At that moment, Akira, who had been sitting calmly beside Samui, suddenly vanished into thin air.
In the very next second, he appeared right at Yugito Nii's side without the slightest warning, close enough to whisper in her ear.
With a faint smile, he said, "Jonin Yugito, if a ninja can't adapt on the fly, doesn't that make the jonin title sound a little generous?"
"If this mission falls apart and the Land of Fire goes down, do you really think the Land of Lightning will stay untouched? You know what happens when the nest collapses."
"Besides, I never said you had to take orders from me. I only suggested we work together, so don't be so tense."
Yugito's pupils contracted sharply, and every hair on her body stood on end.
It wasn't his words that shook her.
It was that ghostlike teleportation.
She had sensed absolutely no chakra fluctuation at all, and yet he had already crossed the distance and ended up right beside her face.
That kind of speed was definitely faster than Raikage-sama's, and it clearly involved some advanced space-time ninjutsu.
Yugito said nothing, but inside, shock was crashing through her like a tidal wave.
This bastard really is that strong. Samui wasn't exaggerating at all. He might actually have the power to suppress a Tailed Beast.
And just as that thought hit her, Matatabi, the Two-Tails inside her, issued a warning.
"Yugito, be careful. This one is unfathomable. His chakra is like a bottomless abyss."
Yugito froze, then asked within her mental space, "What? More chakra than you? That's ridiculous. You're a Tailed Beast. How could a human possibly have that much?"
Matatabi's voice was more serious than she had ever heard it.
"I'm not mistaken. The energy inside him is so vast it even makes me uneasy. It's several times greater than mine."
"And don't forget what Samui said. He once suppressed the Three-Tails. Looking at him now, that clearly wasn't just rumor."
With that confirmation from her partner, the way Yugito looked at Akira changed completely.
Before, she had only heard stories.
Now the proof was standing right in front of her.
A human who could suppress a Tailed Beast by himself was the kind of existence that barely appeared even once in the whole history of the ninja world.
Back then, even the Third Raikage had only managed to fight the Eight-Tails to mutual destruction in close combat.
If Akira could suppress the Three-Tails so casually, then that meant he possessed the strength to contend with the Eight-Tails, or perhaps something even worse.
Yugito drew in a slow breath, forcing down the storm in her chest before speaking in a low voice.
"Cooperation is fine. But I keep command over my own squad."
Akira's lips curved upward, and he snapped his fingers.
"Deal."
"That's more like it. As long as we get the priestess to the site, the process doesn't matter."
"And I suspect there are ninjas behind Mōryō's resurrection. There's no way it broke the seal on its own."
Yugito nodded, her expression easing somewhat.
"That's our conclusion too. That's why the village sent elite shinobi."
Now that they had reached an understanding, Akira pressed the advantage immediately.
"Since we're on the same side now, then let Samui and Karui handle close protection for the priestess. Better to make sure no one finds an opening."
Yugito considered it briefly, then agreed without much resistance. It was a perfectly reasonable arrangement.
Samui had no objection either. Deep down, she trusted Akira far more than she cared to admit. Ever since that mission in the Land of Water, that trust had quietly taken root on its own.
Once everything was settled, Akira and the others took rooms in the guest quarters outside the palace and prepared to rest for the night before departing for the Land of Swamps at first light.
Late that night, when the palace had finally gone quiet, Neji, Lee, Omoi, and the others were already asleep.
Akira stepped out alone onto the open-air balcony on the second floor and stood there in silence, watching the cold moon overhead.
By coincidence, the door to the neighboring room opened at that exact moment.
Yugito stepped out as well.
When she saw Akira standing there, she clearly hesitated for a moment. Her first instinct was to turn around and go back inside, but then she seemed to think better of it, as though doing so would make it look like she was afraid of him.
So instead, she walked over stiffly, her heels tapping crisply against the floor.
Akira leaned against the railing without turning his head. Sensing the faint fragrance drifting over from beside him, he spoke calmly.
"I think this is the second time I've worked with Kumogakure."
Yugito crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby pillar, replying in her usual cool tone.
"The first was with Samui, wasn't it? When she came back, she talked you up like some kind of legend. She even managed to win over those two idiots, Karui and Omoi, along with herself."
Akira laughed under his breath.
"That I really didn't expect. She's usually not very talkative."
Yugito looked up at the moon and stayed quiet for a while before suddenly asking, "For this mission, do you actually have a plan? Mōryō is a fiend that nearly destroyed the world once, and ordinary ninjutsu can't kill it."
Akira gave her a slightly surprised look. He hadn't expected a proud woman like her to show concern so openly.
The truth was, Akira himself was completely confident.
His research into Yin-Yang Release had advanced by leaps and bounds during this period. He still wasn't at the Sage of Six Paths' level, where decay could be turned into miracle, but he wasn't all that far off anymore.