It had been eighteen hours since Kumogakure was attacked by an unknown assailant. Dusk was already settling in.
In the Raikage's office—more like a gym than an office—the newly appointed Third Raikage, A, had been raging nonstop for twelve hours straight.
Since morning, the place had echoed with furious roars.
There had been 148 curses involving the attacker's mother, and 3,200 targeting the attacker's female ancestors. Actually, make that 3,201 now.
Inside the office, a fair, slender hand held a pen and jotted down "3,201."
The owner of the hand sat at a small desk, idly twirling the pen with long, nimble fingers, her other hand resting against her cheek as she leaned lazily forward.
She was a woman—rarely seen in Kumogakure—with porcelain skin and stunning features.
Her eyes were large and captivating, framed by long lashes that curled slightly upward, giving her a mischievous air.
But the most eye-catching feature? Two perky, unmistakable white "melons" resting squarely on the desk—impossible to ignore.
Clearly, they were no small burden on her shoulders.
As the sky outside the tall windows darkened, the woman in a form-fitting miniskirt and a sleek little vest stood up lazily.
"Uncle, you've been blowing up for eleven hours and forty-nine minutes. In eleven more, I'm off the clock~"
The towering and muscle-bound Raikage A swallowed the curse that had risen to his lips, glanced wordlessly at his niece, sighed, and asked,
"Amai, has anyone reported who the attacker is?"
At his words, Amai lightly massaged her shoulder and shook her head with a sigh.
"No. All we've recovered are one hundred ninety-nine specially made bricks. According to the intel division, they're tied to some kind of jutsu."
"What kind of jutsu?" A asked without thinking.
Amai brushed back a stray lock of light-blonde hair that curled down by her cheek and shook her head again.
"The intel division couldn't make anything of it. There's nothing special about the bricks—just some unusually patterned chakra."
"Damn it!" A exploded, kicking the nearby couch. The overburdened thing gave out immediately, collapsing into a heap.
Amai didn't even blink. She knew her uncle was actually holding back.
If he let his temper truly run wild, the entire Raikage building would probably come down in an instant.
"Uncle, no need to rush. Whoever's hiding in the shadows clearly has some kind of plan. The moment they slip up, we'll catch them."
Raikage A grunted.
"All the sensory squads deployed?"
"They are. We also reinforced the teams at the Temple of Wind and Thunder and the Valley of Clouds and Lightning."
Amai hadn't finished when a loud knock suddenly banged on the office door.
"Enter!" A roared.
The door burst open, and a Kumogakure ANBU stormed in, dropping to one knee.
"Raikage-sama! The Temple of Wind and Thunder has been attacked again!"
"What kind of attack? Speak clearly!"
"It seems to be Magnet Release—countless cylindrical iron chunks fell from the sky and started smashing people left and right!"
"And the attacker?" A asked quickly.
"He was cursing and chasing after Master Chōkū's bald head, beating it like a drum!"
He didn't add the part about the two sensory team members at the scene laughing so hard they could barely breathe. After all, Master Chōkū was practically revered like Buddha.
Upon hearing this, Raikage A's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
That bastard had the nerve to go after Master Chōkū—a monk revered for his Buddhist teachings? That was beyond insulting.
Fire lit up in his eyes as he spun toward the massive floor-to-ceiling window, clearly about to crash through it.
Amai rushed in and blocked his path.
"Uncle! Something's off. The attacker's behavior makes no sense!" she said with a furrowed brow. She was only fifteen or sixteen, but there was already a hint of command in her voice.
"Let the Jōnin team handle this—send more if needed. But you stay in the office!"
Raikage A narrowed his eyes and stared at her.
"You're thinking... the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki?"
Amai nodded rapidly, her chest bouncing along with the motion.
It was clear—Raikage wasn't stupid. Just reckless.
After a moment of thought, he gave a firm nod and was just about to give orders to the ANBU when another one burst in.
"Raikage-sama! The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki—"
"Speak!" A spun around with a roar.
"The Jinchūriki was attacked. He's already activated partial Tailed Beast Transformation!"
"How many tails?"
"One!"
Raikage let out a breath of relief and quickly turned to Amai.
"Get someone to back up the Temple of Wind and Thunder."
With that, he abandoned the idea of leaping through the window and instead shoved past the ANBU, charging out of the office.
Although a strange feeling gnawed at her, there was no time to think. Amai quickly issued orders to the ANBU:
"Assemble the combat squads in the village! The Jōnin team will support A-sama at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, and the Chūnin team will back up the Temple of Wind and Thunder! All ANBU return to the Raikage Building—except for the scouts. I want to see exactly what this mysterious bastard is up to!"
After firing off her commands, Amai strode swiftly out of the Raikage's office.
...
Inside Kumogakure, the incident hadn't yet spread. The village ninjas were still casually going about their day.
At that moment, loud and urgent knocking rang out at Raimei's door.
He abruptly stopped his push-ups and got up to answer it. Standing outside was his teammate—a Genin named Okufu.
"It's you. What do you want?" Raimei asked, his tone distant as he opened the door.
Something was off about Okufu today. Normally quiet, he seemed oddly fired up.
"Heh~ I came to tell you, someone attacked the Temple of Wind and Thunder. I'm heading out to take the attacker down."
"You?" Raimei let out a scornful laugh, then shook his head.
But this time, Okufu didn't lower his head like usual. Instead, he scowled and met Raimei's gaze with defiance.
"Yeah, me. Just because I used to stay quiet doesn't mean I will now!
I'm going to catch the attacker, earn some glory, unlock a secret technique, and become strong!"
With that, Okufu spun on his heel and ran off.
"Coward! Stay home and do your push-ups!"
As the words left his mouth, Okufu darted down the stairs and headed straight for the Temple of Wind and Thunder.
Raimei stood frozen in the doorway, boiling with anger at the insult. Reckless and prideful, he didn't even stop to consider how strange Okufu's behavior had been. He quickly pulled on his shinobi sandals and bolted after him.
"Damn you, Okufu! I'll be the one to take the credit! Lord Raikage will definitely reward me with Lightning Release: Chakra Mode!"
With a burst of chakra, he sprinted toward the Temple of Wind and Thunder.
He was confident—his specialty in nintaijutsu gave him the edge in speed over Okufu.
What he didn't know was that Okufu had already been dead for quite some time.
Reiji had successfully baited his target—a small fry named Raimei.
While his clone caused chaos at the Temple of Wind and Thunder, Reiji slipped into the temple's main hall.
There, he immediately sensed a massive and searing chakra presence.
It was so intense that he had felt it the moment he stepped through the temple gate—and he wasn't even a sensor-type ninja.
...
Right now, the entire temple was in shambles. Clones poured out of space, bricks in hand, swinging at anything that moved.
And the most terrifying part? Whenever a Kumogakure ninja managed to take down a clone, another clone would appear out of nowhere, catch the falling brick, and finish what its predecessor started.
Before long, the ground was splattered with white and yellow brain matter.
This was Reiji's first time killing in Kumo.
He didn't know if any sensor-type shinobi were among the defenders—
or if they could remember the unique signature of his chakra. It was a gamble he couldn't afford.
He wasn't a killer by nature, but when it came to killing, he didn't hesitate.
Out of everyone here, only Master Chōkū's rock-hard bald head was missing.
Thinking of this, Reiji narrowed his eyes, focusing on the sealing formula he'd left on Chōkū's scalp.
Suddenly, his eyes shot open. He turned his gaze toward the great Buddha statue in the center of the hall.
The mark he'd left was beneath it.
"Flying Thunder God!"
Reiji formed a one-handed seal—and vanished.
...
In the next instant, Reiji reappeared—only to freeze in shock at what he saw.
A vast underground chamber stretched before him. Eight massive chains, swirling with gusts and lightning, tightly bound a towering blue feline.
The cat, with its elegant, slender pupils, lay lazily on the ground, glaring coldly at him.
Two-Tails!
Seeing the beast in person, Reiji quickly cleared his throat and forced a bright, sincere smile—completely ignoring Master Chōkū, who was howling beneath his foot.
"Ahem... loli—cough!"
"Matatabi-san, hello! Let me introduce myself."
"Sorry, got a little excited."
He gave his forehead a light tap and, despite the increasingly frosty look in Matatabi's eyes, continued:
"I'm Danzō Shimura. Nice to meet you. Would you care to go for a stroll? Maybe grab a bite?"
If he were saying this to a cute girl, it might've made sense.
But the creature in front of him had fangs longer than his arms.
Still, that didn't faze Reiji. Who said a Jinchūriki and a Tailed Beast couldn't fall in love?
What's wrong with a little platonic romance?
Well... okay, maybe it's not all that romantic.
But whatever. This date is happening—whether you want it to or not!
So what if the melon's not ripe? I'm still taking a bite!