Before Konoha's iconic green gate.
On gate duty today were the same unchanging pair as ever-Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki.
As Chunin, their daily work consisted of drinking tea in the guardhouse, taking naps, and registering passing merchant caravans along the way.
But today.
Their drowsiness had long since been frightened clean away.
Gulp.
Watching the enormous convoy approaching in force from afar, kicking up clouds of dust.
Izumo Kamizuki swallowed hard, the hand holding his registration book trembling slightly.
"K-Kotetsu."
"Do you see that? That's the Senju clan crest, isn't it?"
Kotetsu Hagane was also sweating profusely.
He stared fixedly at the flag fluttering in the wind, feeling his calves cramp.
"It's not just the Senju crest... look at the person on that carriage!"
Both rubbed their eyes, trying hard to make out the figure wearing floral shorts on the open carriage.
When that face came into view, more rugged now but still familiar.
Both their hearts gave a violent spasm.
"S-Senju Kenya?!"
"That S-rank missing-nin who smashed Hokage Rock two years ago?!"
Fear instantly enveloped them.
Though delegations and merchant caravans from every village came and went during the Chunin Ninja Exams, a missing-nin returning with such an enormous force, even brazenly flying the Senju flag.
Wasn't he here to fucking attack Konoha?!
"Quick! Sound the highest-level alarm!"
Kotetsu Hagane roared and prepared to press the red button in the guardhouse.
"Wait!"
Izumo Kamizuki grabbed him, his face deathly pale.
"Didn't you see the woman beside him?"
"Th-that's Lady Tsunade!"
Lady Tsunade, one of the Sannin, was actually sitting beside this S-rank missing-nin?
What on earth was going on?
In those few brief seconds while the two hesitated.
The dozens of enormous black iron wood carriages had already come to a steady halt before the Konoha Gate like a torrent of steel.
Over a hundred stern-faced Iron Fist guards instantly spread out.
They locked down the area around the gate.
Their fierce, murderous aura pressed down on Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki until they could barely breathe.
But as gate guards, duty compelled them to steel themselves and step forward.
"S-stop!"
Summoning his courage, Izumo Kamizuki raised the kunai in his hand and blocked the front of the convoy.
"Under Konoha's security regulations!"
"During the Chunin Ninja Exams, all outside convoys must present the highest-level village entry permit and undergo a full inspection!"
Though his voice trembled slightly, this was already all the courage they could muster.
In the middle of the convoy.
Kenya swallowed the last mouthful of his doughnut and brushed the sugar off his hands.
He stood, stretched, then leaped straight down from the carriage several meters above the ground.
Thud.
With a soft sound, Kenya landed steadily before them.
His straight, nearly six-foot-three frame, coupled with muscles as hard as black iron.
Instantly blocked the sunlight before them like a mountain.
Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki retreated repeatedly in fright, nearly losing their grip on their kunai.
"Wh-what do you want?"
"This is Konoha's gate! If you try anything, the Anbu will immediately..."
The two warned him, putting on a fierce front despite their fear.
Yet the attack they expected never came.
The coldness on Kenya's face instantly vanished, replaced by an extremely warm smile.
He strode forward, completely ignoring the kunai in their hands.
He stretched out his long arms.
His left arm hooked around Kotetsu Hagane's neck, while his right settled over Izumo Kamizuki's shoulders.
Like old brothers reunited after years apart, he pulled both men into a tight embrace.
"Hey! Kotetsu, Izumo!"
Kenya's hearty laughter exploded beside their ears.
"It's been two years. How come you two are still guarding the gate?"
"Are Konoha's higher-ups blind? They won't even promote such dedicated talent?"
Held by that terrifying monstrous strength.
Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki felt as though their necks were about to snap.
Their faces flushed red as they struggled for breath, wanting to break free only to discover that the Taijutsu they took such pride in was as powerless as an infant before this man.
"K-Kenya... let go first..."
Izumo Kamizuki squeezed a few words through his teeth with difficulty.
"You're now... a missing-nin from the village... you can't go in..."
"A missing-nin? Who said that?"
Kenya released them and raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise.
"I'm a major sponsor bringing two hundred million ryo in cash!"
"Have you ever seen a missing-nin come back loaded with bags of money to fund development?"
As he spoke, Kenya seemed to perform a magic trick.
He pulled two large handfuls of gleaming gold coins from his shorts pockets.
Without allowing any argument, he stuffed them straight into Kotetsu Hagane's and Izumo Kamizuki's ninja tool pouches.
The heavy weight made both men bend at the waist.
"Just a little something from your buddy to celebrate our reunion."
Before either could react.
Kenya pulled two bags of seafood-flavored specialty senbei from another pocket and pushed them into their hands.
"These are a specialty from the Land of Waves. They taste incredible. Give them a try."
The lure of gold, the aroma of senbei, and Kenya's overly familiar, big-spending manner.
Instantly left Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki utterly bewildered.
This wasn't how the story was supposed to go!
What happened to the S-rank missing-nin violently storming the village?
How had it turned into a reunion between hometown friends, with money and gifts being thrown around?
Holding gold coins worth at least several hundred thousand ryo, their heads buzzed.
For a moment, they actually couldn't decide whether to draw their blades and stop him or bow and thank him.
"All right, don't stand on ceremony."
Kenya patted their shoulders, then turned and swaggered toward the convoy.
"Boys, into the village!"
"Tell the old man that I, Senju Kenya, am back to shower Konoha with money!"
At Kenya's command.
The enormous black iron wood convoy rumbled into motion again.
Under the shocked gazes of the villagers watching nearby, it passed through Konoha's massive green gate in force.
Sitting on the carriage, Tsunade looked at the two dumbstruck gate guards and shook her head helplessly.
"This brat certainly has a knack for buying people over."
The convoy gradually receded, disappearing at the far end of Konoha's bustling streets.
Before the Konoha Gate.
Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki stood dazed for a full two minutes before recovering from the overwhelming flood of information and money.
"K-Kotetsu, he went in."
"We didn't stop him..."
Izumo Kamizuki looked at the bag of senbei in his hand, his voice trembling.
"We're done for. We let a missing-nin into the village. Lord Hokage will skin us alive!"
Kotetsu Hagane also wore a miserable expression.
"But... but Lady Tsunade was on the carriage too, and he gave us so much money..."
Kotetsu Hagane instinctively reached for the Konoha forehead protector on his forehead, intending to wipe away his cold sweat.
However.
The moment his hand touched the forehead protector.
His entire body froze as though struck by lightning.
The metal of the forehead protector felt wrong!
The spot originally engraved with Konoha's shuriken emblem now actually felt raised.
He hurriedly removed his forehead protector and looked down.
Izumo Kamizuki also noticed something amiss and removed his own forehead protector.
When the two saw the designs on their forehead protectors.
Their expressions instantly became more miserable than if they had eaten bitter melon.
At some point, the emblems that originally represented Konoha had been switched out!
In their place was a black design gleaming with a cold luster.
-A tightly clenched iron fist!