Just as the Sand shinobi began setting up camp…
In a nearby mountain hollow, Kurotsuchi was crouched behind a protruding chunk of brown sandstone.
She kept her body pressed low.
So low she almost blended into the shadows.
She wore the standard dark-brown combat uniform of Iwagakure in the Land of Earth.
But she'd modified it with her own flair…
Tightened cuffs, pant legs tucked into knee-high boots.
Extra hooks at her waist for carrying special ninja tools.
The outfit only made her look leaner, longer-limbed.
Her legs were pressed neatly together…
Right now, her eyes were narrowed.
Through a crack in the rock, she could clearly see the camp that had flared to life at the bottom of the gorge…
The bonfires were stacked like miniature lighthouses.
Sunagakure shinobi moved busily around the flames.
She could even faintly make out the clatter of cookware and the occasional joke.
Kurotsuchi's mouth twisted to the side.
Open contempt rose on her pretty face, completely undisguised.
"These Sand shinobi…"
She lowered her voice, dripping with mockery. "They really have no awareness at all."
She adjusted her crouch to improve her view.
Then she continued, speaking to the companion beside her, who had remained silent the whole time.
"Camping in a place like this? Those cliff faces on both sides are natural ambush points."
"The valley floor has enough obstacles to play hide-and-seek, and if the exits get blocked front and back…"
She let out a soft laugh, like a wind chime, but cold enough to bite.
"It's like stuffing yourself into a coffin and hammering in the nails with your own hands."
She turned her face, looking at the burly silhouette beside her in the dimness.
"The one in charge, that so-called new Kazekage… Teizawa, right?"
"Intel says he's pretty capable, but from what I'm seeing…"
Kurotsuchi tilted her head, deliberately drawing out the words.
"He's a moron."
She amused herself with her own line, shoulders trembling slightly.
"Hey, do you think he'll become the shortest-reigning Kazekage in shinobi history?"
"Camps tonight, replaced tomorrow. Sunagakure could set a record."
"Then again, he's some nobody we'd never even heard of before. How strong could he really be?"
"Sunagakure… honestly, they get worse with every generation."
Bunsō, the Iwa jōnin, stayed crouched in silence.
He was built like a monster.
Even squatting, he looked like a small hill.
He didn't answer Kurotsuchi's teasing right away.
Instead, he kept staring at the gorge camp, his brow tightening more and more.
After a long time, Bunsō finally spoke.
"Their intent… I can't make sense of it."
He spoke slowly, every word measured.
"Camping here is suicide from any tactical angle."
Bunsō raised a thick finger and started counting.
"First, the terrain is passive. Second, the sightlines are restricted. Third, the retreat routes are singular. Fourth…"
He paused, doubt flashing in his eyes.
"Either this new Kazekage has no experience with large-scale warfare and is a complete amateur…"
His gaze slid to Kurotsuchi.
"Or he's so confident it's arrogance. He thinks nobody would dare touch him, or that even if they did, it wouldn't matter."
Kurotsuchi didn't get tense at all.
Instead, she smiled playfully.
She stuck out her tongue and licked her dry lips.
Her face was full of eager anticipation.
"So…"
Her eyes glittered in the twilight. "If you're right, then after tonight, we won't just get those twenty-three billion…"
"We might even make Sunagakure… pick a new Kazekage."
She made "pick a new" sound absurdly casual.
Like it was no harder than eating and drinking.
"Once we get back to the village, that old man will have to look at me differently."
Bunsō didn't take the bait.
He refocused on the gorge.
His gaze paused on the largest command wagon.
Then swept the outer defensive layout, the positions of the night watch, the placement of the bonfires…
"Stick to the plan," he said at last.
Just those words. Flat, unruffled.
Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes.
The movement was small, but the disdain was perfectly clear.
"Partnering with you is so boring."
She muttered, half joking and half serious.
"Always plan, plan, plan. Not a shred of adventure."
Bunsō's stern expression loosened slightly.
He turned his head and looked at the hot-blooded junior beside him.
Kurotsuchi was the Third Tsuchikage's granddaughter. Her talent was exceptional.
And she'd been spoiled into an almost excessive confidence.
But she did have the right to be confident.
"If you want to test your hand…"
Bunsō forced out something that barely qualified as a smile.
"Then after I control the Kazekage over there, I'll leave him to you for practice."
Kurotsuchi's eyes lit up instantly.
"Deal!"
She laughed, genuinely pleased. "You promised. I'm going to try him myself and see how much this shortest-lived Kazekage really has in him."
As she said it, she radiated the excited glow of a hunter spotting prey she'd been craving.
As if the thousand-plus Sunagakure shinobi in the gorge, that mysterious new Kazekage…
And those twenty-three billion in fortune…
Were already in their pocket.
All that was left was to reach out and take them.
Bunsō didn't speak again.
He quietly pulled a flat metal container from his ninja tool pouch.
He twisted off the lid and smeared the dark green salve evenly over his face, arms, and every exposed patch of skin.
It was an Iwagakure-made ointment for sand and cold.
It also had a faint scent-masking effect.
Kurotsuchi watched his meticulous movements and clicked her tongue.
But she still dug out the same salve from her own pouch and started applying it too.
Once she finished, she put the container away.
She took one last look toward the gorge.
"The shortest-lived Kazekage…"
She murmured. "Sounds fun."
What Kurotsuchi and Bunsō didn't know…
Was that higher up behind them, inside another patch of shadow…
Three pairs of eyes were watching all of this with icy focus.
From there, the view was wider.
They could see the entire gorge, the Sand camp…
And even the Iwa ambush hollow itself.
(End of Chapter)
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