You Really Enjoyed My Granddaughter!

"Yo, Ōnoki! Tired of fighting yet?"

Natsume jostled the backpack on his back, with the seventy million inside.

He called out with a smile to Ōnoki, who was preparing to leave in the distance.

He had to admit, even setting combat aside,

the Flying Thunder God Technique was incredibly useful just for traveling!

He'd covered more than ten kilometers in an instant.

It saved so much time!

The only drawback was how much chakra it consumed. With his current reserves, two or three round trips would leave him completely drained.

It looked like he'd have to raise his chakra limit some more.

Meanwhile,

hearing the taunt from behind him,

Ōnoki abruptly turned around.

Only then did he realize that the enemy he'd just fought—the real one—had suddenly appeared!

"What is this? Body Flicker?"

"No, there was no one nearby just a moment ago."

"Even the fastest Body Flicker couldn't cover over a thousand meters in an instant!"

"Wait, what's that at his feet? A Kunai?"

"D-don't tell me..."

"It's the Flying Thunder God Technique?!"

Ōnoki cried out in shock.

Even though nearly ten years had passed, he still hadn't forgotten.

The sight of Konoha's Yellow Flash bursting onto the scene and dominating an entire era.

With the incredible speed granted by the Flying Thunder God Technique, he'd been nearly invincible!

During the Third Shinobi World War alone, more than a hundred Iwagakure Ninja had died at his hands.

Among them were Iwagakure elites like "Tōshito" and "Mahiru."

That war was also what had forged the bitter enmity between Iwagakure and Konoha—a grudge that remained unresolved to this day.

It was even because of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, that Ōnoki had been forced to stay in Iwagakure, afraid to go out and fight.

He'd feared the other man would simply use the Flying Thunder God to sneak into his village and attack.

That showed just how much of a threat a shinobi who mastered such a powerful S-rank Space-Time Ninjutsu posed!

He was the stuff of every enemy's nightmares!

And now, eight years later...

Could Konoha have produced another terrifying shinobi who'd mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique?!

Ōnoki didn't dare think too deeply about it.

But judging by the Kunai and the speed...

There was a very good chance it really was the Flying Thunder God Technique!

"If he really is a Konoha Ninja, he'll probably become the Fifth Hokage someday!"

"When that happens, the entire Ninja World will be crushed beneath his heel again..."

"Such a formidable enemy must be eliminated as soon as possible!"

"If I catch him off guard with Dust Release, I might be able to kill him in one blow..."

In an instant,

Ōnoki's deeply wrinkled face shifted through several expressions.

His heart twisted with indecision as he weighed his options.

No matter what, he didn't want to see another Yellow Flash emerge in the Ninja World. Especially not one who was likely from Konoha.

"Who... who are you?"

Ōnoki roared, secretly preparing a lethal attack.

"Old man, you're thinking about how to kill me right now, aren't you?"

"Don't bother."

"I'm off. Maybe we'll meet again!"

"Oh, I almost forgot. Your granddaughter's a real treat! And your village's vault was a real treat too!"

"Hahaha..."

Natsume laughed heartily.

Without hesitation, he flicked his body and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique again, vanishing from the spot.

He'd already done what he came to do.

He didn't want to stick around and face Ōnoki's Dust Release.

Although there was a ninety percent chance the thing wouldn't hit him anyway...

Watching the enemy disappear in an instant,

and being powerless to stop him,

Ōnoki could only seethe in frustration and halt the jutsu he'd been performing.

Then he remembered what the other man had said before leaving.

"Oh no!"

"Could Black Earth and the vault back in the village already have been hit?!"

Ōnoki's expression changed at once.

He hurriedly carried Kitsuchi and flew toward the village, not daring to stop for a moment.

His granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, and the village vault were both precious to him. He couldn't bear to lose either!

And so,

twenty minutes later,

the Tsuchikage Guard followed Ōnoki's chakra, circled around outside the village, and eventually looped back inside.

They found Ōnoki at the entrance to the Vault Attic in their own village...

At that moment, the Third Tsuchikage was holding his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, with one arm and clutching his aching lower back with the other.

He leaned against the door, staring blankly into space, utterly dazed.

Before him stood the village vault, almost completely emptied.

Fortunately, only the vault had been robbed.

His granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, seemed to be unharmed.

Otherwise, the Third Tsuchikage might well have been driven to death by rage that night...

Even so,

Iwagakure had suffered heavy losses that night!

The theft of most of the money in the vault alone would be devastating.

If word got out, the village's already fragile economy would likely plummet by several more percentage points!

So,

summoning the last of his strength, Ōnoki hurriedly ordered the Guard to seal off the vault and suppress the news. Then he took Kitsuchi, Kurotsuchi, Deidara, and the others to get medical treatment.

The night grew deeper.

Fortunately, most of the fighting had taken place outside the village.

There hadn't been many casualties inside Iwagakure.

The village itself remained relatively quiet.

Of course, many of the informed senior shinobi began a night of frantic activity.

And so,

an hour later, after taking a short rest, Ōnoki summoned the village's senior officials once more.

He quickly recounted the series of major events that had taken place that night.

"Kitsuchi, little Kurotsuchi—how badly are they hurt?"

Ōnoki's expression darkened.

"Kitsuchi's injuries are severe. He has multiple broken bones and extensive muscle damage. Fortunately, his life isn't in danger, but he'll need at least a month or two to recover..."

"As for Kurotsuchi and the others, they weren't hurt. They just passed out..."

"Did the intruder hold back?"

One of the advisors pressed.

Ōnoki nodded. "Probably. But it could've been deliberate. Killing them would only have made Iwagakure even angrier."

"Not only did we let the spy escape, but the village vault was robbed too!"

"Lord Third, our losses this time are considerable!"

Ōnoki replied, "I know! The priority now is to keep this quiet and replenish the vault as soon as possible..."

"Shouldn't we send out troops right away to recover the stolen money?"

Ōnoki shot the Daimyo's envoy an irritated glance and said coolly, "The other man mastered the Space-Time Ninjutsu known as the Flying Thunder God Technique! Do you think anyone can catch him?"

"What?! The Flying Thunder God Technique?! How is that possible?"

"Wasn't Konoha's Yellow Flash already dead?"

"Don't tell me there's another one?"

Ōnoki said, "We can't be certain yet. He was wearing the clothes of the rogue ninja organization Akatsuki, had a Sharingan, and was extremely powerful..."

The other senior Iwagakure officials were shocked too, and quickly began arguing.

"Could Akatsuki have done all this?"

"Impossible! How could a bunch of second-rate rogue ninja have the nerve to attack one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages?"

"And the moment that spy escaped, they just happened to show up and rescue him."

"If it were just a rogue ninja organization, they couldn't possibly maintain such a tightly run intelligence network!"

"Someone from one of the other great villages must be behind this."

"Akatsuki is just a cover!"

"We can't even rule out Konoha hiring Akatsuki to extract the spy!"

"After all, other than Konoha, none of the great ninja villages have the Flying Thunder God Technique!"

"And don't forget, that Akatsuki member had a Sharingan—a Kekkei Genkai!"

"Across the entire Ninja World, Konoha is clearly the most suspicious!"

"Then that Uchiha Clan that recently defected from Konoha is suspicious too, isn't it?"

"Hmph! Ridiculous. Those people defected from Konoha and are fugitives in the Ninja World. They're probably too busy looking after themselves."

"How would they have the time to scheme against Iwagakure?"

"Then it really was Konoha?"

Ōnoki watched them argue in silence, enduring his back pain and feeling helpless.

But he had to admit,

from every angle, Konoha was the most suspicious!

The spy, the Sharingan, the Flying Thunder God Technique... all of them pointed to Konoha.

Anyone who said Konoha had nothing to do with this wouldn't be fooling anyone!

After a while, Ōnoki finally interrupted them.

"Enough, all of you!"

"Even if Konoha was involved, we can't retaliate without direct evidence."

"We must investigate this thoroughly. Once we find conclusive proof, we can discuss it further..."

"In any case, whoever dared scheme against me is asking for death!"

Ōnoki stroked his long beard, bristling with anger as he made his decision.

"What about the plan to launch a surprise attack on Konoha...?"

"The spy escaped. The plan's been exposed, so we have no choice but to abandon it for now."

"Any objections?"

Ōnoki swept his gaze across the room and demanded.

Iwagakure was unlike Konoha. Ōnoki held its power, status, seniority, and prestige all at once, giving him complete authority to make decisions.

It was far better than Konoha's fractured leadership.

"N-no..."

"Then that's settled. Meeting adjourned..."