Clang!
The next moment.
Before Sora could even move, the black-haired girl beside him, Kurumi, had her sword drawn, deflecting the kunai with a single slash.
"Who's there?"
Kurumi's gaze was sharp as she held her sword, staring in the direction the kunai had come from.
Over there, at the entrance of the large camp tent stood a pretty girl with long reddish-brown hair, looking contemptuously at Kurumi, who was acting as if facing a great enemy.
"Heh..."
"Ringo Kurumi, if you can maintain this level of jumpy caution on the battlefield, I think you might survive a few more days."
The beautiful girl with reddish-brown hair lifted her chin, sneering with a triumphant expression.
Seeing who it was, the masked Kurumi withdrew the coldness from her eyes. She sheathed her sword and silently walked back to stand behind Sora, becoming a transparent presence again, showing no intention of speaking further.
Seeing Kurumi back down, the pretty girl didn't press her advantage. Instead, she turned her gaze to Sora and said with a light laugh, "Sora, I knew the reinforcements sent by the Mizukage would include you. I hope our cooperation this time will also go smoothly~"
As she spoke, the girl even stepped forward and amiably extended her fair, small hand.
"I hope everything goes smoothly..."
"Mei."
Sora shook the girl's soft, delicate hand and smiled slightly.
"I really don't understand why a handsome and powerful man like you insists on keeping a useless burden by his side all the time..."
Terumi Mei's gaze, now unfriendly, fell upon Kurumi once more.
What she said was fact. The Ninja Ranks were strict. A mediocre Chunin like Kurumi had no right to stand beside a genius like Sora.
"The younger generation is Kirigakure's hope..."
Sora said with a smile, "I believe Kurumi's generation will eventually grow up, because the future belongs to them."
"Alright then~"
Mei wrinkled her nose: "You still love saying such stuffy, old-fashioned things!"
Having said that, she turned and was the first to enter the tent.
Several experienced Kirigakure's Jonin nearby didn't show any strange expressions, instead, they looked at Sora with approving eyes.
After all, they were fighting life-and-death battles on the front lines not because they had a death wish, but to secure a peaceful and happy living environment for their descendants, right?
"Sora..."
"You're still so insightful!"
Yagura showed an appreciative, kind smile.
He felt that Sora is the one who understood him best in this village.
"Everything is for the village."
Sora also responded with a smile.
Entering the large tent, the atmosphere instantly grew heavy.
A palpable, biting coldness rushed towards them.
Inside the large tent, several high-ranking, powerful Kirigakure's Jonin were already seated.
With a single glance, Sora saw the head of the Intelligence Division, and also one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the wielder of Samehada, Suikazan Fuguki, sitting at the head of the conference table.
Fuguki was extremely tall, broad and fat, even larger than the portly Anbu Captain, Chukichi by several sizes.
At this moment, he was sitting in his seat, a smile on his face, but it still looked ferocious against the backdrop of his shark-like serrated teeth.
Standing behind Fuguki was a Ninja with corpse-pale skin, whose most notable feature was his extreme ugliness, with gill-like markings on his face, looking so unattractive he seemed friendless.
'Suikazan Fuguki, Hoshigaki Kisame...'
Sora's gaze swept over the two of them, and then he casually found a seat to the side and sat down. This deadly duo of Kirigakure ugliness was truly an eyesore for an aesthetics-conscious person like Sora… looking at them felt like his eyes were about to explode.
Soon, everyone was seated.
Sora.
The other Anbu Captain, Chukichi.
The Intelligence Division's Fuguki.
The Combat Division's Yagura.
Representing the Elder Council, Ao and Mei.
Gathered in this tent was almost half of Kirigakure's strongest combat power at the time.
After a moment of silence, Fuguki, seated at the head, spoke up with a serious expression: "Let's not waste time with pleasantries. The pressure on the front lines is immense. The casualty ratio between the village and Konoha has begun to show an extremely unbalanced and adverse situation. So, to achieve victory in this war..."
"We must strictly carry out Mizukage-sama's orders!"
"Jiraiya..."
"Must be killed. If we don't give Konoha a warning and boost the morale of our village's Ninjas, I'm afraid the battle situation could change irreversibly at any moment!"
After a pause, Fuguki raised his hand. Kisame, who is behind him, stepped forward and placed two document files in front of Sora and Chukichi.
"Our Intelligence Division has preliminarily gathered intelligence on Jiraiya. Sora, Chukichi, review the operation plan. If you have no objections, we will proceed according to the plan."
Fuguki said solemnly.
Sora lowered his head and began flipping through the action plan in front of him. After reading for a while, his expression became somewhat complex.