Fuguki Suikazan found a spare moment to glance in that direction, then snorted inwardly.
He's only relying on someone else's Byakugan.
If all he had were eyes, he could never have gotten this close so smoothly. The real reason was the connections I used inside Sunagakure.
Without insiders, what good would your Byakugan do?
Brat, don't get ahead of yourself.
Fuguki was deeply dissatisfied with Ao's attitude the day before.
The youngster relied on his Byakugan and the favor shown him by the village's higher-ups, and because of that he no longer showed proper respect even to a senior veteran with outstanding merit like Fuguki.
If Genji had not been present at the time, Fuguki would already have taught him a lesson.
"After today, with Elder Genji's promise, I should be able to reclaim the position of army commander."
"And once Sunagakure is completely crushed, the greatest credit will still belong to me."
"Given Kirigakure's current state, the Third Mizukage is already old. There is no one more suitable than me to become the Fourth Mizukage."
"Only I have that ability."
After being demoted several times in succession, Fuguki's desire for power and status had only grown stronger.
Fourth Mizukage… that seat is mine.
It's about time the Third stepped down.
Kumogakure and Sunagakure have long since passed to their Fourths. Konoha also seems to be considering a succession.
Juzo Biwa had also noticed the Kiri ninja speeding away to deliver the order, and he could not help grinning.
The nearby Kiri ninja all grew excited, anticipation flashing in their eyes.
"This should have happened long ago!"
"Sunagakure was never our match!"
"Before this, everyone kept hesitating—worrying about this, worrying about that. That only gave Sunagakure opportunities."
"That's right. If you want gains, how can you avoid paying a price?"
"You think it's possible to take Sunagakure without losing a single ninja? Impossible."
Those voices struck Fuguki as extremely unpleasant.
Even now, he still refused to believe any of his previous decisions had been wrong.
Why had he not launched a full-force attack earlier?
First, Konoha's ninja had been stationed on the border of the Land of Wind. Who could guarantee Konoha would attack Sunagakure and not strike Kirigakure's army in the back instead?
Second, achieving victory with the smallest possible losses had originally been the consensus among all of Kirigakure's upper ranks.
And now all of it had been pinned on him.
Ridiculous.
Besides, what exactly had been wrong with his strategies?
Was it wrong to ambush Pakura?
Of course not.
It had been the correct move.
His only misfortune was running into Hozuki Gengetsu and failing because of it.
And as for the last incident—
Could that possibly be blamed on him?
Obviously not.
If blame had to fall somewhere, it should fall on Kushimaru Kuriarare.
While he had been devoted entirely to leading the army against Sunagakure for the sake of the village, that beast Kushimaru had actually tried to stab him in the back and kill him.
Compared to the Kiri ninja, the mood of the Suna ninja was far worse.
Kirigakure had appeared out of nowhere.
They had bypassed the Suna scouts entirely and reached the rear of the Suna army.
The forces at the front could not rush back to help in time.
Could they hold out until reinforcements came?
Fear spread through the Suna ranks.
But Pakura had already seen something they had not.
Neither Fuguki Suikazan nor Juzo Biwa, when fighting her, was trying to kill her outright.
They were only trying to restrain her.
Juzo, in particular, was fighting even more conservatively than usual.
Why?
Did they not want to kill her?
Only the ordinary Suna ninja?
Impossible.
Pakura understood perfectly how much Kirigakure hated her.
Otherwise, that earlier rumor involving her would never have appeared.
Sunagakure selling her out had been false.
But Kirigakure demanding her life in exchange for peace had been very real.
Pakura narrowed her eyes.
A possibility had already formed in her mind.
"This can only mean one thing."
"They have an even greater objective."
"And Kushimaru Kuriarare isn't here."
"Where did he go?"
A Kiri ninja raced at high speed toward the direction of the main force under Hozuki Kumogiri.
Kumogiri stood there with Hiramekarei in his arms, eyes closed in apparent rest.
He looked as though he cared nothing for the outside world.
Beside him, Kushimaru showed obvious impatience.
"Why isn't it here yet?"
"By this time, it should have arrived already."
"Did something go wrong over there?"
Kushimaru frowned.
"Or did Fuguki pull something again?"
Fuguki was dissatisfied with Kushimaru.
And likewise, Kushimaru was extremely dissatisfied with Fuguki.
Not only had the two of them always been at odds—
The last incident had clearly been Fuguki's fault, yet Kushimaru had been punished along with him.
And given Fuguki's history, Kushimaru thought it was entirely possible that Fuguki had once again caused trouble.
"Should we stop waiting?"
Kushimaru's eyes flickered.
"With Kirigakure's strength, we don't actually need to make things this complicated to defeat Sunagakure."
"At worst, it just means a few more losses."
"Before was before. Now is now."
"Mizukage-sama has already given the order."
"Maybe something really did go wrong on Fuguki's side. If I lead the army forward early, I might even be helping them out of their situation."
Kushimaru turned to Hozuki Kumogiri.
"Hozuki Kumogiri, something may have changed over there. The time has come. Let's move."
Kumogiri opened his eyes and glanced at him, his expression unchanged.
"There is no order."
Kushimaru frowned.
"There may really be a problem over there. The time has already come—there's no point clinging to the order."
Kumogiri simply closed his eyes again.
Kushimaru: "…"
Turning away, Kushimaru cursed viciously in his heart.
What a useless thing.
No wonder the Hozuki clan is declining.
No brain at all. Doesn't think even a little.
Elder Genji said it himself yesterday—follow the plan. If the time has come and the order still hasn't arrived, that means something probably went wrong over there. That makes it even more necessary for us to move.
If we stay put, then they'll be forced to face the full weight of Sunagakure's army on their own.
No matter how strong they are individually, that won't be enough.
And this kind of fool gets command authority? He doesn't deserve it.
Just then—
Kushimaru saw a Kiri ninja racing rapidly toward them.
"It's here! It's here!"
"Hozuki Kumogiri, Elder Genji's order has arrived!"
"Give the command to attack!"
"Stop wasting time!"
Kumogiri opened his eyes and stood.
The nearby Kiri ninja all looked toward him.
What they did not notice—
Was that high above them, a colossal shadow was already speeding toward the sky directly overhead.
And standing atop that shadow…
Was a single human figure.
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