The Mist Ninja's Emissary!

"Samehada!"

Yakumo looked at Samehada, its entire body covered in spikes, and felt no dislike at all. Instead, she felt an extraordinary sense of closeness and joy. She reached out and grabbed the sword's hilt. With Sōken watching nearby, Samehada naturally behaved itself, not daring to cause trouble. It willingly extended its hilt, curling around Yakumo's right arm like a little snake.

"Amazing!"

Yakumo stared at Samehada coiled around her arm, her eyes shining.

Even though it wasn't the first time she'd seen it, the excitement and thrill in her heart had never faded.

This was the kind of thing that existed only in the world of the ninja she longed to join!

"Samehada, you can start."

Sōken gently patted Samehada's blade. The well-behaved sword had already drawn in its sharp spikes. At Sōken's command, it gave a slight twist, then tightened its grip around Yakumo's arm. A special kind of energy slowly flowed out, and Samehada fed it into Yakumo's body bit by bit.

It was the purest physical energy, refined after being devoured by Samehada.

In other words, it was the power of Yang Release.

Of course, it was only a nascent form of Yang Release, still a very long way from the level where one could breathe life into a physical form. But even this early form was a potent remedy for Yakumo. As Samehada continued feeding her the physical energy it had refined, a faint blush gradually appeared on her pale, bloodless face, making her look like someone in a painting.

"Yang Release..."

Opening his Sharingan, Sōken watched the entire process of Samehada transferring its physical energy without blinking.

Before, he had stood alongside Yakumo as one receiving the power. Now, viewing what was happening from the sidelines, he had a different perspective on it... Though Yin and Yang were listed alongside Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, and Earth, Yin and Yang were indeed of a higher order in nature.

Before long,

Samehada stopped transferring the physical energy. It wasn't because it had been drained dry, but because Yakumo's body could only handle so much. Too much of anything was harmful; even the best thing in excess could easily become a deadly poison. Yakumo had been frail and weak since birth, so naturally, Sōken had to be even more careful when restoring her strength.

"Yakumo, how do you feel?"

Sōken asked with concern.

"Master, I feel like I could punch a cow to death right now!" The little girl, thin as a bean sprout, swung her slender arm with the confidence of someone making a grand boast.

"Looks like it won't be long before you can go to the Ninja Academy with Toka and the others!"

Sōken flicked a finger,

and Samehada immediately shrank back, lying obediently on the table.

"Really, Master?"

Yakumo looked at him expectantly.

"What good would it do me to lie to a little girl like you?" Sōken smiled. "If my Fuinjutsu weren't a little lacking, you might have been able to start at the Ninja Academy even sooner."

"No, Master! I'm already so happy that I'll get to go to the Ninja Academy. I don't mind going a little later."

Yakumo replied obediently.

"Are you happy?"

Sōken said nothing more. He simply had someone take his student to rest. Just as food needed time to digest, Yakumo's body also needed time to assimilate the foreign physical energy. Fortunately, the energy had already been purified and refined by Samehada. It would only take some time to integrate, and there wouldn't be any other problems.

He also had some troublesome matters to take care of!

Outside the window,

a crow Shisui had raised stood on the windowsill, staring inside.

"Toka! Toka! Don't run so far ahead! We've already left the Police Force headquarters. Brother Sōken won't be able to find us later!" Naruto chased after her, calling out again and again. Unfortunately, as her little brother, he couldn't stop his big sister from doing whatever she pleased.

Sasuke followed close behind, keeping up.

There was nothing he could do about it.

He and Toka weren't exactly on good terms!

But the problem was, aside from Toka and Naruto, he didn't seem to have any friends once he left the Ninja Academy.

At the moment, he and Toka were the only ones from the clan attending the Ninja Academy. The other children their age stayed with the clan and received their education at home. Honestly, when they met, they'd just greet one another and then go off to do their own thing.

After blowing a hole in the Ninja Academy's classroom building with a Fireball and then skipping school, Sasuke didn't feel like going home either. So he had no choice but to hang out with Toka and Naruto!

They left the Police Force headquarters and headed through the quiet streets toward a nearby park.

"Naruto, you're so annoying!"

Irritated by his noise, Toka turned around to scold her little brother. As a result, she failed to notice the person who had suddenly appeared in front of her and ran straight into him. This time, unlike on the first day at the Ninja Academy, when she'd knocked Naruto flat, she ended up on her back with her limbs splayed like a little frog.

"Toka!!"

Naruto and Sasuke hurried forward at once.

They helped Toka up, then looked warily at the ninja standing before them, who wore a Forehead Protector that didn't belong to Konoha.

"Hey, hey, brats from Konoha! What are your eyes for if you don't watch where you're going?"

The stranger glared at Naruto and the others, his face fierce.

He wore a dark gray ninja vest unlike those of Konoha Ninja, and his clothes were completely different from the style of the Land of Fire. Add to that the Forehead Protector tied around his head... Sasuke recalled what he'd learned in class. This was a Mist Ninja.

"I'm sorry. It was my fault for bumping into you!"

Toka pushed Naruto and Sasuke aside and apologized loudly.

If you made a mistake, you had to admit it.

The Uchiha Clan's pride had never been about never making mistakes. It was about daring to admit when they were wrong. That was what her brother had taught her. Making mistakes wasn't shameful; people spent their whole lives making countless mistakes. What was shameful was making a mistake and refusing to own up to it.

She didn't really understand all of that, but she remembered that if you did something wrong, you had to admit it and apologize. That was only natural.

"Hey! Little girl, you think an apology is enough? You nearly broke my ribs when you hit me." The Mist Ninja had no intention of letting the children off so easily. His nasty attitude made it seem like he was deliberately picking a fight—and, in fact, he was, even with several Konoha Ninja following behind him.

Behind the Mist Ninja, three Chunin wearing green vests stood awkwardly, hesitating and unsure what to do.

They were embassy staff, responsible for receiving envoys from other countries and ninja villages.

As a matter of principle, this was Konoha; there was no way an outsider should be allowed to throw his weight around here. But ever since the incident two years ago, when an envoy from Kumogakure had died and the Hyuga Clan had been forced to sacrifice a Branch House member to defuse the crisis,

the embassy staff had become rather timid in their work.

Even a prestigious clan like the Hyuga had paid such a terrible price. These ordinary ninja couldn't afford to bear the consequences of angering an envoy from Kirigakure. Otherwise, to appease the envoy, they'd very likely be thrown out as scapegoats.

"Then what do you want?"

Toka met the Mist Ninja's gaze without flinching.

"Haha! You Uchiha brats sure are something. You know, my father and both my older brothers were killed by your Uchiha. As punishment for injuring me, hand over your eyes!" As he spoke, the Mist Ninja reached out to grab Toka.