Kenya stood outside the tavern and raised an eyebrow.
Kumogakure was stirring up trouble at the embassy?
Extorting Konoha?
Why did this plot sound so familiar?
Kenya rubbed his chin, rapidly sifting through memories of his previous life.
In Konoha Year 52, Kumogakure had sent a delegation to Konoha under the pretext of signing a peace treaty.
But their true target had been the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.
The delegation's leader had been killed on the spot by Hyuga Hiashi while attempting to kidnap Hinata Hyuga.
Kumogakure had then turned the tables, threatening war to force Konoha to hand over the killer.
To reach a compromise, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had ultimately tacitly agreed to let Hizashi Hyuga die in place of his older twin brother, Hiashi.
This was the famous "Hyuga Clan tragedy" from the original story.
"Looks like the timeline lines up perfectly."
Kenya sneered.
He scoffed at the Konoha High Command's weak compromises and found Kumogakure's banditry even more repulsive.
The Hyuga Clan might be a little hidebound, but those branch family members were still part of Konoha's foundation.
How could he let those Kumogakure barbarians reap the benefits for nothing?
Besides, his current goal was to reorganize Konoha.
As Konoha's foremost dōjutsu clan, bringing the Hyuga Clan into his fold would greatly benefit the building of his future power base.
"Since I've stumbled into this, I might as well snipe the prize."
His mind made up, Kenya turned and walked into the tavern.
With the ten million ryo he had just earned, he lavishly bought all the grilled meat in the tavern and dozens of bags of local specialty rice crackers.
Once everything was packed, he headed straight toward the Land of Lightning without lingering.
Two days later.
On a secluded, secret wilderness trail at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.
It was a rarely traveled mountain path, flanked by steep cliffs and dense thorn bushes.
Kenya sat on a large rock, savoring a skewer of soy sauce dumplings.
His Observation Haki remained active, covering several kilometers around him.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted slightly.
"Here they come."
Not far away, hurried footsteps broke the valley's silence.
Six burly, dark-skinned ninjas were racing along the wilderness trail.
They wore Kumogakure's distinctive white one-shouldered vests, and the symbols on their forehead protectors were clearly visible.
Two of the ninjas each carried a heavy, coarse burlap sack over one shoulder.
The sacks occasionally thrashed violently, and muffled whimpers even came from within.
Clearly, they contained living people.
"Hurry! Once we cross the border up ahead, our mission is complete!"
The Kumogakure jonin leading them urged in a low voice, his eyes gleaming with excitement and greed.
They were a raiding squad secretly dispatched by Kumogakure.
Their task was to secretly transport the "important goods" Konoha had surrendered in its compromise back to the Land of Lightning.
Just as they hurried along the trail.
They suddenly noticed a young man sitting on the large rock ahead, eating dumplings.
The Kumogakure squad immediately stopped and warily drew their ninja blades.
The jonin leading them frowned and looked Kenya up and down.
He noticed that Kenya wore no ninja village's forehead protector and looked like an ordinary wanderer.
"Hey, brat!"
The Kumogakure jonin stepped forward and pointed viciously at Kenya.
"This road's closed today. Get lost if you don't want to die!"
"Keep your nose out of this, or I'll fry you to a crisp with Lightning Release!"
For Kumogakure's ninjas, arrogance and bullying had long since become instinct.
Besides, they were currently carrying out a top-secret mission and could not allow anything to go wrong.
Kenya swallowed the dumpling in his mouth and took out a tissue to wipe his lips.
He stood, dusted off his backside, and rested his gaze on the two sacks that kept struggling.
"Let me guess."
A teasing smile curled Kenya's lips.
"Those sacks wouldn't happen to hold members of the Hyuga Clan, would they?"
At those words, the expressions of all six ninjas in the Kumogakure squad changed dramatically.
This was top secret. How did this wandering brat by the roadside know?!
"Kill him! Don't let him leave alive!"
Killing intent blazed in the lead Kumogakure jonin's eyes as he immediately ordered Kenya's death.
His hands instantly formed hand seals, and dazzling blue lightning erupted from his body.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
A sharp spear of lightning shot straight toward Kenya's heart with destructive force.
Kumogakure's ninjas were renowned for their Lightning Release and powerful physiques.
In their eyes, this was enough to instantly kill any unprepared ordinary person.
Yet faced with the fierce lightning spear, Kenya merely curled his lip in disdain.
"That's all the voltage you've got? It's not even as good as the electric fly swatter I used in my previous life."
He lightly tapped his toes against the ground.
"Soru!"
There was a whoosh.
Kenya vanished from the spot in an instant, leaving only a blurred afterimage.
The lightning spear pierced straight through the afterimage and blasted a large crater into the rock behind it.
"Where did he go?!"
The Kumogakure jonin paled in shock and looked around.
"Up here, idiot."
A lazy voice suddenly came from above his head.
The Kumogakure jonin jerked his head up.
At some point, Kenya had leaped into the air and was now plunging straight toward him headfirst.
"Lightning Release Armor!"
The Kumogakure jonin reacted extremely quickly, immediately coating his entire body with lightning release chakra to form an indestructible layer of lightning armor.
He had absolute confidence in his physical defenses.
With Lightning Release Armor reinforcing him, even ordinary blades could not hope to scratch him.
He raised both arms, ready to take Kenya's attack head-on and then seize the chance to kill him.
In midair, Kenya looked at that layer of blue lightning armor and nearly burst out laughing.
"You want to see who's harder?"
"Then I'll teach you a lesson the most primitive way."
Kenya did not throw a punch.
Instead, he instantly concentrated his faint Armament Haki on his forehead.
His originally fair forehead instantly turned a metallic black.
It reflected a cold sheen in the sunlight.
"Armament Haki: Forehead Smash!"
With a thunderous shout.
Kenya's head slammed viciously toward the Kumogakure jonin's forehead like a black cannonball fired from a barrel.
"CLANG!!!"
An incredibly deep boom, like a bronze bell being struck, echoed through the valley.
It did not sound remotely like a collision between bodies of flesh and blood.
It sounded more like two enormously heavy chunks of iron smashing violently together.
The instant the Kumogakure jonin's prized Lightning Release Armor touched Kenya's black forehead.
It shattered outright like a fragile eggshell!
Violent force poured into his forehead without restraint.
"Crack!"
The crisp sound of shattering bone rang out.
The Kumogakure jonin's eyes instantly rolled back before he could even scream.
Kenya's head-on forehead smash forcibly caved in his entire frontal bone!
It left a horrifying crater.
Then his entire body collapsed limply like a puddle of sludge, and he passed out on the spot.
The remaining five Kumogakure ninjas were all dumbstruck.
Their captain, whom they took such pride in.
That Lightning Release elite renowned for his powerful physique.
Someone had actually caved in his forehead with a headbutt?!
What the fuck kind of monster was this!
"This Lightning Release Armor isn't much good. Too brittle."
Kenya landed steadily, rubbed his completely unharmed forehead, which had not even suffered a scratch, and sighed.
He turned to look at the five trembling Kumogakure ninjas.
"Now it's your turn."
Five minutes later.
The six Kumogakure ninjas lay sprawled across the wilderness trail, all stripped of their outer clothing and beaten black and blue, unconscious.
Kenya clapped his hands and walked over to the two sacks.
He drew a kunai and casually sliced through the rope on one of them.
The sack opened.
Inside was a pale, familiar face.
The man's eyes were tightly shut, and a green "swastika" cursed seal was prominently engraved on his forehead.