The sky over Konoha was tinged with ink, the reception lasting until evening.
"You've worked hard today. Please rest well."
Outside the guest rooms specifically for foreign envoys, Ren, with a smile on her face, gave a slight bow to the three Kumogakure ninja: "Subsequent activities will be led by me tomorrow. Until then, you have ample time to relax from the fatigue of your journey. No one will disturb you."
After sofdoor giving instructions, Ren gently closed the door.
Click.
Inside the guest room, the two Kumogakure ninja raised their hands to rub their stiff cheeks, sore from smiling all day.
One of them then turned to look at Yurui, who was scanning the room's furnishings with his eyes.
"Boss," he said, tilting his chin slightly towards the door, his voice low, "That last part was a threat, right?"
Yurui silently withdrew his gaze, not answering the question. He walked towards the spacious living room and sat down heavily on the sofa.
The two Kumogakure ninja exchanged a glance, tacitly understanding not to pursue the topic further.
They walked into the living room, glanced around at the decor, and remarked, "As expected of Konoha, so wealthy. Even guest accommodations are this high-standard."
While saying this, the two Kumogakure ninja slipped their hands into their pockets.
A small barrier to block perception was triggered, an invisible ripple stirring faint waves in the air, and a voice sounded directly in the minds of Yurui and the other ninja.
'Boss, any surveillance or listening devices?'
"The honor is ours," Yurui said, his expression unchanged, his tone normal. "It seems Konoha truly treats us as 'honored guests.'"
The two Kumogakure ninja immediately understood. They began to chime in with nonsensical chatter, discussing where they should go to wander around in the coming days.
Mentioning the fun street not far from Konoha, the two even let out somewhat lewd laughs.
Meanwhile, outside the door, Ren, her back to the door, slowly opened her closed eyes.
Even though she knew, as a ninja, she shouldn't be swayed by emotions, hearing the crude language fitting Kumogakure's rugged style, she, a young woman, couldn't help but frown.
"No chakra fluctuations detected, no unusual movements found…"
Ren quickly suppressed the displeasure in her heart, lowered her hands from the hand seal, but remained vigilant.
If possible, she would have preferred the Third Hokage to have searched them or set up monitoring barriers in the rooms.
But this suggestion was gently yet firmly rejected by the Third Hokage.
After all, Kumogakure had indeed shown great sincerity so far. If Konoha were caught doing underhanded things, it would hand them a pretext.
However, Ren had a bad premonition, though she couldn't pinpoint why. Perhaps it was a woman's intuition.
Inside the room at that moment, Yurui stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of the high-floor guest room, looking down at the busy, bustling Konoha even in the evening, watching the people below flow through the streets like ants.
After a moment of silence, Yurui raised his hands and quickly formed hand signs. The chakra already gathered within him surged forth.
Boar → Dog → Dragon → Rat → Dog → Boar → Snake → Tiger.
Poof!
A silent puff of white smoke erupted,and a shadow clone appeared beside him.
"Begin," Yurui's true body said calmly. "For Kumogakure."
The two Kumogakure ninja exchanged a glance. They knew very well in their hearts that regardless of the mission's success, they would not survive this.
Only if all three of them died here would the "weight" to threaten Konoha be sufficient.
"For Kumogakure!"
The resolute voices of the two Kumogakure ninja overlapped. Simultaneously, they raised their hands and rapidly formed hand signs, the chakra within them surging forth violently.
BOOM!!
An explosion that shook the night sky reverberated through evening Konoha!
Windows of buildings, shop fronts along the street, street lamps—all shattered like rain under the sweeping shockwave!
"Ah!"
"What was that?!"
Pedestrians on the surrounding streets instinctively screamed, looking in terror towards the direction of the deafening roar.
They saw countless sparrows startled into flight, and thick black smoke billowing violently from the fifth floor of the guest apartment.
A huge gap had been torn in the apartment's wall. Countless bricks and fragments flew down from high above, crashing onto the ground. Among them, three figures also fell, plummeting downwards.
Thud! Thud! Falling from a height of dozens of meters,they smashed into the ground, cracking it, vivid red blood flowing out.
By now, many villagers had heard the tremendous noise and run out of shops and homes to see what happened. They watched as three figures fell from above.
Two of the figures lost all signs of life the moment they hit the ground.
Only one figure spat out a mouthful of blood, struggled to get up, and roared, "Konoha! How dare you betray the alliance?!"
The anger in this roar seemed genuine, stunning the surrounding Konoha villagers into a daze. They watched as the figure scrambled away.
Coming to their senses, someone finally recognized the two figures lying on the ground, their expression instantly turning to one of horror.
"Those two... they're the Kumo envoys!"
The second after someone shakily shouted this, Ren, her body covered in burns, her clothes tattered, arrived via Body Flicker.
Seeing the two corpses, her face instantly paled.
How is this possible?! Someone planted explosive tags in the Kumo envoys'room beforehand?!
"Disaster! I must report to the Third Hokage immediately!"
Even though she didn't consider it might be a false flag operation by Kumo, Ren instantly realized the severity of the situation.
Struggling against her severely injured body , she formed hand signs and created a shadow clone to chase the sole surviving Kumo ninja, then sprinted at full speed towards the Hokage Building.
At the same time, the frantic Ren didn't notice a figure hiding its form leaping out from within the billowing black smoke above.
It was Yurui, the sole survivor among the three Kumogakure ninja.
The "Yurui" that Ren's shadow clone was chasing was merely another shadow clone.
The other Konoha ninja arriving on the scene were also led away by the shadow clone, all believing he was trying to escape Konoha village.
But in fact, his real target was not to escape Konoha, but rather the Hyūga clan compound in the opposite direction.
"Rest in peace. You are both heroes of Kumogakure. I will join you soon."
Yurui's gaze was complex as he glanced down at the two bodies below. He then used his full power to execute the Body Flicker Technique.
Soon, he arrived at the woods near the Hyūga clan compound. The entire process had been extremely smooth.
But the next moment, as his figure was enveloped by the dense shadows of the trees, his vision suddenly plunged into darkness.
A hand, holding a short sword, with distinct knuckles, abruptly reached out from the deep shadows.
Almost purely out of the instinct of a battle-hardened body, Yurui subconsciously raised his kunai.
Screech!!
The clash of blades produced a piercing sound. A clear ringing echoed in Yurui's ears. A crisp sound came from his sword-wielding wrist. Using the tremendous force, he leaped back to create distance.
"Who's there?"
His expression grim, he raised his eyes to look into the distance. He saw a figure clad in a black robe stepping out from the shadows, a short sword in hand reflecting the cold moonlight.
"This road is closed." Looking at the finally appearing "supporting character" before him, Hyūga Kumokawa's hoarse voice held only calmness. "Stop right there."