Inoiki narrowed his glowing eyes, the cold blue light flickering slightly as he stared down at the kneeling commander.
"So someone sent you to kidnap the Tsuchikage's granddaughter?" he asked, voice sharp and low.
The commander gave a weary nod, his tone bitter with resignation.
"Yes. Of course. Why else would I be stupid enough to provoke a major shinobi village like Iwagakure?"
Inoiki didn't need the confirmation. His psychokinesis was already peeling back layers of the man's thoughts. Memories, emotions, fragments of fear—they flooded to the surface. There was no lie in his words. He had been coerced, used like a pawn. And the source of that pressure had a name Inoiki had hoped not to hear again.
Akatsuki.
Inoiki's eyes narrowed further.
"It was Akatsuki who ordered this?"
The commander nodded again, slower this time, as if speaking the name itself weighed down his lungs.
Inoiki stepped closer, the air around him still thick with unrelenting pressure.
"Why?" he asked.
The commander shook his head.
"I don't know the whole plan," he replied. "The leader of Akatsuki—he just appeared one day. Said he needed me and my men to hit a village in the Land of Earth. The target was Kurotsuchi."
He looked up, haunted.
"I refused at first. I didn't want anything to do with this. But then... he looked at me."
His voice dropped.
"Just a glance—and I was on my knees. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. His eyes…"
He paused.
"They weren't normal. A pattern—concentric rings. Like something not of this world."
Inoiki's face grew still. His jaw clenched.
He had seen enough. The visual the commander described confirmed it: the Rinnegan.
Pain.
Akatsuki had orchestrated this entire operation—not to win a war, but to manipulate the battlefield. To divide Iwagakure's forces. To pull the Tsuchikage's attention away from something larger.
And there was only one reason they'd go to such extremes.
Tailed Beasts.
Inoiki's mind was already calculating the possibilities.
"They're creating distractions. Smoke screens," he muttered to himself. "To capture Jinchūriki while the Iwagakure village is blinded by their own emergencies."
Inoiki connected the final pieces of the puzzle with grim certainty.
Only one target fit the pattern.
The Five Tails—Kokuō.
It was the only Tailed Beast not currently held within Iwagakure. Its Jinchūriki, Han, was known to roam the Land of Earth alone, rarely returning to the village. Vulnerable. Exposed. And now, likely unguarded.
That was the point.
Akatsuki had engineered this entire scenario—not to strike Iwagakure directly, but to divert its attention. By orchestrating Kurotsuchi's abduction, they'd forced the Tsuchikage and his forces into a reactive state. For days, the village's focus would be on recovering her. No one would be thinking about Han. No one would be watching the Five Tails.
Which meant, by now, it might already be too late.
Inoiki's expression was cold, unreadable. But inside, he knew what Akatsuki was doing. And judging by the timing and tactics, he suspected they'd already captured Han.
At that moment, a figure emerged on the roof.
It was Kurotsuchi, short sword and kunai in hand, both faintly stained with blood. Her chest rose and fell with measured breaths, but her eyes were sharp, locked onto Inoiki's expression.
"Why do you look so tense?" she asked, walking up beside him.
Inoiki turned to face her, the soft blue glow still lingering in his gaze.
"Because your village's Jinchūriki is probably in danger," he said flatly.
Kurotsuchi froze, the blood draining from her face.
"What are you talking about? What do you know?"
"I'll explain everything," Inoiki replied. "But not here. We need to move—now."
Without waiting, he extended his psychokinesis again. Both Kurotsuchi and the rogue commander lifted into the air beside him. The commander, limp and defeated. Kurotsuchi, still processing the weight of his words.
Inoiki rose with them, his swords spinning defensively in formation around him as they shot through the night sky—heading straight for the Iwagakure forward camp.
Inside the main Iwagakure forward camp, Kitsuchi sat surrounded by several high-ranking Jonin. Tension hung in the air like smoke. Moments earlier, they'd heard the distant thunder of an explosion—followed by rising flames visible from the village skyline.
Everyone knew what it meant.
Inoiki had begun.
They waited, eyes on the camp entrance, nerves taut. Then, without warning, a gust of wind tore through the tent, flinging the cloth door open.
Inoiki landed in the center of the camp, blades orbiting around him in silent formation. A second later, Kurotsuchi descended beside him—on her feet but visibly winded. Moments later, the rogue commander's limp body hit the ground with a thud, rolling to a stop directly in front of Kitsuchi.
But Kitsuchi didn't even glance at the commander.
"Kurotsuchi!" he shouted, rushing forward.
He embraced his daughter tightly, voice cracking as he pulled her close.
"I'm so glad you're safe. Are you hurt? Did they harm you?"
Kurotsuchi shook her head quickly.
"I'm fine, Dad. Inoiki got me out. But this isn't the time for a reunion—we've got a bigger problem."
She looked toward Inoiki.
"He says our Jinchūriki is in danger."
Kitsuchi's eyes widened.
"What?"
The Jonin in the tent all rose to their feet, expressions darkening, attention locking onto Inoiki.
Without hesitation, Inoiki stepped forward and spoke calmly—but with a weight that froze the room.
"Akatsuki is behind this entire operation."
Silence fell.
"You've all heard that they captured the One Tails from Sunagakure. Our own investigations confirm what we feared—they're targeting all Tailed Beasts."
He motioned to the rogue commander, still on the ground.
"This man and his group were pawns—used by Akatsuki to stage an attack and abduct Kurotsuchi. Not to start a war... but to create a distraction."
The room was still, every word hitting like a hammer.
"While you were focused on recovering the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, you stopped watching Han. The Five Tails Jinchūriki."
Kitsuchi's face fell.
"You're saying—"
Inoiki nodded grimly.
"Yes. If I'm right—and I believe I am—then Akatsuki has already moved on Han. Maybe they've captured him already. If we wait any longer, we may lose the Five Tails."
A cold silence settled across the tent.
----
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