"Someone's coming."
Koeda Seinosuke suddenly spoke, forcing Kyoichi to swallow back the words he'd just been about to say.
The very next moment—
Everyone felt it.
The barrier Seinosuke had set up shattered with a deafening crack.
And then—
Heavy, unrestrained footsteps echoed just outside the door.
"Well, well, Koeda clan folks. What top-secret matter are we locking the doors for, hmm? Mind if I sit in and listen?" The door was shoved open rudely, and a man's voice—dripping with mockery and smug arrogance—rang loudly in the ears of the Koeda Clan's gathered jōnin.
The man standing before them had an explosion of unruly hair, razor-sharp eyes that cut like blades, and wore a skintight, ash-brown combat suit beneath a matching flak vest. Arms crossed before his chest, he stared down at the Koeda clan jōnin with a cocky, domineering air, as though he owned the room.
Behind him stood two more shinobi, dressed in the same ash-brown gear.
"Enkō?"
Koeda Dazen's eyes went cold.
He raised a hand to stop Seinosuke—who looked about to lash out—and spoke in an even, unshaken voice, "What the Koeda Clan does is no business of yours, Kagari. If you want to bark orders at us, wait until you're Tsuchikage."
"Heh."
The man named Enkō let out a cold chuckle. "Chief Dazen, I don't have the authority to meddle in Koeda affairs, sure. And frankly, I couldn't care less about whatever shady plots your clan's cooking up again. But... Kurotsuchi-sama gave orders. One of your clan's jōnin is to join us for a mission."
He paused.
Then, with eyes full of disdain, swept a glance around the room and sneered, "Doesn't matter who. One of you—come with us. Now."
"What kind of mission?"
"I'm only authorized to discuss that with the participants. No further comment."
Dazen stared at Enkō for several seconds. The other man wore an unapologetically twisted grin—as if, were it not for the technicality that they were still technically allies, he wouldn't hesitate to draw his blade right here and now. That unsettling thought crept into Dazen's mind, unbidden.
But—
There was no point blaming anyone else.
The Koeda Clan had brought this upon themselves.
Of course people like Enkō—staunch supporters of the Third Tsuchikage—would see them as enemies. After all, the Koeda Clan had thrown their lot in with a failed coup against the Tsuchikage's regime.
From a neutral point of view—
The very fact that the Koeda Clan hadn't already been wiped out under a total annihilation order could only be seen as an act of extreme mercy. If Kyoichi hadn't been born into the Koeda Clan himself, he probably would've thought the same.
Unless, of course, he chose to sever all family ties in the name of 'justice.'
But justice?
Kyoichi didn't believe the Third Tsuchikage had any such thing on his side. That so-called coup was nothing more than a bloody power struggle among the village's top carnivores. Justice had no place in it at all.
So naturally—
Kyoichi had no choice but to side with his clan.
In truth—
There was no choice.
Bloodline was sin enough.
Even if he begged to serve the Third Tsuchikage, why would they ever trust a man who could betray his own kin?
Divide and conquer. Break them down one by one, huh?
Kyoichi eyed Kagari coldly.
His intentions were obvious—separate the Koeda jōnin and toss them like kindling into the raging fire of war. Just like the last surviving jōnin from the two other clans who'd also taken part in the failed coup—they'd already died on the battlefield fighting the Third Raikage's forces.
Kyoichi was supposed to die with them.
He was only alive now thanks to the sudden intervention of the Divine Eye.
"Seinosuke is a medical-nin. Kyoichi and Yūsuke just returned from a mission. Can't you even let them catch their breath?" Dazen's tone turned dark.
"Enough with the excuses. Orders are orders. Chief Dazen, Kurotsuchi-sama has already shown mercy by allowing you to choose who to send. Don't waste our time—decide quickly. We're moving out immediately. If we're late and it costs us the battlefront, your clan will bear the blame."
Enkō showed not the slightest courtesy, pressing relentlessly.
He didn't think he owed the Koeda Clan any respect.
To him, they were nothing more than traitors.
The only reason they hadn't been exterminated was because of wartime necessity—but that didn't mean their past sins were forgiven. Blood would pay for blood—whether it was the enemy's or the traitors' own.
Dazen's brow tightened.
It felt like he'd swallowed a fist-sized chunk of bitter gall.
There was no way out of this.
So long as they still wore the headbands of Iwagakure, they were duty-bound to obey the front-line commander's orders. But obeying meant sacrificing another of their dwindling jōnin.
And that wasn't paranoia.
It was obvious from the way Enkō spoke.
Assigning a mission isn't something done arbitrarily. The person giving the orders must consider the operative's skillset—ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu—how well they match the mission, and the chances of success.
But being told to choose a jōnin without knowing anything about the mission? That was clearly a ploy to use them as disposable pawns. Fodder. And fodder didn't need to be compatible with the mission—they only needed to die.
Just as Dazen found himself cornered—
"I'll—"
Seinosuke couldn't take it anymore. He slapped the table, ready to volunteer.
"I'll go, Chief!"
But Kyoichi beat him to it.
He stood up and stepped forward decisively. "I'll go."
"Kyoichi,"
Dazen looked at him, eyes filled with conflict. "Do you understand what you're saying?"
"Someone has to carry out Kurotsuchi-sama's command, don't they?"
Kyoichi walked to the center of the room. Facing Dazen and turning his back to Enkō and his men, he placed a clenched right fist against his chest and declared, "Though I haven't even mastered one-tenth of your strength, Chief... and though I've only opened six of the seven pathways of our clan's secret art... I have cultivated a modest talent for Earth Release. I may not win glory, but I will not bring shame to the Koeda name."
"…"
Dazen stared at Kyoichi's darkened, tightly clenched right hand.
For a moment, he was stunned—then quietly moved.
Kyoichi…
He had mastered a high-level Earth Release technique that even Dazen had yet to grasp.
No wonder he was so confident.
With that technique alone, Kyoichi's survival chances had just skyrocketed. Even Dazen himself couldn't say with certainty he'd do better.
"Enkō, Kyoichi will go with you."
Dazen said firmly.
"Koeda Kyoichi, huh? Fine by me."
Enkō gave a lazy nod, barely glancing at Kyoichi as he turned to face them.
It really didn't matter to him who the Koeda Clan sent.
They were just pawns.
If they died? Good riddance.
If they lived? Then they'd be tossed into the next meat grinder.
And this time—
That meat grinder was called:
Kannabi Bridge.