Drip.
A single bead of morning dew fell at the edge of the Forest of Death.
Sunlight spilled down, chasing away the chill of a night-long bloodbath.
But the air still reeked—scorched earth and iron-thick blood, sharp enough to turn a stomach.
At the center of the ruined ground, Uchiha Kai swept his gaze over everything with detached calm.
The half-dead Fourth Raikage (A)—more breath going in than coming out.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, pale as a corpse.
Two hundred elite shinobi sprawled across the ground in chaotic heaps, their fate unclear.
And Yugito, forced back into her human form.
Kai's eyes flickered with a cold, sharpened light.
He hadn't expected Orochimaru's Edo Tensei to surface like this.
But if the crude, early version had already appeared…
Then the later versions wouldn't be far behind.
Give Orochimaru enough time, and a complete Edo Tensei would be inevitable.
Off to the side—
In a shadowed corner—
Jiraiya heard Orochimaru's name and his expression shifted.
"Orochimaru… so you've finally stopped holding back…"
"Coming out to flaunt your 'work,' huh?"
He glanced once at Kai, then quietly turned and walked away.
In Konoha, there wasn't much left that needed him.
And even less that he could do.
Roaming again… might be the only thing that still fit.
Kai watched Jiraiya's retreating back, then glanced at the unconscious Naruto.
He said nothing.
Right now, Jiraiya might not be the right teacher for Naruto.
"Lord Kai… what do we do with them?"
Nara Shikaku's voice cut in low and tired.
He flicked his eyes toward the Raikage embedded in the cliff—injured beyond dignity.
The charred, twisted ruin of his right arm was nauseating to look at.
Who could've imagined a Kage of a Great Village ending like this?
Even if they sent him back, he'd be crippled in all but name.
Beside Shikaku, Uchiha Fugaku stepped forward as well.
His gaze swept over the two hundred elites and he spoke quietly.
"Imprison them? The manpower and resources required won't be small."
Locking up two hundred pigs was one thing.
Locking up two hundred elephants was another.
And Konoha was already in a fragile period.
Feeding this many prisoners would drain the village—unless the compensation arrived immediately.
Kai didn't answer right away.
He simply nudged a blackened stone with the toe of his sandal.
Thud.
The pebble snapped forward and struck Ōnoki.
Smack.
The old man shuddered.
"Imprisoning them…" Kai said mildly, like he was commenting on the weather, "that's just wasting food."
His voice wasn't loud—but it landed cleanly in everyone's ears.
"Have you ever heard of… labor reform?"
Ōnoki frowned.
Fugaku's brow tightened.
Shikaku's confusion lasted only a heartbeat—then his eyes flashed.
He understood.
Bzzzt.
Kai lifted his right hand.
A faint shimmer coiled around it—purple, gold, and a darker, ink-like glint interwoven.
Shinra Heart Chains.
Spore Technique.
Hummm—
A wave spread without shape or sound.
Down in the ravine, Ōnoki let out a muffled grunt.
His body twitched violently.
Something cold and slick—like a parasitic worm—slid in through the back of his neck.
It poured through his limbs.
Rooted deep.
"You… what did you do to me?!"
Ōnoki snarled, voice rough and warped.
"I told you the truth—you can't stab me in the back after crossing the river!"
"Relax," Kai said, drawing his hand back. He sounded like he was deciding which pond to fish in tomorrow. "Once you pay your compensation, you'll be released."
His eyes narrowed.
"But until then… Konoha took serious damage because of your attack."
"As an exchange…"
"Shouldn't you contribute to rebuilding what you tried to destroy?"
Just contribute?
Ōnoki didn't answer immediately.
His instincts screamed that this wasn't going to be "simple."
Kai spoke again, casual—too casual.
"Your Dust Release is great at breaking matter down, right?"
Ōnoki's stomach sank.
That creeping sense of doom wrapped tighter around his spine.
But under Kai's gaze, all he could do was grit his teeth.
"…Yes. It's my kekkei tōta. I—"
"Perfect." Kai cut him off and pointed toward the wreckage where the battle had torn the terrain apart. "All those scattered giant trees and shattered boulders—break them down into powder."
"Then use your Earth Release and fire it into bricks."
Shikaku's eyes nearly lit on fire.
Yugito—still playing dead—looked like her soul left her body for a second.
Ōnoki snapped his head up so hard his neck nearly cracked. His face flushed into a livid, purplish red.
"WHAT?! You want me, Ōnoki of Iwagakure—Tsuchikage of a Great Village—to do something like—"
RATTLE—!
The chain sound returned, sharp and vicious.
Inside Ōnoki's body, the spores swelled.
Pain detonated everywhere at once—like a thousand needles drilling through his nerves.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain that made his vision white out.
He collapsed like a fish with its spine removed, curling into himself, shaking on the ground.
He couldn't even scream properly.
Only the agony remained.
Finally, through clenched teeth, he choked out the words.
"I… I'll do it…! I'll do it!"
For an old man already halfway into his coffin, that pain was a nightmare beyond endurance.
Within seconds he looked like he'd been dragged out of water—soaked in cold sweat, gasping.
His eyes had started to lose focus.
Fear lived there now.
That image burned itself into every Konoha shinobi watching.
Lord Kai—still decisive, still ruthless.
Then Kai turned toward the cliff.
"Raikage."
A's black-skinned head lifted, eyes burning like a dying beast.
"Hmph. I'd rather die than suffer this humiliation!"
He looked like he wanted to lunge forward and tear a chunk of flesh off Kai's throat.
If his body would allow it.
Kai's eyes ran once over those absurdly dense muscles—still bulging even in ruin.
"What a waste," he murmured. "Muscles like that should be hauling stone and raising buildings."
"If nothing else, go run a fishpond and catch fish."
The sheer nonsense of it made the humiliation worse.
Then Kai pointed toward the cratered zone where Ōnoki's Dust Release had carved deep pits and thrown boulders everywhere.
"Good. Those stones."
"You'll carry them to the new construction-material depot."
"As for the location…"
Kai glanced behind him.
"Here—here!" Shikaku instantly stepped in, forcing down his excitement as he pulled out a rough map.
He jabbed at an open area near the lower reaches of the Naka River.
"Right here, Lord Kai. This is the planned new industrial district!"
"Mm." Kai nodded, then looked back at A. "You heard him. Carry them. Miss even one stone…"
He paused—then raised his hand.
RATTLE.
Black chains appeared out of nothing and pierced into A's broad chest.
Only after the chain sank in did Kai's voice arrive, slow and clear.
"Miss one stone… and I kill one Kumo elite."
"BASTARD!" A roared, powerless rage shaking his whole frame.
He couldn't win.
And he couldn't refuse.
He'd already seen Kai's willingness to kill.
Grinding his teeth until they ached, A forced himself upright.
Hauling stones?
Fine.
He'd haul.
Kai's gaze slid toward the center of the ravine.
There, Yugito, a collar of chains around her neck like a leash, shivered hard—
Then instantly dropped to her knees, bowed her head, and spoke with terrifying speed.
"I'll burn them!"
"I can make bricks!"
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