Clash

The speaker was a young man with short golden hair, the character for "heat" tattooed on one arm, a large sword strapped to his back, and a white cloth vest.

Kitsuchi immediately frowned. Clearly, he did not know this fellow, but judging by their forehead protectors, this man—no, this whole group—belonged to the Cloud Ninja.

Before Kitsuchi could voice his displeasure, Atsui was immediately cut off by a sharp rebuke. "Atsui, what nonsense are you talking about? Kitsuchi is your senior."

Then she added, "Samui, once this is over, keep your little brother in line."

At that moment, a woman with golden hair who exuded a quiet, serene air immediately answered in acknowledgment.

After doing all that, the woman who had spoken first—a capable-looking woman with white hair and red skin—stepped to the front.

Kitsuchi clearly knew her. "Mabui, aren't you Fourth Raikage Ay's secretary? Why are you here?"

Mabui replied calmly, "I was sick to death of it these past few days, so I dumped the secretary work on Shii."

"And I happened to have something to handle over at the Artisan Ninja Village, so I came along to relax."

Kitsuchi asked, "You're not here for the ultimate weapon?"

Mabui gave him a look as though she were staring at an idiot. "Hmph. Some news that popped out of who-knows-what backwater corner has already stirred up the entire world."

"Never mind whether there even is an ultimate weapon. Even if there isn't one, the whole ninja world could still be dragged into war because of this. That would be far more dangerous than any so-called ultimate weapon."

"The current situation is that every faction is on guard against the others."

"If this keeps up, there won't even need to be a Ninja World War. Their own villages might collapse