On the stage originally prepared for Killer B—a wooden platform reinforced with steel beams, spotlights, and several installed speakers—another concert was underway as the villagers enjoyed an improvised nighttime performance by Kumo's star.
The renowned singer, Kiyui!
The atmosphere was electric as the audience joined the artist, singing at the top of their lungs one of her greatest hits:
"ONE MORE TIME!"
On stage, Kiyui was dazzling beneath the light of two spotlights.
Dressed in a beautiful yet simple sleeveless blue dress that accentuated her figure, her wheat-colored skin—common among most natives of the Land of Lightning—was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Her long, golden, almost platinum-blonde hair swayed with the rhythm of her gestures as she gripped the microphone with emotion, her blue eyes closed and her lips—coated in amber-orange lipstick—parted to release her captivating voice. Two teardrop-shaped aquamarine earrings swayed from her ears, catching occasional reflections of light.
Meanwhile, in a different part of the village…
A shadow slid silently and cautiously under the cover of night.
"Indeed, just as the intel said—every time that singer performs, patrols become lax for brief intervals," the Kiri ninja mocked inwardly, keeping his alertness at its absolute peak despite his thoughts.
Two of his informants had vanished almost simultaneously after telling him they were going to investigate a specific lead, immediately setting off alarm bells in his instincts. He had the feeling that Kumo was plotting something significant, and given the circumstances, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and infiltrate the village personally, using multiple tricks at once.
Staging a false incident to force the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki to leave had been his own strategy, creating the perfect situation for the stage to be taken over by Kiyui.
He infiltrated the target building in silence, entering through a darkened window straight into the storage room he was after. He surveyed the filing cabinets filled with folders and shelves of scrolls, beginning his search visually.
When he found what he was looking for, he took the scroll and read it on the spot, memorizing its contents before returning the original to its place, planning to create a copy later for delivery to his village.
It was one of the most standard tactics for an information-gathering agent of his level.
Minutes passed and the sky darkened, but a small amount of chakra in his eyes enhanced his night vision enough to read the contents clearly.
Only moments later, heavy rain began to pour, causing the concert to be canceled as the villagers lamented briefly before calmly seeking shelter.
They were accustomed to this climate, and the village had numerous places to take cover.
The Kiri ninja wasted no time, but as he read and memorized the scroll, his expression grew paler line by line, sweat forming beneath the ninja mask that covered his head, leaving only his eyes exposed.
"What the hell?!" When he finished reading, the first thing he did was check whether the scroll in his hands was real and not bait.
It wasn't.
"I have to deliver this information to the village, even if it costs me my life!" He hastily returned the scroll to its original position, checked outside, and exited the building—unaware of the eyes watching him from the darkness. "If this information becomes public, then we could—"
A chill ran down his spine. Driven by years of experience and a sharp danger instinct, he ducked just in time to avoid a kunai embedding itself in the back of his neck.
"The sound was muffled by the storm," the Kiri ninja thought in alarm, his expression dark as he drew his own kunai. Whether what covered his body was cold sweat or rain, only he knew.
No patrol alarms had sounded, so it was more likely a lone ninja who had spotted him in passing and tried to ambush him. If he could deal with the other party before drawing attention, he might still have a chance to send the information!
How he regretted turning down that summoning contract now.
But when he saw the attacker's identity, he was momentarily stunned.
"Kiyui?"
"I didn't expect you to dodge that," the kunoichi commented. Instead of her dress, she now wore far more tactical gear. "You know, you just cost me a yakiniku bill!"
"You should have stayed at your concert," the Kiri ninja replied coldly, ignoring the biting remark. "From today on, you'll be nothing more than a memory to your fans."
Without exchanging another word, the two began clashing kunai in the night, sparks flying from metal on metal, dwarfed by the lightning flashing through the clouds.
The difference was clear: while Kiyui handled the fight calmly, without rushing, the Kiri ninja's anxiety grew by the second as he intensified his attacks.
It didn't take long before he sensed something was wrong.
"Why haven't the patrols come yet?" he thought, confused.
Civilians might not notice the fight, but even a genin should have sensed the disturbance on these rooftops by now, storm or not.
Was he really this lucky?
"Hey, stop playing around," a third voice rang out beneath the storm, nearly making the Kiri ninja jump out of his skin. "If you keep this up, you'll delay everyone's dinner!"
"Ah, you're right, sorry. I think training with Yugito rubbed off on me a bit," Kiyui apologized as she pulled another kunai from her pouch.
"Who's there?!" Knowing stealth was pointless now, the Kiri ninja shouted, nerves stretched thin as he looked around.
A bolt of lightning split the sky, and a figure appeared in a blink to Kiyui's right, crouched and holding a kunai in his right hand.
The moment the Kiri ninja recognized him, he knew his luck was terrible—truly awful.
"To think I caught the attention of Kumo's Dodomeki…" He took a deep breath, tightening his grip on his kunai. "I don't know whether I should feel honored or horrified, not after reading that scroll."
"Precisely because you read it, you won't be leaving here alive," Chad said as he adjusted his stance, Kiyui mirroring him for a synchronized attack.
The Kiri ninja exhaled slowly, his gaze going empty.
"My chances of escaping with her were slim, but I'm not arrogant enough to think I can face you—or take you with me." He clenched his jaw, activating a special Kiri poison hidden between his teeth. "Maybe I can't pass the information to my village, but don't expect to get anything from me either!" He collapsed backward, foam spilling from his mouth as he barely clung to the rooftop tiles.
The two ninjas exchanged glances and shrugged.
"Well, that saves us time and effort," Chad said, sheathing his kunai.
"Should we destroy the body?" Kiyui asked as she also put away her weapons, sighing as she reminded herself to fix this bad habit she had unconsciously picked up from Yugito. "If the Interrogation Unit extracts information from his brain and the Council finds out later…"
Chad waved a hand to dismiss her concern.
"Kiri poison is designed to kill and destroy the brain in the process to prevent information leaks," he explained, familiar with that particular ace up the sleeve. "Sure, the village can still investigate the body, but judging by how you toyed with him, he was barely a chūnin. I doubt they'll find anything useful."
"But still…"
"It's easily fixed. Did you memorize his face? Good." After receiving confirmation, Chad stepped toward the corpse, raised his foot, and crushed the ninja's head, bursting it like a watermelon. "Done. Information irrecoverable."
Kiyui stuck out her tongue at the sight of brain matter scattered across the roof.
"Ew, couldn't you have just cut off his head?"
"Better safe than sorry," Chad said as he wiped the remains from the rooftop. "At least the rain will wash everything clean in a few minutes."
They sealed the headless body into a scroll to deliver it the next day.
"Well, forget about anything happening between us tonight," Kiyui crossed her arms beneath her chest. "You just killed the good mood I had from the concert. Go to Hibui, or make Yugito happy and finally include her in the village program. The Sage knows how hard it is to pretend we don't see how smitten she is with you—Mabui approves too."
"I told you I didn't accept that program," Chad frowned at her words.
He knew she wasn't serious, but it still annoyed him that she brought it up.
"At least you have that much self-control," Kiyui rolled her eyes as she turned away. "If you did accept, I think the men of the village would gang up to beat you out of jealousy, even if it was our kage who ordered you to participate."
Chad snorted and followed her without replying.
If his sister hadn't been there to intervene, he would have thrown that guy with the ridiculous mustache out of his office window the moment he suggested it.
The fact that he was currently in a relationship with multiple women was a completely different matter—his charisma worked even when he did nothing. Being that attractive was hard!
"By the way, why do you keep leaving that scroll unguarded?" Kiyui glanced sideways at Chad as they leaped across rooftops toward the organized dinner. "Even if much of the information is false, what's real is still dangerous if it goes public."
"It's easier to catch mice that way. No one checks whether the window has an alert seal on it, or whether the scroll's core is packed with explosive tags. Besides, the information is only dangerous if people believe it. If someone came to you and told you the contents of that scroll, would you believe even part of it?"
Kiyui didn't answer—but that alone was a clear enough response.