"Sasuke."
Kitazawa's voice rang out sharply as he leaped down the cliff.
Sasuke halted mid-pursuit, though his Sharingan remained locked onto Natsuhi, every muscle coiled and ready.
Kitazawa landed lightly at the bottom and swept his gaze across the terrain.
Wires.
Explosive tags.
Concealed launch mechanisms hidden beneath loose stones.
The cliff base was riddled with traps.
None of them posed the slightest threat to him—but to Sasuke, Hinata, or Shion, charging recklessly would have meant injury at best.
That was precisely why he had insisted they descend using Wood Release vines.
It wasn't caution.
It was a lesson.
He would not always be there to lead them.
And once he became Hokage, missions like this would be rare luxuries.
"Are you a shinobi from Konoha?" Natsuhi asked cautiously, eyes shifting between Kitazawa and Tsunade.
Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan had already exposed one truth.
But the rest?
"I am Kitazawa," he said calmly.
Her pupils shrank.
That name carried weight—even here.
The second Wood Release user since Senju Hashirama.
A figure whose reputation had long spread beyond the Five Great Nations.
But that only deepened her confusion.
Hidden Star Village was a minor village.
They had neither the influence nor the resources to summon someone like him.
"This is Tsunade Senju, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha."
Kitazawa gestured lightly.
Natsuhi's mind nearly went blank.
Kitazawa was already unbelievable.
Now the Hokage herself stood before her.
Was this intimidation?
Annexation?
A show of power?
"I'm merely accompanying him," Tsunade said lazily, though her eyes were sharp. "No need to panic."
She let Kitazawa lead.
That alone spoke volumes.
"Natsuhi."
Kitazawa stepped forward slightly.
"Let's speak plainly."
"You know my name?" she asked, stunned.
"I investigate before I move," he replied evenly. "You likely haven't heard—Akahoshi killed the Third Star Kage."
"What?!"
Her composure shattered.
"That's impossible!"
"Is it?" Kitazawa's tone remained level. "You know his ambition. His impatience."
He withdrew a scroll and tossed it to her.
"ANBU findings."
She read rapidly.
The report detailed timing, witnesses, and chakra signatures—too precise to fabricate.
And with a Hokage present, deception made no sense.
Her fingers trembled.
She staggered back a step.
Shock gave way to dread.
Her son.
Sumaru was still in Hidden Star Village.
Without the Third Star Kage's protection, Akahoshi would absolutely use him as leverage.
To lure her out.
To reclaim the meteorite.
To eliminate dissent.
"Do you believe us now?" Kitazawa asked quietly.
After several seconds, she nodded.
She then lifted her eyes sharply.
"Why tell me this?"
"Because we prefer stability to chaos," Kitazawa replied. "We remove Akahoshi. You take leadership. Hidden Star Village becomes an ally of Konoha."
No threats.
No coercion.
Just terms.
"Speak clearly," Natsuhi said, gaze unwavering. "Konoha never acts without benefit."
Kitazawa smiled faintly.
"Of course not." He looked at her directly.
"You want the meteorite."
Natsuhi's eyes sharpened as she spoke.
In her view, there was no way Tsunade and Kitazawa would personally travel to the Hidden Star Village merely to propose an alliance.
Konoha—one of the Five Great Villages—did not act out of charity.
There had to be something more.
And the only thing in Hidden Star Village worth drawing their attention… was the meteorite.
If she did not clarify this now, Konoha might one day turn on them. Hidden Star Village had no power to resist such a betrayal.
"You're very perceptive," Kitazawa said lightly, raising an eyebrow. "Yes. I want the meteorite."
Natsuhi lowered her gaze.
'Just as I thought.'
Silence stretched between them.
The meteorite was the foundation of Hidden Star Village. Without it, there would be no Kujaku Myōhō, no so-called "Star" legacy.
Under normal circumstances, she would never surrender it.
But if she refused…
It would inevitably fall into Akahoshi's hands.
And once he controlled it, he would force the village's shinobi to cultivate Kujaku Myōhō without restraint.
The more they trained, the more they would die.
Hotaru was proof of that.
In time, how many shinobi would remain in Hidden Star Village?
A village built on a curse would only collapse under its own ambition.
If giving the meteorite to Konoha meant severing that poisonous root forever…
Then perhaps it was the only path forward.
After a long, heavy pause—
"I agree."
Kitazawa smiled faintly. "A wise decision."
Unlike certain small villages blinded by pride, Natsuhi understood reality.
"Are you alone here?" he asked.
"It was my husband, Hotaru, and me," she replied quietly. "But… he died some time ago. The meteorite's side effects."
For a brief moment, something flickered in her eyes.
"My condolences," Kitazawa said sincerely.
She shook her head, forcing her composure back into place.
"We're going to Hidden Star Village now. My son is still there. If Akahoshi learns I've returned, he may use him against me."
"Then we move immediately."
Kitazawa leapt upward, stepping lightly across the wooden vines he had grown. In seconds, he stood atop the cliff.
Sasuke and the others followed.
Natsuhi spread radiant wings of chakra—Kujaku Myōhō—and soared upward after them.
Together, they advanced toward Hidden Star Village.
At the village gates, they were intercepted.
"E-Elder Natsuhi?!"
The two guards stared in shock.
She had been branded a rogue ninja. Her sudden return made no sense.
"Call Akahoshi out," Natsuhi said coldly.
She had no intention of stepping inside.
An ambush was possible.
And fighting within the village would only endanger civilians.
The guards exchanged uneasy glances before one hurried toward the Star Kage building.
Moments later, a procession approached.
At its head walked a young man with a composed smile.
Akahoshi.
"Natsuhi," he said, spreading his arms warmly. "Welcome home."
"Drop the act," she replied icily. "How did the Third Star Kage die?"
"An illness," Akahoshi answered smoothly.
"What illness?"
He didn't even blink.
"What illness results from using Kujaku Myōhō?"
Natsuhi's voice sharpened. "Impossible. The Third Star Kage stopped years ago!"
A murmur rippled through the gathered Hidden Star shinobi.
Akahoshi's gaze darkened slightly.
"Natsuhi," he said calmly, "be careful with your accusations."
Akahoshi caught the ripple of doubt spreading through the Hidden Star shinobi. His expression darkened instantly.
"You," he said coldly, "a rogue ninja—dare to question me?"
"I am not a rogue ninja!" Natsuhi's voice rang clear and unwavering. "The Third Star Kage himself ordered me to leave the village with the Star!"
The "Star"—the sacred name Hidden Star Village gave to the fallen meteorite.
"Nonsense!" Akahoshi barked. "The Star is the foundation of this village! The Third would never issue such a command!"
"He did it to protect us!" Natsuhi shot back. "The Star's power is killing our people! He chose our lives over power!"
Akahoshi's eyes narrowed.
"Smooth words for a traitor," he sneered, raising his hand. "Seize her."
Two jonin stepped forward—Yoruwashi and Shis. ō.
The very same men who had helped him murder the Third Star Kage.
"I'll handle this."
Sasuke stepped in front of Natsuhi, lightning already crackling faintly at his fingertips.
Akahoshi's gaze sharpened at the sight of crimson eyes.
"Three-Tomoe Sharingan? Natsuhi… you dare collude with Konoha shinobi?"
His voice rose deliberately.
"You would sell our village to Konoha?!"
The crowd stirred violently.
Doubt turned into hostility.
"Attack!" Akahoshi roared.
A storm of shuriken and kunai filled the sky, slicing through the air in a deafening chorus.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
Hinata stepped forward, chakra surging from her palms. With precise, flowing movements, she deflected every projectile aimed toward Shion, Kitazawa, and Tsunade.
Not that the latter two required protection.
Steel clattered harmlessly to the ground.
Sasuke stood alone at the front.
He didn't need saving.
With a sharp twist of his wrist, chakra flooded into the Thunder God Sword. Lightning erupted outward, dazzling and violent.
In the next heartbeat, he vanished into the enemy ranks.
Akahoshi's expression tightened.
A Sharingan awakened at such a young age—this boy was no ordinary shinobi.
And the brown-haired man beside Tsunade… that presence was unmistakable.
But there was no turning back now.
Once he reclaimed the Star, he would surpass them all.
A deafening roar split the battlefield.
Akahoshi formed hand seals, and a massive chakra-formed bear materialized, charging straight at Sasuke.
Natsuhi moved to assist—but Yoruwashi and Shisō intercepted her.
"Multiple Arrows!"
Hinata drew her Moon-Chasing Bow. The string thrummed, releasing a single Yin Release arrow.
—which split into nine midair.
Hidden Star shinobi fell one by one, pinned to the ground. She deliberately avoided their vital points.
She would not kill them.
"Chidori!"
Lightning screamed in Sasuke's palm, a thousand birds crying at once. He lunged forward—
—and pierced straight through the charging bear construct.
The chakra beast shattered in a burst of wind.
Akahoshi's pupils shrank.
Sasuke's lips curved faintly.
That look of shock.
It was intoxicating.
For once, he was not the one being crushed.
"Konoha Style: Willow!"
The Thunder God Sword blurred, leaving afterimages. Akahoshi tried to evade, but his body froze.
Genjutsu.
He reacted quickly, forcibly disrupting his chakra and breaking free—but too late.
The lightning-wreathed blade sliced across his abdomen.
Blood sprayed.
"Bastard!"
Humiliated and enraged, Akahoshi leapt skyward as chakra wings burst from his back.
He soared higher, hands flashing through seas.
The wind screamed.
Two enormous chakra eagles formed and dived toward Sasuke.
Sasuke's eyes flickered. He sidestepped the first—
BOOM.
It crashed into the earth, dust exploding upward.
The second eagle wheeled around and lunged again.
At the last instant, Sasuke leapt, landing atop the chakra construct itself—and launched toward Akahoshi.
Akahoshi snorted and ascended even higher.
"Chidori Senbon!"
Midair, Sasuke sheathed his sword and formed a seal.
Lightning needles began to gather in his palm.
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