Kumogakure launched a surprise assault on Konohagakure!
Cloud forces surged like an unstoppable wave, smashing through the Land of Fire's defenses!
Kumogakure's army pushed deep into Konoha territory. The village's forces retreated again and again, suffering heavy losses.
The Fourth Raikage personally led the charge, accompanied by two Jinchūriki, executing a decapitation strike!
With both sides clashing head-on, one of the largest large-scale military confrontations in modern shinobi history ignited like wildfire!
And then, just as abruptly…
A peace treaty was signed. The war ended.
The news spread like wildfire across the entire shinobi world. No one could believe it.
One moment, the two villages were trading insults at press conferences. The next, they were going all-out on the battlefield—full-scale war! And the scale of the fight was shocking.
Three thousand elite shinobi, the Fourth Raikage himself, and two Tailed Beast wielders.
This kind of force was capable of wiping an entire nation off the map.
And Konoha had Uchiha Fugaku, a Mangekyō wielder of their own. Everyone expected a bloody conflict without end.
And yet—like a powder keg snuffed out in an instant—the flames vanished.
Yuki Yoru, it was that guy again!
When the details began to emerge, the shinobi world fell into stunned silence.
He hadn't lifted a finger. He hadn't even displayed his power. Just by showing his face, he stopped both Konoha and Kumo from fighting.
Is this the power of the strongest man alive?
The ceasefire didn't just end the conflict—it elevated Yuki Yoru's prestige to new heights.
And because he had intervened, the truce between Konoha and Kumo was considered balanced, with no formal reparations demanded from either side.
Neither village objected.
Konoha had clearly been the weaker party. If not for Yuki Yoru's intervention, they might have been completely wiped out. What grounds did they have to demand reparations?
As for Kumogakure—even though they invested massive resources and lost hundreds of shinobi without gaining anything in return—this was the brutal reality of the ninja world:
If you're weak, you follow the will of the strong.
If you're weak, you survive only by the strong's mercy.
The only "consolation" was perhaps this:
Kumogakure had successfully submitted to Yuki Yoru.
Yes—what seemed like a humiliation, turned out to be something else entirely.
After returning to the Hidden Cloud and studying the scroll Yuki Yoru had given him, the Fourth Raikage was overjoyed.
The scroll didn't just contain proposals for joint village-level development plans that could benefit Kumo's future growth—it also included something even more extraordinary:
A summoning contract for the "Fourth Holy Land— Shadow Island"!
And so, in the end, neither side had much to argue about regarding the peaceful resolution.
Only one withered, monkey-faced old man, imprisoned deep within the ANBU's underground cells, tugged at his goatee in torment.
"If not for me, Cloud would never have gone to war with Konoha…"
"If not for me… Konoha wouldn't have had to rely on Yuki Yoru!"
"It's all my fault! I'm guilty! I deserve to die!"
The former Third Hokage cried out from his cell.
But everyone who heard his screams responded not with pity—but with scorn and contempt.
A man devoured by his lust for power, now discarded by history. This pitiful display wasn't repentance—it was merely the fear of punishment.
Though the final battle between Konoha and Kumo never erupted, the brush with annihilation made the threat all too real for Konoha's upper leadership.
And everyone knew who was to blame:
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Without question, once the dust fully settled, punishment for the old, senile Hokage would come.
Maybe he wouldn't be executed outright. But at minimum, he'd be stripped of all political rights, and the Sarutobi clan would pay a steep price—whatever Uchiha Fugaku felt was appropriate.
But none of that mattered to Yuki Yoru, far away in Kirigakure.
If this were any other day, he might have watched this "monkey show" just for fun.
But right now, he had far more important things to do.
...
Kirigakure — Rear mountain of the Soul Society's private sector.
"No need to be nervous. Just follow the procedure."
Yuki Yoru smiled kindly, his voice calm, speaking to the visibly tense Ringo Ameyuri.
Her eyes flicked nervously toward the stone platform above—where a ring of white-haori-clad captains stood watching from on high.
The pressure was overwhelming. Ameyuri was silently cursing herself for volunteering.
Why did I raise my hand? Why did I ask to test this myself?
The "Blut Arterie (Moving Blood Guise)" test.
A year ago, Yuki Yoru had perfected and distributed the Blut Vene (Stilled Blood Guise) to the first batch of Quincies.
And over the past year, those Quincies had reaped immense benefits.
Blut Vene (Stilled Blood Guise) didn't require activation—it autonomously protected its user through a dense layer of spirit particles surrounding the body. This alone had revolutionized battlefield survivability.
For Ameyuri, who had long doubted her place and progress, the results were deeply affirming.
She had even gone thirty minutes against Hōzuki Mangetsu, one of Kirigakure's top swordsmen.
Though she eventually lost—her spiritual power exhausted and her Blut Vene dissipated—it had been a breakthrough.
But despite endless training, she still couldn't surpass Mangetsu.
Their kenjutsu was already roughly three to seven in favor of Mangetsu, and with the added boost of the Hōzuki clan's secret techniques, no matter how hard Ringo Ameyuri tried, she couldn't defeat Mangetsu Hōzuki, even though what she trained was 'Lightning Release spiritual power,' which countered Mangetsu Hōzuki's techniques.
Now, however, the Blut Arterie (Moving Blood Guise) offered a new path.
Unlike the Blut Vene, the Blut Arterie required the user to fuse their spiritual power with the natural energy around them, channeling that power internally to explosively augment their strength.
Much like Sage Mode.
But without expert guidance, mastering this power was nearly impossible.
To get ahead of the curve and become the first to wield it, Ameyuri volunteered.
And now… well, here she was.
"Pick any squad captain. Then unleash your full power—no holding back."
Yuki Yoru's words were gentle, but Ameyuri's scalp tingled.
Before becoming a Quincy, she had only heard of the Gotei captains.
Now, after awakening her spiritual powers, she understood their strength.
To someone without Reiatsu, they're like looking at the moon from the bottom of a well.
To someone with Reiatsu, they're like a mayfly gazing up at the heavens.
And now she had to fight one. On purpose.
This was insanity.
Still, there was no backing out now.
"I choose…"
Ameyuri's eyes swept across the captains above.
2nd Division Captain, Uchiha Shisui.
No way.
Despite being the youngest captain, his strength was terrifying. Especially with Hollowfication added to his powers—he was second only to Yuki Yoru himself.
Even with both Blut Arterie and Vene, Ameyuri didn't stand a chance.
She moved her gaze away quickly.
Shisui remained expressionless, as if he had expected it.
4th Division Captain, Senju Tsunade…
Ameyuri glanced at the busty blonde with folded arms and winced.
Everyone knew Tsunade was once the best medical-nin in the world.
But those who'd trained with her knew: healing wasn't her real specialty.
That monstrous strength—one punch could level a mountain.
Ameyuri's slim frame wouldn't last even with ten layers of armor.
She looked away again.
6th Division Captain, Hōzuki Mangetsu.
Nope. Same problem.
7th Division Captain, Uzumaki Kushina.
Former Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Sealing techniques off the charts. But also a deadly taijutsu fighter—trained with Tsunade, no less. Still not an option.
One glance down the row—monsters, every one of them.
She finally settled on the last two:
12th Division Captain Orochimaru and 13th Division Captain Yagura.
After a short pause, Ameyuri fixed her eyes on Orochimaru's predatory smile.
"I respectfully request a match with the 12th Division Captain!"
"Oh? You picked me?"
Orochimaru grinned, leaping down lightly, tongue flicking across his lips.
"How delightful. I'll get to experience the Fourth's new masterpiece firsthand."
Though it was just a test, Ameyuri was determined to give it her all.
If she fought Yagura instead, his Mirror Water Clone techniques might break her spirit entirely.
All things considered, Orochimaru seemed like the safer choice.
"Let's see how strong this new technique really is!"
She took a deep breath, then brought her hands together in a seal.
A red glow—dense and vein-like—spread from her neck across her entire body.
Power surged.
She didn't move immediately. Instead, she drew her twin lightning blades, Kiba, and let them hum with electricity.
"Interesting…"
Orochimaru's golden eyes gleamed.
"Blut Vene forms a spiritual particle barrier over the skin…"
"But this… this Blut Arterie draws in spirit particles from the atmosphere and channels them into the user's body."
"Just like Sage Mode… no, even more stable."
"Because the chakra networks regulate the flow, there's no risk of losing control. Even safer than cursed seals."
"Exactly." Yuki Yoru nodded. "But if it were that simple, I wouldn't have spent so long researching it."
"Ameyuri—show them."
"Yes, Fourth!"
Lightning crackled.
And in a flash, she disappeared from Orochimaru's vision.
BOOM!
A crushing pain exploded in Orochimaru's abdomen—the impact as powerful as a taijutsu specialist's strike, laced with lightning paralysis and concussive burst.
He was blasted into the stone wall.
Above, several captains raised their eyebrows. The gathered Quincy and Shinigami gasped.
"That kind of burst speed…"
Orochimaru groaned, pulling himself from the rubble, staring at the girl cloaked in electricity like the Fourth Raikage himself.
"So it's like Sage Mode after all…"
As a disciple of Ryūchi Cave, he knew all about it.
He couldn't use it himself—but he understood its value.
The fact that Yuki Yoru had created a spiritual power version of Sage Mode, without side effects, without activation delay… it was priceless.
"Even from a research standpoint… you're a genius, Yuki Yoru."
Orochimaru's voice turned sharp.
"Come, girl—show me how powerful this 'Blut Arterie' really is!"
The moment he spoke, Ameyuri vanished again.
Physical speed, amplified several times.
"Faster again?!"
Orochimaru's vertical pupils narrowed. He crossed his arms defensively.
But too late.
Ameyuri's speed outpaced even the lightning, and her strike shattered through his guard with raw force.
Stunned.
Spiritual power, amplified several times.
The lightning paralyzed his movements.
Ameyuri raised her sword to the heavens, channeling spiritual energy upward.
Above, dark clouds gathered, lightning dancing between them.
Twin blades crossed. Silver dragons roared.
With a roar, she brought her weapon crashing down on the stunned Orochimaru.
"Lightning Blade—Thunder Gate!"
BOOOOOOM!!!