Yako arrived near the dam and concealed himself in the forest along its flank.
Yak hurried over. "Captain, it's not the target. Yamashigeto hasn't appeared—it's the negotiations between the River Daimyō's Minister of Finance and the Wind Daimyō's Minister of Finance. They've collapsed!"
"Not Yamashigeto… wait." Yako frowned. "Who did you say? Who fell out with who?"
Yak pointed toward the distant docks.
"Captain, those two ships at the Teigu docks belong to Rain and River nobles.
The Rain nobles are acting as witnesses while the River Minister of Finance and the Wind Minister of Finance negotiate water allocation at the Teigu Dam."
"The talks broke down. Neither side is satisfied with the allocation."
"The River side believes too much water is being diverted here, lowering the Yoshimizu River downstream."
"The Wind side says they built the canal strictly according to agreements approved by multiple daimyo—there's nothing wrong with it."
Yako fixed his gaze on the two ships.
One bore the crest of the Land of Rivers.
He hadn't expected to see Kojii Chisa here again.
"You continue tracking Yamashigeto," Yako said calmly. "I'll handle the River–Wind dispute."
"Yes, Captain."
Yako formed hand seals and activated the Hidden Fish in Earth Technique. He vanished from Yak's sight.
Yak froze.
'Captain's Earth Release is on a completely different level…'
Once Yako entered the ground, Yak couldn't sense him at all.
Moving through earth, water, and the wooden hulls of ships, Yako slipped aboard Kojii Chisa's vessel.
He didn't find her there.
Instead, on the Rain nobles' ship nearby, tensions were rising—guards on both sides bristling.
From beneath the eaves of the second deck, a fox mask emerged into the rain.
Yako watched.
On the deck below, River and Wind nobles argued under the downpour. No agreement was reached, and their escorts nearly came to blows before the Rain nobles hastily intervened.
Water meant little to the Land of Rain—but to others, it was priceless.
Under a large umbrella sat Kojii Chisa.
She wore rimless glasses, her features refined and composed.
What surprised Yako was her hair—neatly pinned up.
Among nobles, that style marked a married woman.
Either she had wed… or she had borne a child.
Yako's heartbeat quickened.
It was now March of Konoha Year 41. He had left the Land of Rivers in April of Year 39.
More than a year and a half.
He didn't know what had happened in her life since then.
His hand hovered near a pillar.
If the Wind nobles dared move against Chisa, he was ready to let them… experience the "might" of Iwa jonin Yamashigeto.
Yako withdrew into an empty room and unsealed an Iwa flak jacket.
In the end, the Wind nobles did not act. With the Rain nobles mediating, both sides withdrew.
Seeing that Chisa was safe, Yako vanished and returned to the dam to investigate properly.
The dam bore calibrated markers indicating water output—key instruments for regulating distribution.
Yako moved swiftly through the water using the Mayfly Technique, following the canal beneath the Yoshigane Mountains.
The cavern that Yellow Dog's unit had once sealed… had been reopened.
The Wind side had paid a heavy price.
Water thundered down into the cavern like a waterfall.
Yako merged into the falling torrent with the Mayfly Technique.
After descending more than twenty meters, his eyes narrowed.
Five outlets.
Besides the main channel, there were five underground conduits.
No wonder Chisa had come personally.
The Sand side had secretly excavated them—each nearly three meters tall.
Yako followed one conduit upward until it emerged along the Yoshimizu River.
A new opening diverted water away.
A small barrier had been set up to prevent whirlpools at the intake.
After four more recon runs, Yako identified all five intakes and marked them on a map.
Then he returned to Chisa's ship.
Late into the night, Kojii Chisa was still working.
She ran calculations again and again.
According to the dam's markers, the Wind side hadn't exceeded its allotment—but downstream water levels were far below expectations.
No matter how she recalculated, the numbers refused to align.
Then—
A sharp sound split the air above.
Chisa leaned back instinctively, expecting a kunai.
Instead, a scroll dropped from the ceiling and landed on her desk.
She stared upward.
The ceiling was intact. No sign of intrusion.
Cautiously, she opened the scroll.
A map.
Five red circles marked along the Yoshimizu River.
Beside them, a note:
Underground intake points.
Chisa froze.
If underground intakes existed, then focusing solely on the Teigu Dam meant she had been chasing the wrong problem entirely.
Who had warned her?
She turned sharply—
And saw someone slowly emerge from the wall of the cabin behind her.
A fox mask.
"Miqū… no. Fox. Is it you?"
After the war, Chisa had gathered intelligence on Konoha.
She eventually learned that ANBU had produced a terrifying operative—Copper Fox, hailed by Fire Country nobles as ANBU's strongest.
That Copper Fox was the same Fox who had built the hydroelectric station for her.
The man who had once called himself Miqū, wearing a fox mask.
"Long time no see, Miss Chisa."
She leapt to her feet. The chair toppled over.
Outside, a maid called anxiously, "Miss, is everything alright?"
Yako relaxed.
They called her Miss.
She wasn't married.
"Clear the second and third decks," Chisa ordered. "No one is to approach."
She walked toward Fox—then broke into a run, throwing herself into his arms.
A year and a half of bitterness surged up all at once, leaving her unsure where to begin.
Yako removed his mask, revealing his eyes and lower face, and lifted her into his arms.
He moved toward the bed—
But Chisa stopped him.
"T-the desk… our reunion should be just like when we parted…"
When they had separated, she had learned his true identity as Konoha ANBU and had turned her back on him.
Now, meeting again, the feeling was the same.
The same posture. The same warmth.
Half an hour later, amid trembling and rolling waves, Yako lay satisfied.
"Fox… why didn't you come to see me?"
"My missions were relentless," he said softly. "I'm sorry. Konoha ninja can't leave the village without orders."
"Then… do you know our child is already one year old?"
Yako froze.
"What?"
One year old?!
'It doesn't have a Byakugan or Sharingan, right…?'
'Otherwise I could jump into the Naka River and never wash that suspicion away.'