Loyalty! Devotion!

If only I had been a little faster just now.

The dim street lay shrouded beneath the moonlight.

A golden figure streaked over the rooftops like a flash of light, moving at extreme speed, utterly alone.

Recalling what had just happened, Namikaze Minato's heart was filled with regret.

Whether it was his age, the gap in their physical abilities, his use of Ninjutsu and tactics during the exchange, or the timing of his ambush—there had been so many things he had failed to do well, yet he had never noticed before.

I was clearly aiming to become Hokage.

Had I become complacent over my small achievements compared to people my age?

How shameful.

Things should never have been this way.

The figure wrapped in a black combat uniform rolled through the darkness and landed, pressing one finger against the cold ground as his Chakra Sensing spread endlessly into the distance.

Although those Suicide Squad members had been quite skilled in the Earth Dragon Concealment Technique, the traces left behind by their chakra would not vanish in such a short time.

As a highly skilled space- and chakra-sensing ninja, Namikaze Minato needed only the tiniest details to keenly detect the abnormal remnants they had left within the soil.

Chakra continued to flare beneath his feet as he raced toward the enemy's escape route with a Body Flicker Technique beyond ordinary standards.

As one of the fastest users of the Body Flicker Technique at the scene, and in an effort to make up for his earlier failure to stop the enemy, Namikaze Minato paid no heed to the expenditure of chakra.

"Boom—"

A deafening blast suddenly erupted in the distance.

A surging pillar of earth and stone shot into the sky like an upstream waterfall.

Under the moonlight, it kicked up a mist that spread in all directions.

Namikaze Minato's expression immediately changed.

"Over there!"

Without a moment to think, he raised the signal gun at his waist and fired into the air.

The sudden burst of light ignited the night, guiding the troops that followed.

Namikaze Minato did not dare delay. He knew exactly how powerful the enemy was; even ordinary Anbu members would have to pay with their lives merely to put up a front of resistance.

"Whoosh!"

His figure vanished from where he stood.

At the same time, he was not the only one moving.

Looking down from Hokage Rock.

Scattered figures gathered toward the disturbance like fireflies. The strongest members of every ninja clan ventured forward, while the Anbu and Uchiha Police Force personnel scattered across the village like a net grew denser and denser.

Farther behind them was Uchiha Yayoi's group, guided by Hyuga members.

Konoha's thorns had woven themselves into a net, trapping every petty criminal causing trouble within it and tightening, tightening without end.

Turning the minute hand forward just a little.

Under the moonlight.

Sahara Mizu stood at the end of the street, quietly watching the three people before him. A kunai hooked around his fingertip, his expression calm.

The instant Ash Soil saw his face clearly, his expression abruptly turned solemn.

His already impressive memory immediately brought back the crucial information the young man before him had casually revealed during the day.

Because of Sahara Mizu's age and lack of experience, Ash Soil had thought it was merely important information inadvertently revealed by an immature young man occupying a key position.

But when he appeared here, the nature of everything changed.

Ash Soil stared directly into the young man's azure eyes, his posture guarded.

"Who exactly are you?"

The smile on Sahara Mizu's face faded, and his expression turned grave.

"Isn't that obvious?"

He slowly stepped forward. The kunai hooked between his fingers flipped into a reverse grip, its blade reflecting a flickering glint beneath the moonlight as his voice turned chilling.

"Of course, I am someone willing to offer everything for the village—the most loyal."

"A Konoha Ninja."

The instant his words fell.

Tangible-looking chakra radiance burst from beneath the young man's feet.

His body went from stillness to motion, streaking forward in an instant.

He crossed the short dozen-meter distance between them in a moment. The figure reflected in the eyes of the three Iwagakure ninja was so fast that it blurred.

As the blade swung, it tore through the air with a shrill whistle.

"Clang!"

The intimidating chakra signature and overwhelming speed made Ash Soil instinctively cross his metal knuckledusters before him to block.

Yet only when the kunai truly struck his fist—its blade wrapped in Lightning Release chakra tearing through the knuckledusters and embedding deeply into the surface of his thick hand as blood spilled out—did he realize what had happened.

His feet, serving as his anchor, sank deeply into the concrete road beneath the terrifying pressure, cracking apart chunks of hardened pavement as he was pushed back half a meter like a plow.

Only then did Ash Soil truly realize the strength of the young man before him.

Huh?!

How could he be this strong...?

He did not even have time to gasp.

"Clang—"

The Lightning Release kunai followed the torn opening and ripped a deep wound across Ash Soil's fist, sending blood spraying.

In that brief pause, the slender young man had already been lifted slightly into the air by the immense force generated from their clash. He lightly pressed his free left hand against Ash Soil's extended, thick forearm, and his entire body swept through the air like a nimble swallow, tracing a semicircular arc.

The delayed attack from the short Iwagakure Chunin at his side missed completely.

Meanwhile, the tall Iwagakure ninja had already finished his Hand Seals.

"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spears!"

A spear-shaped mass of earth and stone rose and extended behind Ash Soil, carrying tremendous force as it aimed directly at the young man still in midair.

The coordination between the three Iwagakure ninja appeared simple, but their timing was extraordinarily precise.

However, Ash Soil immediately realized the problem.

"Get out of the way!"

The tall Iwagakure ninja had yet to notice where the danger was coming from, but his wealth of experience and the strict battlefield discipline of Iwagakure ninja made him instinctively curl up and roll the instant he heard Ash Soil's command.

"Sshk!"

The Lightning Release kunai shot out like a bullet and embedded deeply into the ground where the tall Iwagakure ninja had just been standing. Even as he rolled away, it tore a bloody gash from his left shoulder to his back.

Without that warning, the blow should have pierced his heart.

However, it did not change much.

Sahara Mizu's body, suspended in midair, abruptly spun. Both feet suddenly stepped onto one of the diagonally rising earth pillars.

The enormous recoil launched him like an arrow released from a bow, shooting straight toward the roaring Ash Soil.

"Earth Release: Earth Golem Technique!"

A giant fist entirely wrapped in solid earth and stone tore through the wind, swinging fiercely toward Sahara Mizu with a force ordinary ninja could scarcely withstand.

At the same time, the other hand concealed at Ash Soil's waist had long been prepared for the next change in technique.

However.

"Boom!"

The earth fist swept through the air, its immense force striking nothing at all.

The blurred afterimage in the darkness passed straight through the center of the fist, without the slightest sensation of hitting something solid.

A clone?!

The thought instinctively arose in Ash Soil's mind.

But immediately afterward, as if he had realized something, he violently turned to look behind him.

Sahara Mizu stood there quietly.

A second kunai, drawn out at some unknown moment, had silently pierced the neck of the short Iwagakure ninja behind Ash Soil, who had been using the obstruction of their sightlines to prepare an attack.

Until the second before his death, he had not realized what had happened.

Deep in his pupils, as he looked toward Ash Soil, there was only confusion.

"Pfft."

The kunai slid out of the wound with a soft sound like a stopper being pulled free, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

Sahara Mizu released the body of the unnamed Iwagakure ninja, and it crumpled limply to the ground.

"One."

Sahara Mizu turned to Ash Soil, raised his chin slightly, and provoked him. "If this little performance is all you've got, then it is still far from enough."

"Please, entertain me more."

"You..."

"You bastard!!"

At that moment, Ash Soil fully understood.

If he could not kill this person who had intercepted them in advance as quickly as possible, then both he and his last remaining subordinate would certainly die within Konoha's encirclement.

So Ash Soil no longer cared about the technique's range or the chakra remaining in his body. He formed Hand Seals with both hands.

"Earth Release: Earth Pillar Explosion!"

With a thunderous roar, an unending series of explosions surged from beneath the ground before Ash Soil like a roaming dragon, rapidly spreading toward Sahara Mizu.

The violent detonations rang through the entire street.

Dust and smoke billowed.