"Look! Look! He's going to fly!"
The crowd around watched curiously, all eyes fixed on Kairen.
Kairen suddenly leapt toward the sky, his wings flapping against the air. His streamlined body caught an upward current of wind, lifting him higher and higher.
He soared into the sky.
10 meters!
20 meters!
30 meters!
100 meters!
150 meters!!
Looking down from above, the entire city was within his eagle's gaze. This—this was what true flight felt like.
To dominate the sky, with the earth crawling beneath his feet!
The exhilaration was so overwhelming that Kairen couldn't help but want to let out a triumphant cry.
"Chirp—!"
"Chirp—!"
"Chirp—!"
The piercing cries of the hawk echoed throughout the entire city.
In a shadowed alley, Pakura, wearing a large hood, stood with several Jōnin behind her.
They looked up in confusion at the massive hawk above.
Pakura frowned. "Such a large hawk… only the Valley of Hawks in the Land of Wind breeds ones like that, doesn't it?!"
The ninja beside her shook his head. "No idea!"
"Let's go. We have a mission to finish—dealing with Princess Tsunade comes first!"
As the hawk cried again, Kairen suddenly spun midair, performing dazzling maneuvers—side rolls, backflips, turns, climbs, and dives.
He flapped his wings joyfully, like a bird dancing in the wind.
From this moment on, he would stand above the heavens themselves.
Returning to the village no longer frightened him—no schemes or plots could bind him anymore. If anyone tried to harm or seal him again, he would simply transform into a hawk and fly away.
Below, Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune looked up in awe.
The two exchanged glances.
"Kairen can fly?! Kairen can actually fly!!"
"Kairen! Kairen!"
They waved their hands below.
Through his hawk eyes, Kairen easily spotted them. He dove down sharply, a gust of wind bursting forth and scattering the crowd.
His talons gently gripped the backs of Kurenai and Shizune.
With a quick lift, he placed both of them onto his back.
The two girls clutched his soft feathers, too scared to open their eyes at first. But as Kairen leveled his flight, the air currents grew gentle and smooth.
They opened their eyes—instantly, the vast freedom of the sky embraced them.
Stars seemed to sparkle in Kurenai's eyes as she laughed joyfully.
"Kairen, Kairen! We're flying!"
Shizune's eyes curved with delight.
Flight—an eternal dream imprinted in the blood of humankind. When one soars freely in the sky, the heart naturally clears and brightens.
Kurenai held onto the white feathers around Kairen's neck and pointed ahead.
"Go there! Go there!"
"Let's make a deal—today I'll let you ride me, but from now on, you'll have to let me ride you, alright?"
"Whatever! Whatever! Just hurry up!" Kurenai said impatiently.
"Gahaha..."
A strange, mischievous grin spread across Kairen's eagle face, and his call came out like the croak of a wicked crow.
He glided and steered toward the direction Kurenai had pointed.
Below them lay an open-air circus. Kairen flapped his wings to hover quietly in the air as the two girls watched the clowns performing beneath them.
"Hmm?"
One of Kairen's eagle eyes suddenly caught sight of a column of thick smoke rising from the city.
...
In a casino, Tsunade was losing miserably, her face pale and furious.
She had lost everything—her armor, her pride, and now she was buried in debt.
The casino boss looked at the beautiful, voluptuous Tsunade with greedy eyes.
"Pretty lady, since you've lost so much money, why don't you pay it back with that fine body of yours?"
"Courting death!"
Tsunade's eyes flared with rage. She slammed her fist downward—and in an instant, the entire casino collapsed into rubble.
That was the price for daring to cross Tsunade!
She walked out slowly from the ruins, brushing dust off her hands.
"To say something like that to me… you really don't value your life!"
Suddenly, several figures surrounded her. They flipped back their hoods, revealing the headbands of Sunagakure.
Pakura stood in front, smirking coldly.
"Princess Tsunade, please come with us to Sunagakure."
Tsunade scoffed, her lips curling into a sneer.
"Just you lot?"
Pakura chuckled, biting into her finger. A drop of blood dripped down.
The sight of blood made Tsunade's pupils darken in panic. Her legs weakened, and she slowly fell to her knees.
"Princess Tsunade, it seems your secret's been exposed," Pakura sneered. She turned to her subordinates.
"Bind her. The Princess of Konoha—she's quite the big catch."
A short-haired Suna-nin snickered.
"Konoha's fallen low indeed, leaking the whereabouts of one of the Legendary Sannin to us of Sunagakure."
Another Suna-nin, with a gloomy, sinister look in his eyes, chuckled softly.
"That village's political struggles are the fiercest among the Five Great Nations, after all."
He stepped forward, hand stroking his chin as his gaze roamed over Tsunade's form.
Her beautiful face, her light cream robes outlining her perfect curves, and the shine of her chest—all of it stirred a lust deep within him.
His throat tightened audibly. Aside from Pakura and Karura, men from the barren Wind Desert rarely saw beauty like this.
"Konoha's most beautiful kunoichi... truly stunning. A woman like this—if I could just have a taste..."
His hand, full of greed, reached toward Tsunade's chest.
"Disgusting."
Pakura stepped forward coldly and slapped him across the face.
The blow left a burning red handprint across his cheek.
The man blinked in shock, his lust replaced by fury.
"Pakura! What the hell are you doing—"
Pakura's amber eyes gleamed coldly.
"Trash that thinks with its lower body. Don't ever show me that filthy face again!"
"You—" The gloomy ninja's voice trembled with rage.
Pakura's arrogance was legendary in the village—when she got serious, not even the Kazekage dared to challenge her.
Ignoring him, Pakura barked an order.
"Move! We're still inside the Land of Fire!"
"Chirp—!"
A giant hawk swooped down from the sky in an instant.
A Special Jōnin from Sunagakure's eyes widened.
"Watch out!"
"Fire Release: Demon Lantern Barrage!"
Kairen descended from the clouds, wind swirling around him as he unleashed a barrage of Fire Guns from his beak.
Each blast was precise—every fireball exploded around Tsunade, never once harming her.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!"
Explosions thundered as dirt and rubble flew skyward, thick black smoke engulfing the area.
"Byakugan—open!"
Kairen activated his Byakugan, piercing the smoke to find Tsunade's chakra signature—weak, trembling, and frightened.
His wings folded tight as he dove through a narrow channel of the smoke.
His talons reached out, grabbed Tsunade's shoulders, and in one swift motion, he pulled her onto his back.
"Tsunade-sensei?"
"Tsunade-sama?!"
Shizune and Kurenai held onto Tsunade tightly, keeping her from falling off Kairen's back as her hemophobia took hold.
"Hold on tight—I'm going to speed up!"
Wind-natured chakra flared from Kairen's wings, propelling him forward.
He burst through the dark smoke, soaring up into the bright white clouds and open blue sky.