"Release!"
Kurenai squatted beside Rin, forming a single-handed seal. Her chakra surged gently as she unraveled the illusion entwined around Rin's consciousness.
"Ah!"
Rin gasped sharply as clarity returned to her eyes. Startled, she immediately lowered her voice upon seeing her surroundings. Her gaze swept across the familiar faces before her. "Kurenai… Asahi… Asuma? Why are you all here?"
"What happened to you?" Kurenai asked, her voice soft with concern.
"I… Our squad was ambushed by Kirigakure shinobi. I was knocked out and taken captive." Rin said, her brow furrowed as she tried to piece together the hazy fragments of her memory. "It happened so fast."
"What about Kakashi and Guy?" Asuma interjected, voice taut.
"I… I don't know. I was rendered unconscious during the fight. The last thing I remember was seeing them trying to hold off the enemy…" Her voice faltered, shadowed by worry. "There were too many of them—over a dozen skilled Kiri-nin. Kakashi and Guy... I don't know if they made it."
Rin's fists clenched slightly at her sides, the helplessness etched across her features.
"Then how… how did you save me?" she asked, her voice trembling with uncertainty.
That question lingered heavily. Rin had spent enough time as a kunoichi to understand how tightly-guarded high-level captives were—especially someone like her. She remembered being restrained deep in a fortified cave network, guarded by elite Kiri shinobi. The odds of a standard Konoha team launching a successful rescue seemed infinitesimal. And more importantly, how did they even know she was taken?
"I've been investigating intel on the Three-Tails Jinchūriki." Asahi said calmly. "According to what I gathered, he had been forcibly subdued and relocated out of Kirigakure. So I followed them, planning to intercept the transfer and capture the Jinchūriki."
He paused before continuing, his expression hardening.
"I didn't expect to find you being held in the same location."
"Investigating the Three-Tails?" Rin blinked, struggling to understand the connection.
Asahi nodded. "I received word that the current Jinchūriki was dying, and the seal suppressing the Three-Tails was weakening. Kirigakure planned to transfer the Three-Tails into a new host. Once I confirmed the signs, I devised a plan—to unleash the Three-Tails inside the Hidden Mist Village and cripple their strength from within."
"Wh-what?!" Rin's voice rose in disbelief. "You were planning to release a tailed beast in the middle of a village?! That's… that's insane!"
Asahi didn't flinch. Instead, he motioned to the unconscious Kiri-nin lying on the ground nearby.
"That's the Jinchūriki. They were going to seal the Three-Tails into you, Rin. They wanted to send you back to Konoha as a sleeper weapon and unleash the beast from within. You would have become a time bomb meant to level our home."
Rin's entire body stiffened. "No… that's not…"
Her breath caught in her throat. Even though the thought sounded horrifying, the expressions on Asahi and the others' faces left no doubt—they weren't lying.
"This truth explains everything." Asahi thought to himself. "And once I release the Three-Tails in the Kirigakure village, no one will question these 'coincidences'. All doubts will be consumed in the flames of chaos."
Leaving Rin in stunned silence, Asahi moved toward the Jinchūriki and knelt beside him, inspecting the seal etched into the man's abdomen. His expression darkened.
Asahi wasn't a seal master, but he had studied under legends. From Orochimaru, he had learned foundational theory. From Minato, he had seen the intricate formulas used to seal and transport tailed beasts. And from Tsunade, he had grasped the anatomy of the chakra system and how seals affect the host body.
He wasn't yet capable of creating a perfect Fūinjutsu, but breaking one? That, he could do.
"Kurenai, Asuma—Rin is still shaken. Escort her back to the camp safely. I'll take the Jinchūriki and proceed with the mission." Asahi rose, his voice cool but determined.
Kurenai frowned. "You're going alone?"
"I'll be fine. Even if I fail, I can still make it back." He grinned, radiating quiet confidence.
And with that, Asahi grabbed the unconscious Kiri-nin, formed a one-handed seal, and vanished in a flash of light.
…
The cold mist bit at his skin.
Asahi appeared just outside the fortified walls of Kirigakure. Through the haze, the silhouette of the Hidden Mist Village loomed like a stone beast—gray towers, cold walls, and shadowed alleys. Unlike the wooden warmth of Konoha, this place breathed secrecy and blood.
"Perfect." he whispered.
He stayed low, carefully avoiding the front gate. After all, no one would expect a lone Konoha ninja to invade the Kirigakure village, especially with one of their own in tow. The very idea would be dismissed as suicide.
Asahi transformed his appearance into that of a drunken Kiri shinobi, slinging the Jinchūriki over his shoulder like a passed-out comrade. With a practiced flick, he tossed one of his Flying Thunder God Kunai over the perimeter wall and teleported into the village.
He hadn't been able to confirm whether Kirigakure had a chakra sensory barrier like Konoha's. The manga only made Konoha's security overt. When Akatsuki infiltrated the Sand Village, they did so unnoticed. But Pain and Konan were detected instantly upon entering Konoha.
"Doesn't matter." Asahi muttered, trudging forward with a wobble in his step.
He kept his eyes on the center of the village. If he was going to release Isobu, it needed to be there—where it would deal maximum devastation.
Unlike the warm, busy streets of Konoha, Kirigakure was deathly silent. The oppressive atmosphere of the Blood Mist era still lingered in every brick. It was just past 7 p.m., yet the streets were deserted. No laughter, no light. Just shadows and silence. Those few who passed each other didn't speak. Fear had taken root in the heart of the village.
*Shff!*
Without warning, eight Kirigakure shinobi surrounded him in a blur of motion.
*Bang!*
Asahi dispelled his transformation jutsu and returned to his true form, eyes calm as he glanced around. "You found me quicker than I thought."
He wasn't surprised. After all, this wasn't a covert mission—it was retribution.
"You're from Konoha." a tall kunoichi observed. She stepped forward slowly, her long brown hair falling in curls. Only one of her emerald eyes was visible; the other was hidden beneath her fringe.
'That hair… that eye… could she be…?'
'Terumī Mei.' Asahi thought, eyes narrowing. 'The future Fifth Mizukage?'
"What's your goal, Konoha shinobi?" she demanded. "Why are you here?"
He smirked.
"I'm just completing the job you started."
They all stiffened.
"You Kiri-nin were going to send Konoha shinobi Nohara Rin back to Konoha as a walking bomb. I'm just returning the favor."
"You—!"
Without waiting, Asahi formed hand seals. "I don't need your permission."
His palm pressed hard against the Jinchūriki's abdomen.
"Fūin Kai!"
A pulse of chakra burst out like a shockwave.
"Stop him!" a Kiri shinobi shouted.
*ROOOAAARRR!*
The seal shattered.
The chakra of the Three-Tails—ancient, cold, and filled with fury—exploded into the mist.
*****
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