Iron-Blooded Loli

Suikazan Fuguki spat out mouthful after mouthful of blood. Several lackeys beside him hurried forward, patting his chest and rubbing his back.

"There had to be... a mole. There had to be... a mole. Once I... dig him out, I'll... tear him to pieces."

Suikazan Fuguki's surprise attack had ended in utter tragedy. Ever since suffering a setback in the Land of Fields, he had been nursing a grudge. As one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, ambushing a mere Kazekage escort should have been easy in his eyes. Yet before they had even finished slaughtering one tiny village, they had been ambushed in return.

God knew why that green-clad, bearded man was so ferocious. His taijutsu could actually unleash such terrifying air cannons! The Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been beaten down to a three-man squad. This had been an elite force painstakingly assembled by the Second Mizukage, once reputed to be capable of wiping out a small nation! He had to wash away this humiliation!

When he heard the village elders discussing an attack on Sunagakure to provoke a war between Sunagakure and Hidden Mist Village, Suikazan Fuguki, whose injuries had not fully healed, volunteered to lead the charge. He declared that he would catch Sunagakure completely off guard and leave corpses strewn everywhere.

The Hidden Mist Village elders had originally not wanted to assign him this mission. But seeing his beady eyes nearly spitting fire, they reconsidered. The purpose of this raid was not to kill many people or set huge fires, but to cause as much chaos as possible. Suikazan Fuguki was quite suited for that state of affairs. So they nodded and agreed.

Just as Suikazan Fuguki eagerly led nearly a thousand men toward Sunagakure, a flicker of firelight appeared at the entrance to the valley ahead. When they approached, they saw a pretty little girl with twin buns in her hair, three burning fireballs circling above her head. In the glow of the flames, her youthful face looked both exceptionally beautiful and exceptionally eerie.

"It's you!" Suikazan Fuguki seemed to recognize the girl. She was clearly the female ninja who had blocked their retreat in the Land of Fields that day. Munashi Jinpachi and Jinin Akebino had been struck in the back by her fireballs while retreating and died.

Pakura did not answer. She silently drew the ninja blade from her back and carved a line into the ground.

"Those who cross this line die!" Her adorably fierce loli voice rang out with startling clarity through the empty valley.

A rogue ninja was instantly enraged. With a strange cry, he pulled out a kunai and charged forward. The moment his foot crossed the line, killing intent flashed in Pakura's eyes, and a fireball shot toward him. But that ninja was clearly no ordinary man. He performed a graceful side flip to evade the fireball, then hurled the kunai in his hand at it.

The kunai struck the fireball directly, yet it rapidly melted into a puddle of molten iron like butter meeting heat. Meanwhile, the fireball clung to the ninja like a curse. No matter how he ran or dodged, he could not escape it.

At last, the ninja staggered and lost his footing. The fireball struck him in the chest. With a sizzling sound, like beef being seared on an iron plate, the fireball pierced through his body amid his miserable screams and a strange fragrance, leaving behind a hole as large as a basketball!

The many ninjas looked at one another and retreated one after another, afraid of provoking this terrifying little girl. Suikazan Fuguki saw that things were going badly. He knew most of these people were village thugs and rogue ninjas, their combat strength mediocre to begin with. They had come on this mission merely to cause trouble. Even if they all died, the Hidden Mist Village elders would not care.

But if this minor obstacle scattered the entire group like birds and beasts, then this trip would be a complete failure. He would basically have no place left among the village's upper ranks.

"She's alone! What are you afraid of? Watch me take her head and sacrifice it to our banner!"

With that, Suikazan Fuguki drew the massive blade from his back—Samehada—and charged at Pakura!

Before he could reach Pakura, a figure glowing green leaped down from above and delivered several graceful back kicks to Suikazan Fuguki's bloated body. Suikazan Fuguki had no choice but to raise Samehada to block them.

"It's you! Bearded man!" Suikazan Fuguki was somewhat terrified. This green-clad bearded man was practically his nemesis.

"It's me! The Azure Beast of Konoha! Huh! You look awfully familiar. Do we know each other?" Might Dai assumed a standard fighting stance before Suikazan Fuguki.

At the sight of Might Dai, countless flames of nameless rage rose within Suikazan Fuguki. He tore off Samehada's bandages and was about to charge forward desperately when countless torches lit up at both ends of the valley, their blazing light illuminating the entire gorge!

Pakura smiled and greeted Akasuna Guimu on the ridge above the valley. Akasuna Guimu smiled back and gave Pakura a thumbs-up.

"Your retreat has been cut off! If you do not surrender now, when will you?" Pakura's adorably fierce loli voice echoed through the valley once more.

"Damn it! Kill our way back and seize a path to survival!" Suikazan Fuguki wisely chose to retreat, but it was already too late.

Sandstorm: Grand Burial! Puppet: Dance of Death.

The Sunagakure ninjas unleashed a barrage of attacks upon the Hidden Mist Village ninjas in the valley, and wails filled the gorge.

In this battle, Sunagakure suffered zero casualties as it nearly wiped out the invading force in an unnamed valley outside the village. It was said to be nearly because Suikazan Fuguki, the Hidden Mist Village leader, broke through the encirclement with the support of two trusted subordinates and barely escaped with his life.

After this battle, the Third Kazekage Keiko named the valley Triumphant Valley. The tale of the Kazekage's iron-blooded loli secretary also became a popular story throughout the Shinobi World!

Looking at the lifelike jade weasel pendant in his hand, Keiko rubbed his still-aching head from his hangover and smiled helplessly. "I actually acknowledged a three-thousand-year-old weasel as my godfather. If word gets out, this Kazekage won't be able to show his face anymore."

The jade carving was not large, just over two inches long. The material was said to be extremely precious, carved from Tiger-Gall Jade, a rare jade ore unique to the Ken'en Mound region.

According to Yellow Immortal, even grinding down an entire mountain might not yield a piece of jade like this. More importantly, Yellow Immortal had carved it personally and set a formation within it. It could calm the mind and focus one's energy. Worn on the body, it could resist most genjutsu, making it exceedingly valuable.

"What's this? You feel wronged for acknowledging your ancestor as your godfather?" A yellow-headed, white-bodied weasel beside him spoke unhappily. The weasel was at least twice the size of an ordinary weasel, its fur sleek and glossy. One of its eyes was blind and covered by a black eyepatch, making it look valiant and imposing.

This weasel was named Buck, Yellow Immortal's grandson. The day Keiko paid a nighttime visit to Ken'en Mound happened to be Yellow Immortal's birthday. The immortal had been sulking because he had not gotten to eat a crowing rooster.

Then Keiko descended from the sky carrying a crowing rooster, delighting Yellow Immortal beyond measure. He immediately acknowledged Keiko as his godson. Before Keiko could understand what was happening, a whole crowd of weasels dragged him off to drink. After several rounds of toasting, everyone quickly became red-faced and familiar with one another.

The drunken Keiko immediately declared that he would give Yellow Immortal his half of the shares in Moon Lake New District's chicken farm. Yellow Immortal and the other weasels all laughed gleefully.

The immortal even tore off the jade carving he wore and gave it to Keiko as a gift. Hearing that Keiko wanted to learn Sage Jutsu, he specifically arranged for his most capable grandson, Buck, to stay by Keiko's side as a liaison between him and Sunagakure, as well as to teach him Sage Jutsu.

"How could that be? I'm overwhelmed by the honor! How did something this good fall into my lap? Hey, you there?" Keiko hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

"What is it, Lord Kazekage?" A secretary entered from outside. Of course, a Kazekage could not possibly have only one secretary.

"Notify Baki at Moon Lake. Have the chicken farm arrange for someone to deliver thirty live chickens to my villa every month. Oh, and at least one of them must be a crowing rooster. Don't put it on the official accounts. I'll pay for it myself!"