Land of Hot Springs, southern foothills of the Hot-Spring Mountains.
At this moment, the leader of Yugakure—also its Village head—stood on a ridge, worry etched across his face as he gazed toward the valley where a battle had just broken out.
The Land of Hot Springs was a tiny country, barely a hundred kilometers across, and Yugakure at its center was no more than a small settlement with scarcely any Ninja.
After the peace that followed the era of the founding Kage ended, the Village—judging its own strength inadequate—abandoned any notion of fighting for breathing room and remade itself into a resort nation, famous for tourism and hot springs.
Yet, wedged as it was between the Lands of Fire and Lightning, whenever war loomed its merchant leaders inevitably trembled with dread.
Today was no exception.
The old Village head had stood there for ages; the mountain's warm mist could not dispel the chill in his bones, and even urged by his juniors he refused to leave, staring fixedly into the distance.
Only when one side of the valley battle was annihilated did he let out a long sigh.
"This is killing me…
"
A dark, powerful hand reached down, lifting the mask from a corpse on the ground to reveal a young face, expressionless even in death, no flicker of muscle movement.
Even the eyes looked hollow.
Yugito Ai stared at that youthful visage, spat in disgust, and growled, "That old geezer Danzo again."
Around the Fourth Raikage stood only a handful of elite Kumogakure Jonin, all eyes turning to him in unison.
Exactly as Kōyō's reply had predicted, the Fourth Raikage—learning the mission had succeeded—had personally led the border force here.
Yet even Kōyō could never have imagined that, for speed's sake, Yugito Ai would abandon the main army, bringing only a few elites to race ahead into the Land of Hot Springs.
Their lightning dash naturally far outpaced the main column.
Thus they slammed head-first into Konoha's Root sent to intercept them.
And it was no surprise Yugito Ai recognized Root.
Unlike the Anbu, most Root operatives worked abroad; Kumogakure and the Land of Lightning had met these shadow-rats often enough to know their fanaticism.
Still, the outcome caught the Raikage off guard.
He had never dreamed Danzo Shimura would dare such an outrage—ambushing Kumogakure's envoy and dispatching a flanking unit to block his own vanguard.
That was the sort of stunt only Kumogakure usually pulled.
The anomaly stoked his fury—and planted a seed of doubt.
A man who becomes Raikage can hardly be the muscle-brained oaf he appeared.
What exactly did Samui's team steal to make Konoha react so violently?
Ever since the Byakugan incident, Yugito Ai had believed Konoha's backbone snapped for good in the Third Great Ninja War.
The doubt lingered only a heartbeat before he tossed it aside, knuckles cracking as a feral grin split his face.
"Forget it."
"If that old man Danzo sticks his hand out, he'd best be ready to lose the arm."
Muttering, he wheeled around and roared, "Everyone—
"
"Sir!"
"Full speed ahead!"
Yugito Ai glared into the distance, faint sparks dancing across his brow, brows bristling as he rumbled, "I'll make Danzo's bastards remember this day with their bodies."
"We of Kumogakure aren't Konoha's soft persimmons."
"Die—!"
A gleaming blade carved a vicious path through the dim forest, slicing across drifting leaves.
The lead Root Ninja ignored the descending edge, driving a faint-purple-coated Kunai straight forward.
Darui's reflexes were lightning; his sword snapped halfway, the hilt slamming the poisoned Kunai aside with a clang.
Before the Root could step closer, Darui flicked his blade, lightly scoring the man's neck in a spray of crimson.
The Konoha Root agent toppled from the thick branch of the towering tree.
Darui brushed past him, alighting on another limb.
Yet before he could draw breath, another Root operative, long hidden in shadow, burst forth.
"Thud!"
Before his blade could reach Darui's back, a Kunai buried itself deep in the attacker's skull.
Hearing the sound, Darui spun around, exhaled in relief, wiped blood—whose he couldn't tell—from his brow.
Samui landed on a treetop, eyes sweeping the surroundings warily.
Meanwhile, on their flank, Mabui finished her own Root opponent and began forming seals to perform wide-area sensing.
"Thanks, Samui."
Nearly died there."
Even now Darui's tone carried its usual lazy drawl.
But Samui knew it wasn't laziness—everyone was simply exhausted.
Since Kōyō and the others bought them a breakout with their lives, the three of them had been fleeing nonstop for a full two hours.
Throughout, they had raced at top speed toward the heart of the Land of Hot Springs, drawing Chakra without restraint; stamina and spirit were both spent.
Yet the encirclement Konoha had laid was even more thorough than she had first imagined.
They must have used the time the delegation spent traveling normally inside the Land of Fire, or perhaps contacted the border troops in advance and pushed toward the Land of Hot Springs.
Along the way they had already run into four ambushes and twice blundered into trap fields.
Each enemy group had been weak, but the constant strain, the unending encounters, and the stamina drained by a forced march were steadily eating away at their chances of escape.
Konoha's resolve is stronger than we expected.
Samui thought, unconsciously brushing the scroll of fake documents inside her Ninja pouch.
After everything that had happened, she believed even more strongly what Aizen Yūsuke had told her that night.
Right now Konoha must be in extreme danger; the slightest misstep would provoke an overwhelming reaction.
At this point she valued this single piece of intelligence more than either of the two devices meant to detect Hollows.
Whatever happened, they had to get the news back to the Village.
Samui's expression hardened with resolve.
But their brief rest had lasted less than five minutes when Mabui, who had been keeping a sensory seal, suddenly snapped his eyes open, terror on his face, and shouted, "Enemy raid! They've caught up!"
"South-west, six kilometres… five kilometres!"
"At least twenty of them."
Leaning against a tree to catch her breath, Samui's eyes widened and she straightened on the branch. "Impossible!"
By her reckoning they should have had at least ten minutes' respite.
The moment the question left her lips she knew it was stupid.
At a time like this, how the enemy had caught up no longer mattered.
Realising that, she switched mind-sets at once and ordered coldly, "We can't run."
"Darui, take the package and leave—now."
"Mabui, you and I split east and west, loop round and hit Konoha's vanguard from the flanks."
"Buy Darui enough time to break through."
With only the three of them left, Samui automatically assumed command, her tone decisive.
Mabui swallowed, a tremor flickering across his youthful face.
In the end he nodded firmly.
"Yes, ma'am."
Darui turned, giving them one long look, something complicated in his eyes beneath the long fringe.
"Yes, ma'am."
Once his silhouette vanished, Samui and Mabui moved as well, racing south-west in opposite directions.
But when the two were far enough apart to lose sight of each other, Samui suddenly pivoted north-east, sprinting away from her original course.
Thud.
Mabui's corpse hit the leaf-littered forest floor.
Danzo Shimura stared grimly at the path ahead while Root Ninja combed the ground for clues, his fist clenched around a freshly delivered letter.
The squad assigned to intercept the Raikage had gone silent before even reaching the ambush point.
He did not need to think about what that meant.
That idiot Yūgito Ai had taken the initiative.
And they still hadn't caught the three-man team that had made a fool of him.
Just thinking about it stoked the fire in Danzo's chest.
"Damn it."
As he ground the words out, a Root Ninja spun round and reported stiffly, "Lord Danzo."
"The remaining two have split up; one headed due north, the other doubled back toward the sea."
"The latter deliberately left traces—likely the decoy."
"The sea?"
Danzo frowned, then snapped, "Map."
Spreading it, he saw they were less than thirty kilometres from the coast.
He tapped the spot hard and sneered, "No."
"This one is carrying the intel."
Hidden Cloud's naval force, though smaller than the Land of Water's, was still big enough to shield the Land of Lightning.
Dispatching a flotilla in an emergency like this was only to be expected.
The one who had gone north was probably the sacrificial pawn.
Danzo had never lacked confidence in his own judgement.
He made up his mind in an instant.
Exactly as she had foreseen.
Hearing movement in the distant forest, Samui halted on the beach beside the surf.
She had judged correctly.
Danzo Shimura was a man obstinate and cold.
Every decision he made was measured against his own ruthless standards, without scruple or bottom line.
Once he realised one of them had abandoned a comrade, he immediately marked that one as the higher-value target.
Because, had it been him, he would have done the same.
Understanding that mentality made steering him simple.
Huff…
Watching silhouettes flicker in the forest, Samui exhaled slowly and tightened her grip on her blade.
Her green eyes were resolute.
Let Darui get those things back to the Village.
"Over there!"
The instant the lead Root Ninja burst from the trees,
Chakra flared beneath Samui's feet.
Pouring her last strength and spirit into one final burst, she reached a speed she had never touched before.
"Cloud Style: Instant."
In an instant her figure blurred and stuttered; long legs strode out, her whole body skimming the ground in a straight glide.
The short blade in her hand swept sideways—one brief exchange and she ripped open the enemy's belly, then his throat.
Before the spurting blood could touch her she held her breath, stamped against a thick trunk, and whirled in on another Root Ninja.
A clang of steel rang out as the two silhouettes crossed. Samui's long leg snapped into a sudden backward kick, a blade springing from her sole to thunk into the man's occiput.
But the surprise bought only those two kills.
Samui had never been promoted for raw combat strength.
The moment the second body fell, a squad closed in from every side and pinned her down.
Stamina, spirit—even Chakra—were almost gone.
Facing merely a handful of Chūnin-level Root, she could only retreat step by step, buying seconds with footwork.
"Out of my way!"
Just as she prayed for a few more heartbeats, a roar—choked, wordless fury—burst from the woods ahead.
Samui's heart lurched; she lifted her gaze.
There stood Danzō Shimura, face twisted almost to a snarl, sword in hand, rigid hair bristling like wire.
The instant he saw the woman he realised: within a single day he had been played twice.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade."
Dense, glue-sharp wind wrapped the Ninja-blade in his grip, weaving into a seamless mantle.
Even walking, the hiss of wind cutting air was audible.
The Root around Samui fell back, clearing a ring.
At the sight of Danzō the weight in her chest finally dropped.
Whatever she thought of his obstinate blindness, she still respected this Wind Release that stood unrivalled across the Ninja World.
Both were nominally Jonin, yet in power they fought in different leagues.
Still, Samui forced her body upright and raised her sword toward Danzō.
This would be her final stand.
"Not bad."
"You still have spine."
Danzō's voice rang cold as steel, eyes fixed on her.
Next instant he stepped forward.
Wind Release cloaked him like a hurricane; he became a blur of speed, impossibly fast.
Even Samui's Jonin reflexes managed only to lift her blade halfway.
"Clang!"
Her pupils shrank to pinpricks.
The instant steel met wind-blade her sword parted like butter under a hot knife.
The broken half spun away.
By pure instinct she sprang back, barely evading the wind that skimmed her eyes.
"Shnk—!"
Though she had leapt metres clear, a lock of gold hair was sheared clean, drifting apart in the air.
A thin red line scored her pale cheek.
"Tch…"
Samui muttered, mind already drifting.
As she had thought: this was no equal.
Resistance was impossible.
Danzō advanced step by step, voice low: "Then you understand."
"Your struggle was moths flinging themselves at flame."
"All you did was waste my time."
"Now I shall take your head—"
"—personally."
The words had scarcely left his lips.
Wrapped in Wind Release, his blade flashed across metres with a sharp detonation, carving a turbid arc.
Its edge aimed straight for Samui's neck.
She still gripped the broken stub, but her heart had already surrendered.
The fatal moment seemed to slow; yet her Chakra-drained body could not move.
Her only thought was for the intel she had failed to deliver to the Raikage.
If only she could speak it aloud, perhaps Lord Raikage would grasp Konoha's present danger…
"And… that man."
The image surfaced unbidden.
The already-blurred blade drew a shining thread toward her throat.
Her mind emptied—
"Upper Ninja Samui…"
"You can't rest just yet."
A voice—familiar yet strange—rose from the depths of her mind as though whispered at her ear.
Her spirit froze; lifeless limbs were driven forward, thrusting the broken blade straight out.
"Thud—"
The jagged tip pierced Danzō's right arm with a pop like a bursting bead.
The wind-blade that would have severed her head shuddered to a halt.
Yet inside Samui's blank mind there was only cold dread.
Whose voice… had that been?