Standing atop the river's surface, Yako fixed his gaze on Mitokado Homura.
The death of his son had pushed Homura beyond reason. Every movement he made carried a frantic ferocity.
And Yako, deliberately restraining himself to better imitate Spiral Zetsu, could not fight freely.
Still—information was the most crucial element in a shinobi battle.
You would never guess that I, "Spiral Zetsu," can use extremely subtle Water Release techniques.
Yako held a wooden spear.
Mitokado Homura gripped the greatsword.
Both charged.
Yako's eyebrows lifted slightly.
Mitokado Homura had taken the giant Fuma shuriken from his back.
He threw the Senju greatsword first.
The massive blade skimmed across the surface of the water toward Yako.
Yako leapt upward to avoid it.
But hidden in the shadow of the greatsword—
A second blade appeared.
A completely black ninja sword.
Among the Five Ninja Blades of the First Hokage, the Senju greatsword served as the main weapon, while the Fuma shuriken was Homura's ultimate trump card.
Of the remaining three blades—
The nine-section blade was a flexible weapon.
The chakra-metal blade likely belonged to a past Senju warrior skilled in combining ninjutsu and taijutsu.
And the final blade—
Was the assassination black blade.
Thin, long pitch-black blade.
The black blade shot upward, aiming directly at Yako in midair.
Yako stepped precisely onto the Senju greatsword in the air, shifting his body's position and barely avoiding the black blade at the last moment.
A viciously cunning attack.
At that instant—
Mitokado Homura threw the Fuma shuriken.
Yako had just adjusted his body midair.
Now he had even less room to deal with the incoming weapon.
He thrust his wooden spear outward.
The spear extended and stabbed into the nearby cliffside, pushing him away from his previous position.
The Fuma shuriken roared past.
It brushed his shoulder and flew deeper into the valley.
Suspended in the air, Yako turned and stared at it.
He feared the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags hidden inside might detonate at any moment.
When the shuriken continued flying away into the distance, Yako exhaled.
But his repeated evasions had left him poorly positioned.
And Mitokado Homura seized that moment.
He rushed forward recklessly.
Homura grabbed Yako's arms.
Locking them.
Preventing him from forming hand seals.
At the same time—
The nine-section blade snapped apart.
The chain weapon wrapped around both of them, binding them tightly together.
In Mitokado Homura's eyes—
There was acceptance of death.
Relief.
The calm of vengeance fulfilled.
Not far away—
The Fuma shuriken curved through the air like a boomerang.
Returning.
For Konoha!
Mitokado Homura gripped Spiral Zetsu' hands with absolute strength.
Inside the Fuma shuriken—
The Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags activated.
Hundreds of thousands—
No—
Over a million explosive tags detonated.
Mutual destruction.
Facing Spiral Zetsu—who possessed Wood Release and the Mangekyō Sharingan—and with his son already dead, Mitokado Homura's eyes contained nothing but a death wish.
Yet just before dying, a question flickered through his mind.
Why had he never seen the Ame no Mihashira from the intelligence reports?
He had only witnessed the Island of Miasmic Collapse.
Yako wore a layer of wooden-vine armor to maintain Spiral Zetsu' disguise.
With his arms restrained, the vines shifted slightly, giving his fingers the tiniest space to move.
Just in time…
Exactly as Homura had expected—
The cliffs of the river valley amplified the power of the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
Mitokado Homura and Yako were instantly swallowed by the explosion.
The terrifying detonations continued for several minutes.
The surviving Guardian Captain heard the thunder from the valley above.
Even the ground beneath him was lifted by the blasts.
He was thrown even farther away.
By the time he regained consciousness—
The explosions had ended.
A figure leapt out of the smoke.
For a moment, the Guardian Captain felt hope.
Hope that Adviser Mitokado Homura had defeated the rogue ninja.
But the hope instantly became terror.
Spiral Zetsu.
The rogue ninja still lived.
Both sides of the valley had been destroyed.
In their place lay a massive circular lake over a hundred meters across.
Yako breathed heavily as he slowly straightened.
At the final critical moment, he had used several hidden cards.
First—
Water Body Flicker.
He escaped Homura's grasp and flashed to the farthest possible distance.
Yet even there he had been engulfed by the explosion.
Then—
Wood Release: Wood Spikes.
After that—
Semi-Absolute Defense: Spiral Serpent.
And finally—
Absolute Defense: Bronze Light.
Three layers of defense.
That was the only reason he survived.
Fortunately, Mitokado Homura had been reduced to ash.
Otherwise Yako's identity would have been exposed.
Terrifying.
So this was the strength of a veteran Kage-level shinobi.
When Mitokado Homura had embraced death—
Even with superior intelligence, Yako had nearly been killed.
You could say Mitokado Homura was greedy.
But you could never say he was weak.
Yako had been locked in a silent struggle with Danzo.
Yet in the end—
Mitokado Homura died instead.
One corner of Yako's spiral mask had been blown away.
He quickly grew wooden vines to cover his exposed chin.
After wearing the mask for so long, showing his real chin felt almost like standing naked.
Yako steadied his breathing.
The shinobi world was terrifying.
No amount of caution was too much.
His strength had grown rapidly lately.
He had grown slightly arrogant.
And he had almost died here.
As the Second Hokage's student, Mitokado Homura possessed immense resources.
The Five Ninja Blades of the First Hokage were each formidable.
And the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags were practically a forbidden technique.
Suddenly—
Four ninja appeared in the distance.
All four wore Konoha headbands.
Guardian Captains.
So fast?
That shouldn't be possible. I didn't take that long.
The four shinobi landed beside the wounded Guardian Captain.
"Bad news! The First Prince has been assassinated by a Hidden Sand puppet master!
Where is Captain Mitokado Etsu? Where is Adviser Mitokado Homura?
What happened here? Why was there such a terrifying explosion?"
Yako understood immediately.
They had discovered the prince's death.
His Wood Release puppet imitation had fooled every witness.
The wounded Guardian Captain glanced at the two flattened remains of Mitokado Etsu and his wife.
Then at the enormous crater left by the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
Struggling to speak, he said,
"They're dead… Captain Etsu and Adviser Homura…
Both killed by the rogue ninja Spiral Zetsu…"
Good.
You understand the truth.
The Guardian Captains looked at Spiral Zetsu in horror.
The subordinate of Uchiha Madara looked battered and exhausted.
Even sacrificing his life, Adviser Mitokado Homura had failed to kill him?
From across the water, Yako spoke to them.
"Tell Konoha's leadership this!
One by one…
I will kill every leader of Konoha!
Before these Mangekyō eyes—
No one survives!"
Behind the mask, Yako's voice was deep, hoarse, and resolute.
After delivering his threat, he slowly sank into the earth.
The Guardian Captains all looked toward the Hyuga among them.
The Hyuga activated his Byakugan.
Moments later, he shook his head.
Spiral Zetsu's secret technique was too powerful.
Even the Byakugan could not track him.
The Guardian Captains murmured among themselves.
"The Guardian Captains of the Land of Grass keep dying… three commanders already.
Now it's our turn?"
"Yes… it's our turn…"
"Etsu was Mitokado Homura's son…"
"But Homura is dead too…"
"I wonder how many of us must die before this crisis ends…"
Death hung over them like a shadow.
All they wanted was to return to Konoha.
Serving as Guardian Captains here—
All the benefits had gone to Mitokado Etsu.
They endured exhausting shifts and constant danger.
One of them suddenly spoke.
"We must report this immediately!
The Hidden Sand assassinated the First Prince.
Adviser Mitokado Homura and Captain Etsu were killed by the rogue ninja's subordinate.
Request reinforcements from the village—we cannot handle this situation!"
Deep within the valley.
Yako searched for the Five Ninja Blades of Senju Hashirama.
But someone else was already there.
The figure turned.
A red-haired boy.
Sasori.
After his parents were killed, Sasori had graduated early from the Hidden Sand ninja academy and become the disciple of the Third Kazekage.
At only ten years old, he was already a Tokubetsu jōnin.
Sasori had just pulled a triangular blade from the cliffside.
It was a quarter of the giant Fuma shuriken.
The Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags had blown apart the shuriken's mechanism.
Yet the First Hokage's weapon was so strong that it remained intact.
The Senju greatsword was said to be indestructible.
The chakra-metal blade and the assassination black blade had missed Yako and flown elsewhere.
They were probably scattered across the valley.
The nine-section blade had taken the full force of the explosion.
Who knew whether it had survived.
Sasori turned toward Yako.
His expression was serious.
"Spiral Zetsu… subordinate of the rogue ninja Uchiha Madara?"
Spiral Zetsu's reputation had already spread across the four great ninja villages.
Yako thought for a moment.
If he personally took the First Hokage's weapons, it would attract suspicion.
And he needed to return to the Land of Rain soon.
He couldn't stay away too long or the Antelope squad would have trouble maintaining his alibi.
Better to let Sasori take them.
Later, as the Fox, he could retrieve them from Sasori.
That way the weapons could be claimed openly.
"Hidden Sand Village Tokubetsu jōnin… Sasori," Yako said.
"So you were the one who poisoned the daimyō of the Land of Rivers.
Your poison is impressive.
The daimyō is neither fully alive nor fully dead.
You could easily control both him and the Land of Rivers under the pretense of curing him."
Sasori's arms hung loosely at his sides.
His fingers twitched constantly.
Preparing something.
"The Hidden Sand and you share a common enemy.
Konoha.
We could cooperate."
Yako snorted and turned his head toward the water.
A puppet moved beneath the surface.
He had sensed it long ago.
The puppet burst from the water.
Its poisoned blade stabbed into Yako's body.
But Sasori showed no joy.
Wood Substitution.
Not only that—
A black point appeared beneath the puppet.
The point expanded instantly.
Island of Miasmic Collapse.
Sasori's puppet was compressed into a thin disk.
The puppet he was proud of—
Before Spiral Zetsu's ocular technique—
Was completely helpless.
Steel skeleton.
Golden ironwood shell.
All the mechanisms inside—
Collapsed.
Sasori searched the area.
But Spiral Zetsu had already vanished.
Only an echo lingered in the valley.
"Konoha is our common enemy.
That is why I spare you.
Cooperation?
You're not worthy."
Sasori's face darkened.
He had not expected Konoha's rogue ninja to be so powerful.
Such a terrifying ocular technique.
He walked to the water's edge and picked up the flattened remains of his puppet.
Only a few millimeters thick.
Like a top-down diagram of the puppet.
What a terrifying ability…
Ignoring the puppet's strength entirely.
Steel or golden ironwood—
Everything collapsed.
Sasori tossed the disk aside.
His mood was sour.
Puppet masters had too many natural enemies.
The White Fang of Konoha countered puppets.
The Copper Fox of Konoha countered puppets.
And now—
Even the Sharingan countered puppets.
Were puppet techniques truly becoming obsolete?
After a moment, Sasori shook his head.
No.
He would prove that puppetry was not flawed.
That his father's path was not wrong.
Ordinary steel and golden ironwood were no longer sufficient materials.
Better materials must exist.
Turning back toward the valley, Sasori continued searching for usable puppet components.
Two messenger hawks departed from the capital of the Land of Grass.
They flew toward Konoha.
Over rivers.
Over forests.
After two and a half days—
They landed in Konoha.
The communication squad retrieved the hawks and read the message.
The ninja immediately reported to his captain.
The captain grabbed the scroll and rushed toward the Hokage Tower.
Sarutobi Hiruzen read the contents.
The pipe fell from his mouth and clattered to the floor.
He stared blankly at the communications captain kneeling before him.
Then looked down again at the scroll.
Mitokado Homura…
Dead?
"Black Ant!"
"Summon every council member immediately!"