Full-Scale World War

Tap, tap, tap...

Naruto walked slowly toward them from the far end of the light and shadow, his wooden sandals making crisp sounds with every step. Moonlight mingled with his plain kimono, casting a soft glow around him and outlining his figure.

His regular, intensive training had naturally left its mark. His once somewhat slender frame was now upright and strong, the broad line of his shoulders and the muscles of his chest faintly visible beneath the fabric.

But even so, Daigo Tono's kimono was still a little too large for Naruto. He had simply thrown it on, leaving the front partly open and exposing the skin from his neck to his chest. Droplets of water clung to his firm skin, trickling along its contours, over his collarbones and down the clearly defined ridges of his abdominal muscles, before disappearing beneath the folds of his robe.

Daigo Tono stared in disbelief. He could hardly trust his eyes. How had that country bumpkin from who-knows-where suddenly started glowing just from taking a bath?

Xin's gaze shifted back and forth between Naruto and Daigo Tono. Even without using sign language, Daigo Tono could clearly read the silent question in Xin's eyes.

[Do I look bad?]

[I have no idea!]

Daigo Tono shot back a look.

Ino, sitting on the sofa, watched the boss and Xin exchange increasingly strange looks. She had planned to play it cool, but could no longer suppress her mounting curiosity. She hurried to the doorway and peered down the hall.

One look was all it took for Ino to freeze.

Naruto's freshly washed blond hair no longer stuck out wildly as it usually did. Tamed by the water, it lay damp against his temples and the nape of his neck. A few longer bangs fell neatly over his forehead, making his signature bright blue eyes seem even deeper and more luminous, like a clear sky washed clean by rain.

Soft moonlight traced the increasingly defined line of Naruto's jaw. Almost all the childishness of his younger days had faded, replaced by a growing composure and a hint of heroism. But when his eyes met Ino's, the smile that instinctively curved his lips revealed a familiar warmth and closeness.

He quickened his pace. The night breeze drifted through the corridor, gently stirring his open collar and damp blond bangs. Moonlight danced across him in tiny flecks, like a veil of flowing silk.

Naruto stopped in front of Ino and tilted his head slightly, as if wondering why she looked so stunned.

"Ino, I'm done washing up."

His voice was as familiar as ever, but the figure before her was unlike anything she had ever seen.

Like jade polished clean: once the grime covering its surface had been washed away, its true beauty finally shone through.

"..."

Ino instinctively held her breath, her mind going blank.

It was as though the whole world had vanished.

All she could see were those damp blue eyes across from her. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart, hammering against her chest as if it might break free.

Her lips parted, but she couldn't utter a single word.

"Phew..."

Sarutobi slowly exhaled a plume of gray-white smoke. The ash hissed inside his pipe.

The smoke briefly gathered into a thin mist before him, obscuring his deeply lined face.

He had just finished his visit to the Hyuga Clan and was on his way back to the Hokage Building.

Night had already swallowed every inch of Konoha, but the idea of going home after work was still an extravagant luxury for the Hokage.

The village's development plans, the neighboring countries' probing, intelligence reports from Anbu, budget shortfalls, and the new names on the list to be carved into the Memorial Stone... The scrolls piled high on his desk were the burden the Hokage had to bear.

Perhaps that was why Hokage after Hokage inevitably seemed to have trouble with their families.

"...Oh, the Fourth Hokage and the First Hokage were exceptions."

The Fourth Hokage had died not long after taking office, so he hadn't had time to face that problem.

The First Hokage, meanwhile, had the Second Hokage to help him—or rather, most of the paperwork and policy-making had in fact been handled by the Second Hokage. That left him free to talk with his close friend Madara Uchiha in the hills behind the village, roam the world capturing all Nine Tailed Beasts and bringing them back to Konoha before distributing them elsewhere, and play gambling games with his favorite little princess, Tsunade.

The Second and Third Hokage hadn't been so fortunate.

One had spent his time either researching all manner of repulsive forbidden jutsu or staying on guard against the naturally evil Uchiha. He hadn't even had time to start a family, and died unmarried and childless... Incidentally, most of the forbidden jutsu he researched were also designed to make life miserable for the Uchiha. The other had served as Hokage for nearly forty years, laboring with all his might yet still facing obstacles at every turn. All three of his students had left him, and he couldn't even get along with his second son and grandson...

"...Am I getting old?"

"Good evening, Lord Hokage!"

The thought that had surfaced unbidden in Sarutobi's mind was cut short. He looked up at the two guards saluting him at the entrance and realized he had already returned to the Hokage Building.

He drew a barely perceptible breath, removed his pipe from his mouth, and gave them his usual gentle, composed nod. Then he strode steadily up the wide steps and disappeared into the brightly lit building.

"Lord Hokage." As soon as Sarutobi entered, a ninja came forward to report. "Lord Kakashi is waiting in your office."

"Mm," Sarutobi replied. "When did Kakashi arrive?"

"Around six, just as it was getting dark."

"Understood."

Sarutobi headed straight to his office and pushed open the door. Kakashi was indeed waiting inside.

"Lord Hokage." Kakashi rose and bowed.

Sarutobi stepped forward and patted him lightly on the shoulder. "You've been waiting a long time. Sorry, my conversation with Hiashi ran a little long."

"It's all right. I was able to get some rest here."

Sarutobi's gaze fell on Kakashi's right hand, wrapped in bandages. He nodded without comment, invited Kakashi to sit, and returned to his desk.

"How are things going?"

Sarutobi got straight to the point.

"The Sealing Squad Danzo brought with him is doing everything it can to seal the rift. They haven't finished yet, but at least by the time I left, its expansion had temporarily stopped," Kakashi said.

"What about Jiraiya?"

"Lord Jiraiya is still there for now. He said he wouldn't consider leaving until the rift was completely sealed and we knew for certain that nothing else could pass through," Kakashi said. Then he lowered his voice slightly. "He told me privately that he doesn't trust Lord Danzo's abilities. If an enemy as powerful as the one we encountered before came through, we'd be in trouble without a top-tier fighter stationed there."

"...Lord Danzo seems to have noticed what Jiraiya thinks, too, so things between them have been a little... unpleasant," Kakashi added.

Sarutobi didn't care about that. In his view, there was no way a man who wore such a sour expression day in and day out could get along with anyone. Even he, a man widely known for his easygoing nature, sometimes wanted to take his pipe stem and rap Danzo over the head. With Jiraiya, who seemed easygoing but was as stubborn as an ox, it was a wonder they hadn't come to blows.

"Then do you think the Sealing Squad can seal the rift?" Sarutobi pressed.

"No." Kakashi's answer was unusually decisive.

"Why?" Sarutobi asked in surprise.

Sealing Jutsu might not have the showy presence of other ninjutsu, but it was one of the core powers that upheld the rules of this world. It could seal Kaguya Otsutsuki above and Tailed Beasts below, and could also be adapted to produce effects such as reflection, restraint, spatial transfer, and even interference with time. It was no exaggeration to call it the most profound and distinctive power in this world.

Sarutobi had therefore been reasonably confident they could succeed. Of course, he hadn't been blindly optimistic, but Kakashi's categorical denial still surprised him.

"I don't mean the rift absolutely can't be sealed. I mean we have to plan everything that comes afterward on the assumption that the sealing attempt will fail in the worst possible way," Kakashi said, his expression grave. "Jiraiya and I agree on that."

"You and Jiraiya?" Sarutobi caught the implication at once. "Did you find something on the other side?"

Sarutobi knew that, among the people from Konoha, only Jiraiya and Kakashi had gone through the rift to investigate the other side.

"Yes." Kakashi stood and took a sealed box from inside his clothes.

In fact, delivering this item to the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was the main purpose of his return to the village.

"Some kind of powerful [Information Barrier] prevents the direct transmission of written and spoken information, but visual information can still be understood," Kakashi explained as he opened the box. Inside lay a neat stack of photographs.

His voice grew heavy. "The photographs we found are enough to prove that... the world on the other side has already conquered or completely destroyed at least one other world. We're not the first world they've encountered—not Konoha, or the Ninja World."

"So Jiraiya and I agree."

Kakashi raised his head, his single visible eye shining with solemn resolve.

"We have to prepare for... a full-scale world war."