Makoto closed the distance one step at a time, and Suikazan Kijuurou panicked.
"I just wanted her to show me around the village! That's all, I swear!"
Laughter rippled through the restaurant, Konoha shinobi and foreign visitors alike. Nobody was buying it.
Makoto's expression didn't change. His pace didn't slow.
The cold indifference in those eyes told Kijuurou everything he needed to know. This wasn't a warning. This was real.
Terror seized him. His hands blurred through seals.
"Secret Technique: Senbon Shower!"
The hair on the back of his head stiffened and rose, each strand hardening into a needle. In the next instant, a barrage of senbon erupted toward Makoto like a horizontal downpour.
It was the Suikazan clan's signature technique, the same one the late Fuguki had used. Jiraiya had something similar in his arsenal too.
"He's insane!" Customers scrambled from their seats. The attack's spread was enormous, more than enough to catch bystanders in the crossfire.
Then came a sound like a blade spinning at impossible speed.
Every head turned. In Makoto's right hand, a pale blue sphere of energy had materialized, its surface laced with crescent arcs of wind that whirled like scythes.
He thrust it forward.
Kijuurou's hair needles met the sphere and disintegrated on contact, ground to dust in an instant.
"That's... the Fourth Hokage's...!?"
Several Konoha shinobi stared slack-jawed. Those who'd served alongside Minato Namikaze recognized it immediately. The resemblance to the Rasengan was unmistakable.
And they were right. This was the incomplete form of Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, the same technique Naruto would one day use to kill Kakuzu.
Makoto's version lacked the raw power of Naruto's, though.
An S-rank technique devoured chakra at a monstrous rate, and his reserves were nowhere near those of a jinchuuriki.
As for why he'd bothered pulling it out...
Well, mostly to show off in front of Mrs. Yukinoshita.
He vanished.
One blink, and he was gone. The next, he stood chest-to-chest with Kijuurou, the wind-laced Rasenshuriken driving straight into the man's torso.
A shriek tore through the air.
Kijuurou rocketed backward, punching through the dessert shop's wall, then through the village gate beyond it, and vanished into the forest.
The explosion that followed shook the sky.
A massive hemisphere of blue-white energy bloomed among the trees. Up close, it was composed of thousands of tiny wind blades, spinning like the inside of a blender.
Kijuurou was at the center of it. Under the relentless shredding, his body came apart, visibly, piece by piece, until nothing remained but pulp.
When the shockwave finally settled, the blast zone stretched a hundred meters in every direction.
Not a blade of grass survived.
Every person in the restaurant swallowed hard. Konoha shinobi, foreign tourists, and Kijuurou's own teammates alike.
What kind of jutsu was that?
Makoto turned back to Mrs. Yukinoshita, his tone as casual as if he'd swatted a fly. "All clear."
"Th-thank you..."
Hearing his nonchalant tone, Mrs. Yukinoshita felt an unprecedented surge of security—a feeling she had never experienced in her entire life.
Her gaze drifted to the distant smear that had been Suikazan Kijuurou, and worry crept in. "Makoto... you killed him. Won't that cause..."
She'd navigated political circles long enough to know what killing a foreign representative could mean.
Before he could answer, another voice cut in.
"My, my. What a terrifying technique."
Everyone turned. A man in an orange spiral-patterned mask strolled toward them, a Mist Village headband tied around his arm.
"Tobi-sensei!" Suigetsu and Chojuro called out in unison.
Their supervising jonin, assigned by the Mist's upper echelon. Temporary, like everything else.
The name. The mask. Makoto placed him in a heartbeat.
No surprise there. The man pulling the Mist Village's strings had always been Obito.
And it wasn't as if there wasn't precedent. Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha the same way, disguised as the Sound team's supervising jonin.
Behind the mask, Obito glanced at what was left of his student, then looked at Makoto. "Mr. Makoto, you've killed one of our students. That puts us in a very difficult position."
"Difficult?" Makoto scoffed. "Then don't bother."
He stared straight at the mask, voice terrifyingly level. "What, you want a war?"
The Konoha shinobi in the room went white.
Wait. How did this jump to war?
Behind the mask, Obito blinked.
This kid was harder than he'd expected.
One of the reasons he'd sent the Mist to these Chunin Exams was to get a look at Makoto Nishikado.
After all, this was the first person to master the Flying Thunder God since his sensei's death.
A student of that soft old man Sarutobi Hiruzen, yet nothing like him.
Tough kid.
"Ha ha, that kind of decision is way above my pay grade." Obito waved a hand, his tone playful and airy. "But I'll be sure to report everything to the Mizukage."
He turned to his remaining students. "Suigetsu, Chojuro. Collect Kijuurou's remains."
The two hurried off and sealed what was left of the body into a storage scroll.
"Well then, see you at the exam."
With that, Obito led his team away.
...
"That was so cool!"
Sonoko Suzuki's eyes were practically sparkling. She'd only tagged along with her best friend, never expecting dinner and a show.
Beside her stood Mouri Ran, Utaha Kasumigaoka, and Megumi Katou, Makoto's three students, who'd been on their way to meet him.
Makoto turned to Mrs. Yukinoshita. "Sorry about the shop."
She shook her head. "No... I'm just glad you're alright."
The look she gave him was softer than before, warmer.
"Will there be trouble?" She glanced nervously at the retreating backs of the three Mist ninja.
If a war started over something like this, she couldn't imagine the blame that would fall on her.
"Don't worry about it." His voice was steady, unbothered. "Even if something does come of it, I'll handle it."
A pause. "Stop by the finance office later and file for damages. Tell them I sent you."
That ironclad confidence pulled a smile out of her despite everything. She nodded, a quiet "Mm" escaping her lips.
Makoto walked over to Utaha and the others. "I'm going to report this to the Third. Help clean up here while I'm gone."
The three nodded.
As he disappeared down the street, Sonoko grabbed Ran's sleeve, hearts practically floating around her head. "Ran, he's so dreamy!"
Ran managed an awkward laugh. Her friend's infatuations were nothing new.
Utaha and Megumi exchanged a flat look.
Still, they had to admit: this murderous teacher of theirs really did have a certain charm.
Before long, the Yukinoshita sisters arrived in a rush, having heard about the incident at their mother's shop.
Neither had left the village recently; both were in final preparations for the Chunin Exams.
They surveyed the wreckage and hurried to their parents' side.
"Dad, what happened?" asked Yukino.
"Mom, are you okay?" asked Haruno.
Mr. Yukinoshita glanced at his wife, who was silently sweeping up debris nearby, and forced a thin laugh. "It's fine, everything's fine. Nothing to worry about..."
Mrs. Yukinoshita looked up.
Her voice was ice.
"Useless."
____________________
*The Bonus Chapter*