A B-rank mission.Uzuki Yugao repeated the classification in her mind and felt her heartbeat jolt. The implication was clear: combat with a real shinobi was possible. This wasn't the safe heart of Konoha. Reinforcements would take time to arrive, and anyone bold enough to slip into one of the Five Great Villages was inevitably chunin-level or higher.
Two fresh genin against a trained enemy.Terrible odds.
She swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the intruder. She dropped her kunai and drew her sword in one clean motion, blade angled to strike.
The Suna-nin sighed. He knew better than to fight here. His eyes flicked across Konoha's alleyways, mind already mapping escape routes. Only an idiot would duel Konoha shinobi after being exposed.
But Yugao didn't give him a choice.
The floor cracked behind her as she vanished from sight.
The Suna-nin kicked the mission target out of his way and raised his kunai just in time. Metal clashed with a sharp ring as Yugao's blade met his guard. She recovered instantly, twisting her sword and slashing toward his neck.
"Bold little brat."
He swept back, blocking again, then whipped a kick toward her face.
That was when Hyūga Hana moved.
The Byakugan opened. The world sharpened.Chakra paths lit up before her.
"Eight Trigrams… Vacuum Palm!"
Her thrust sent a chakra blast screaming toward the Suna-nin. He twisted aside, vanishing from her line of fire as he flickered behind her. His kunai raised, predatory and eager.
He had forgotten—Konoha had a Hyūga.
If she wasn't stopped now, his chances of escape would plummet.
A battle cry rang out behind him.
The Suna-nin turned his head.
A boy in grey, eyes clenched shut, was charging with both hands locked around a kunai like it weighed a thousand tons.
…This?This was a Konoha shinobi?
The Suna-nin almost felt insulted.
He slapped an explosive tag onto Hana's back and kicked her and Yugao across the floor, sending them tumbling toward each other.
"Fools."
He drew more kunai and flung them toward the girls. Meanwhile, Iruka collapsed to his knees, screaming and clutching his face where the Suna-nin's strike had cut deep from brow to chin.
The tag sizzled.
Yugao grabbed desperately at Hana's back.Hana grabbed desperately at herself.
Neither found the tag.
They froze.So this was where they died?On a D-rank mission, in the women's bath, as new genin?
What a pathetic ending.
"Hey. Are you two… glued together or something?"
The voice hit Yugao like lightning.
"Sensei!" she cried. "Explosive tag!"
The tag detonated.
The shockwave thundered through the bathhouse——but the two girls felt only a faint push.
Yugao opened her eyes.
A broad back was in front of them.Uchiha Tobika stood shielding them, steam curling off his shoulders.
"Augh… that actually hurts on bare skin."He rolled his shoulders. "Explosions in confined spaces. I hate them."
Then he glanced at Iruka.
The boy was rolling on the floor, sobbing.
"Yep. That scar's staying," Tobika muttered. "Unlucky kid."
He disappeared in a blur after the Suna-nin.
Behind him, Hana finally peeled herself off Yugao, cheeks red for entirely different reasons.
"You said you'd never kissed anyone," she muttered stiffly. "Then I felt a force pushing my head down and—yeah."
Yugao scratched her cheek. "We're both girls, so… it's fine?"
Hana winced and plucked a kunai from her backside.
"That's the best-case scenario. Before Sensei pulled us forward, these were aimed at our skulls."
She stood straight, face going cold again.
"As a Hyūga branch member, I prepared myself for death long ago."
"Flower…"
"Stop hugging. Iruka will bleed out."
Tobika reappeared carrying the Suna-nin by the throat like a stray cat. He tossed the man to the floor and started healing Iruka's face with glowing green palms.
"You," he snapped. "Go fetch the Barrier Corps. The village owes us medical fees for this mess."
A bandaged shinobi from the Barrier Corps materialized with perfect timing.
"Our failure," he admitted with a bow. "Too many ninja are being reassigned for peace negotiations. Someone slipped past."
Tobika exhaled through his nose.
"You're slacking."
"We'll take responsibility."
He glanced at the badly injured Iruka, then reached discreetly into his vest and placed a thick wad of bills into Tobika's hand.
"For your students. Fruits. Medicine."
Tobika accepted without shame.
"Your team didn't cause the injuries," he told his students. "They did. Be proud when money is rightfully owed."
The Barrier Corps captain twitched but said nothing.
Tobika healed Hana next, then escorted the captive Suna-nin toward the Internal Interrogation Division.
Just as they turned a corner—
"Stop right there, Konoha."
An elderly man with drooping seaweed-green eyebrows stepped into their path, backed by a Suna entourage. His aura was calm, ancient, and annoyingly wise.
Tobika sighed.He recognized him instantly.
Elder Chiyo's younger brother.The Second Puppeteer of Sunagakure.Head Intelligence Coordinator.Diplomatic Representative.War Strategist.Wind Country Special Envoy.And—if rumors were to be believed—Shimura Danzō's long-distance drinking brother-in-arms.
Elder Ebizo.
"Thank you for locating my wayward attendant," Ebizo said kindly. "He wandered off. A misunderstanding."
Hana frowned. "He's a Suna infiltrator."
"No," Ebizo said lightly. "He is here for diplomatic business."
Before Hana could protest again, Tobika stepped forward.
"You know exactly what happened. So do I.Turn around and go negotiate, old man."
Ebizo's smile twitched.
Tobika leaned closer, dropping his voice.
"And tell your people to stop planting idiots. Even Danzō's getting annoyed."
On the rooftop above, Danzō himself nearly fell over.
Below, Suna's escort stepped forward—a young kunoichi with a sand headband, lime hair, bare back, and arrogance radiating like heat.
She conjured a blazing fireball in her palm.
"This your idea of diplomacy? Grabbing our comrade and threatening Suna?"
Tobika blinked.
"Yakura."
The future "Hero of Suna."The woman who would one day be betrayed by her village and executed by the Hidden Mist.
This D-rank mission was turning into a cursed festival.
She hurled the fireball.
Tobika snapped forward, deflecting it upward with the back of his hand. It exploded in the sky, searing the clouds, sending villagers running.
Yakura licked her kunai.
"So you can keep up."
She blurred toward him, daggers aimed at his eyes. Tobika sprang upward, drawing his sword in one smooth arc. Their clashes echoed through the street.
Metal on metal.Heat against heat.A spiral of flames churned between them.
Suna's delegation watched, stunned.
That's our Hero…And she's evenly matched?
Yugao and Hana stared too.
"W-wasn't she famous?" Yugao whispered.
"She hasn't used her kekkei genkai yet," Hana muttered.
Above them, Tobika inhaled deeply.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"
A scorching sphere erupted from his jaws.
Yakura summoned two spiraling fire orbs, merging them into a massive scarlet inferno.
The two fireballs collided midair.
BOOM.
Heat blasted across the district, drying the sweat on every face, curling ends of hair, stinging skin like a furnace.
Yakura grinned.
"Not bad!"
Tobika's eye twitched.
He needed to end this. Quickly. Quietly. Preferably before Danzō did something "Danzō-like."
He sheathed his sword.
Then leapt high, higher, palms raised above his head.
Yakura's expression changed instantly.
She could feel it.The air itself bending toward him.Heat pooling into his hands like molten steel.
A spiraling sun formed in Tobika's grip—a miniature star.
"Solar Fist… Sunburst."
Yakura's breath caught.
He's insane.He's actually insane enough to fire that inside the village.
Her own chakra surged, heat gathering over her head, forming another enormous sun.
"Scorch Release: Searing Execution!"
Two newborn suns blazed above Konoha.
Around them, thermometers burst one after another.
"Is that… Uchiha Tobika's true power?" whispered an ANBU.
Danzō watched silently.A shame—he knew Tobika had another state, another transformation, one that earned the codename "Blackened."But Tobika wasn't using it.Not today.
The two fire-suns dropped.
Tobika hurled first.
Yakura hurled second.
The two blinding spheres streaked toward the village—
And landed in the palms of a single man.
Yellow hair.Blue eyes.White cloak fluttering.
Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato.
He caught them both with a flinch, steam rising from his hands.
Tobika landed behind him immediately, face shifting to cold indignation.
"Fire Hokage-sama, these Suna shinobi attacked us mid-mission while harboring an infiltrator. I recommend execution. Why keep dangerous animals alive?"
A Suna-nin choked on air.
Behind him, Danzō finally dropped from the rooftop.
"Minato. You arrived just in time."
He approached Ebizo like they were old drinking partners.
The two elders exchanged careful words, thin smiles hiding political blades.
Then Yakura pushed forward again, kunai still in hand.
"So you're the Uchiha madman. Figures you'd throw an S-rank jutsu in the middle of a city."
Tobika shot her a dry look.
"And you're the Suna idiot responsible for your village's drought. Honestly, go marry into the Rain Village. They deserve you. You'll be a national blessing."
"…Fight me in an open field."
Tobika smirked.
"Students," he called loudly, "lesson of the day: stay away from idiots. Idiots die young, live horribly, and spread misfortune."
Yakura trembled.
"You Konoha punks don't filter your insults at all?! Do you think I'm made of sand?!"
Without turning, Tobika replied:
"Before Hokage-sama arrived, you were reckless and arrogant.After he arrived, you were still reckless and arrogant.What exactly changed?Did his presence mean nothing to you?"
Yakura looked at Minato, at his calm smile, and flicked her gaze back at Tobika.
"Private duel. Doesn't involve the villages."
Minato raised a hand—hesitating.
Danzō grabbed his wrist.
"Minato… some sacrifices must be made."
Minato stared at him.
"Danzō-sama… I feel like this sacrifice is avoidable."
"She is Suna's Hero. He is an Uchiha. Let them clash. We gain valuable data."
Minato exhaled deeply.
This was going to be a long day.