Evening of the 186th day.
Kenshin had just finished gathering blue sage and was sitting at a small wooden table he'd recently made with his sons' help. Opposite him sat two beauties, Aya and Natsumi. The girls loved strolling the area in the evenings with their beloved husband, breathing fresh air, so at the moment they were sitting and sipping delicious tea, enjoying pleasant conversation.
After Kenshin further reinforced the perimeter of his base, he finally allowed the girls to leave the house and rest in the fresh air, not far from home. No one could see them from afar, because due to the installed formations, anyone farther than two hundred meters away saw nothing noteworthy.
Kenshin was truly enjoying the rest with his two beauties after a hard day's work. This day had been especially tough because, on principle, he hadn't used his hands to gather the blue sage, relying only on telekinesis. It was difficult, but it helped him slightly increase the power of the ability. Now he could effortlessly levitate a five-kilogram sack of blue sage in the air without much strain.
He pondered fusing his psionic power with a defense formation, but realized it was an incredibly complex task, barely feasible with his current formation skills, and definitely not with his current psionic strength.
Kenshin knew his power wasn't quite classic psionics from the sci-fi books he'd read at home, but for convenience, he decided to call it that. Telekinesis and telepathy were activated by force of thought, using some unknown energy. He couldn't sense or detect it, but he was completely sure it existed. The most difficult task ahead was to pinpoint that energy and create a symbiosis of formations and psionics.
While he was lost in thought, the girls smiled sweetly and enjoyed his pensive expression. The two beauties adored their husband madly and could watch him for hours.
Suddenly, Natsumi turned her gaze right and noticed something in the rays of the setting sun.
"Wow, Kenshin, isn't that your falcon?" she said in surprise. Aya, in turn, also turned her cute face and stared that way.
Kenshin snapped out of his reverie and looked where the girl pointed.
"Looks like it. Want to pet him?" he asked with a smile, addressing both girls.
"Of course!" both girls replied in unison, looked at each other, and laughed.
Kenshin mentally activated the formation node tied to his clothing and ordered the falcon to fly to them, but apparently it wasn't needed. The bird was heading to its master anyway.
As soon as the falcon flew closer, it immediately began descending, and seconds later, gripped the sturdy wooden back of the long bench with its thick talons.
Kenshin contentedly stroked the bird's soft feathers, and at that moment felt a signal indicating the falcon had found something "interesting." The bird brought its beak to the table and spat out a small case for a scroll, stained with blood and down.
Kenshin immediately reached out interestedly and took the intriguing item. Both girls grimaced in displeasure, and Natsumi scolded the disobedient bird.
"Bad falcon! You can't eat small, defenseless pigeons!" The bird just stared at the girl in bewilderment with its black-as-night eyes and blinked a few times.
"What do you mean can't? Don't listen to her, little one. Pigeons are edible and necessary! Besides, they're very tasty. Grandpa often caught them, and Grandma could make almost anything from those little rogues..." Aya said dreamily, recalling her carefree childhood.
"God, Aya, what are you saying!" Natsumi exclaimed in shock. She couldn't believe her best friend could harbor both tender and cruel traits.
At that moment, Kenshin opened the small case and pulled out the scroll. As soon as he unrolled it and began reading, he couldn't hold back an exclamation:
"Holy shit!" The curse that burst from his mouth instantly distracted the girls from their argument, and they approached their husband in surprise, peering curiously at the short text.
"What?! Nara Kasumi?! The clan head's niece?!" Natsumi exclaimed in shock, unable to believe her eyes.
"Wow... The clan head's niece trapped five kilometers from our home... What do you think, Natsumi, how authentic is this letter?" Kenshin asked interestedly.
"Hm... The seal looks genuine. In the academy, we studied complex political connections, clan etiquette, and documentation rules for two years. The Nara use exactly that seal..." Natsumi said, hesitant to declare the letter fully authentic.
"How likely is this a setup or trap... Even if clan Nara's enemies forged this letter, they'd have to be either complete idiots or incredibly strong, able to wipe out several jonin sent on recon. And if it concerns Shikaku's niece, he might come personally—then even a dozen jonin would have slim chances of escape. He's an elite jonin, right?" Kenshin voiced his thoughts aloud and asked Natsumi.
"Of course. If not higher... All heads of Konoha's major clans are at least elite jonin, and some can stand against the Kage! Otherwise, why would they hold the position without being elite jonin?" Natsumi said with a smile, fully convinced of the letter's authenticity after Kenshin's reasoning.
"Have you ever seen an elite jonin in action?" Kenshin asked interestedly. He desperately wanted to know the rough power limits of such high-class shinobi.
"Um... No, I haven't. Elite jonin act rarely, no more than once every few years unless there's war. Their battles usually leave massive destruction—hundreds of meters of uprooted forest, multi-meter craters in the ground. I saw such a battlefield once, a month after the fight. The sight made my blood run cold..." The girl shivered, recalling those incredible devastations from a clash of two elite jonin.
Kenshin immediately embraced the girl by the waist, sat her on his lap, kissed her tender, silky neck, and stroked her visible belly. Natsumi purred contentedly under her beloved man's caresses and arched her neck, offering it for loving kisses.