Early morning.
A knock at the door.
Pakura's eyes opened. She pressed her palm to her forehead, fatigue washing through her like a slow tide.
Her mind caught up a moment later. Memory flooded back.
Heat crept up her neck.
She'd misjudged him — badly. She'd assumed she could match his stamina. Instead, she'd been dismantled so thoroughly that at some point, she was fairly certain she'd begged.
The memory made her face burn hotter.
If she'd known, she wouldn't have played it so cool the night before.
Pakura exhaled slowly. She'd briefly entertained the thought of recruiting two kunoichi from the Sand to serve as relief — then dismissed it. Making that kind of decision unilaterally was a good way to end up begging again.
She dressed and went to the door.
A young girl stood outside. Maki, her student.
"Teacher." Maki tilted her head, curious. "Why weren't you at the training ground?"
"I'm about to head there." Pakura's expression gave nothing away. "War kept me up late. I overslept."
"Oh! Then please rest more, Teacher. I can train on my own—"
"I'm already awake." Pakura paused. "Wait here a moment."
She stepped inside. When she returned, she held out a scroll.
"Deliver this to Rasa. Tell him to execute the orders immediately."
"Yes, Teacher." Maki took the scroll. "I'll go right now."
"After delivery, meet me at the training ground."
Maki jogged off.
She reached the Kazekage Building quickly and handed the scroll to Rasa.
He opened it with a puzzled frown — and his grip tightened so hard the paper creased.
Natsuki.
Being captured alive was a wound that had never closed.
Rasa had been reluctant to deploy to the Land of Birds. Pakura had been systematically stripping his influence, and leaving the Sand meant leaving no one to resist her.
But Natsuki's name changed the calculation.
The Stone was no weaker than Konoha. With both villages at war, an opportunity for revenge might present itself. He could lend the Stone a hand and eliminate Natsuki in the process.
As for safeguarding his position — he'd bring his faction with him. Two birds, one deployment: avoid Pakura's purges at home, and expand his influence through battlefield merit abroad.
Meanwhile — Konoha's temporary camp, Land of Fire.
Natsuki sat up and yawned.
It had been a busy night.
After the Sand, he'd gone to Konoha, and then finally back to camp.
Four rooms in one evening.
Mikoto stirred. Her eyes found him, still half-asleep, and she reached out on instinct — pulling herself against his chest.
"Good morning." He felt the warmth of her skin and smiled.
"Mm." A drowsy murmur.
Then duty kicked in. She steadied herself, gathered the clothes scattered across the floor, and dressed him first.
She used to dress herself before tending to him. He'd made it clear he preferred the reverse.
Only after Natsuki was fully dressed did Mikoto pull her own clothes over her pale skin.
After breakfast, the camp came down. The column moved out.
Two hours later — the Land of Rain.
Raincoats on. The march continued northward, into the Land of Earth.
By dusk, they reached the destination: the main camp Amegakure had established just inside the Stone's border.
Natsuki didn't position Konoha's camp adjacent to the Rain's.
Two reasons. First, they were allied but separate villages — operational independence mattered. Second, clustering both camps together doubled the exposure. If the Stone located one, they'd find both. Getting wiped out in a single strike was an unacceptable risk.
Amegakure's camp sat on the Land of Earth's border, backed against the Land of Rain.
After studying the terrain, Natsuki placed Konoha's camp on the same border — but offset to the west, adjacent to the Land of Birds.
Convenient for dealing with Rasa when the time came.
And conversely, convenient for Rasa to reach him.
"How's the situation?"
Natsuki visited the Rain camp alone.
"The Stone dispatched two thousand shinobi," Yahiko reported. "Commander is Gari. He possesses the Explosion Release kekkei genkai."
Natsuki nodded.
Explosion Release converted chakra directly into detonations — no medium required, no clay, no tags. Chakra itself became the blast. In principle, it resembled Projection Magecraft channeled into a Broken Phantasm — raw energy, violently released.
"Looks like the Stone counted our forces together." Natsuki pulled himself from the tangent. "A thousand from Konoha, a thousand from the Rain — they matched our combined total."
"Should I pull another five hundred from Amegakure?" Yahiko asked.
"Not necessary. The Rain didn't build itself overnight — no sense bleeding it dry on a single front." Natsuki shook his head. "If we lose everyone, it's all wasted. And that's not going to happen anyway."
"How are the fortifications coming?"
"The terrain here is mostly rock. There's a long ridge directly in front of our position." Yahiko unrolled a map. "We anchored our strongholds and outposts along it."
The Land of Earth was mountainous, like the Land of Lightning. The Land of Wind was desert. The Land of Water, ocean. Only the Land of Fire enjoyed broad, fertile plains — which was precisely why Konoha had spent every previous war on the defensive, besieged from all sides.
"Konoha will extend the defensive line on both flanks," Natsuki said after studying the map.
"Need our help?"
"No." A faint smile. "Konoha is one of the Five Great Villages, after all."
Yahiko grinned sheepishly.
"Get back to work. I'll handle our side."
Back at the Konoha camp, construction was underway — properly this time. Tents, traps, barriers, supply caches. This position needed to hold for weeks, possibly months.
The command tent went up first.
Natsuki convened an immediate jōnin briefing. Mikoto, Nara Suzaku, Might Duy, Aburame Shibi, and Hyūga Hoheto assembled.
"The Stone has two thousand shinobi under Gari, positioned on the northern face of this ridge." Natsuki spread the map. "We hold the southern face."
"So we're looking at a prolonged offensive-defensive engagement centered on this ridge?" Nara Suzaku cut to the core.
"That's the current picture." Natsuki nodded. "Priority one: establish our strongholds and outposts. Speed matters."
He assigned sectors, responsibilities, and timetables. Less than an hour later, every jōnin had their orders.
"Get the main camp locked down tonight. Fortifications start at dawn." He clapped once. "Dismissed."
"Yes, Lord Natsuki."
They filed out. Only Mikoto remained.
"Come with me — I need to survey that ridge."
He opened an Air Door.
Mikoto stepped forward and took his hand. They passed through together, emerging high in the sky above the ridge.
Natsuki transformed Minazuki into its giant manta ray form. They settled onto its broad back and glided toward the rocky formation.
The ridge wasn't tall, but it stretched for kilometers — a natural wall bisecting the border region. Under normal circumstances, attacking into the Land of Earth would be a nightmare. The terrain favored the defenders absolutely.
But the Stone was the side in a hurry. They needed to push Konoha and the Rain off their soil.
The manta ray swept over the ridge. Natsuki activated Observation Haki.
Amegakure's fortifications materialized in his awareness — strongholds tucked into crevices, outposts on elevated positions, sightlines covering approach routes. Solid work, but the ridge was enormous. The Rain's forces couldn't cover it all.
Once Konoha's positions filled the gaps tomorrow, the defensive line would be airtight.
"Wait here."
He dropped from the manta ray, landing on a bare outcrop.
Chakra surged, converting to blood that hit the stone and fragmented into dozens of individual eyeballs — scattering across the ridge, vanishing into cracks and hollows.
Hyō-onna wasn't here, so this fell to him personally. Both Konoha and the Rain had sensor-type shinobi deployed, but a ridge this size left too many blind spots. The Eyeball Clones added a second layer.
But two layers still wasn't enough.
A ridge this vast would harbor wild serpents by the hundreds.
Natsuki formed the seals and summoned Tagorihime.
"Master." She bowed.
"Every snake in this area — bring them under control. They're my eyes and ears."
"Yes, Master."
Three overlapping sensor networks: shinobi, Eyeball Clones, and serpents. That was as close to omniscience as battlefield conditions allowed.
With intelligence dominance established, his next priority was unlocking existing template abilities and triggering new ones.
He returned to the manta ray.
"Let's head back."
The creature banked and carried them south, hovering above the Konoha camp. An Air Door opened. They stepped through into the command tent.
Natsuki's personal quarters were adjacent. Mikoto had her own tent — in theory. In practice, she'd be in his.
"I need to step out."
He squeezed her ass — casual, familiar.
Mikoto didn't flinch. She simply smiled — soft, warm. A year ago, she would have blushed. Now she accepted it without a ripple.
More intimate advances, however, still overwhelmed her.
Natsuki arrived at Pakura's house.
Night had fallen. She was eating dinner.
"Perfect timing." He sat across from her. "I haven't eaten."
"I'll make another dish—"
"Sit." He caught her wrist. "I'll cook."
She blinked, then settled back down.
Natsuki checked the refrigerator, weighed the effort required, and decided on ramen. Quick, simple, done.
He set the steaming bowl in front of her minutes later.
"Why ramen?" She raised an eyebrow. She knew his cooking was far better than this.
"Nothing deep." He smiled. "Eat fast so we can get to the main event."
Color flooded her face instantly. Her chest rose and fell with a quick, sharp breath.
"Nice nightgown, by the way."
She glanced down, realized what he was looking at, and composed herself with visible effort — even pushing her chest forward, meeting his eyes with a defiant look.
"Don't distract me while I'm eating."
He looked her over. Slowly. Then withdrew his gaze.
She curled her lip. Hypocrite.
Chopsticks up. Dinner resumed.
After the meal, Pakura cleared the table and carried the dishes to the kitchen sink.
She leaned over the basin. Water ran.
Natsuki followed.
He pressed against her from behind, arms encircling her waist.
"Let me finish the dishes."
Her body went rigid.
He didn't listen. His hands rose to her chest and settled there — full, warm, heavy against his palms.
Pakura bit her lip.
She'd already identified his preferences. Two focal points, front and back — curves and planes.
She forced her breathing even and kept washing. Her hands lasted about thirty seconds before she felt her feet leave the floor.
Here we go.
She sighed — part surrender, part exhaustion — and released the dishes. Her full weight settled against him, back pressed to his chest.
It wasn't long before the dizziness hit and the urge to beg rose in her throat.
He carried her toward the bedroom. She didn't make it.
Somewhere between the hallway and the door, she passed out.
Natsuki shook his head.
At least he'd gotten the intelligence he needed before she dropped. Rasa had arrived in the Land of Birds.
He closed the door behind him and opened an Air Door back to camp.
"Natsu—"
Mikoto stopped mid-word.
A fragrance clung to him that hadn't been there when he left.
She could guess what had happened.
Without a word, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him — pressing close, layering her own scent over the other woman's.
Night deepened.
Natsuki lay on his back, looking up.
Mikoto above him — flushed, dark hair spilling loose, her body tracing curves that caught the dim lamplight. The full, unmistakable beauty of her.
Time blurred.
He was on the edge of sleep when his eyes snapped open.
His hand rose. His vision shifted, linking to an Eyeball Clone on the ridge.
In the distance — a narrow crevice between two rock faces — eight figures moved with practiced stealth.
Forehead protectors caught a sliver of starlight. Stone.
A night raid?
But what could eight people accomplish?
Then he understood.
He extricated himself from Mikoto's warmth, dressed in silence, and opened an Air Door directly onto the ridge.
"Something's wrong!"
The Stone's sensor spoke first.
"They found us?"
Before anyone could answer, the Air Door materialized in the crevice ahead — a rectangle of displaced space where solid rock should have been.
The eight exchanged bewildered glances. When did that get there?
Natsuki stepped through.
"Natsuki—?"
The lead jōnin's recognition was instinctive, immediate. So was his response.
"ATTACK!"
He closed the distance in a burst of speed, cocked his fist, and swung.
The air warped on impact. An explosion detonated point-blank.
Natsuki confirmed their identity in the same instant.
The Explosion Corps.
If these eight reached Konoha's main camp, they could trigger chain detonations — eight operatives achieving the destruction of eight hundred. That was the entire point. Gari had calculated that Konoha wouldn't have its fortifications in place on the first night and sent his most dangerous unit to exploit the gap.
Without the Eyeball Clones and Ryūchi Cave's serpents, the raid might well have succeeded. Even a partial hit would have avenged the vanguard's annihilation.
Iron Mass: Smash.
Natsuki walked through the explosion without slowing. His fist drove through the jōnin's chest, punching clean through the heart.
"What—?!"
The remaining seven froze.
He gave them nothing.
Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi.
Darkness swallowed all seven. Starlight, chakra-enhanced night vision — everything vanished. They stood inside a towering black coffin, a rectangular prism of absolute void.
To their credit, the Explosion Corps reacted fast. Chakra erupted from all seven simultaneously — violent, uncontrolled detonations that lit up the interior with searing firelight, turning everything within reach to shrapnel.
It didn't matter.
Shadow blades materialized from every surface of the coffin — hundreds of them, converging from all directions.
Screams. Seven bodies shredded, blood spraying against walls that existed only as darkness.
Natsuki flicked his wrist.
Silence.
Seven heads dropped to the stone floor.
He walked forward and found the first jōnin — the one he'd punched through. Heart destroyed, but still breathing. Barely.
Natsuki's eyes shifted. Both activated simultaneously — Mangekyō Sharingan, dual patterns. The slight asymmetry was visible even in the dark: two different designs, drawn from two different sources.
He seized the dying man's mind and extracted everything.
The mission was exactly as he'd guessed. Gari had dispatched the Explosion Corps to hit Konoha's main camp — or, failing that, the Rain's. Cause maximum devastation. Reclaim momentum.
Natsuki sealed all eight corpses into a summoning scroll.
As commander, he needed merit too. More accurately, he needed fame.
A Hokage candidacy required it. Singlehandedly neutralizing a night raid by the Stone's elite Explosion Corps — two jōnin among them — was the kind of story that built reputations.
He had no intention of letting it go unrecorded.
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