“Hahahahahaha~” (Vegetative laugh.)
A watched Kamizuki Izumo’s rigid posture and the cold sweat beading at his temple, then threw his head back and laughed, the booming sound startling a handful of sparrows from the treetops.
He reached out one massive hand and clapped Izumo hard on the shoulder, the impact staggering him half a step.
“Drop that about-to-charge-into-battle expression.
I’m not here to make trouble for you Konoha people — at least not today.”
The lightning around him gradually faded.
The residual pressure still made the air faintly hum.
Izumo’s lips twitched.
His mouth moved.
No words came out.
His right hand stayed clamped against the kunai pouch at his waist.
A didn’t bother continuing that conversation.
He shifted his gaze to the female registration ninja instead, who was smearing her trembling pen across the white paper, the ink already blurred beyond all recognition.
“Done yet, cutie?” A leaned in close and rapped his knuckles on the desk.
The woman’s face went pale.
She nearly rolled up the entire registration book, clearly desperate to keep him from seeing it.
“Tsk…” A shook his head, snatched the book out of her hands, and held it up for a good look.
Sure enough.
The character for his name had been traced over at least ten times, nearly reduced to a solid black tangle of ink.
A reached out and patted her on the head, then gently tilted her chin up, amusement creeping into his voice.
“Must’ve been rough — writing practice sheets that long.
Your hand must be exhausted…”
The woman felt the cold metal of his wrist guard graze her neck and shivered.
Then A leaned down and spoke directly into her ear.
“You’re not being a good girl.
I already said I mean no harm — I’m simply here to observe.
So stop stalling, ma’am.”
The woman bit her lower lip white.
Cold sweat slid from her temple down into her collar.
“Mm…
I, I’m just a little worn out today, so my fingers aren’t quite cooperating.
I’m sorry, Raikage-sama, I’ll have it done right away…”
Her voice shrank smaller and smaller, like a sparrow being squeezed by the throat.
A cupped her cheek and kneaded her whole face into a comical steamed-bun shape.
“If you’re not feeling well, you should get some rest.
Don’t you think?”
A moment later, A let go and set the flushed woman down.
“Heh.
Until next time.
I’ll head in and have a little chat with your Hokage.”
Behind him stood Hagane Kotetsu, who had rushed back drenched in sweat, gripping a bizarre oversized hammer with a grim expression.
“Raikage-sama.” Izumo’s voice carried a barely perceptible tremor, but every word landed crisp and clear.
“Please stop here.
Otherwise, this becomes very difficult for us.”
“Oh?” A’s eyes narrowed.
The lightning around him surged again.
The stone pavement beneath his feet split apart, fine currents racing along the cracks toward Izumo’s boots.
“I’m being very friendly right now.
If you keep shutting me out, I’m afraid I might get angry.” The pressure hit like something solid, blanketing the entire area.
The Grass ninja from before collapsed back onto the ground, dark stains spreading down their trouser legs.
(This time, it was the real thing.)
Sweat poured down Hagane Kotetsu’s forehead.
He shuffled a few steps toward Izumo and muttered, “This…
Izumo, what do you think?”
Izumo’s fingernails dug deep into his palm, leaving crescent-shaped marks pressed into the kunai hilt.
[What the hell do I think?
I’m just standing here watching!]
He thought of the Third Hokage’s teachings.
The Will of Fire.
His duty as a guardian of Konoha.
Should he make a move?
No.
If he provoked the notoriously hot-tempered Fourth Raikage, it could lead to something far worse.
After a fierce internal battle, Izumo slowly lowered his fingers and stepped aside.
“Apologies, Raikage-sama.
Duty required it.”
Hagane Kotetsu exhaled hard.
As Izumo’s brother, if Izumo had gone for it just now, Kotetsu would have charged in too.
And the outcome would have been exactly one word: dead.
A laughed again, this time with less menace and more genuine appreciation.
“Now that’s the right call.
There’s a reason people say, a smart man knows when to stand down.”
The instant A stepped foot inside Konoha, countless Anbu materialized from rooftops, treetops, and gaps in the walls, waves of black figures trailing behind him like ghosts.
But when A’s eyes swept across their hiding spots, every single one of them held their breath.
Not one dared to move.
There was a difference in how Anbu and Root thought.
Both were elite ninja, sure, but Anbu were still human.
Not machines.
And as long as you were human, you feared death.
A paid no attention to the tails behind him, scanning the roadside shops with obvious interest.
“Konoha really is thriving.
Even at this point in time… Get faster updates on g.com.
tsk, tsk.”
His broad frame brushed past a blind old man’s stall and knocked a skewer of matcha dango to the ground.
A turned back, caught it before it hit the stones, and stuffed it straight into his mouth.
“Oi, old man, not bad.
I’ll have the Third Hokage reimburse you thirty thousand ryo later.
At your age, you shouldn’t be out here running a stall.”
The words had barely left his mouth when a purple shadow dropped gracefully from the eaves beside him, eyes glinting beneath a cat-face mask.
“Raikage-sama, the Hokage requests your presence.
I’ll escort you to the Hokage Building.”
Her voice came from somewhere deep and still.
It carried the coldness all Anbu shared, but beneath that, something quieter.
More particular.
A circled her twice, his gaze sweeping over her slender waist like a physical thing.
“Pretty cute, aren’t you.
How about I find a chance to poach you for Kumogakure, make you my Raikage’s wife?”
Uzuki Yugao stepped back half a pace.
Her blade cleared the sheath three inches, a full-moon gleam drawing a sharp line between them.
Then she sheathed it, turned, and walked toward the Hokage Building.
Her cool voice drifted back over her shoulder.
“Raikage-sama, please don’t joke.
Follow me.”
“Hahaha.
I wasn’t joking.” A watched her retreating back, worked his pinky finger into his ear, and vanished on the spot.
Konoha.
Hokage Building.
Anbu held position in every hidden corner, watching A with grave expressions, all of them quietly on edge.
After all, this man was the shadow of an entire village.
A stood below the steps with arms folded, looking up.
A slight figure occupied the second-floor window, the pipe clenched between his teeth sending lazy curls of smoke into the air, dissolving into thin wisps.
“Old chain-smoker.” A’s mouth tugged at one corner.
“Your gates are a lot harder to get through than Kumogakure’s.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen flicked the ash from his pipe, his weathered voice carrying a dry edge.
“If I didn’t have a few checkpoints, how would you get to show off?
Come in.
The tea’s gone cold.”
He turned from the window.
The Hokage hat tilted, and in that same instant A’s lightning surged, his entire body becoming a streak of blue as he vaulted straight up to the second floor.
Uzuki Yugao stared at the empty staircase, her brow drawing tight beneath her mask.
Konoha was not going to know peace.
➤ Next: Pulling and Tugging, the Sand Arrives