The meeting ended.
Samui returned home and sat in a chair in the living room.
In front of her was a letter and a carrier pigeon.
As long as she sent this letter out, within an hour her informant would receive it.
Two hours later, a phone call could cross nearly a thousand miles of distance and reach Kirigakure.
If Kirigakure was on guard, if Ryosuke returned in advance, then nothing would happen.
But...
Once Samui did this, it would be no different than betraying the village.
On one side was a man she had known for barely a month, with whom she had exchanged hardly a few words.
On the other side were her comrades she lived with day and night, and the village that had nurtured her to this day.
In all honesty, Kumogakure had never treated Samui unfairly.
As long as she desired strength, and was willing to be a part of this raging war chariot, resources would pour down on her endlessly.
'But if Ryosuke dies... his theories, his attempts, they all stop here...'
In Ryosuke's theories, Samui saw another possibility.
A possibility she had never once considered. Now, just as that possibility began to bloom with the faintest light, it was about to be strangled, 'That would be far too much of a waste.'
At this thought, a surge of impulse welled up in Samui's heart.
'No!'
She could not allow such a thing to happen.
She had to send this letter out.
Not just for Ryosuke, though Ryosuke truly was a very charming man, Samui was not the type of woman to let emotions drive her into foolishness, she was doing this for the future of Kumogakure.
That's right, the Uchiha bloodline, Ripple techniques, Ice Release, even the Daimyo's funding, these were all very precious.
But they were relics of the old era.
Ryosuke's techniques, his ideas, were the hope of the new era.
By Samui's judgment, she was convinced that as long as they kept pushing forward, they would surely bring far greater gains to the village.
Samui no longer hesitated. She tied the secret letter to the pigeon's leg.
She walked to the balcony and tossed it upward.
The pigeon flapped its wings and took off.
Whoosh!
A kunai shot out, pierced the pigeon, and it fell with a smack onto the ground.
Samui looked toward the direction the kunai had come from.
It was the Raikage's guard, Darui.
Usually, he was a lazy, casual-spoken man, but today his expression was grim and heavy.
"Samui, do you realize what you are doing? Do you want to become a traitor, do you want... to die?"
A wasn't some reckless brute. He had noticed in the meeting that Samui's emotions were off, so he had Darui shadow her.
"We've worked together for many years. I thought I knew your nature well. I thought Lord Raikage was overthinking."
"But to think... Samui, what kind of magic does Ryosuke have, that would make you choose to betray the village?"
Samui shook her head, leapt lightly down from the building, and said seriously, "I have not betrayed the village. Everything I've done is for the village's future."
Darui sighed, "Forget it. Are we fighting? Or are you coming with me?"
Samui clenched her fists, but in the end she raised her hands, allowing him to bind her wrists.
She was thrown into Kumogakure's prison.
Hearing the news, Killer B rushed over. He sat across from her and tossed her a can of beer.
He did not scold his disciple for taking such a foolish path.
The usually chatter-loving Killer B, for once, said nothing, he only sat in silence and listened to Samui explain everything from beginning to end.
"Teacher, can you persuade Lord Raikage to abandon this operation?"
"Impossible," Killer B said. "Haven't you noticed, your theory has one problem?"
"What problem?"
"Ryosuke's system of thought doesn't only help Kumogakure. It helps every shinobi village that practices it. If everyone becomes stronger, then what difference is there between being stronger and not being stronger?"
"I don't understand, teacher. Why is it that every generation of Raikage demands that the village must constantly grow stronger, at any cost? Who are we..."
Samui finally asked the question that had weighed on her heart for years.
"Who exactly are we competing with in this arms race?"
Killer B was silent.
He stood up, left her the last can of beer, and strode away. Just before leaving, Killer B said,
"I'll beg my brother to spare your life. But... only after this operation is over."
Samui sat in the cell, watching through the narrow window as the sun rose, passed noon, faded to dusk, then into night.
Until at some moment, she heard violent thunder.
Heavenly Transfer Technique had been activated.
Clack!
Samui opened the beer Killer B had left her. She poured it gently onto the ground, offering an early requiem for the innocent dead.
———
[Kirigakure]
[1 a.m.]
With a flash of lightning, Yugito and ten Kumogakure shinobi, along with two serpent priestesses of Ryuchi cave, appeared deep within Kirigakure's heart.
The instant they arrived, the two priestesses raised their hands together, hazy phantoms rippling outward from their bodies and wrapping around everyone. In that moment, all chakra fluctuations and presences vanished.
Except for the Two-Tails' jinchūriki Yugito, the other Kumogakure shinobi all bore varying degrees of injury.
Ichikishima-hime brushed her hand gently, Sage Chakra flaring. The shinobi's wounds healed rapidly.
Without a moment's rest, they rushed toward where Sasuke, Mayuri, and the others lived.
"That's the place."
Yugito said to Tagitsuhime, "Open the barrier."
Tagitsuhime smiled and spread her hands. Beams of light unfurled from her sleeves, melting into the mist. Soon, an invisible sealing barrier shimmered into existence.
"Inside this barrier, all chakra fluctuations will be hidden. Of course, tailed beast bombs are the exception."
Yugito nodded.
Ryosuke wasn't here, Terumi Mei was at the Mizukage Tower. What remained were just a bunch of small fry.
She didn't think she would need to fully release her tailed beast, much less resort to the overwhelming force of a tailed beast bomb.
"Within ten minutes, complete the capture and retreat."
Yugito gave her team one last confirmation, "If exposed, or if you are captured in special circumstances, you know what to say."
Everyone nodded slightly.
For the sake of "righteous cause," the plan for this operation was nearly flawless. But even if they captured Sasuke, suddenly assaulting another shinobi village would still require an explanation afterward.
Kumogakure's explanation was, the Ripple Technique was originally Kumogakure's secret art.
When Ryosuke activated the Ripple, the golden lightning flashing on his body was ironclad proof.
To reclaim their village's secret art, after diplomatic efforts failed, there was no choice but to adopt strong measures to defend Kumogakure's interests.
Such excuses, Kumogakure had rehearsed all too well.
Seeing the squad ready, Yugito drew a kunai.
"Move out!"
She stepped forward.
Clack!
The sound of a blade being drawn rang loud in the night.
Yugito turned toward the sound.
Miyamoto sat on the ground, leaning against a cherry tree.
Petals drifted down in sheets, a scene of romantic beauty. In his hand was a long blade, with a short blade resting on his lap.
Miyamoto fixed his eyes on Yugito.
"Guests?"
His gaze fell on the kunai in Yugito's hand.
"Seems you're enemies."
A gust of wind swept past, sending down a flurry of petals that momentarily obscured Yugito's vision.
Her hair stood on end. Instinctively, she swung her kunai.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, her kunai was cut in half. From within the blossoms, Miyamoto's blade lunged forward, filling her pupils as it expanded rapidly in sight.
This was a top-class samurai.
In pure close combat, without ninjutsu, shinobi of the same level could never match a samurai.
But Yugito was no ordinary shinobi.
"Haa!"
A sound like a furious wildcat's hiss burst from her throat.
Blue cat-pattern chakra surged around her body. Her hair bristled and flared like an enraged feline, her pupils turned into floral slits, and her canine teeth sharpened to points.
In the very first instant of combat, Yugito entered her half-tailed-beast form.
She slashed with clawed hands, forcing Miyamoto back.
Miyamoto leapt lightly, retreating into the crowd.
Sasuke, Haku, Naruto, Mayuri, Ao…
Over thirty members of Hope Village stepped forward together.
Yugito's face darkened.
"Change of plan. The surprise attack, switch to direct assault!"
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