At the Konoha–Kirigakure front line headquarters.
At this very moment, Mitsuki had no idea that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist — the ones he had long dreamed of confronting — were already on their way, blades in hand, to meet him face-to-face.
Right now, he was sitting in the ramen shop, eating breakfast. It wasn't exactly healthy to have ramen first thing in the morning, but what could he do? Kenta's cooking was simply too good.
He was more than willing to trade a bit of health for the sheer bliss of flavor. After all, with his Wish System, he'd eventually become the perfect ultimate life form anyway.
As for Shukaku — the glutton sitting next to him — that tanuki didn't seem to have any such concerns, devouring food like a bottomless pit.
After finishing his meal, Mitsuki planned to leave camp and check if any Kirigakure rats had sneaked into the Land of Fire again to cause trouble. It had become part of his daily routine.
Considering he still hadn't found any trace of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, a few days ago he'd even gone to a major port, found a merchant ship bound for the Land of Water, and left a Flying Thunder God seal on it.
That's right — he was planning to be a stowaway. If he couldn't find them on Fire Country soil, he'd just take the fight straight to Kirigakure itself.
As he walked through the camp, he suddenly heard the cry of a crow.
"Caw—caw—"
He raised his arm, and the black bird swooped down to perch on it. From its beak, it spat out a small scroll.
Mitsuki took the scroll and gently released the crow. It was one of Shisui's — he often used his trained crows for genjutsu or message delivery.
Without hesitation, Mitsuki unrolled the scroll. The moment he saw its contents, his eyes lit up.
The message was simple: the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had been sighted.
During their previous "Byakugan Retrieval" mission, Mitsuki and Shisui had become good friends, later teaming up on several high-level missions.
Knowing Mitsuki had been tirelessly searching for the Swordsmen, Shisui had promised to keep an eye out for any related intel. And now, while on a mission at a small port, he'd discovered suspicious individuals who matched their description.
He had immediately summoned his crow to deliver the message to Mitsuki — which led to the scene that had just unfolded at camp.
At this moment, Mitsuki couldn't tell exactly what he was feeling — but one thing was certain: excitement surged through him.
Ever since he arrived on this battlefield, his number one goal had been to slay the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. And now, at last, he had solid information.
Although Shisui had advised in the scroll that Mitsuki should wait until he finished his mission so they could hunt the Swordsmen together, Mitsuki wasn't the type to sit still.
What if, during the delay, those bastards disappeared again?
"Gyosui Port, huh…" he murmured.
It was the same place where Kento had once fallen. Now, the Swordsmen had resurfaced near that very spot. Was this fate's cruel sense of irony?
With a flash of light Mitsuki vanished. Over the past few months, while sweeping the Fire Country's coastline, he had placed Flying Thunder God marks at regular intervals.
As long as he was within the Mist front, he could move anywhere instantly — total map control.
"Haah… haah…"
"Why… why are the Seven Ninja Swordsmen here!?"
Might Guy could only feel like the universe itself was playing a cruel joke on him. He'd just received a higher-ranked mission and been sent to the Mist front. But no one had told him he'd be running into those legendary monsters!
And it wasn't just Guy — his two teammates were equally filled with regret. Out of all the missions available, why did they have to pick this one!?
In a dense forest typical of the Fire Country, three young Konoha genin stood frozen in place, terror written across their faces.
Not far ahead, seven Kirigakure shinobi sat casually atop massive stones, each holding a strange, ominous blade.
"Hahaha! Kushimaru, look at that kappa-looking brat in the middle — what the hell is he wearing?"
Jinpachi pointed mockingly at Guy, as if he'd seen the funniest thing in the world.
Kushimaru sneered cruelly, his voice dripping with sadism.
"Look at the fear on their faces. I want to slice off their skin and stitch their expressions together… it'd make a fine piece of art."
"Enough nonsense" said Fuguki, his tone cold. "Finish them quickly."
This mission was critical — they couldn't risk the intel leaking and giving Mitsuki time to prepare. To ensure secrecy, the Seven had been killing every Konoha shinobi they encountered along the way.
"W-what do we do!?" one of Guy's teammates stammered, trembling so hard his words barely came out.
The other muttered endlessly under his breath, "We're… we're gonna die…"
"Damn it…"
Guy sighed internally at his teammates' pitiful state. Running was useless. The only option left was to die with some shred of pride.
For some reason, his thoughts drifted to his father.
"If only Father were here…"
Then he shook his head. What could his father, the eternal genin Might Duy, possibly do here? He'd only add another body to the pile.
"No… better that he's not here."
"Sorry, Father. Maybe I really wasn't cut out to be a ninja after all… And sorry, Mitsuki — thank you for cheering me on back then. Too bad I won't get to see you on the Mist front."
Guy mentally prepared for death. He took his stance, ready to face the inevitable.
And then —
A flash of green light fell from the sky, landing right in front of him.
"Father!"
Guy shouted in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes furiously, but no — it really was his father, Might Duy.
Duy stood firm, his body wreathed in a blazing green aura of chakra — the unmistakable energy of the Eight Gates. He had opened the Sixth Gate: Gate of View!
His expression was tense as he faced the motionless Seven Ninja Swordsmen, relief flickering briefly in his eyes.
"Good… I made it in time."
"Father, what are you doing here!?" Guy's voice trembled, torn between panic and confusion.
In his mind, Duy was just a genin who only ever got D-rank missions and was constantly mocked by other squads. To Guy, his father showing up here was nothing short of suicide.
Even if he could open the Eight Gates, the opponents were the Seven Ninja Swordsmen — the group said to be capable of wiping out a small country in a single day.
But Duy only turned his head slightly, flashing his son a confident grin.
"Guy, I'll hold them off. You and your friends — run!"
"But Father, how can you—"
"It's fine," Duy said, raising a thumbs-up with his back to them. "The time has come… for self-restraint to be cast aside!"
"The Eight Inner Gates Formation — I'll open it now!"