Chakra bloomed along the edge of the ninjatō in a blinding flash of blue-white brilliance.
Lightning crackled in the air, the residual energy chirping faintly like birdsong.
The high-speed Storm Release: Body Flicker caught the undercover Cloud ninja completely off guard.
While Byakuya dispatched three of them...
Izumi drove her kunai through the throats of two others.
Only one remained.
He laughed savagely. "You're all coming with me!!"
He ripped open his outer coat, revealing a ring of explosive tags wrapped around his torso.
"Izumi! You betrayed the Cloud Village! Die!"
Just as Byakuya raised his sword to execute him, Izumi calmly grabbed his forearm. "It's fine."
The explosive tags detonated!
But instead of an explosion... they turned into fireworks.
Colorful sparks shot up from the tags into the air, dazzling and bright.
Byakuya asked, "These explosive... firework tags were provided by you?"
"Yes. To make the cover believable, that person had them specially made. But I didn't expect to be exposed so easily. I thought I could stay undercover until I found clues about the high-level spy the Cloud has planted in the Leaf."
Byakuya silently walked up to the stunned Cloud ninja and ended him with a single slash.
These Cloud agents were weak. Judging by the brief exchange, they were all Genin.
Thinking about it, it made sense. For a suicide mission involving mass explosions within the Leaf, there was zero chance of survival. Better to send expendable but agile Genin than waste valuable assets.
"Why did you suddenly stop talking?" Izumi asked.
Byakuya, speaking through the "Shuten-doji " mask, rasped, "A high-level Cloud spy undercover in the Leaf? You're telling me that quite openly."
"Since the higher-ups sent you to find me, they must have wanted me to tell you. Heh. Even if I didn't volunteer the information, you would have interrogated me, wouldn't you?"
Izumi walked up to him, staring at the hand gripping the sword. No matter how perfect a person's disguise, their hands could often betray who they really were.
And she happened to be someone who paid close attention to hands.
The masked man had noticed something was off about her and reported it to Root. Root then sent him back to her to close the net on the Cloud cell in the Academy.
That person was no longer solely focused on finding the high-level spy. He had other tasks for her now.
"What is your codename?"
"Shuten-doji ."
"Mine is Falcon. You should go. I'll clean up the bodies. New staff have already been arranged; no one will find any information about you. I guarantee it!"
Izumi's tone shifted completely. It was like she became a different person.
Gone was the flirtatious, cute act. She was now calm, crisp, and even slightly distant.
"Thank you."
Byakuya immediately used Storm Release: Body Flicker and vanished abruptly in front of her.
"Such a fast Body Flicker? I envy your talent for speed," Izumi murmured.
Looking at the Cloud agent dead at her feet, a cold sneer curled her lips. She wished she could use the power of the Leaf to uproot the entire Cloud Village right this instant.
Izumi would never forget what the Cloud Village had done to her to mold her into a qualified spy.
Perhaps the only reason she hadn't gone insane yet was the hope of exacting revenge on the Cloud—on the Raikage—ten, a hundred, a thousand times over!
"As long as it hurts the Cloud Village, Lord Danzo, I will do whatever you ask without a single complaint."
Izumi crouched down, dipped her finger in the Cloud ninja's blood, and maniacally put it in her mouth, savoring the taste slowly.
A village where everything served the military machine... everyone from the top down was a damned executioner!
Byakuya returned to the warehouse, took off his mask, and closed his eyes for a moment.
"First off, it's certain that Ms. Izumi knows who I am."
"No wonder that old fox Danzo trusted me so easily, giving me Tobirama's Water Style jutsu and the Flying Thunder God. Izumi must have run a background check and tested me long ago."
"If I had said one wrong word, things probably wouldn't have ended well."
He took off his black windbreaker.
"A high-level spy sent by the Cloud?"
Byakuya recalled the original plot. Years later, when the Leaf and Cloud signed a peace treaty, the Cloud's negotiation team kidnapped Hinata Hyuga.
The key issue was that they seemed to have precise intelligence on Hinata's location.
Could the high-level spy Izumi mentioned be the one who survived until then?
What was that old fox Danzo doing? He couldn't even root out one person!
Because of the busy noon hour, he hadn't eaten lunch. plus, the fight had drained some chakra.
He had originally planned to eat his fill and spend the afternoon recovering chakra, then go deep into the forest at night to practice the timed mission from his System.
So much for that plan.
As evening fell...
Brilliant fireworks suddenly rose from every corner of the Ninja Academy.
They exploded in the sky.
The laughter and cheers of the students reached Byakuya as he was locking the warehouse doors.
He pocketed the key.
Byakuya looked up, admiring the fireworks.
They really were beautiful.
It was a pity they were so fleeting.
"Byakuya?"
Izumi intercepted him outside the Academy gate, tilting her head with a smile. "Interested in grabbing some BBQ? My treat."
"Really? That's very kind of you, Ms. Izumi."
The barrier between them seemed to vanish instantly.
They walked side by side.
"Did you see the fireworks, Byakuya?"
"I did. They were beautiful."
"Am I beautiful, or were the fireworks beautiful?"
"The fireworks."
"Byakuya! You really don't know how to make a girl happy!"
"Fireworks are moving because their beauty exists only for a fleeting moment. Your beauty, Ms. Izumi, is constant day after day. Once you see it enough, you get used to it."
Izumi covered her mouth and laughed happily. "Since when did you have such a sweet tongue, Byakuya?"
"Is it sweet?"
"Sweet like candy."
Byakuya spotted Kushina Uzumaki again. She was anxiously asking a ninja about something.
As they got closer, he could vaguely hear her asking about Minato Namikaze's safety.
Izumi whispered, "Captain Minato is truly amazing. He's killed and injured so many Cloud ninja. He's a hero in my heart! Did you know, even the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki of the Cloud wasn't a match for him?"
"Is that so? I haven't heard much news from the front lines."
"That's because you hole yourself up in the warehouse all day. Captain Minato's deeds are already legendary in the village."
Izumi paused, her tone turning cold. "We originally thought the Cloud deployed the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, but unexpectedly, it was the Eight-Tails. Luckily we have Minato Namikaze. Otherwise, the Leaf ninja absolutely wouldn't be able to hold back the Cloud's frantic assault... unless... unless we deployed the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki as well."
She and Byakuya both looked toward Kushina Uzumaki.
At that moment...
Kushina sensed their gazes. She turned around and smiled. "Ah, it's Byakuya! And this is? Your girlfr..."
"Senior Kushina, let me introduce you. This is Izumi, a teacher at the Academy."
"Oh, oh. Nice to meet you, Ms. Izumi." Kushina bowed.
"Were you asking for news about Captain Minato, Senior Kushina?" Byakuya asked.
Her cheeks flushed slightly as she nodded. "You caught me. I just can't help worrying about him."
"We were planning to go get BBQ. Would you like to join us, Senior?"
"No, thank you for the offer. I'm learning a new recipe and I want to wait for Minato to come back so I can cook it for him. See you later."
"Take care, Senior."
Izumi whispered, "What a loving couple."