The sky over Konoha had taken on the color of ink. The reception finally ended at dusk.
"Thank you for your hard work today. Please get some rest."
Outside the guest rooms specifically designated for foreign dignitaries, Rena smiled and bowed slightly to the three Kumogakure ninja. "I will be leading you in the subsequent activities tomorrow. Before that, you will have ample time to relax from your journey. No one will disturb you."
After giving her gentle instructions, Rena softly closed the door.
Click.
Inside the guest room, two of the Kumogakure ninja rubbed their faces, which had become stiff from smiling all day. One of them turned to look at Yurui, who was surveying the room's furnishings.
"Boss," he gestured towards the door with his chin and whispered, "was that last sentence a threat?"
Yurui silently retracted his gaze, did not answer his question, and walked to the spacious living room, plopping down on the sofa.
The two Kumogakure ninja exchanged a look and tacitly dropped the subject. Instead, they walked into the living room, glanced at the decor, and remarked, "As expected of Konoha, they're really rich. This is the standard for entertaining foreign guests."
As they spoke, the two Kumogakure ninja stuck their hands in their pockets. A small barrier that blocked perception was triggered, and an invisible ripple spread through the air. A voice then sounded in the minds of Yurui and the other Kumogakure ninja.
'Boss, are we being monitored?'
"It's a great honor," Yurui said with an unchanged expression and a normal tone. "It seems Konoha truly considers us 'honored guests'."
The two Kumogakure ninja immediately understood and began to chime in with some irrelevant chatter, discussing where they should go to have some fun in the next few days.
When they mentioned the FUNFUN district not far from Konoha, they let out a slightly lewd laugh.
Meanwhile, Rena, standing outside the door with her back to it, slowly opened her closed eyes.
Although she knew that as a ninja, she shouldn't be swayed by emotions, hearing the vulgar language that fit the rough style of Kumogakure, she, as a young woman, couldn't help but frown.
"No chakra fluctuations detected, and no unusual movements observed..."
Rena quickly suppressed her displeasure, lowered her hands from their hand signs, but remained on guard.
If possible, she would have preferred for the Third Hokage to have the three of them searched, or to have some monitoring barriers set up in the room.
But this proposal was gently yet firmly rejected by the Third Hokage. After all, Kumogakure had been very sincere so far. If Konoha were to be found engaging in such petty tricks, it would give them a handle to use against Konoha.
However, Rena had a bad feeling. She couldn't say why, perhaps it was a woman's sixth sense.
Inside the room, Yurui stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of this high-floor guest room, looking down at the bustling Konoha, even at dusk. He watched the crowd flow like ants on the streets below.
After a moment of silence, Yurui quickly formed hand signs, and the chakra he had been accumulating in his body surged forth.
Ox - Dog - Dragon - Rat - Dog - Boar - Snake - Tiger.
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke exploded silently, and a shadow clone appeared beside him.
"Do it," Yurui's real body said calmly. "For Kumogakure."
The two Kumogakure ninja exchanged a look. At this moment, they knew very well that regardless of whether this mission succeeded or failed, they would not survive.
Only if all three of them died here would the "weight" of the threat to Konoha be heavy enough.
"For Kumogakure!"
The resolute voices of the two Kumogakure ninja overlapped. They simultaneously raised their hands and quickly formed hand signs, their chakra surging out.
BOOM!!
An explosion that shook the night sky rang out in the evening Konoha. The windows of the building, the shop windows along the street, and the streetlights shattered like rain under the sweeping shockwave!
"Ah!" "What's happening!?"
The pedestrians on the surrounding streets cried out in alarm, looking in terror towards the direction of the roar. They only saw countless birds taking flight in alarm as black smoke billowed out from the fifth floor of the guest apartment.
A huge hole had been blasted in the apartment's wall. Countless bricks and debris fell from the high altitude, crashing to the ground. Three figures also fell with them.
Thud! Thud!
The fall from a height of dozens of meters shattered the ground, and glaringly scarlet blood flowed out.
By now, many villagers had heard the loud noise and had run out of their shops and homes to check the situation. They watched as three figures fell from above.
Two of the figures lost all signs of life the moment they hit the ground. Only one figure coughed up blood and struggled to his feet, roaring, "Konoha! How dare you break the treaty?!"
The anger in his roar did not seem feigned, stunning the surrounding Konoha villagers. They watched as the figure fled.
When they came to their senses, someone finally recognized the two figures lying on the ground, and their expressions instantly turned to terror.
"Those two are, they are the envoys from Kumogakure!"
The moment someone shouted this in a trembling voice, Rena, covered in soot and with her clothes torn, appeared with a Body Flicker Technique. Her face turned pale when she saw the two corpses.
How is this possible?!
Someone planted explosive tags in the Kumogakure delegation's room beforehand?!
"Damn it! I have to report this to the Third Hokage!"
Although she hadn't thought that it was Kumogakure's own doing, Rena instantly realized that something was terribly wrong.
Forcing her heavily injured body, which had been hit by the explosion, she formed hand signs and created a shadow clone to pursue the sole surviving Kumogakure ninja, then rushed towards the Hokage's office with all her might.
At the same time, the anxious Rena did not notice that in the black smoke above, a figure leaped out, hidden from view.
It was Yurui, the only survivor of the three Kumogakure ninja.
And the "Yurui" that Rena had sent her shadow clone to pursue was just another shadow clone. The other Konoha ninja who had arrived were also led away by the shadow clone, all thinking that he was trying to escape from Konoha.
But in fact, his real target was not to escape from Konoha, but the Hyuga clan compound in the opposite direction.
"Rest in peace. You are all heroes of Kumogakure. I will join you soon."
Yurui's gaze was complicated. He glanced at the two corpses below and used the Body Flicker Technique with all his might.
Soon, he arrived at the forest near the Hyuga clan compound. The whole process was incredibly smooth.
But the next moment, as his figure was enveloped by the dense shadows of the trees and his vision suddenly plunged into darkness...
A hand with well-defined joints, holding a tanto, suddenly reached out from the deep shadows.
Almost out of a battle-hardened instinct, Yurui subconsciously raised the kunai in his hand.
Clang!!
The ear-piercing sound of blades clashing rang out. Yurui's ears buzzed clearly, and a crisp sound came from the wrist of his knife-wielding hand. He used the immense force to leap back and create distance.
"Who are you?"
His face darkened as he looked up into the distance. He saw a figure in a black robe emerge from the shadows, the tanto in their hand reflecting the cold moonlight.
"This road is blocked," Hyuga Kumo's hoarse voice was calm as he looked at the "supporting actor" who had finally appeared. "Stop here."