over; I will be done in just a couple of minutes," he muttered to himself, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips.
Pushing all the unnecessary thoughts away, he brought his hands closer and attached the needle to the syringe. This time, his hands were steady.
Without pausing, he proceeded to the next step. Holding the syringe in his right hand, he placed his left hand just below Hotaru's collarbone, feeling for one of the major veins carrying blood to the heart. While it would be much easier and less risky to extract from the arm, what they needed was blood essence, and this was the only way to obtain it.
Once he located the vein, he took a steadying breath and plunged the needle into it. A moment later, fresh, warm blood filled the chamber of the syringe.
With the syringe now filled, he carefully withdrew it, depositing the blood into one of the small glass vials. He sealed the vial tightly and set it aside on the bed, a small sense of relief washing over him.
"So far, so good," Kinoe muttered, nodding to himself. But a little anxiety crept in. "My medical knowledge is only rudimentary. I don't know how many times I can extract blood essence from this vein without causing damage. I am not a medical-nin, after all."
Despite his uncertainty, Kinoe pressed on with his mission, repeating the process four more times before finally stopping.
As he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his left hand, he glanced at the five glass vials, each filled with a rich crimson liquid, arranged side by side on the bed. A chill ran down his spine at the sheer volume he had extracted.
'I don't think the boy will ever completely recover after losing so much blood essence,' he thought, shaking his head. A mix of pity for the boy and guilt toward the Fourth Hokage washed over him. 'If this boy recovers at all, it would make sense for the major powers to destroy Uzushiogakure.'
"I think I should stop here. This should be enough," he murmured, his gaze lingering on the vials. "Taking any more might worsen the boy's condition and draw attention from others."
'Not to mention, I'm also worried about accidentally causing damage to his body; I'm not adept at using Mystical Palm Jutsu to heal anything worse than very light superficial wounds. I don't want to push my luck any further,' he reasoned to himself.
With a satisfied nod and a deep breath, he felt grateful that the mission had proceeded smoothly without incident.
Kinoe was then left with the last part of his mission—destroy the evidence. In this case, that meant healing the boy and recovering all the tools he had used.
He used the Mystical Palm Jutsu to heal the tiny puncture wounds left by the needle. Once he completed that, he turned his attention to collecting all his tools.
Kinoe detached the needle from the syringe and placed them beside the vials. He double-checked, then triple-checked to ensure all the items he had used were in front of him. Satisfied that everything was accounted for, he reached behind him and retrieved a small scroll.
He unfurled the scroll over the bed, revealing strange markings all over its surface. His heart raced as he scanned the symbols, ensuring he had chosen the right one. He was anxious to leave no trace behind, so he was being overly cautious.
It was then.
The corner of his eye caught a flicker of movement, and in a flash, a kunai appeared in his hand, ready to strike. He would kill anyone—no matter who it was. They couldn't bear the consequences of failure in this mission.
But after scanning the room for a full ten seconds, he found nothing out of place. No chakra signatures were present either. The only movements came from the curtains rustling in the cool early morning breeze, which also shifted the sheets covering Hotaru's body.
Kinoe shook his head and chided himself for being overly cautious. "Whew. That was nothing. My nerves are getting to me."
He abruptly looked toward the window and noticed the sky was brightening rapidly, and people were beginning to fill the streets. "Damn it, I've been too slow. I was so careful that I moved at a snail's pace. The boy's mother could come to visit at any moment, and I definitely cannot escape from her. I need to hurry up."
Having already confirmed that all the items he had used were present, Kinoe hurriedly gathered them up with both hands and placed them on top of the scroll. He then pressed his hand against the scroll and channeled his chakra into it.
With a—
POOF!
—all the items atop the scroll vanished. The scroll now had a few new markings on its surface.
Kinoe picked up the scroll and reached behind him to place it back into his pouch. He felt with his thumb for the button on the flap. Once he felt the cold touch of the button, he pressed it down onto the pouch. With a soft—
CLICK!
—the pouch was closed securely. He swept the room with one last glance before moving toward the window.
While moving toward the window, he once again recalled his mission. This A-rank mission was that he was to extract as much blood essence from the target as he could without causing harm. And just like that, he had completed another important mission for Danzo-sama.
When Kinoe reached the window, he shot one last look at Hotaru and then executed the Body Flicker Jutsu, vanishing from the room in an instant.
The room fell silent once more—if only for two seconds. The sound of rustling curtains was suddenly joined by a derisive laugh, which was slightly muffled.
Then a small voice, with barely concealed disdain said, "What an idiot. Ha ha!" before the laughter resumed—this time clear and unapologetic.