The day after Hoshiyomi returned to the Konoha camp, Konoha launched a full-scale offensive.
This time, it was no longer the small skirmishes and tug-of-war with Sunagakure as before.
Nearly a thousand Konoha shinobi, under the command of Hoshiyomi and Orochimaru, attacked from two directions. Their original plan was to take advantage of the gap created when Ebizō and Chiyo had pulled back forces to ambush Hoshiyomi, leaving their defenses unprepared, and deliver a heavy strike.
But when they arrived, they discovered that many outposts were already abandoned. Ebizō had long since made preparations—giving up less important positions and relocating Sunagakure's forces overnight to stronger bases.
Although the raid turned out to be less effective than expected, Hoshiyomi and Orochimaru still gained an easy victory. In a single day, Konoha seized fifteen or sixteen of Sunagakure's smaller outposts, further shrinking Sunagakure's territory in the Land of Rain.
At the start of the war, Sunagakure had controlled about one-third of the Land of Rain. Now, they were reduced to barely one-fourth.
And unlike before, Konoha had no intention of returning these outposts once they were taken. This time they stationed their main forces there directly, leaving Sunagakure no chance to take them back.
Hoshiyomi, Shinku, and Orochimaru spread their forces out from the left, front, and right, surrounding Sunagakure's main camp and cutting off any hope of further advance.
In such a situation, with no new orders from Ryūnosuke, Ebizō and Chiyo had no choice but to hunker down like turtles in their shells—locking the gates and refusing to come out no matter how Konoha provoked them.
Hoshiyomi's forces, for their part, did not launch a full assault either. Instead, they stationed men outside to taunt day and night, or hurled kunai into the camp with notes attached—scribbled with nonsense like "Open the gates and surrender, and we'll spare your lives."
The Sunagakure shinobi were so enraged they nearly spat blood, but without direct orders from Ebizō and Chiyo, all they could do was plug their ears and pretend not to hear. As for the written taunts thrown inside, they simply assigned men to collect and burn them every day.
Back in the Konoha camp, Tsunade watched Hoshiyomi once again write out another taunting note and hand it to a subordinate to throw into the enemy camp. She yawned and asked listlessly:
"Are you sure this is actually useful? Since Danzō returned to the village, we haven't received any intelligence from inside Sunagakure's camp for quite some time. If you ask me, Ebizō has probably already rooted out most of our spies. That guy's skill in intelligence work isn't any worse than Danzō's."
Hearing this, Hoshiyomi just chuckled:
"Well, we've got nothing better to do anyway. Might as well try to make contact—who knows, maybe we'll get a special surprise."
...
Late at night, inside Sunagakure's camp.
To guard against a possible night raid by Konoha shinobi, Ebizō had ordered extra patrols, determined to prevent any chance of an ambush.
A patrol team was carefully making its rounds. Having listened to the Konoha shinobi shouting curses outside every day, they were worried the enemy might actually storm the camp at night. As a result, each member of the patrol was tense, watching vigilantly for anything suspicious.
Suddenly, they spotted a lone figure near the main gate, moving cautiously and nervously.
The patrol squad leader exchanged a glance with his comrades, then crept forward silently. In an instant, the cold tip of a kunai was pressed against the stranger's neck.
"Who goes there? Speak honestly! If you can't give a clear explanation, my kunai won't be merciful."
Feeling the icy chill against her throat, the figure shuddered involuntarily. Then came a trembling, tearful but beautiful female voice:
"D-Don't kill me! I'm Nayū, a chūnin from the medical corps. I—I have my shinobi identification with me!"
Hearing that soft, pleasant female voice, the squad leader froze for no reason. He took a torch from one of his men and shone it forward. In the firelight, he saw a short-haired girl with pale golden hair and round-rimmed glasses, staring at him timidly.
Her large, innocent eyes were misted with fear, and when she realized the leader was staring straight at her, she quickly lowered her head as though startled.
Looking at the girl's pitiful, fragile expression, the squad leader —who had been single for nearly twenty-three years—felt as if an arrow had struck him right through the heart.
Just from seeing those innocent, clear eyes, nearly eighty percent of his wariness melted away. He didn't even bother checking Nayū's shinobi registration number. Instead, he only glanced at her ID card perfunctorily, before blushing and handing it back.
"Y-you… what are you doing out here so late? I thought for a second you might've been a Konoha spy…"
Nayū glanced up at him bravely, then shook the bundle of papers in her arms.
"It's because of these. Lady Chiyo said if our people saw these notes, it might shake their morale. So whenever we have time, we're told to gather them up and burn them."
Hearing this, the leader's doubts vanished entirely. He nodded again and again, put away his kunai, and even offered warmly:
"It's not safe at night. You shouldn't be wandering around… I'll walk you back to your tent."
Nayū blushed slightly.
"N-no need."
With that, she hurried away, leaving the leader staring dreamily at her retreating back, feeling as soft and light as cotton.
But the love-struck man failed to notice: once she turned away, the shy, flustered expression on Nayū's face vanished, replaced by a look of sharp, calculating clarity.
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Nayū didn't hesitate any longer. She headed straight to the garbage disposal area of Sunagakure's camp—a foul-smelling place no one lingered around.
After confirming no one was around, she unfolded the notes she had gathered. Examining the strokes carefully, she rearranged them in a special sequence. A moment later, she pieced together the hidden message:
"Meet at Fumotsu Town at 8 PM on the third day of next month."
After deciphering this message, Nayū finally showed a bright smile, her glasses glinting in the moonlight.
She set a fire, burning the garbage along with the notes in her hand, then turned and left..
It had been half a year since she had received any intelligence. She had begun to believe that, as a trainee spy, she had already been forgotten.
Ironically, it was her "trainee" status that had saved her. During Ebizō's repeated sweeps for infiltrators, her apparent ignorance and inexperience had allowed her to slip through every inspection—leaving her the last remaining Konoha spy in Sunagakure's main camp.
Until now, she had thought she would have to live under the false name "Nayū" until the war ended, before she could flee back to Konoha. She never expected that, after six months, she—the final spy within Sunagakure's army—would once again receive new orders.
She, Yakushi Nonō, could finally reclaim her true identity.