"You want to leave the front lines temporarily? What does that mean, Huiye Lian?"
After safely returning with the remnants to the Mist's frontline camp, Huiye Lian immediately brought Mei to see Suikazan Fuguki—who was drowning in work—and made the request.
"To protect everyone else on the front. That's all."
Huiye Lian shrugged.
Then, in front of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—who happened to be gathered here for reasons unknown—he pulled off the traditional Kaguya upper garment and exposed his back.
His frame was balanced, his muscles cleanly defined, and there wasn't a scar in sight.
"You showing off how well you protected yourself out there, brat?" Kurotsuchi Raiga frowned, the first to snap.
Kushimaru Kuriarare, wielder of the Longsword: Nuibari, followed with a cold voice.
"If you think your body's already perfect, I can stitch on some better limbs for free… I'll make you look more fitting for that name 'monster,' Huiye Lian."
"No," Momochi Zabuza—no, Biwa Juzo—cut in, stopping the escalating hostility. He pointed at a black mark near Huiye Lian's shoulder blade and asked grimly, "That. The chain of script—what is it?"
"A Flying Thunder God mark left by Namikaze Minato," Huiye Lian said flatly. "From Konoha, he can lock onto my location and teleport here whenever he wants."
The entire room tightened at once.
"That's not a joke you can toss around lightly, Huiye Lian…" Hozuki Mangetsu—no, it was Munashi Jinpachi, wielder of Shibuki—gripped his blade. "That's really a Flying Thunder God mark?"
"Absolutely."
Mei raised a hand and nodded. "During the battle at Kannabi Mountain, Minato used that mark to strike from outside our perimeter and pull Lian off the main battlefield…"
"Seriously…?" Jinin Akebino—no, Juzo wasn't wrong earlier, the names swirled in the tension—someone turned to Fuguki, the one handling intelligence. "Fuguki, did the spies in Konoha send anything to confirm this?"
"They did." Fuguki narrowed his eyes. "Konoha's frontline command has been temporarily handed over to a Nara jonin. The former commander, Uzumaki Kushina, was heavily injured at Kannabi Mountain and returned to Konoha with Namikaze Minato for treatment."
A sharp intake of breath ran through the room like cold wind.
They didn't care who Uzumaki Kushina was.
But Minato being forced off the battlefield again?
That carried weight.
The first time, maybe Huiye Lian had won by surprise.
This time, Minato had struck first—advantage in hand—and still lost.
That was a result heavy enough to make even the Third Mizukage, who had sat on his throne for over thirty years, worry his position might be threatened.
And Huiye Lian had only just turned fifteen.
Young. Brilliant. A natural magnet for followers in a village that worshiped strength.
Even if he did nothing, the younger generation would gather behind him—becoming the perfect force to push him toward the Mizukage seat.
Several of the most loyal blades to the Third Mizukage silently tightened their grips, weighing whether to kill Huiye Lian on the spot before his existence became a threat.
"Can't we just carve off the skin and muscle and destroy the mark?" Juzo forced himself to speak, trying to cool the room.
"Doesn't work. Tried it."
Huiye Lian bent his scapula into a sharp curved blade, drove it out through his own flesh, and sliced across the marked area.
But as his skin and muscle regenerated, the damaged Flying Thunder God formula restored itself—perfect, intact, as if it had never been touched.
"Now you understand why I have to leave the front."
He pulled his shirt back on.
"Minato can't handle me well, sure. But if I stay on the front lines—near the rest of you—then when he teleports in, he can slaughter freely."
"Very few people can stop Flying Thunder God assassination."
"And if Minato wants to leave… even I can't stop him."
"If a guy like that can drop into our camp at zero cost and walk away whenever he wants, then no matter how much advantage we build early, we'll never win this war."
No one spoke.
But from the swordsmen's tangled expressions, Huiye Lian knew—
His plan to temporarily withdraw from the front had basically succeeded.
"After you leave, what will you do?" Fuguki finally asked, voice calm and heavy.
"I'm going to find a way to break the Flying Thunder God mark."
He pointed at a map pinned to the wall.
"In the meantime, I'll operate in the Land of Fire and nearby countries—drawing off some of Konoha's manpower, and preventing Minato from interfering with your offensive at will."
"…I see."
Fuguki nodded slightly. "I'll report this and your request to the Third. You'll have an answer within three days."
"Much obliged."
Huiye Lian nodded and left with Mei.
…
"Lian," Mei whispered once they were outside, "why didn't you report that Kushina is the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki?"
"If I did, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen would be erased from the shinobi world today."
He yawned, glancing at her thoughtful expression.
"Even without the Third's orders, they'd never allow a young shinobi capable of toppling the Third to keep living on the battlefield."
"And besides…"
He lowered his voice even further.
"The shinobi world would probably gain two new Mist missing-nin."
"Two? Why?" Mei blurted without thinking.
"Because I'm not letting them take me quietly—so my name is definitely on that list."
"As for the second one… you'd really let me go solo the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the Mist's strongest ANBU?"
"I would! Of course I would!!!"
Mei snapped, cheeks flushing as she finally realized he'd been teasing her again.
She vanished in a Body Flicker.
Watching the hint of red that lingered on her face, Huiye Lian chuckled and hummed as he walked back to his quarters.
…
Inside the meeting room—where the air had cooled into ice—
Raiga turned on Fuguki, voice low and dangerous.
"Why did you agree to forward his request to the Third? Can't you see how dangerous he is?"
"Because the Third is very displeased with how stagnant the war has been lately, Raiga."
Fuguki pulled out a mission scroll and tossed it to them, voice like steel.
"This is the Third's new order. We're to temporarily hand command to other jonin on the front… then all of us will infiltrate Konoha's territory and attempt a strike on Konoha itself."
"Directly attack Konoha? That's—"
Raiga read first, froze, then slapped his palm against the scroll as understanding dawned.
"You're going to use that brat Huiye Lian as bait, aren't you?!"
"Yes."
Fuguki scanned the room, lips splitting into a smile that made skin crawl.
"Minato has been heavily injured again. The chance of our plan being detected and ruined by that nuisance drops sharply."
"And if Huiye Lian leaves the front and roams the Land of Fire… Konoha will be forced to focus massive manpower and attention on guarding against him."
"In that case, our odds of successfully striking Konoha rise dramatically."
"As for how to deal with Huiye Lian…"
Fuguki's grin deepened.
"Don't trouble yourselves."
"Among my collaborators in Konoha… many of them are very interested in his body."
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