Kintsuchi

The streets of Iwagakure were livelier than Jingxin had imagined.

Stone-paved roads wound between houses built along the mountainside, their gray-white stone walls glowing warmly in the setting sun.

People wore ochre or dark brown clothes, blending in with the village's colors.

Jingxin carried the supplies he had just bought as he headed back to his new home.

In his left hand, he carried a cloth bag filled with vegetables and dried food; in his right, he held his training gear.

His shuriken and kunai were wrapped in thick cloth, and a ten-kilogram weight was strapped around his waist.

Back home, Jingxin set down the supplies and began putting them away.

He sorted the food and stored it, then placed his training gear in a corner of the bedroom.

He wiped the shuriken and kunai clean and carefully coiled the steel wire.

He had no immediate use for the ten-kilogram weight, but he needed to be prepared.

Outside the window, dusk fell, and the lights of Iwagakure began to flicker on one by one.

Jingxin left the house and headed straight for the Tsuchikage Office.

Konoha wouldn't let this go.

Someone like Danzo would use every resource at his disposal to investigate.

Iwagakure was remote, but it wasn't completely safe.

He needed to hide himself more thoroughly.

The Tsuchikage Building was Iwagakure's landmark.

It was rougher and more imposing than the Hokage Building, like a mountain rising straight from the earth.

The guards at the entrance recognized Jingxin and nodded him through.

Ōnoki's office was on the top floor.

When Jingxin knocked, a familiar voice came from inside. "Come in."

Inside, he saw the Third Tsuchikage sitting behind a broad stone desk.

"Jingxin." Ōnoki looked up. "What brings you here so late?"

Jingxin walked up to the desk. "Lord Tsuchikage, as long as I'm alive, Konoha won't let its guard down."

Ōnoki set down his pen. "Hmm. I'd already considered that, too."

He took a document from a drawer and slid it across the desk to Jingxin.

"This is the security plan I prepared earlier," Ōnoki said. "It covers establishing your new identity, guidelines for your daily conduct, and plans for handling possible risks. Take a look."

Jingxin untied the ribbon and unrolled the document.

The plan was more thorough than he had expected.

Every aspect had been carefully considered. It was clearly the work of someone as experienced as Ōnoki.

Ōnoki noticed Jingxin's surprise. "With a child like you coming to Iwagakure, of course I had to consider everything carefully."

"There's one more thing. Think it over. I came up with a new name for you to use for now."

"Kintsuchi. What do you think?"

It was a simple name, even a little rustic.

But it suited Iwagakure's naming conventions, especially the tradition of Ōnoki's family. It sounded like the name of someone born and raised here.

Jingxin thought it over.

He was already exceptional among his peers, but compared to the entire Ninja World, he was still very weak.

Changing his name really would help him avoid a lot of trouble.

"I'll do as you decide, Lord Tsuchikage."

"Hahaha! Kintsuchi, you don't have to call me Lord Tsuchikage anymore. It's too formal. You're Iwagakure's future, just like Kurotsuchi. You can call me Grandpa... Hmm? Just call me Grandpa Ōnoki."

Halfway through, he seemed to remember something and changed his mind at the last moment.

At the same time, at the Root base in Konoha.

Shimura Danzō stood in a dim underground room, with three Root members kneeling before him.

"Based on our intelligence, the Land of Earth is the most likely direction the target fled," Danzō's voice echoed through the stone chamber. "Iwagakure is remote and easy to hide in, and its relationship with Konoha is complicated."

"Iwagakure isn't some minor country. That old man Ōnoki won't let Konoha ninja enter at will."

He went to the desk and picked up a pen and a sheet of paper.

The pen scratched against the page. He considered every word carefully.

The letter was a formal diplomatic missive addressed to the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.

Its wording was polite, but its intent was clear.

Danzō, writing as a member of the Konoha Council of Elders and head of the Anbu Training Department, requested permission for a small team to enter the Land of Earth.

The stated reason was to search for a Genin who had gone missing during a mission.

He didn't name anyone, but those in the know would understand who he meant.

After finishing the letter, Danzō stamped it with his seal.

He placed it in an envelope and sealed it with wax.

"Take it to Iwagakure and deliver it to the Third Tsuchikage in person." Danzō handed the envelope to a black-clad ninja. "Remember, be respectful, but stand firm. This is the Third Hokage's decision."

The three Root members bowed their heads in unison. "Yes."

Three days later, in the Tsuchikage Office in Iwagakure.

Ōnoki sat behind his desk, holding the letter sent from Konoha.

The messenger stood in the center of the room, maintaining a respectful posture, but his eyes held an unmistakable firmness.

"Danzō?" After reading the letter, Ōnoki set it on the desk. "Since when does he have the authority to handle diplomacy on Konoha's behalf?"

The messenger looked up. "Lord Danzō is an important member of the Konoha Council of Elders and has the authority to handle this kind of matter."

"Besides, this is just a routine request for international cooperation. Konoha has no ulterior motives."

"No ulterior motives?" Ōnoki stood up. Though short, he radiated such force that the air in the room seemed to grow heavy. "I have no interest in getting involved in Konoha's mess."

"Konoha isn't the Ninja World's police. You can't just come and go as you please."

"If Hiruzen Sarutobi really wants to search the Land of Earth, let him bring a proper show of good faith and speak to me in person. He shouldn't send someone who hides in the shadows to test Iwagakure's limits."

Ōnoki narrowed his weathered eyes. "If you trespass, I won't mind fighting another ten or twenty years!"

His words were harsh, but Ōnoki had never focused on the supposed "Genin" in question.

On the diplomatic front, he gave no sign that he knew Jingxin existed.

He was just squeezing Konoha for all it was worth, hoping to get something out of this.

The messenger fell silent for a moment, then finally bowed and left.

After the office door closed, Ōnoki went to the window.

He looked out at Iwagakure. Its gray-white buildings stood firm and solid in the sunlight.

"Sarutobi, you've finally reached this point, too," Ōnoki murmured. "You won't even spare a child. Is this what you call the Will of Fire?"

He shook his head and put the matter out of his mind.

Turning back to the desk, he resumed processing the documents.

One of them was a follow-up report on the arrangements for "Kintsuchi," the new villager.

Ōnoki picked up the report and read it carefully.

Kintsuchi, the child he had personally named, was gradually fitting into Iwagakure.

He was still a little awkward, but he was doing his best to adapt.

To make the act convincing, Kintsuchi needed everything that any other Iwagakure ninja would have.

He would have all the necessary records and documents, without exception.

After reading the report, Ōnoki nodded in satisfaction, his heart full of hope for the future.

Konoha, oh, Konoha. Who would have thought you'd sink so low in just a few short years?

You actually dared to hand your sharpest sword over to someone else.