"Grass Country has surrendered."
"Rivers Country has surrendered."
"Rice Country has surrendered."
Reports poured in one after another to Anya. With the Zero Organization fully mobilized, many small nations and ninja villages were unable to resist and declared their submission.
Of course, there were exceptions—those who refused to yield met predictable fates.
Sasori, who had spent over a decade preparing for this plan, had already laid everything out perfectly. The Mechanical Army he once established within Sunagakure was now completely deployed. As Anya carried out a ruthless elimination of White Zetsu, all targeted ninja villages and small nations marked on the map were successfully dealt with.
Anya looked over the intelligence report in his hand and let out a soft breath. "Only one final step left."
Haku happily asked, "Have you ever thought about what you'll do after achieving your ideal world?"
"Hmm..." A trace of confusion flickered through Anya's eyes—he hadn't actually given it any thought at all.
He decided not to dwell on it and instead asked, "How about you, Haku?"
Haku replied without hesitation, "Of course I'll follow you."
"What about Bai then?"
Haku hesitated slightly before uncertainly suggesting, "Maybe let Hakuto take Bai?"
Looks like we're true soulmates—Bai was just an accident!
Anya rolled his eyes and said, "I have no objections. Why don't you go home and spend some time with Bai now? After I achieve my goal, I might be traveling around quite a bit."
"Okay," Haku obediently replied, then reminded him, "Aren't you going to check on your secretary? She seems angry."
"Hmph," Anya snorted, "What kind of secretary dares to get upset with her boss? Forget it—don't want to spoil her."
Back in Kumogakure, Mabui had come back here after having stolen the Treasury from the Land of Lightning. At this moment, the village was unusually quiet as every ninja had left.
Dazed, Mabui stared at the village she used to know so well but felt only unfamiliarity. She wasn't even sure where to go—actually, she didn't quite understand why she was so angry either.
It was like... she was supposed to be first, yet somehow Samiu had beaten her to it.
Damn it, why am I having such thoughts?
Mabui was startled by her own sudden realization and quickly tried pushing the idea away, however…
"You're talking to yourself all alone—why don't you come talk to me instead?"
A familiar voice sounded beside Mabui's ear.
Startled, Mabui spun around immediately. There stood Anya, lips curling upward, watching her with obvious amusement.
"What are you here for?" Mabui bitterly blurted out.
Anya shrugged helplessly and said, "My little secretary is upset. Shouldn't her boss come cheer her up?"
Mabui couldn't suppress a slight smile but quickly caught herself and wiped away the nearly emerging grin, replying irritably, "I'm not angry."
Without listening further, Anya took a bold step forward and grabbed Mabui's hand.
"What are you doing?" Mabui tried pulling away forcefully, though it proved completely ineffective.
Smirking playfully, Anya teased, "I remember promising you that I'd walk around Kumogakure with you someday. Now that all the ninjas are gone, nobody will interrupt us. Isn't this the perfect opportunity?"
Hearing these words, Mabui stiffened, all her will to resist instantly fading. She muttered softly, "Didn't expect you still remembered."
Anya responded matter-of-factly, "Why wouldn't I remember? I never forget anything I've promised you."
"Oh well, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore," Mabui sighed. "Actually, the only reason I came back to the village was to visit some old faces. Now that they're gone, there's no fun in wandering around anymore."
Anya looked puzzled and asked, "Then why don't you just leave?"
"Isn't it because..." Mabui suddenly hesitated, then flushed with embarrassment, saying, "None of your business."
"You're my secretary," Anya casually replied while tightly holding her hand without letting go. "If I don't take care of you, who will? How about this—you can go anywhere you want today, and I'll accompany you. Just for today though."
Mabui's heartbeat quickened. "Then I want to go to the battlefield."
"Alright." Anya immediately agreed.
"Seriously?" Mabui exclaimed in surprise.
Anya generously responded, "More genuine than gold. Summon your little motorcycle now—we're heading out immediately."
Excitedly, Mabui said, "Great! And I also need to do a live interview broadcast."
"Broadcast?" Anya questioned, astonished. "This world has such strange stuff too?"
"You really don't know much," Mabui mocked. "We even have a ninja news network. Since the beginning of the Fourth Great Ninja War, we've established press conferences that provide regular intelligence updates to the Allied Ninja Forces, reducing our casualties."
"Oh no…" Suddenly realizing something, Mabui's face turned bright red.
Quickly asking, Anya said, "What's wrong?"
"I'm actually the news anchor responsible for this... and I completely forgot."
Frustrated, Mabui blamed, "All because you upset me!"
Just moments ago, she insisted she wasn't angry at all! *Ah, women's hearts are as unpredictable as the tides.*
Urging her, Anya said, "It's still not too late. Let's hurry and get going."
"Okay."
Without hesitation, Mabui summoned her little motorcycle, Alcide. Just as she was preparing to summon another one...
"Ahh..."
With a scream, Anya's hand slid from her arm to her waist, pulling her tightly into his arms. Then both rode swiftly off on Alcide.
Feeling his strong presence behind her and their constant physical closeness, Mabui felt weak-kneed, as if floating in clouds, dizzy and confused.
Meanwhile, Anya contacted Inoichi again.
"What's the current situation regarding the Fourth Great Ninja War?"
"At present, the war has divided into four major battlefields. In the desert area, the enemies have reincarnated former Kages through Impure World Reincarnation, and they're currently confronting forces led by Kazekage. At the coastline, guarded by Mizukage, the enemies summoned an enormous beast which inflicted heavy damage upon us. Kakashi's Third Division successfully sealed the Seven Pursuers and subdivided our troops, launching fierce attacks against remaining enemies. Oh, right, there's also one critical piece of intelligence to report."
Anya curiously asked, "What is it?"
"The Fourth Hokage-sama has agreed to let Naruto and Killer Bee join the battle. It's a high-risk move, but we have no choice but to go through with it to fully deal with White Zetsu. According to what the Hokage-sama said, Naruto can now sense enemies' ill intent and easily identify White Zetsu disguised as shinobi."
"In that case, let's go with those two then. Inoichi, where's the camera?"
"What?" Inoichi couldn't keep up with Anya's sudden leap in thinking and didn't react right away.
Anya tried to clarify: "You know, the gear we need for a live video feed. What part of that don't you get?"
"Uh, hold on, I'll check."
After a brief silence, Inoichi replied, "There's usable equipment at the nearest base."
Anya nodded and said, "Great. Tell the Intelligence Division to start preparing the press conference. Host Mabui will be connecting with the two Jinchuriki live via broadcast."
"This...understood."
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