Kakuzu's face lit up with rare relief.
"Kakuzu, you didn't say anything bad about me, did you?" Akira asked as he walked over, tone brisk but watchful.
Kakuzu exhaled heavily. "Lord Akira!"
Several Mist Ninjas froze as soon as the name left Kakuzu's mouth. Their attention snapped to Akira-but it was the red hair that made their brows furrow. It wasn't definitive, but it matched the few threads of old intel they'd pulled from whispers during the last war.
Zi narrowed her eyes and stepped forward slightly. "The Thousand Stars?"
Akira didn't answer. He looked down at the pair of weakened enemies and pivoted instead-then lashed out without warning.
"Are you idiots? You're staring at red hair and you haven't figured it out?"
Spies existed in every nation for reasons exactly like this-the strongest shinobi were often legends long before battle ever started. Victory rarely came down to power alone; it was information that decided high-level fights.
Zi clearly hadn't heard of anyone matching this face. Or so she thought. The next second, her mouth opened slightly in shock-an old rumor clicking into place in her mind.
"Are you Akira from the Uzumaki clan? The son of Uzumaki Mito?"
Akira smiled without hesitation now. "That's right. So-how do you want to die?"
Some of the surrounding Mist Ninjas chuckled at what they assumed was bravado. Zi, on the other hand, froze as everything began to make sense at once.
"No wonder we lacked intelligence on you... no wonder the Whirlpools held out for so long... your father's mind really was passed on..."
Mid-thought, her face twisted in panic again. Another realization slammed through her.
"He inherited not just wisdom-but ambition too... Unification..."
Zi staggered back half a step. "No wonder Konoha joined in attacking the Land of Whirlpools even while Mito lived... they played the Four Great Nations for fools..."
She turned and ran without another word. No goodbyes-no techniques spat defensively-just the sound of fog splitting beneath her speed technique.
Terumi Ken watched her go and hesitated before lifting his hands to form seals. "Boiling Release: Clever M-"
Akira appeared behind him in one blur of movement. A jab struck his spine fast and clean-
"Golden Needle Sealing Technique."
Ken collapsed with dead weight-limbs frozen mid-seal, body slack and breath shallow. He tried to speak but darkness overtook him first.
"Don't expect to get anything from me..." he whispered-and then passed out cold.
Swords scraped free of sheaths behind them as the remaining Mist Ninjas charged in desperation for their fallen leader.
Akira barely looked their way. He tossed Terumi Ken's limp body toward Kakuzu with casual ease.
"Watch him for me. If he dies, I don't care."
Kakuzu caught him without flinching. "Yes, Lord Akira."
Akira stepped forward and raised one hand toward the ground.
"Let's try this out... Wood Release: Sea of Trees Descends."
Boom-roots exploded upward in thick tangles, trees ripping from soil and surging across the battlefield with suffocating force. The cries of Mist Ninjas filled the air as the earth itself devoured them whole.
Kakuzu's stare drifted across the carnage and he sighed under his breath. "Was that necessary?"
...
Meanwhile, blood smeared across Zi's arm from untreated cuts as she sprinted toward the backup fleet anchored beyond the shallows. If she made it there-if she could get word out-the Water Country might just have a chance to reposition. To beg for peace or stage their own counter-play before the next war ignited fully.
Just as she caught sight of the resupply ship in the distance-
Boom-fire lit the sky over it, black smoke curling up in columns of flame.
Her stomach dropped in freefall. "Even that's cut off?"
With no chakra reserves left to run across water, swimming home would be suicide-and every corner she turned now felt arranged by Akira beforehand. Her only option was to get to the Bear Country and try to circle back through neutral territory-
"Wait... if I've thought of this path-wouldn't his son have too?"
She stumbled again mid-run, mind spinning into paranoia. Konoha had long since placed garrisons in Hot Springs territory-it was practically their personal spa resort at this point.
"...Iron Country?"
"But what if Konoha's already stretched people there too..."
Panic clawed through her chest as each possible route blurred into dead ends and baited traps laid far in advance. She cursed softly under her breath-and made her decision by instinct alone.
"Screw it-we're aiming for the shortest path: Bear Country!"
Her foot touched down-and then three shadows stepped from the water ahead under moonlight so calm it felt cruel.
"Hahaha! Lord Akira-I guessed right!"
Zi's heart punched against her ribs hard enough to hurt at the name alone. She squinted across the waves-and saw three clear silhouettes reflected under moonlight:
Uchiha Chen. Senju Momori. And at the center-Akira Senju himself.
Her mouth opened-but only teeth ground together in disbelief as her thoughts raced faster than she could speak them.
Those three families hadn't gathered in one place together since the founding of Konoha-and now they stood aligned behind one man?
Akira turned slightly toward Chen without even looking back at Zi.
"Chen, you guessed right-she's yours." He raised one hand lazily. "Alright?"
"No problem."
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