"Ahhh—haaa!" A yawn escaped as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Hagane Kotetsu rubbed his eyes and looked up at the sky.
The evening glow dyed the sky red, like a slow-moving river of fire threatening to swallow the distant blue sea.
No matter how beautiful the view is, you get sick of it when you see it every day.
"Still not time yet? I just wanna go home already."
Kamizuki Izumo, leaning against Konoha's rust-stained gate, looked up with a single tired eye. His whole posture exuded defeat and weariness.
Even his mild case of OCD had been cured by the monotonous life of gatekeeping.
"Five more minutes," Kotetsu replied without hesitation—he'd checked the time just a minute ago.
"Sigh~"
Both sighed in unison, raising their heads to appreciate the sunset together.
Ever since the old gatekeeper retired and disappeared off somewhere to enjoy his days, they'd been stuck covering the job without rotation, all thanks to staff shortages.
No one knew when this dreary cycle would end.
"After our shift, how about coming over to my place for drinks and cards?"
The moment Kotetsu mentioned cards, the sleepiness vanished from his eyes, replaced by a bright gleam.
Izumo knew his friend all too well. "Drinks are fine, but skip the cards. You lose control once we start, and we end up going too late."
"It's the weekend tomorrow! What's the big deal?" Kotetsu muttered, clearly itching for a game.
Izumo tuned him out, solely focused on finishing the shift.
A game with Kotetsu meant an all-nighter—worse than pulling an extra shift. And with tomorrow off, he wanted nothing more than to relax at home.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Suddenly.
The radio on Izumo's belt began to blare.
The two exchanged glances and instantly stood up.
Kotetsu's drowsy expression sharpened, becoming serious in a flash.
Izumo straightened, flipped on the comm:
"Alert!
Three chakra signatures not registered in our database have breached Konoha's barrier. All appear to be Jōnin-level. They're about one kilometer from the main gate. Seal the gate and hold them off.
Reinforcements are on their way and should arrive before the enemy!"
As the voice from the comm finished, both men fell silent.
"Main gate here—copy that!" Izumo responded.
"How long until backup?" he asked, eyes fixed on the horizon, voice hoarse.
"At least three minutes," Kotetsu answered, his gaze locked ahead.
At the far end of the dirt road beyond the gate, bathed in the blood-red sunset, three figures streaked toward them, electric light dancing around them like deadly spears.
Three minutes until help arrived.
But the enemy was already here.
Just the two of them—Special Jōnin—were tasked with holding back three full Jōnin for at least three minutes.
"...Understood."
BEEP.
The comm's light went dark.
Two lone figures stood before the gates of Konoha.
"Izumo, looks like drinks will have to wait."
"Can't be helped!"
"Here we go!"
"Yeah!"
And then—
Blinding lightning came crashing toward them.
No more words.
They drew their kunai and charged forward without hesitation, colliding head-on with the incoming storm.
A furious clash erupted.
Sparks exploded.
Torrents of water and raging thunder clashed like wild beasts.
Behind them—
Konoha, glowing beneath the setting sun.
Lights flickered to life in every tower and window.
At the same time...
On the other side of Konoha—
East of Training Ground Zero, beyond the iron fencing...
KRKKKRKK—
The sound was like a paper shredder in action.
Nearly a thousand kikaichū insects crawled over a scroll, devouring its intricate glowing seals within seconds.
The scroll began to vanish.
Aburame Shino pushed up his sunglasses with one finger as small, terrifying insects emerged from beneath his eyelids.
"Is there anything else on her?"
Hinata activated her Byakugan.
"Hmm... A big pouch of medical powder in her bag, a whistle in her left pocket, perfume and money in the backpack lining. Outside, she has rations, water, medicine, and some winter clothes.
Oh! She's got poison hidden in her back molar.
And two short daggers tucked in the edges of her boots."
As Hinata casually listed everything, Sawada Fūka's face turned darker and darker with each word.
Byakugan is disgusting...
No wonder Kumogakure was so obsessed with it.
This was Fūka's first time facing a Hyūga directly, and now she finally understood Kumogakure's desperate desire for the Byakugan.
Seeing the scroll dissolve in Shino's hand, despair clouded her eyes.
She'd failed the mission given to her by Kumogakure and lost three Jōnin in the process.
Now exposed within Konoha's grasp, all that awaited her was interrogation by the Anbu and a life sentence.
She thought of the old man she had thrown into prison—and the miserable fate he met.
Her jaw tightened.
She bit down hard, ready to crush the poisoned molar in her mouth.
BOOM!
A sudden burst of blinding white light exploded in front of Fūka.
Hinata and Kiba reflexively shielded their eyes.
The blinding flash disappeared as quickly as it came.
And then, through the fading light—
A towering figure began to emerge, like a massive iron tower.
CRACK-CRACK
Blue-violet lightning arced through the air, sketching the outline of a humanoid figure with electric brushstrokes.
The only one unaffected by the flash—Shino—lifted his gaze to watch the two-meter-tall figure slowly approach.
Its massive shadow loomed over them.
Was it... an old man?
Short silver hair spiked upward like steel needles.
A massive body, heavier and broader than a mountain.
Lightning crackled across his skin like a cloak of pure blue chakra. His dark brown skin was covered in rippling muscles that pulsed and writhed like roots of a massive banyan tree.
By now, Hinata and Kiba had recovered from the flash.
They stared in horror at the figure now standing in front of Fūka, trembling as they instinctively stepped back.
No chakra sensing was needed.
Just looking at the man told them everything.
They couldn't beat him.
"Someone with a dog, bugs, and the Byakugan, huh? This sure brings back memories."
The old voice of Yorugetsu Yū carried a trace of nostalgia.
He looked down at the trio with eyes full of mixed feelings. It seemed everything had changed... yet also stayed the same. The only thing lost to time was himself.
"But… the scroll was destroyed..."
Kiba's voice trembled. The air around them reeked of danger so strong, it paralyzed him.
Sometimes...
Fear can reach such heights that even running away requires courage.
Expose your back to a monster like this—and you'd be dead in an instant.
He couldn't even flee.
"That was just a location beacon," Yū replied as he rolled his stiff neck.
Using the Heaven-Sending Technique took a huge toll on the body. Even with his Raiton Chakra Mode, the damage couldn't be completely nullified.
But the plan had succeeded—halfway.
Using a space-time ninjutsu to bypass the barrier's chakra detection, he infiltrated from the rear before Konoha had a chance to respond.
The plan was simple: take the Kyūbi and the Byakugan.
Then blow the bone whistle—
And summon the elephant bird waiting high above to escape Konoha with everyone.
That was Kumogakure's entire mission.
Yū slowly turned his head, neck muscles creaking as they bulged and sparked with lightning. His glowing eyes locked onto the stunned Sawada Fūka:
"I've seen the Byakugan...
Now tell me— Where is the Kyūbi Jinchūriki?"