In the Sunagakure camp, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa stood in an open clearing. Before him, more than ten shinobi knelt on one knee.
Chiyo and Ebizō quietly approached.
Ebizō stroked his beard and let out a faint laugh.
"Four Jōnin, eight Special Jōnin, among them one sealing specialist, Maire. Two puppet masters. Two aerial shinobi with flying summons. One genjutsu user..."
"With a squad like this, even wiping out a small country wouldn't be an issue."
Rasa nodded.
"Moku Kairen's Kekkei Genkai is something Sunagakure must obtain. Not just for its value, but because of the threat it poses. This child has grown far too quickly—in just a single month, he's already capable of killing a Jōnin alone."
Chiyo let out a sigh.
"To be honest, I'm afraid! Konoha really is a cradle of geniuses. But it's a pity—for that genius who hasn't yet fully grown, Sunagakure will claim him. That brat has killed so many of our shinobi; once we capture him, we must make sure to thoroughly torment him."
Rasa addressed the shinobi kneeling on the ground."You were each carefully chosen from among the village's elite. Your squad will be named the Special Sealing Unit, and this mission is codenamed [Operation Capture Moku Kairen – Lightning Strike]."
"Go forth. I await your triumphant return."
"Understood, Kazekage-sama! We will complete the mission without fail!"
The Jōnin Maire stood up, eyes brimming with confidence.
The special unit began their mission. Two Special Jōnin summoned the hawk-shaped beasts common in the Land of Wind.
"Chirp—!"
The loud cry of the summons echoed across the entire camp. The squad leapt onto the giant hawks and flew toward the Konoha front lines.
The massive hawks soared as the sky gradually dimmed.
On every face was a solemn, focused expression, as if they weren't dealing with a mere Genin. With more and more information about Kairen being exposed, Sunagakure had gradually pieced together the traits of his Kekkei Genkai.
The members of the unit had done their homework. Each of their abilities had been carefully chosen to counter Kairen's bloodline.
Among them was a Water Release shinobi, capable of restraining Kairen's Fire Release.
A sealing shinobi, capable of capturing Kairen.
Puppet masters, able to engage in long-range combat through puppets and avoid being caught in explosions of explosive tags or gunpowder.
...
In Konohagakure, the three enormous Hokage Rock faces gazed out toward the distance, like guardian deities providing fragile comfort to the villagers.
A white dove flew overhead, drifting slowly toward an izakaya.
The izakaya sat in Konoha's northwestern corner, heavy with the rich aroma of liquor, making every passerby instinctively take a deep breath of the intoxicating fragrance.
At the window sat a woman dressed in white cloth, her blonde hair shining like the morning sun. Most eye-catching of all was the deep cleavage on her chest, as if it could swallow a cucumber whole.
"Chatter…" The white dove cooed as it landed on Tsunade's table.
Her pale face was tinged with a rosy flush, her eyes hazy and wet, as if begging to be bitten, stirring sighs from the old drunkards around her—if they could have this woman, they would gladly trade half their lifespan.
The dove lightly pecked at Tsunade, who was already tipsy, drawing her attention to the small tube tied to its claw.
Tsunade opened the tube and pulled out a slip of paper. Her eyes grew brighter as her drunken haze cleared.
She suddenly stood up.
"Moku Kairen, descendant of the Senju Clan, has awakened a unique Kekkei Genkai from his bloodline."
But then Tsunade frowned.
The report also noted that the boy was particularly fond of causing trouble—he had trampled on the Sarutobi family's young heir and even cut off two fingers of the eldest son's arm.
Tsunade's frown immediately vanished, replaced by a blossoming smile as radiant as a hundred flowers in bloom.
"This kind of personality, I like! Moku Kairen—Tsunade will protect him!"
...
On the 8th frontline of Konoha's A Zone, Kairen sat quietly atop a boulder, his white robes fluttering in the cold night wind.
He glanced at his thin clothes. Stylish, yes—but hardly warm.
"Chirp—!"
A sharp eagle's cry came from afar.
"Byakugan—open!"
Kairen immediately activated his Byakugan. Four kilometers away, two massive hawks soared across the sky, carrying twelve shinobi.
Four of them possessed chakra reserves equal to his own—proof they were Jōnin. The other eight were Special Jōnin.
"Finally, Jōnin have come!"
Kairen rose at once. Instead of fear, his face blazed with the feverish thrill of an impending great battle.
"Hm!"
With his Byakugan, he also noticed other presences hidden within a five-hundred-meter radius—Jōnin, Special Jōnin, Chūnin, and Genin. They were shinobi gathered from other Konoha fronts, or retainers of the Shimura and Sarutobi clans.
Among them, Kairen detected the chakra of Yūhi Kurenai and Yūhi Shinku.
The hawks flew swiftly, like fighter jets slicing through the sky. In barely twenty seconds, Kairen could already see them.
He climbed onto the tallest rock atop the hill.
Untying his white robe at the waist, he bared his torso to the cold night wind.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
With a single-hand seal, he unleashed a massive fireball into the sky. Like a bonfire igniting the night, it blatantly exposed his location.
Not only that, he resonated his chakra, producing a booming sound that carried over two kilometers.
"Sunagakure worms! I, Moku Kairen, am here! Do you dare face me?"
...
"He's insane! Completely insane!"
Five hundred meters away, within a forest, many shinobi stood on branches watching.
They were Sarutobi clan members and retainers, as well as those of the Shimura clan—and not just them. There were also shinobi from other Konoha clans: Hyūga, Uchiha, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi...
All of them were shinobi stationed on the Land of Rivers battlefield. Shimura Masao could not directly command them. These clan shinobi had come of their own accord.
The one speaking was Yūten, the Shimura family's hound. Kairen's resounding shout had echoed all the way here.
Whether in admiration or disdain, everyone could tell—this boy unleashing the Great Fireball Jutsu atop the mountain was extraordinarily arrogant.
Yūhi Shinku's squad was also among the onlookers. Yūhi Kurenai clutched her father's sleeve, her eyes filled with desperate questions.
"Why? Why? Why won't anyone go to help Kairen?"
Yūhi Shinku remained silent.
Nara Yūji chuckled.
"Because everyone here is just here to watch the show."
News of the Sarutobi clan's eldest son's injury had spread swiftly across the entire front, immediately stirring the interest of every clan. With their skills, of course they had traced the source back to Kairen.
They all wanted to witness the Smoke Release Kekkei Genkai born from the Senju Clan's mutated body.
...
On one of the white hawks, a Special Jōnin sneered.
"Just as the reports said—his personality is abnormally arrogant."
He patted the hawk beneath his feet.
"Shiro, give him an appetizer first!"
The giant hawk's head was as large as a gate. Its cold eyes gleamed, as if they could slice with a blade.
"Chirp—!"
With a shrill cry, the hawk's beak unleashed a massive Wind Release blade, over ten meters long and shaped like a curved saber.
Kairen spread his arms wide, not even attempting to defend. His mouth continued to taunt the Sunagakure shinobi.
"So what if you can fly in the sky? You will still end up as souls beneath my feet!"
The enormous wind blade slashed across him. In full view of everyone, Kairen was cut cleanly in two.
But strangely, no entrails spilled from the wound. Instead, smoke billowed out.
"Ding!"
"You have been killed by the high-level summoned beast Shiro using Wind Release. EXP +200!"
This summoned beast was already on par with an Elite Jōnin.