The skies over Konoha had darkened to the color of ink. The diplomatic reception dragged on until dusk.
"Thank you for your efforts today. Please rest well."
Outside the guest quarters prepared for foreign envoys, Reina bowed politely to the three Kumogakure shinobi with a gentle smile. "I'll be guiding you through tomorrow's activities. Until then, you'll have ample time to relax. No one will disturb you."
After a few soft reminders, she quietly closed the door.
Click.
Inside the room, two of the Kumo shinobi rubbed their stiff cheeks, sore from smiling all day. One of them turned toward Yurui, who was scanning the room with sharp, assessing eyes.
"Boss," he muttered, jerking his chin toward the door. "That last line… that was a threat, wasn't it?"
Yurui withdrew his gaze and didn't respond. He walked toward the spacious living area and dropped heavily onto the sofa.
The other two exchanged a glance, understanding it was best not to press further. They looked around at the luxurious furnishings and couldn't help but whistle. "As expected of Konoha. Even their guest rooms scream money."
While they chatted idly, both men slipped their hands into their pockets. A faint ripple of chakra passed through the air as a small anti-sensing barrier activated.
'Boss, any surveillance or listening seals?' one of them asked telepathically.
Yurui kept his tone calm and his expression unchanged. "What an honor. Seems Konoha truly regards us as distinguished guests."
The two immediately caught on, filling the silence with meaningless chatter about sightseeing and visiting "fun" districts nearby, their laughter turning lewd.
Outside, Reina, still facing away from the door, slowly opened her eyes.
Though she was trained not to let emotions cloud her judgment, hearing such vulgar talk, typical of Kumo's coarse style, made her frown faintly.
"No chakra fluctuations detected… no unusual movements either…"
Suppressing her distaste, she lowered her forming hand seals, though her guard remained high.
If she had her way, the Third Hokage would've ordered a body search or at least placed sealing and surveillance tags in the room.
But the Hokage had refused, kindly, but firmly. Kumogakure had approached this alliance with apparent sincerity; any sign of trickery from Konoha could easily backfire.
Even so, Reina couldn't shake off a bad feeling, a quiet sense of doom she couldn't explain. Perhaps it was just a woman's intuition.
Inside the room, Yurui stood by the large window overlooking Konoha. Even at dusk, the village bustled with life, the people below flowing through the streets like ants.
After a long silence, he raised his hands and began weaving signs. Chakra surged through his body, coiled and dense.
Ox–Dog–Dragon–Rat–Dog–Boar–Snake–Tiger!
Poof!
A puff of smoke appeared beside him, a shadow clone.
"Let's begin," Yurui said calmly. "For Kumogakure."
The two shinobi looked at each other, understanding without words. Success or failure didn't matter, they would not survive this mission.
Only if all three of them died here would their "message" to Konoha carry enough weight.
"For Kumogakure!"
Their voices overlapped, resolute. Their hands blurred into seals, chakra exploding outward.
BOOM!!
An earth-shaking explosion shattered the twilight calm. The shockwave blasted through the streets, windows, storefronts, and lampposts shattered like brittle glass.
"Ahhh!"
"What's happening?!"
Panicked screams echoed through the streets as villagers stared toward the rising column of smoke. Birds scattered into the sky as a massive plume of fire and debris burst from the fifth floor of the guest building.
The wall had blown open, rubble and shattered stone raining down. Along with it fell three dark figures.
Thud! Thud!
The impact cracked the pavement, blood splattering like ink.
People rushed from shops and homes, staring in horror at the fallen figures.
Two of them lay still, lifeless. But one coughed blood, forcing himself upright.
"Konoha!" he roared hoarsely, his voice raw and furious. "You dare betray our alliance?!"
The fury in his tone was so real it stunned everyone nearby. Villagers froze, wide-eyed, as the injured man staggered and fled.
Then someone screamed, recognizing the bodies.
"Those two… they're Kumo's envoys!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
In the next moment, Reina appeared in a flicker of smoke, her clothes singed, her face pale. Seeing the corpses, she froze, blood draining from her cheeks.
'Impossible!'
'Someone planted explosive tags in the Kumo delegation's quarters?!'
"This is bad! I must report to Lord Third immediately!"
She didn't even consider the possibility of a Kumo deception. Injured and barely standing, she formed a quick seal, a shadow clone shot off to pursue the lone survivor while she herself sped toward the Hokage's office.
In her haste, she failed to notice a shadow slipping free from the smoke above.
It was Yurui, the real one.
The man her clone was chasing was only his shadow clone, designed to mislead. Konoha's pursuing shinobi were also drawn away, convinced he was trying to escape the village.
But his real target was the opposite direction, toward the Hyuga Clan compound.
"Rest in peace," Yurui murmured softly, glancing once at the corpses below. "You were heroes of Kumogakure. I'll be joining you soon."
He vanished in a flash, racing through the trees.
Everything went flawlessly, until the moment he entered the forest near the Hyuga estate.
As the dense canopy swallowed his form, his vision suddenly plunged into darkness.
Out of the shadows, a pale hand, strong, bony, gripping a short blade, reached out silently.
Instinct honed through countless battles made Yurui react instantly. He raised his kunai to block-
Clang!!
The sharp ring of metal filled the air, the impact numbing his wrist and forcing him backward. He landed and immediately took a defensive stance.
"Who's there?"
His eyes narrowed as he peered into the gloom. From the shadows stepped a figure cloaked in black, moonlight gleaming on the blade in his hand.
"This road is closed," the man said in a low, raspy voice, calm, certain.
It was Hyuga Arata.
"Turn back," he said. "Your journey ends here."