Iwagakure, the Tsuchikage's office.
Ōnoki sat in his chair.
He held Teizawa's letter in both hands and read it for a full hour.
His reading glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.
Behind the lenses, his eyes narrowed into slits.
He read it word by word.
As if he meant to carve every stroke of every character into his mind.
Kitsuchi stood behind him, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Kurotsuchi sat in the corner, hugging a pillow to her chest.
Her pregnancy was already beginning to show.
"That bastard..."
Ōnoki set the letter down and cursed.
Then he took off his reading glasses and rubbed his sore eyes.
"What do you think?"
Kitsuchi was silent for a moment.
"Father, I think the Kazekage's letter is credible."
"Why?"
"The Four-Tails' disappearance was too strange. Kumogakure says they didn't do it, and I believe them."
"Those brutes may be overbearing, but they've never been liars."
Kitsuchi paused.
"But if it wasn't Kumogakure, and it wasn't us, then who else could have taken the Four-Tails from Samui's team inside the Land of Lightning?"
"Other than this so-called Akatsuki, I can't think of a second answer."
Ōnoki did not speak.
He leaned back in his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The Four-Tails was Roshi.
Roshi had a foul temper, a stubborn mind, and spent every day arguing with him.
But he was still Iwagakure's jinchūriki.
He was Iwagakure's strategic weapon.
Now Roshi had been captured by Suna, while the Four-Tails had been taken by the Akatsuki.
Then after falling into Kumogakure's hands, it had disappeared again.
When he thought about it, it was all that damned little Kazekage's fault.
Why hold an auction for no reason?
He had stirred the entire shinobi world into chaos.
"Send the order..."
Ōnoki's voice was old and tired.
"Have Akatsuchi take a team to the border of Amegakure. If they see Hanzō, report back immediately."
After a pause, he added, "If they don't see him... do not act rashly."
"Yes."
Kitsuchi accepted the order and left.
Kurotsuchi rose from the corner and returned to Ōnoki's side.
"Old man, do you believe that Kazekage?"
Ōnoki was silent for a long time before sighing.
"I don't trust him. But I do believe the Four-Tails is truly missing."
"No matter who did it, we have to drag them out."
He paused.
"And if Amegakure is truly hiding a secret like that, Iwagakure cannot afford to ignore it."
Kurotsuchi did not ask anything else.
She lowered her head and stroked her gradually swelling belly, her gaze deep and unreadable.
...
Kirigakure, the Mizukage's office.
Mei leaned back in her chair, holding Teizawa's letter in her hand.
A playful smile curved her lips.
The letter's wording was polite, but the content was hollow. The tone was ambiguous.
On the surface, it was an invitation for Kirigakure to take part in a grand undertaking.
But between every line, she could practically read his indifference: come if you want, don't if you don't.
"Kazekage-dono..."
She murmured, her voice carrying a trace of reproach.
"Is Kirigakure not worth a proper invitation from you?"
Ao stood behind her, brow furrowed.
"Mei, are we going?"
Mei was silent for a moment. Then she folded the letter and tucked it into her sleeve.
"We go. Why wouldn't we?"
"But the Kazekage's attitude..."
"That man's attitude has never mattered."
Mei stood and walked to the window, looking out at the sea shrouded in thick mist.
"What matters is that if Amegakure truly holds the secret of the Rinnegan, Kirigakure cannot refuse to even take a look. Besides..."
She paused.
"I also want to see what that man is scheming."
Ao said nothing more.
Mei stood before the window, the smile at the corner of her mouth never fading.
The Rinnegan. Pain. The Akatsuki.
This was getting more and more interesting.
She was looking forward to seeing that man again—the man who made her both love and hate him.
Then she would expose that mysterious mask of his in public.
And see exactly what kind of trouble he was hiding.
...
At the same time, Teizawa stood in the desert outside Suna.
He watched as a black-robed figure emerged from a vortex.
Moonlight fell across him, and his dark-gold robe snapped sharply in the night wind.
He had just returned from inspecting the construction site of the airborne fortress.
He had not brought any ANBU with him.
Kankuro was adjusting the energy core. Sasori was studying the weapon systems for the flying puppets. Temari was handling village affairs. Chiwa and Matsuri were training the new recruits.
He had thought this was only an ordinary night.
An ordinary patrol.
Then...
The black-robed figures silently drilled out of the sand.
Like black mushrooms growing from beneath the earth.
White Zetsu.
Not just one.
Seven or eight of them appeared, surrounding him from every direction.
They did not speak. They simply stood there.
Their white bodies gleamed strangely beneath the moonlight.
Each face wore the same smile, the kind that made a chill crawl up a person's spine.
Teizawa stopped and swept his gaze over them, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Finally couldn't sit still?"
"Your time is up."
Obito's voice came from behind him.
Low and hoarse.
Carrying anger that had been suppressed for far too long.
Teizawa turned his head.
Obito stood atop a nearby boulder.
His orange spiral mask concealed his expression.
Only that scarlet Sharingan was visible.
It slowly turned beneath the moonlight.
His black robe snapped in the wind.
His figure looked especially aloof under the moon.
Like a ghost walking out from the depths of hell.
Black Zetsu emerged halfway from the ground at Obito's feet.
No expression could be read from that black-and-white face.
But those yellow eyes flickered with a cold, sinister light.
Teizawa looked at them, his smile unchanged.
"Just the two of you?"
His voice was light, tinged with mockery.
"Aren't you underestimating me a little too much?"
"This is enough."
Obito jumped down from the boulder and landed in front of him, only ten steps away.
"To deal with you, I'm enough on my own."
"Is that so?"
Teizawa tilted his head.
"Last time we fought, I don't remember you gaining much of an advantage."
Obito's eye narrowed slightly.
What Teizawa said was true.
Last time they fought, he had gained no advantage at all.
Not only had he gained nothing, he had been forced to turn intangible and flee.
He had not used his full strength in that battle.
But had Teizawa?
That was precisely why Obito had to kill this man with his own hands.
Not only for the White Zetsu.
But to prove himself.
"This time will be different."
Obito raised his hand, and a black vortex gathered in his palm.
That was the power of Kamui.
A power capable of drawing everything into another dimension.
Teizawa did not move.
He stood where he was, hands tucked inside his sleeves.
He watched the black vortex grow larger and larger.
His face showed no expression.
The air around them began to twist.
Sand and stones were sucked in.
Even the moonlight seemed to be swallowed.
(End of Chapter)
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