Uzumaki Kana

In recent years, with uneven economic development, ambitious people had sought to make their fortunes, and warfare had remained constant throughout the Shinobi World.

From Kinkaku and Ginkaku's ambitious rebellion to Hanzo's unyielding backbone, nearly every nation had continued fighting for its own interests.

But there was one country that seemed especially unusual amid this chaotic age.

The Land of Grass.

Located northwest of the Land of Fire and bordering the three nations of Fire, Earth, and Rain, its position in the Shinobi World was quite similar to that of a small country neighboring a major power like the Land of Rain. It had even been wiped out during the Warring States Period!

But after being rebuilt, the country began pulling all sorts of ridiculous stunts.

No one knew whether it was because having once been destroyed had completely broken its spine, or because the country lived up to its name and was nothing more than a fence-sitter.

If it lacked ninjutsu, it stole ninjutsu. If it lacked people, it stole people.

If it lacked mission commissions, it sold intelligence and latched onto stronger powers as a guide.

When Hidden Stone attacked Konoha today, it would shout, "May the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki live for a thousand generations and unify the Shinobi World!"

When Konoha attacked Hidden Stone tomorrow, it would immediately kneel and beg for mercy. "Our Land of Grass has always been Konoha's close neighbor across the water!"

But it had to be said that this approach had its advantages.

Three Shinobi World Wars had broken out so far, yet the Land of Grass had somehow emerged completely unscathed.

Meanwhile, its neighbor had produced someone with too much pride, challenged three great nations alone, then hid in his village and dared not come out. In the future, he would even be killed by some rice-carrying fellow.

"Sorry?"

"What good is sorry?! Can sorry bring the captain back to life?!"

The ANBU member's fury was completely ignited. He suddenly raised his foot and viciously kicked the woman in the lower abdomen.

The woman let out a miserable scream.

Her body rolled several times across the ground like a ragged sack before finally stopping against the roots of a large tree.

She curled up in pain, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead and mixing with the dirt on her pale face. Her bright red hair sprawled messily across the ground like flowing blood.

The other ANBU member frowned, but he did not stop his companion from venting.

This woman had caused them to lose a valuable comrade. A few kicks were already letting her off easy.

If the village had not yet found a suitable breeding partner and could not temporarily have her bear children to make up for her value as a humanoid medicine pill, they would have killed the bitch already!

"Trash! Get up already! Stop playing dead!"

The ANBU member who had kicked her cursed viciously and stepped forward, seemingly intending to add another kick.

Just then—

"Tsk."

An extremely faint tongue-click, carrying an oddly penetrating quality, suddenly rang out in the deathly silent forest.

The sound was not loud, yet it was like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing the ANBU member's violent rage and freezing his raised foot in midair.

The two Hidden Grass ANBU members spun around, standing back-to-back as they warily looked toward the source of the sound. Their hands were already on the kunai at their waists, while an indescribable chill—like being targeted by a primordial beast—shot up their spines to the crowns of their heads without warning.

As ANBU, concealment and counter-surveillance were their most basic and most proficient skills.

Yet now, even with someone nearby, they had sensed nothing and anticipated nothing.

That meant if the person had attacked directly, the two of them would probably already have been separated from their heads!

The two Hidden Grass ANBU members wore grave expressions and quickly locked onto the figure who seemed to make no effort at all to hide his tracks.

The man was incredibly tall and powerfully built, his bare upper body revealing a nearly perfect physique.

Most eye-catching of all—

Amid his black hair was a pair of sharp horns!

He leaned casually against a tree trunk with his arms folded over his chest. His deep dark-red eyes watched them without the slightest emotion, as though assessing two struggling ants.

There was no sign of chakra erupting around him, and even his breathing was barely audible.

Yet merely standing there, he radiated an invisible, suffocating pressure. Even the air itself seemed to have frozen!

"Y-you... who are you?!"

The ANBU member who had kicked her forcibly suppressed his fear and barked the question, though his voice trembled noticeably.

He did not recognize the man before him, but the overwhelming sense of danger born from his instincts made every hair on his body stand on end.

The feeling was as terrifying as an unarmed, helpless human child encountering the Tiger King capable of using Storm Nebula Split in the forest.

The ANBU member beside him seemed to notice something, and his pupils abruptly shrank.

He stared fixedly at the sharp horns atop the man's head. A name that Kusagakure had listed as extremely dangerous and absolutely not to be provoked just days ago flashed through his mind!

Considering the timing, as well as everything that had happened over the past two days, a terrifying truth he did not wish to acknowledge lay before him.

Terror surged into his heart.

The ANBU member's face turned deathly pale in an instant. His lips trembled, and he could barely speak.

Yotsuki Sora's gaze lightly swept over the two ANBU members, who looked as if they faced a great enemy.

Having just finished the battle at White Stone Gorge, he had thoroughly enjoyed himself. Now, faced with these people filled with fear, he did not even have the desire to kill them.

That red-haired woman lying on the ground, however, was somewhat interesting.

Yotsuki Sora straightened up and moved away from the tree he had been leaning against.

That slight movement alone made the two Hidden Grass ANBU members feel as if they faced a great enemy, filling them with terror.

"Y-you... don't come any closer!"

"We're from Kusagakure! We... if you know what's good for you, then..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Yotsuki Sora, who had been standing ahead of them, vanished. Before he could even turn around, a large hand wrapped in dark-red arcs of lightning silently clamped around the back of his neck like an iron vise.

The two ANBU members' eyes bulged. Before they could even form the thought of resisting, their necks had already been crushed by an irresistible force.

"!!!"

Uzumaki Kana, curled beside the tree roots, widened her eyes in utter disbelief.

She knew the strength of those two ANBU members well. Both were powerful ninjas at the Jonin level within the village.

Yet warriors of that caliber had been killed instantly as easily as crushed insects!

This guy...

"S-Sage of Six Paths!"

Seeing Sora's towering figure and the sharp horns at his temples, Uzumaki Kana froze. For some reason, the words suddenly escaped her mouth.

"Hmm?"

Sora raised an eyebrow slightly, his tall shadow enveloping her.

His blood-colored eyes looked down from above, their gaze so sharp it seemed capable of piercing through flesh and staring directly into the depths of her soul. There was pure curiosity and appraisal in them, like a hunter examining an unexpectedly unusual prey.

Uzumaki Kana felt as though she had been stripped bare, with nowhere to hide beneath that gaze.

"What did you just call me?"