Natsuki returned to his office.
Organizing the Chunin Exams was no great challenge—least of all when a single village was running them alone. The other four Great Villages were either at war or bracing for it; even if Konoha sent invitations, they wouldn't come. A few of the minor villages might, but there'd be no point. The gulf between them and the Five Great Ninja Villages was simply too wide—better not to invite them at all and spare the time and effort.
Natsuki summoned Zo and ordered him to send Anbu at once to notify every squad with Genin among its ranks. Any who wanted a place in the Chunin Exams had to complete registration within the month.
Before long, a knock came at the door.
"Natsuki." Nawaki strode in, impatient. "Is your squad signing up for this Chunin Exam?"
"All three of my students are already at Chunin-level strength, so of course they'll take part." Natsuki turned the question back on him. "Aren't you entering yours?"
"I was worried your squad might sit it out—and then there'd be no challenge in the whole thing for them." Nawaki chuckled.
"You've got that much faith in them?" Natsuki asked, mildly surprised.
"Not really, no." Nawaki shook his head. "My aim is to hand Anko a few hard knocks. She runs a little too hot most of the time."
"That sounds awfully familiar," Natsuki said, unable to keep from smiling.
Nawaki went still a moment, then caught it—Tsunade had once said the very same thing about him. Looked at that way, Mitarashi Anko's temperament really was a mirror of his own.
"Don't worry," Natsuki went on. "Minato's three will most likely enter too."
"Then I'll head off. I've got to run Anko and the others through some special training in the meantime." Nawaki nodded and left.
Once he was gone, Natsuki returned to the Senju clan compound.
"Natsuki-sensei." At the sight of him, Might Guy and Yuhi Kurenai broke off their training.
"There's a Chunin Exam next month," Natsuki said, getting straight to it. "I've already registered you both."
"That's great!" Guy lit up on the spot. "I'll blaze with my own youth, just like my dad!"
Kurenai wasn't as fired up—or as cocky—but she was quietly confident about making Chunin all the same. She'd learned a great deal of genjutsu and taijutsu from Natsuki, after all.
"Sharpen your training in the time you've got," Natsuki said, and then set off for Konoha Hospital.
Yakushi Nonou wasn't in her office. He swept out with Observation Haki and found her at once—mid-surgery in the operating room, Shizune at her side.
Natsuki was a medical ninja himself. Watching closely, he judged the operation nearly done, so he didn't disturb them. With nothing else pressing, he settled onto the sofa to wait.
His thoughts drifted to the Spirit Transformation Technique. He'd studied it long enough now to have mastered it completely, yet it still hadn't triggered a character template. The time simply wasn't right, he sensed. Certain templates only unlocked once several conditions stacked together, and learning the Spirit Transformation Technique alone wasn't a tall enough hurdle. Still, when the moment finally came, whatever template it triggered was bound to be worth the wait.
Before long the door opened, and Nonou and Shizune came in. Both were a little startled to find Natsuki there.
"Shizune." Natsuki spoke up. "Next month you'll be sitting the Chunin Exams alongside Guy and Kurenai."
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei." Shizune understood.
"Shizune, go rest for now," Nonou said after a moment's thought. "From tomorrow, I'll start putting you through focused training."
At that, Shizune turned and left.
The door closed. Nonou crossed to Natsuki and, without the slightest hesitation, settled onto his lap.
"Tired?" Natsuki reached out, resting a hand along her leg.
"Not really." Her voice was soft. "The surgery wasn't hard—I mostly did it to teach Shizune."
"I see." Then he asked, "Anything else on your plate after this?"
Her breath caught. She shook her head and, not waiting for him to say anything more, shifted to face him.
Natsuki lowered his head into her embrace and drew a slow breath. A soft fragrance washed over him. She trembled faintly, but only held him tighter.
She was dressed in a long robe, something not unlike a nun's habit—demure at a glance, though it left little to complain about up close. He leaned in to kiss her, but Nonou turned playful, dodging him again and again. At last, out of patience, he simply swept her up.
The sudden lift forced her to cling to him. Her eyes went hazy; she bit her lip, hesitating on the edge of speech.
Carrying her, Natsuki crossed to the window. The instant she saw it, Nonou tensed and clawed her way back to clarity—because, in theory, anyone outside could see straight in.
Then it hit her, sharp as a jolt of current: he'd done it on purpose. He'd read her thoughts and steered them there deliberately. And she'd been so absorbed she hadn't even noticed he'd set up a Concealment Barrier long before.
"Relax—no one can see us," Natsuki said after a beat.
Nonou shot him a look, half resentful, and finally, thoroughly cross, bit down on him. Her temper didn't cool until well past noon.
Natsuki carried her home afterward, soft and warm in his arms, and left her to rest properly.
—
A week later. The Hidden Sand Village.
Natsuki sat on the sofa, watching Pakura. She'd changed into a combat suit cut for real fighting.
"I could let you take the Third Kazekage first," Natsuki said, teasing.
"If that's your order, I'll carry it out," Pakura answered evenly. "I can wound him badly enough that finishing him would be simple for you."
"At your level, wounding the Third Kazekage that badly means taking just as much damage yourself." Natsuki rose, walked over, and pinched her cheek. "And you'd look a fright, torn up like that."
"I'm bound by the Blood Curse. As long as you don't die, I won't either," Pakura said, caught a little off guard.
"Never mind. I brought you along to watch," Natsuki admitted. "I never intended for you to fight."
"Can... can you really manage him alone?" Pakura hesitated before asking.
"Ask that, and you've earned yourself a punishment." Natsuki's gaze dropped to her lips.
Pakura caught where he was looking, and panic rose in her before she could stop it. But the next second she pushed up onto her toes and kissed him. She refused to play the bashful maiden.
"So sure of yourself," she said, not a flicker on her face. "I only hope you won't need me to bail you out later."
"I won't." Natsuki raised a hand and opened an Air Door. The two of them stepped through.
They emerged onto a vast, open plain—a stretch the Third Kazekage was certain to cross.
Time slipped past.
"Lord Kazekage." The Anbu on sensing duty stiffened suddenly. "Two ninja are blocking the road ahead."
The Third Kazekage raised a brow, taken aback. Almost no one knew of his journey to the great city of the Land of Wind—and knowing full well he was the Kazekage, someone still dared bar his path? He picked up speed toward them.
But when he made out the two clearly—Pakura and Natsuki—he froze.
"Pakura, what is the meaning of this?" The Third Kazekage halted, looked to Natsuki, and frowned. He recognized the young man well enough. Natsuki had been central to the Sand's catastrophic defeat in the Second Great Ninja War—had beaten Rasa and taken Pakura captive, no less.
Wait.
A dreadful suspicion surfaced in his mind. After Pakura's capture, had she struck some bargain with Natsuki? His thoughts went to the rainwater trade between Pakura and the Daimyo of the Land of Rain. The Hidden Rain couldn't command that Daimyo—but if Konoha had truly wanted to shut the trade down, there were plenty of ways. And yet, all this time, Konoha had never once moved against such a lucrative operation. By rights, he should have caught these threads long ago. But the money had been too good, and it had blinded him.
"It's simple," Pakura replied. "I'm Natsuki's now."
"Why?" The Third Kazekage asked, baffled. "Has the Sand treated you so poorly?"
"When Rasa and Reki tried to kill me, why didn't you ask why then?" Pakura sneered.
The Third Kazekage had no answer. But he was the Kazekage; he found his composure fast.
"Since you've turned rogue, then you and Natsuki can die here together!" With that, killing intent flooding off him, he threw up a hand without hesitation.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!
The whole plain shuddered. Iron sand rose like a swelling tide, wheeling around him into a dense storm of needles—which snapped forward all at once, swallowing Natsuki and Pakura whole.
Pakura looked to Natsuki. She was deeply curious what he could do.
Natsuki had no intention of letting her down.
Countless swords blinked into being out of nothing. The air screamed as they hurtled forth, one after another, bursting violently against the iron needles. Flame gouted out—so much of it that a sea of fire formed on the spot. More than fifty meters across, it warped the very air as it rolled toward the Third Kazekage with terrible force.
"Fall back!" the Third Kazekage barked, hands already flying through seals. He'd brought an Anbu squad along, but they were dead weight now—worse than useless, only in his way.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!
A thick, heavy barrier reared up. But under that searing heat, the iron-sand wall glowed red in an instant. Fortunately, the Anbu had used the opening to retreat.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wings!
The Third Kazekage took to the air, wings unfurling from his back to carry him clear of the flames and up high. He beat them once, and iron-sand feathers tore toward Natsuki and Pakura, closing the distance like lightning.
Natsuki raised a hand.
Every feather stopped dead.
Pakura went briefly rigid. The Third Kazekage's eyes flew wide. Then, with a savage sweep of his arm, Natsuki sent the feathers screaming back the way they'd come.
"How do you know Magnet Release?" Pakura blurted.
It was exactly what the Third Kazekage wanted to ask—but he had no time for it. He heaved both hands up, terrifying chakra pouring out, and barely wrenched control of the feathers back. Before he could breathe out, though, they surged again, driving straight at him. His heart lurched, and he flung himself aside.
Same Magnet Release, same control over iron sand—which meant the winner came down to sheer volume of chakra. That Natsuki could forcibly seize his feathers spoke for itself.
The Third Kazekage could scarcely believe it. How old was Natsuki? A shinobi typically hit his prime around thirty, and Natsuki was nowhere near that—yet his chakra already outstripped the Kazekage's own. And this was a Kage, one of the five who stood at the very summit of the ninja world.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!
The Third Kazekage unleashed his ultimate technique without a second thought. In an instant, a vast expanse of iron sand spread out with him at its heart, and in the blink of an eye a great spike-studded barrier took shape in the air. Within it, he could soar freely, striking and defending at will.
"Careful!" Pakura couldn't help calling out. She knew all too well how deadly the Iron Sand World Method was.
Tsumukari Muramasa!
Natsuki didn't move a muscle.
The Third Kazekage's pupils shrank to points. All at once he stood in a world bristling with swords, Natsuki not far off.
The next second, every blade shattered. Light streamed together and pooled into a single sword in Natsuki's hand.
The Third Kazekage felt a danger like nothing he'd known. He threw both hands out, and the entire barrier answered, folding into layer upon layer of impregnable defense before him.
Natsuki leveled the sword at him and swung.
A slash beyond all description tore open the sky. Wherever it passed, the iron-sand defenses split apart one after another.
A scream. The Third Kazekage dropped from the air, blood spraying across the ground.
"Impossible—" Pakura lost her composure entirely, shock plain on her face. Since she hadn't been the target of Tsumukari Muramasa, all she'd seen from where she stood was Natsuki draw a single stroke. One stroke—and the barrier of the Iron Sand World Method was cleaved in two, the Third Kazekage himself unable to dodge in time.
He wasn't dead. But a gash deep enough to show bone ran down the left side of his body.
"Lord Kazekage!" Four Sand Anbu flickered into place around him.
Natsuki drew Minazuki.
Bankai!
The whole sky went black. Under Pakura's and the Third Kazekage's horrified stares, blood began to weep from everything around them—an unspeakably eerie sight. Neither of them had ever seen its like: not ninjutsu, not secret art, not Kekkei Genkai.
Wind Release: Blade of Wind!
The Anbu captain slammed through his seals without pause, and a razor-thin ring of wind maybe twenty centimeters across whipped toward Natsuki. The other three reacted just as fast, their own seals feeding a monstrous gale into being.
Natsuki stood where he was and gave a sharp flick.
Minazuki shot outward, shearing through the wind ring and the gale alike, then carried on toward the Third Kazekage and his guard without losing an ounce of momentum.
"Pull back—now!" The Third Kazekage forced the order out through the pain.
But at that exact moment, Minazuki shuddered hard, and a flood of blood welled up from the blade.
Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!
Natsuki flicked his hand almost idly. The blood sprayed across the Third Kazekage and his men—and detonated.
Boom!
A deafening roar. The blood burned, its heat wringing agonized screams from the Anbu—screams that cut off fast, the men reduced to ash before they could draw them out. Only the Third Kazekage reacted quickly enough, throwing up an iron-sand wall to block the spray. But it brought him no relief, only despair.
Pakura bit her lip without meaning to. She'd actually overestimated Natsuki—had convinced herself he could beat the Third Kazekage. The facts had proven her right: he had. But the trouble was how easily. So easily that she half-wondered if she'd been caught in a genjutsu.
As a Sand ninja, she'd held an unshakable faith in the Kazekage's strength. Turning rogue hadn't changed that ingrained belief. But after today, the Third Kazekage's aura of invincibility had crumbled to nothing.
Natsuki took a swift step forward. The iron sand before him split cleanly in two.
At the sight of him, the Third Kazekage was frightened out of his wits—but far too slow to flee. Teeth gritted, he called up the Iron Sand World Method once more, and countless long spikes lunged at Natsuki as though alive.
Armament Haki!
Conqueror's Haki!
Both wrapped around Minazuki's length. Natsuki swung, and every last spike was severed in the same breath.
The Third Kazekage felt a solid shockwave slam into him, hurling his whole body backward. In midair, amid a spray of blood, he split in two.
"...Dead?" Pakura murmured to herself.
The fight had shaken her to the core. Only one question remained in her mind now: just how strong was Natsuki? Even the Third Kazekage had been driven back again and again, pinned at a disadvantage from the first exchange to the last. Was that any way for a Kage to perform?
Natsuki put Minazuki away. Killing the Third Kazekage came as no surprise at all. Kage though he was, his showing ranked at the very bottom among the Five. In the source material, the Third Kazekage had been killed by Sasori—only fifteen or sixteen at the time—and the Fourth, Rasa, by Orochimaru and Kaguya Kimimaro. Both Kazekage had died to assassination, no less.
Natsuki stepped over and collected the Third Kazekage's corpse. It might yet prove useful—at the very least, an Impure World Reincarnation could put the man to work for free.
"Pakura." Natsuki looked to her.
Pakura shook off her thoughts, met his eyes, and for a moment had no idea what to say.
"The rest is yours. Don't disappoint me." Natsuki came up to her, smiling.
"I'll have the Hidden Sand under my control before long," Pakura said, without a shadow of doubt. She now outstripped both Rasa and Reki in influence and in power. Influence hardly needed saying—the fortune from the rainwater trade had drawn a great many ninja to her side. And in strength, she'd already unlocked Full Demonification and Blood Demon Art: Hollow Cry, God's Departure, which put her squarely at Kage level.
"I'll look forward to the good news," Natsuki said with a nod.
He opened an Air Door. Pakura stepped through and was gone.
Natsuki waited a moment. No new character template triggered. It seemed he'd have to wait until Pakura actually became the Fourth Kazekage before that one would fire.
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