Fireworks Were Beautiful, but Gone in an Instant

Chakra burst into dazzling blue-white light along the blade of the Ninja Sword.

Lightning dispersed through the air, its fading force producing a faint birdsong.

The high-speed Storm Release: Body Flicker Technique caught the Kumogakure infiltrators off guard.

By the time Byakuya had taken down three Kumogakure infiltrators,

Izumi Orange had also pierced the throats of two Kumogakure ninja with her Kunai.

Only one remained.

He snarled viciously. "You're all going to die with me!!"

He tore open his outer garment and revealed a ring of Explosive Tags wrapped around his upper body.

"Izumi Orange! You actually betrayed Kumogakure! Die!"

Just as Byakuya was about to finish him off with a swing of his sword, Izumi Orange calmly caught his forearm. "It's fine."

The Explosive Tags went off!

But they turned into fireworks.

The fireworks rose from the tags into the sky, dazzling in a riot of colors.

Byakuya asked, "Were these explosive...firework tags supplied by you?"

"Mm. To make them look just like the real thing, that lord had people specially make these firework tags. But I didn't expect to be exposed so easily. I thought I could keep hiding until I found a lead on the high-ranking Kumogakure spy who's been infiltrating Konoha."

Byakuya silently walked up to the Kumogakure infiltrator, who still couldn't believe what he was seeing, and finished him off with one stroke.

These Kumogakure ninja weren't very strong. Judging by the fight, they were all Genin.

It made sense when he thought about it. There was no chance these infiltrators would survive an attack that caused widespread explosions in Konoha, so it was better to send nimble Genin to carry it out.

"Why did you suddenly go quiet?" Izumi Orange asked.

Wearing the Shuten-doji Mask, Byakuya rasped, "A high-ranking Kumogakure spy infiltrating Konoha? You just told me that outright."

"Since the higher-ups sent you to find me, I assume they wanted me to tell you about this. Hah, even if I hadn't brought it up, you would've questioned me, wouldn't you?"

Izumi Orange walked over beside him and watched the hand gripping his sword. No matter how carefully someone disguised their appearance, their hands could still give away who they were.

As it happened, she was very good at noticing people's hands.

The masked man had noticed something unusual about her and reported it to Root. Then Root had sent him to her to wrap up the operation to round up the Kumogakure infiltrators at the Ninja Academy.

That lord wasn't as concerned with the identity of the high-ranking Kumogakure spy anymore. He had other work for her.

"What's your codename?"

"Shuten-doji."

"My codename is Falcon. You can go. I'll take care of the bodies. The new staff have already been arranged, and no one will find a single trace of you. I guarantee it!"

Izumi Orange's tone changed, as if she'd become someone else.

She was no longer charming and sweet. Now she sounded cool and decisive, even a little distant.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Byakuya immediately used the Storm Release: Body Flicker Technique and vanished right in front of Izumi Orange.

"Such incredible speed with the Body Flicker Technique? I envy your talent for speed," Izumi Orange murmured.

Looking at the dead Kumogakure infiltrator at her feet, she wore a cold smile. She wished she could immediately borrow Konoha's strength and uproot all of Kumogakure.

Izumi Orange would never forget what Kumogakure had done to her in order to turn her into a capable spy.

Perhaps the only reason she hadn't gone mad yet was so she could take revenge on Kumogakure—and the Raikage—a dozen, a hundred, a thousand times over.

"As long as I can hurt Kumogakure, Lord Danzo, I'll do anything you ask of me. I won't complain once."

Izumi Orange crouched down, dipped a finger in the Kumogakure ninja's blood, then put it in her mouth and savored it slowly, her expression deranged.

In a village where everything served military action, everyone from top to bottom was a butcher who deserved to die!

Byakuya returned to the warehouse, took off his mask, and closed his eyes for a while.

"The first thing I know for sure is that Teacher Izumi Orange knows who I am."

"No wonder that old bastard Danzo trusted me so easily and gave me Senju Tobirama's Water Release: Water Formation Wall, Water Release: Water Severing Wave, and the Flying Thunder God Technique. Izumi Orange had already run a background check on me and tested me."

"If I'd said one wrong thing, things probably wouldn't have ended well for me."

He took off his Black Trench Coat.

"A high-ranking spy sent by Kumogakure?"

Byakuya recalled the original story. Years later, when Konoha and Kumogakure made peace, the delegation Kumogakure sent to negotiate kidnapped Hinata Hyuga.

The key issue was that they seemed to have received accurate information about Hinata's location.

Could the high-ranking Kumogakure spy Izumi Orange mentioned have survived until a few years later?

What the hell was that old bastard Danzo doing? He couldn't even find one person!

He'd been so busy around noon that he hadn't eaten. On top of that, the fight had cost him chakra.

He'd planned to eat his fill, spend the afternoon recovering his chakra, then head deep into the forest that night to practice the time-limited mission Fate Grid had assigned him.

Well, so much for that.

As dusk fell,

brilliant fireworks suddenly rose from every corner of the Ninja Academy.

They burst open in the sky.

The students' joyful laughter reached Byakuya as he closed the warehouse doors.

He slipped the key into his pocket.

Byakuya looked up to admire the fireworks.

They were beautiful.

Too bad they were gone in an instant.

"Byakuya?"

Izumi Orange stopped him outside the Ninja Academy gates and tilted her head with a smile. "Want to get some barbecue? My treat."

"Really? Sorry for the trouble, Teacher Izumi Orange."

It seemed like the distance between them had vanished all at once.

They walked side by side.

"Did you see the fireworks, Byakuya?"

"I did. They were beautiful."

"Which was more beautiful, me or the fireworks?"

"The fireworks."

"Byakuya, you really don't know how to charm a girl!"

"The fireworks are beautiful because they last only a moment. That's what makes them so moving. Teacher Izumi Orange's beauty lasts and lasts. After seeing it so often, I've gotten used to it."

Izumi Orange covered her mouth and laughed happily. "Since when did you get so good with words, Byakuya?"

"Are they sweet?"

"Sweet as sugar."

Byakuya spotted Uzumaki Kushina again. She was anxiously asking a ninja something.

As they drew closer,

he could faintly hear Uzumaki Kushina asking about Namikaze Minato's safety.

"Captain Minato is amazing. He took down so many Kumogakure ninja. He's my great hero! Did you know the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki from Kumogakure couldn't even beat him?"

"Really? I haven't been getting much news from the front."

"You're the one who's been holed up in the warehouse. Captain Minato's exploits have been all over the village."

Izumi Orange paused, her tone turning cold. "I thought Kumogakure had sent the Two-Tails Jinchuriki to the battlefield. I never expected it to be the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. If Namikaze Minato hadn't been there, the Konoha ninja wouldn't have been able to withstand the Kumogakure forces' relentless assault. Unless...unless they sent the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki into battle too."

She and Byakuya both looked toward Uzumaki Kushina.

At that very moment,

Kushina sensed their gazes and looked back with a smile. "Byakuya, my junior! Who's this? Your gi—"

"Senior Kushina, let me introduce you. This is Izumi Orange, a teacher at the Ninja Academy."

"Oh, oh! It's nice to meet you, Teacher Izumi Orange." Kushina bowed.

"Were you asking about Captain Minato, Senior Kushina?" Byakuya asked.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she nodded. "Sorry, you two must think I'm silly. I'm always worrying about him."

"We're going to get barbecue. Would you like to join us, Senior Kushina?"

"No, thanks for asking, junior. But I'm learning some new recipes, and I want to make them for Minato when he comes back. See you."

"Take care, Senior."

"They're such a devoted couple," Izumi Orange whispered.