"Hoh? That fast—and you already forced Hatake Kakashi to flee?"
Standing amid a pool of blood, Mist jōnin Ringo Mirai clicked her tongue. Her mood was visibly sour even as the other jōnin, Matsuda Takuya, sounded impressed.
"Not bad," Matsuda whistled. "A fifteen-year-old who can do that to Kakashi—even after he made his name at Kannabi Bridge and got a Sharingan—pretty impressive."
"He didn't kill him," Mirai snapped. "What's there to praise?"
Matsuda just shrugged.
"Still. If he shines again in the next stage, and Konoha surrenders… we might end up calling him colleague."
Mirai scoffed.
"That kid? The soft one? The one who never kills unless he absolutely has to, only takes the final target's life when ordered?"
Her lip curled.
"Don't joke, Takuya. A Mist jōnin seat isn't something that kind of weakness can hold."
"Sure, sure," Matsuda said lazily. "If you're happy, Mirai."
Mikazuki Eri dragged Rin forward, bound tight, and bowed.
"Matsuda-sama, Ringo-sama. The target has been captured. Shall we begin the Three-Tails sealing ritual now?"
"Begin," Matsuda said.
"Our time isn't plentiful. The sooner we deliver a Three-Tails jinchūriki to Konoha, the better our odds of success—and the bigger our results."
He glanced at Mirai.
"Chakra reserves still good?"
"Who do you think I am?" Mirai barked.
She slapped her hands together, and the vessel containing the Three-Tails appeared.
With Mirai and Matsuda as the leads, and their squads supporting, they began to undo the vessel's seal—
then forced the Three-Tails into Rin's small body with brutal, crude efficiency.
If the goal had been to create a stable jinchūriki for long-term use, these two wouldn't have been qualified to lead the sealing.
But that wasn't the mission.
They didn't need a durable weapon.
They needed a timed bomb—a human warhead they could shove into Konoha's hollowed-out heart.
So long as the jinchūriki's body and mind held together until she crossed into Konoha…
That was enough.
The ritual's violence came with violence in return.
Rin's body convulsed under the flood of tailed beast chakra, twisting into terrifying angles as pain ripped through her. More than once, she lost consciousness—only to be jolted awake by fresh agony.
And yet…
She didn't scream.
Not once.
A soft-looking medical-nin, enduring torment that would break most people, and still refusing to give the Mist shinobi the pleasure of hearing her weakness.
Mirai clicked her tongue.
"Tch. How boring. Like a dead fish. No reaction at all."
She kicked Rin—now the newly made Three-Tails jinchūriki, too weak to lift even a finger—then turned toward Ren, who had arrived quietly to observe.
"Hey, Kaguya brat. Hand over that cursed seal scroll the Third gave you. Put it into her heart."
Mirai's eyes were cold.
"I don't want this thing killing itself before it's used, or turning on us."
Ren tossed the scroll without expression.
"Here."
Matsuda took it and implanted the control seal into Rin's heart—ensuring her speech and movement could be restrained.
Shortly after, the ANBU who had chased Kakashi returned.
They reported that Kakashi had successfully sent a warning out…
…and then vanished.
Mirai's face darkened.
"Useless," she hissed at them. "You couldn't even keep a wounded brat from escaping. What are you good for?"
Then she looked to Matsuda and Ren.
"Forced march?"
"Of course," Ren answered evenly.
"Konoha will receive Kakashi's warning. But even if their higher-ups become wary, the shinobi stationed at the Earth and Lightning borders can't return quickly."
His gaze was steady.
"As long as we move fast, we can still deal Konoha a loss they can't afford."
He paused.
"And don't fantasize about taking the village in one strike. The Nine-Tails jinchūriki and the Third Hokage are still in Konoha. A rampaging Three-Tails jinchūriki can't beat that many Kage-level forces."
Matsuda nodded sharply.
"Ren is right. Everyone—take soldier pills. We're reaching the target before Konoha can organize a defensive line!"
"Yes!"
They swallowed Kirigakure's version of soldier pills to force their bodies into temporary peak condition.
Then Ren's squad carried Rin, who couldn't move on her own.
A Mist strike force of dozens surged toward Konohagakure at a blistering pace.
Not long after they left, a small ninja hound quietly appeared near the dead outpost, sniffing at the blood and the lingering scents. It sighed with a troubled look.
In a puff of smoke, it vanished.
Then its voice echoed beside its master.
"They went toward Konoha, Kakashi. Are we chasing?"
"We are," Kakashi answered coldly.
Several kilometers away, by a stream, Hatake Kakashi sat hunched—wincing as he wrapped bandages around a constellation of wounds. They looked horrific, but none had struck a vital point.
His hands were steady.
His eyes were not.
"The warning's been sent. The Third will receive it before those Mist shinobi reach the village. That time gap is enough to organize defenses."
His voice lowered.
"My duty as a Konoha jōnin is done."
"What's left… is Hatake Kakashi's personal mission."
"You'll die, Kakashi," the ninja hound, Pakkun, muttered, pawing the dirt anxiously.
"That Kaguya guy already pushed you hard. Add dozens more ANBU and jōnin…"
Pakkun's tone grew grim.
"You going alone to save Rin will accomplish nothing except wasting your life."
"I know," Kakashi replied.
"But my life was bought with Obito's. I promised him I would protect Rin."
He didn't flinch.
"Even if it costs me this life, I'll do it."
Pakkun sighed.
"…Fine. If you die, I'll bring Konoha shinobi here to collect your body."
"That isn't guaranteed, little dog."
A bright, unfamiliar female voice cut into the air.
Kakashi snapped upright, kunai drawn, scanning the darkness.
"Who's there?!"
From the voice's distance, the speaker was within ten meters.
Close enough to kill him silently.
A moment later, a woman stepped from the trees, descending with a lightness like a falling leaf. Her movements carried an elegant grace, like a noble daughter walking through a courtyard rather than a battlefield.
"I'm not your enemy, Kakashi-senpai," she said. "I'm here to help."
She raised her head.
And Kakashi's breath caught.
Her eyes were pure white.
Byakugan.
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