Mabui was about to withdraw when A’s low voice reached her from above.
“Mabui.”
“What is it, Lord Raikage?” She looked up in confusion.
A had already turned around.
Moonlight plated his silhouette in hard silver, those sharp eyes fixed on her.
A didn’t answer.
He simply leaped, his tall figure dropping steady before her like a hawk.
Mabui instinctively stepped back half a pace.
An ominous feeling settled over her.
“War is coming, Mabui.” A dangerous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he slowly closed in.
“As my secretary, shouldn’t you help me relieve some stress?”
“Stress?” She froze, then caught his meaning.
Her face flushed bright red instantly.
She dropped her gaze in a fluster, not daring to meet A’s burning eyes.
“Lord Raikage, are you going to…
again…”
She never finished.
A laughed and scooped her up.
Mabui let out a startled cry, her arms flying around his neck on instinct, her heart hammering like a war drum.
She could feel the scorching heat radiating off his body.
And that domineering aura…
A carried her in long strides toward the office.
Moonlight spilled over them both, stretching their shadows long across the ground.
Curled in A’s arms, Mabui felt shy and nervous all at once, memories of their previous encounters surfacing unbidden.
Her cheeks burned so hot they could have caught fire.
The next morning, the council chamber was heavy with tension.
Kumogakure’s senior officials had assembled in full, every gaze fixed on A in the seat of authority.
He radiated power from every direction.
Lightning Release chakra coiled around him, barely visible, making him look even more imposing than usual.
“This joint Chunin Exams will not go smoothly.” A’s eyes swept the room, his voice resonant and forceful.
“When the chaos hits, both Konohagakure and Sunagakure will suffer heavy losses.
So we need to be ready to profit from it.”
A white-haired elder frowned, concern lining his face.
“Lord Raikage, I trust your judgment and your intelligence.
But if we strike at both Konoha and Suna at the same time, won’t we be making too many enemies across the Shinobi World?
A united coalition could turn on us.”
A gave him a look that made his opinion of the question perfectly clear.
“Are you stupid, or am I?
Obviously we can’t hit both villages at once.”
He let the silence stretch, letting every eye drift back to him before he continued.
“This time, we’re going to help Konohagakure fight Sunagakure.”
“Help Konoha?” The Kumogakure Director of Livelihood looked baffled.
“That’s…”
“Let me finish.” A raised a hand.
“We’re not actually going to help Konoha.
But Suna?
We hit them for real.”
A flash of cold ruthlessness crossed his eyes.
“Pick the softest persimmon, strike the weakest village.
By the time this is over, Sunagakure won’t recover — and they’ll cough up everything we want.”
[Side bonus: I can grab Temari while I’m at it.
She’s the only halfway decent one Suna’s got, the village beauty, after all.
Her mother Karura’s been in the ground for years.
Pakura at this stage is probably cosplaying as a porcupine.
Chiyo’s way too old.
I can’t seriously be thinking about a…
swimsuit Chiyo, right?
That would be absolutely cursed.]
A shuddered internally.
Why had swimsuit Chiyo just crossed his mind, of all things?
His eyes felt unclean now.
“What about Konohagakure…”
A looked at the buzz-cut elder who’d spoken, eyes sharp, voice brimming with confidence and ambition.
“As for Konohagakure, I’ll go there personally.”
“What!?”
“Lord Raikage, you mustn’t!”
“Yes, yes, this is far too dangerous…”
The chamber erupted.
Elders and ministers talked over each other, all urging him to abandon the notion.
A rose slowly to his feet.
Lightning Release chakra surged around him all at once, making his figure look like something out of the underworld.
“Enough talk.” His voice cut through the noise.
“Konohagakure can barely protect itself right now.
Why would it refuse the friendship of our Kumogakure?
That would be exceedingly foolish.”
He paused.
“And after Minato Namikaze’s death, I am the fastest shinobi in the world.
Even if Konoha truly intends to make a move, as long as I want to leave, no one in that village can keep me.”
Awed by his presence, the assembled officials rose as one and roared, their voices filling the hall to its rafters.
“Lord Raikage is wise!”
A watched their fervor with a satisfied smile.
Good.
Very spirited.
A strode out of the council chamber into open sunlight.
It was almost noon.
“Lord Raikage.”
A call came from around the corner.
He looked up to see Samui walking over from the direction of the weapons depot, arms loaded with a thick stack of scrolls.
Kumogakure’s elite jonin wasn’t in her combat gear today.
She wore an ordinary black bodysuit, and the tight fabric left nothing about her tall figure to the imagination.
Those massive headlights swayed gently in the sunlight.
Paired with the heroic sharpness of her features, the overall effect was truly awe-inspiring.
Samui met A’s heated gaze and paused briefly, then reached up to smooth a few stray strands of pale blonde hair away from her temple.
“Lord Raikage, the improved reinforced kunai have passed inspection.
They’ll be distributed to the patrol squads tomorrow.” Her back was perfectly straight as she spoke, and the powerful curves that rose and fell with her breathing were even harder to miss in that form-fitting outfit.
A’s Adam’s apple moved without his permission.
His gaze skimmed along her graceful neck, caught the faint line of her collarbone, then shifted pointedly to the heavy scrolls in her hands.
“Good efficiency.”
He ran through the phrase silently a few times — heart of ice, calm even when the sky falls — and forced the heat back down.
“The village will be taking action soon.
These ninja tools need to be fully deployed within one week.”
“Understood, Lord Raikage.” Samui gave a short nod and turned to leave.
Her waist traced an alluring arc as she walked away.
A’s eyes followed her back until she disappeared from sight.
(Sorry.
Forgot to turn off auto-aim.)
His thoughts drifted to the Entry Compendium.
If he could unlock Samui’s entry, it would surely grant some extraordinary new abilities.
That was a lie.
Let’s be honest here.
He mainly just wanted her.
“Truly a woman on equal footing with Tsunade.
She’s got the goods,” A murmured, rubbing his chin.
Samui and Mabui gave off completely different impressions.
Samui was like a drawn blade, every inch of her radiating a sharpness that kept the world at a distance.
And that quality, that challenge, did something very particular to a man.
Shouts drifted over from the training grounds in the distance.
A drew a slow breath and cleared his head.
He lifted his gaze to the churning clouds above.
This was not the time.
Samui was a combat jonin, not a caged bird to be handled at will.
Pushing too hard before a major operation could stir up unsavory talk.
It wouldn’t be a serious problem, but there was no reason to invite it.
Once the dust settled from Konoha’s collapse, he would reach up and pluck that golden flower from its height, and make Samui, just like Mabui, a woman in his arms.
➤ Next: Departing Warmth, Heading to Konoha