Chapter 37: The Script for a Fallen Genius
After the battle, Stelle found herself on the receiving end of a severe reprimand from Senju Tobirama. Disobeying orders, fabricating intelligence, and wandering off alone during wartime—the list of her transgressions was long and delivered with an icy fury.
Stelle accepted the dressing-down with a mask of perfect humility, then promptly turned around and ran back to the Land of Wind battlefield to "recuperate."
Fighting both Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had been utterly exhausting. She hadn't dared to use her true trump cards, not even the Flying Thunder God Technique, which made the entire ordeal a grueling mental drain. Though she couldn't die and barely felt the pain, the injuries her body sustained were very real. Even with her god-like recovery speed, she still needed a proper rest. It was simply tiring.
By a stroke of strange fortune, she stumbled upon a secluded valley. There, preparing to return to Sunagakure with his personal guard, was none other than the First Kazekage, Reto.
Stelle raised a single eyebrow. "Well now," she murmured to herself. "What a coincidence."
The world worked in peculiar ways; one never knew whether tomorrow or a fatal accident would arrive first.
Reto, who had just suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Uchiha Madara, certainly hadn't expected to run into the Second Hokage's prized disciple out here in the wilderness. The memory of the attack she had led, the one that had cost Sunagakure so many of its elite shinobi—shinobi he had painstakingly trained—was still fresh. A frigid killing intent began to bleed from him, impossible to suppress.
"Lord Kazekage, she's alone," one of his guards hissed, his eyes glaring daggers at Stelle. "If we kill her and dispose of the body, no one will ever know it was us."
With a flick of a wrist, another guard unfurled a sealing scroll. Several combat puppets shot out, their wooden joints clattering as they formed a circle around her.
Reto's expression was grim. Another one of Konoha's budding geniuses. It was always best to strangle such threats in the cradle before they could fully mature. According to their intelligence, this girl, Stelle, was the strongest of Konoha's new generation, crushing all her peers with ease. Killing her would undoubtedly cause Uchiha Madara a great deal of suffering.
And since no one would ever know he was the one who did it, it would at least allow him to vent some of his boiling frustration.
Coincidentally, Stelle was thinking the exact same thing.
'I'm the only one here,'she mused,'and there are no familiar faces around. If I kill their entire group and then stage the scene to look like we took each other out, the "Fall of a Genius" would make for a fantastic script.'
The system was practically vibrating with excitement.
[Exactly, Host! You've already befriended the Guard Squad of Six and are leagues ahead of everyone at the academy. If you "die" taking the First Kazekage with you, anyone who hears the tale will lament your terrible luck and mourn your loss. The Emotional Value will be off the charts!]
[Wait until Uchiha Madara defects from Konoha, then you can just switch to a new alias. You can keep this game going for a long time. A few more personas, and you can coast all the way to the Fourth Great Ninja War you've been looking forward to. You might even get to meet the fated hero!]
Stelle mentally clapped her hands. "Right, let's do it that way."
Her left hand formed the sign for a chakra-sealing jutsu, while her right discreetly retrieved four kunai from her system inventory, each one engraved with a Flying Thunder God formula. She tucked them into her sleeves, ready for action. The plan was simple: first, use the kunai to control the battlefield, then hit each of them with a sealing technique to neutralize their chakra, and finally, finish them off one by one.
Just as the air crackled with the promise of violence, three figures blurred into existence, landing on the battlefield with a soft thud.
It was the trio of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and Uchiha Kagami.
They appeared beside Stelle in an instant, instinctively falling into combat stances, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
'Wait, why are these three here?' Stelle thought, bewildered. If she remembered correctly, this valley was still a long way from the main Konoha encampment.
She discreetly slid the Flying Thunder God kunai back into her sleeve. It seemed she wouldn't be "logging off" just yet.
With all of them here—and not just any shinobi, but the most valued members of Konoha's new generation—the situation had changed entirely. If Reto dared to make a move against them now, it wouldn't matter if there were no witnesses. The mere fact that he had passed through this area would be all the reason Madara and Tobirama needed to wipe the Land of Wind off the map.
Reto obviously understood this as well. Though his killing intent was still a evident force in the air, he twisted his face into a pained, formal mask. "Give my regards to your village's Second Hokage," he ground out.
Hiruzen Sarutobi offered a smile so bright and sincere it was impossible to tell it was fake. "Safe travels, Lord Kazekage. We will be sure to convey your greetings to Lord Second."
The two sides engaged in a brief, murderous, yet impeccably "friendly" exchange.
Finally, gritting his teeth, Reto departed with his guards in tow. Before he disappeared from view, he cast several more glances at Stelle, his gaze a storm of complex emotions. His frustration must have been even greater than Hanzō's when he faced the Sannin; everyone knew the Sannin were on the battlefield, so he didn't dare kill them. But Reto… he had been handed the perfect opportunity just moments ago. Why hadn't he seized it?
Stelle silently waved goodbye to him in her heart, feeling a twinge of pity for her ruined plans.
The moment they were gone, she turned, only to find Hiruzen's finger jabbing aggressively toward her forehead. In these days, Hiruzen was still an impulsive, protective, hot-blooded youth, and his scolding was delivered with impressive vigor.
"What in the world were you thinking?! First, you use a fake mission scroll to run off to the Land of Lightning battlefield. Then, after Lord Tobirama finds you out, you don't follow the main force back to Konoha but cross through an active warzone to get back here! Do you think you're invincible just because you can beat us? If we hadn't received Lord Tobirama's message and come here to patrol, you'd be dead! Do you know that?!"
Danzo's lecture was even more severe. Usually, Stelle was the one beating and lecturing him; now that he finally had an opportunity, he was determined to give her a piece of his mind. If he couldn't win in a fight, he would at least win the argument.
"Honestly, you're as willful as a child. How have you even survived this long? If you don't want to live, you might as well let me beat you to death. At least I'd get to vent some anger, and it's a much better fate than dying at the hands of an enemy."
Once they started, they didn't stop for a full half-hour. They took turns, their nagging more persistent than monks chanting sutras.
Stelle's head was spinning. She turned a pleading gaze to the silent Uchiha Kagami, hoping he might intervene, but Kagami just frowned, his expression etched with disapproval.
"Stelle, you went too far this time. Everyone was worried about you. When we get back to Konoha, if the Clan Head wants to punish you, I won't be covering for you."
Fine, fine. She had earned this affection herself, so she had to see it through to the end, even if it meant listening on her knees.
Stelle listened with a smile at first, but as the lecture wore on, she felt Danzo was getting out of hand. Hiruzen's words were at least rooted in reason, but Danzo… he was starting to settle personal scores, wasn't he?
Her fists clenched until her knuckles creaked audibly. That was enough to make Danzo's tirade falter and die in his throat.
Consequently, upon returning to the Konoha garrison, Stelle was punished by the Senju elders. That big-mouthed Senju Tobirama had, of course, snitched to Uchiha Madara. Madara's secret letter had arrived from across the continent, demanding she be severely punished to teach her a lesson.
Stelle didn't doubt for a second that if Madara could physically be in the Land of Wind right now, he would have rushed over to give her a sound thrashing himself.
Her sentence: after three days in solitary confinement, she was to patrol the camp perimeter alone every night for the next half-month. No relief personnel would be arranged. It wasn't a severe punishment, merely one designed to wear down her patience.
Stelle didn't mind. That night, she zipped around the outskirts of the camp. With her sensory abilities fully active, she could detect even a fly buzzing through the area. From her vantage point in the vast desert, she could see the enemy's situation clearly, including every movement from their watchtowers.
And there, perched on the opposite watchtower, she saw him: Reto, unmistakable in his Kazekage robes.
A wicked grin spread across her face. She directly activated her Flame Release Chakra Mode. Her entire body began to shimmer with a brilliant, unmistakable purple light.
In the dead of night, the sudden emergence of that vibrant purple glow was tantamount to announcing her identity to the entire world.
It was as if she were screaming: "I'm right here. Come and get me."
Across the sands, Reto was so furious he nearly lost his mind.
[Ding! Emotional Value from Reto +2000]
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