"Tayuya, Jirōbō, Sakon, Ukon, Kidōmaru… and Saku and Koto."
"The offensive methods of Iwagakure are extremely difficult to defend against. Now that only two hundred of us remain, there's no way we can contend with them head-on."
"At this point, we have only two options left."
"Surrender—or escape."
Jirōbō slammed both hands onto the table, his face twisted with rage.
"Damn the Five Great Nations! Damn Iwagakure for using such despicable methods!"
"We've been living here peacefully and never provoked them. They must've set their sights on the land beneath our feet!"
"If they had the guts, they should've fought us head-on! This is fucking disgusting!"
Kidōmaru, leaning against the wall nearby, sneered when he saw Jirōbō still talking about fighting.
"Are you stupid, or just delusional?"
"That's Iwagakure—one of the Five Great Nations. They can crush us with numbers alone."
"Wasn't the death of the Third Raikage during the Third Shinobi World War proof enough?"
"He really is a reckless idiot who only knows how to act on impulse."
Already furious, Jirōbō flushed red the moment Kidōmaru provoked him.
"Y-you—!"
"Enough!"
Tayuya cut in impatiently, scowling.
"All this yelling—what's the point? It's fucking annoying."
"We vote."
"Those who want to leave, raise your hands."
"Those who want to stay—don't."
The moment she finished speaking, all seven of them raised their hands.
Kidōmaru raised an eyebrow and glanced sideways at Jirōbō.
"Huh. Didn't expect the fat guy to be this smart. You actually know when to run."
"Shut the hell up!" Sakon and Ukon snapped in unison.
"Say one more word and you're dead."
Kidōmaru clicked his tongue and finally shut up.
Although the seven of them had spent years scheming for their own benefit—and had more than a dozen private channels set up behind each other's backs—they were still united overall.
After all, surviving in a place like this alone was impossible.
You still needed companions to betray… no, to rely on.
After a brief discussion, they finally reached a unified decision.
Under the cover of night, the seven of them fled directly.
The remaining two hundred subordinates were left behind as expendable bait—just enough to buy time for their escape.
Even the escape route had been planned in advance.
First, the Five Great Nations were ruled out entirely. Too many shinobi, too dangerous, and too easy to be discovered.
More importantly—
They couldn't win.
At best, the seven of them could be considered jōnin.
In reality, only the four who had mastered the Cursed Seal truly qualified—and even then, only in its second stage could they barely contend with elite jōnin.
But the problem was that they were all defective products of Orochimaru's experiments.
Their Cursed Seals couldn't be sustained for long and consumed enormous amounts of chakra.
Even Dosu, Saku, and Koto could only be classified as special jōnin.
Relying on their unique abilities and exploiting information gaps, they could barely hold their own against veteran shinobi.
In the end, they chose their destination—
The Kingdom of the Moon.
A land founded by defected shinobi.
Although its inhabitants were missing-nin, they had fled simply because they were tired of war. As a result, the Five Great Nations had no interest in targeting them.
Many wandering shinobi and missing-nin seeking peace would gather there.
The most famous feature of the Kingdom of the Moon was its traveling circus—nearly half of the country's revenue came from performances that toured the shinobi world.
"Then it's settled."
"We leave for the Kingdom of the Moon."
"Gather back here in half an hour."
"Bring only necessities. Leave everything else behind."
After Tayuya finished speaking, the group dispersed, only to regroup shortly afterward and depart under the cover of darkness.
...
"It's almost finished."
"Tonight, we should be able to completely wipe out the wandering shinobi and missing-nin here."
Ōnoki flipped through the scrolls recording the kill counts of each squad, made a rough estimate, and issued his orders.
"Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi."
"Go inform the other teams."
"Begin the final operation in half an hour."
At the same time, Nadeshiko Tsubaki issued identical orders to her female shinobi.
Tonight—
They would finish everything.
The explosion of detonating tags tore open the final curtain.
After more than a month of relentless pursuit and psychological torment, the remaining wandering shinobi and missing-nin were already on the verge of madness.
The moment they heard the explosions, their first instinct was to run.
But it was useless.
The female shinobi of Iwagakure and Nadeshiko Village had already split into two groups, sealing both sides like a closing vice.
Except for the seven members of the Sound Ninja who had escaped early—
No one else survived.
Their sinful lives ended here tonight.
...
After the war, Ōnoki and Nadeshiko Tsubaki conducted the final mission settlement inside the tent, under the supervision of Uchiha Hikaru and Jiraiya.
"The mission has been successfully completed, Lady Tsubaki."
"As for the commission payment—"
Before Ōnoki could finish, Tsubaki placed a blank sealing scroll on the table in front of him.
"Don't worry."
"Under the supervision of the Ninja Association and Konoha, Nadeshiko Village will never default on its debts."
"Now that the commission is complete, you may withdraw your Iwagakure forces."
"We'll handle the remaining cleanup ourselves."
After paying the balance, Tsubaki immediately issued the order for them to leave.
However—
Ōnoki remained seated, showing no intention of moving.
Seeing this, Tsubaki narrowed her eyes, a hint of displeasure creeping into her voice.
"Tsuchikage, I've already paid the full commission."
"What exactly are you still doing here?"
Ōnoki smiled, his expression calm and earnest, as if completely unaffected by temptation.
"We just finished a major battle."
"Shouldn't we at least allow the shinobi below some time to rest before withdrawing?"
"Iwagakure accepted this mission at a price below market value."
"We can't possibly deny our shinobi even a short rest."
"After all, shinobi are human beings—not tools."
"They need time to recover."
In this mission, only two jōnin from Iwagakure had been incapacitated due to entrapment.
Casualties among chūnin and genin were fewer than a hundred.
For Iwagakure, this level of loss was almost negligible.
Naturally, Ōnoki was in an excellent mood.
And precisely because so much manpower remained intact, another thought quietly took root in his mind.
This land was vast—
Nearly one-third the size of the Land of Iron.
How could a small village like Nadeshiko Village occupy such prime territory alone?
Even if all of their people relocated here, they wouldn't need nearly this much land.
Greed began to stir.
"Lady Tsubaki," Ōnoki said slowly,
"I have an idea."
"I just don't know whether it's appropriate to bring it up."
Tsubaki frowned.
"If you don't know whether you should say it, then don't."
"Rest for one day, then withdraw your Iwagakure forces."
After saying that, she turned to leave.
But Ōnoki stood up immediately and blocked her path.
"Hey—"
"Look at you, saying it like that."
"Nadeshiko Village and Iwagakure are friends."
"I'm the one who kept you in suspense—that's my fault."
"So fine."
"I'll say it directly."