Sneak Attack Under the Moonlight

Chiba had not taken more than three steps when the sound of wind behind him changed.

It was not a natural wind, but the sharp tearing sound of a blade compressing the air as it left its sheath—two degrees faster than the previous Dance of the Crescent Moon draw.

He turned around.

Yugao had already rushed before him, her purple hair whipping wildly as her long blade swept upward. No chakra clung to the sword; it was a purely physical slash, so fast that its edge left only a silver thread as fine as spider silk beneath the moonlight.

This was Konoha Style's forbidden technique: Moonless.

No chakra enhancement, no prior buildup, no energy fluctuations to warn the opponent beforehand—just an instinctive strike forged from fourteen years of muscle memory.

Chiba raised the willow branch before him. The Wood Release chakra running through it pulsed with perfect precision the instant it met the blade.

Clang.

The sound was louder than the previous three, its echoes bouncing between the stone walls of Hokage Rock several times before fading.

Yugao's sword was knocked aside, but her body did not follow its trajectory. After putting everything into the thrust, her center of gravity pitched completely forward. Her toes slipped on the stone, and she stumbled toward Chiba.

Chiba tossed the willow branch aside. It flipped twice in the moonlight before landing at the edge of the stone statue.

His right hand reached out, fingers spread, and his palm landed precisely against Yugao's waist.

The fabric of the ANBU combat uniform was incredibly thin. Its elastic fibers clung to every contour of her body, and through that nearly nonexistent layer of cloth, Chiba could clearly feel the shape of her waist beneath his palm.

Slender, resilient, carrying the taut strength of muscles still tense from battle. The curve of her waist hollow traced an itch-inducing line across his palm.

Chiba's left hand clasped the other side of her waist as well. With both hands, he pulled the off-balance Yugao back from her forward fall.

Momentum spun them sharply through half a turn beneath the moonlight. Yugao's back struck Chiba's chest, and her long purple hair swept across his face, carrying a crisp scent of cold iron and laurel.

When the spin stopped, Yugao faced the moon while Chiba held her waist from behind. They were so close that their breaths had become completely entangled.

Yugao's mask finally slipped free in the rushing airflow of the spin. The white fox mask peeled from her face, bounced twice across the stone with crisp clacks, then rolled toward the cliff's edge.

Chiba lowered his head and clearly saw the face beneath it.

Her nose bridge was straight, her jawline as sharp as the blade in her hand. Her lips were thin and severe, while a faint flush had risen over her cheekbones from the blood rushing after battle. Her deep violet eyes gleamed like cold jade beneath the moonlight, and her long lashes trembled uncontrollably.

She was excessively beautiful.

Not Tsunade's dazzling, voluptuous allure; not Anko's wild, brazen heat; nor Yuhi Kurenai's gentle, reserved intelligence. Hers was a cool, sharp beauty honed by fourteen years of blades, like a white edge washed clean by moonlight.

"Captain Yugao, your mask fell off."

Chiba's voice drifted down from above her head, his warm breath brushing her hair.

Yugao's body stiffened like stone in his arms. Helpless panic churned in her violet eyes. Her lips parted twice, but no sound came out, while the tips of her ears reddened at a visible speed.

"L-let go of me."

"Are you sure? Can you stand steadily once I let go?"

Yugao's knees were indeed still weak—not from exhaustion after battle, but because a strange man's palm was pressed against her waist. The heat of his fingers seeped through the thin ANBU uniform, making her entire spine go numb.

"I can stand."

"Fine." Chiba loosened two fingers, but the other three remained hooked at her waist. "I'll let go once you're steady. Don't fall off Hokage Rock. If the Third Hokage says I murdered the ANBU captain afterward, I won't be able to explain myself."

Yugao clenched her teeth and braced her legs to support her weight, just as she was about to tell Chiba to let go completely.

Killing intent.

They both sensed it at the same time.

A thick, cloying malice erupted from the shadows behind Hokage Rock. Accompanied by a violent cough and the shrill screech of metal leaving its sheath, a black figure shot out from a crack in the stone wall. The curved blade in his hand was wrapped in pale moonlight chakra as it stabbed straight toward Chiba's back.

"Let go of her!"

The hoarse roar tore through the night wind, carrying the tracheal spasms unique to a sick man. Coughing and killing intent tangled together.

"Secret Sword: Moon Shadow!"

Hayate Gekko.

Chiba's mental power locked onto the source the instant the other man's chakra fluctuations appeared: an auxiliary ANBU operative, the second disciple of the Konoha Style swordsmanship school, and Yugao Uzuki's fellow disciple and senior.

Chakra reserves: chunin level.

Physical condition: chronic lung disease. Unstable heartbeat. His burst of power would not last more than three seconds.

Threat level: zero.

Chiba kept one arm around Yugao's waist and did not move at all. The curve of his lips even rose slightly.

"Your colleague is here. He seems pretty anxious."

Yugao's expression changed. Her violet eyes snapped toward the blade light closing in behind them, and her lips moved urgently.

"Hayate! Don't!"

The blade tip was still half a meter from Chiba's back.