"Where's my carriage?"
Just eight simple syllables, yet they stabbed straight into the thief's heart.
The rogue hurried into the road, crouching to examine the ruts and hoofprints. Once he'd picked out a trail, the male magic caster muttered a brief incantation and cast [3rd-Tier Spell · Fly], lifting off in the direction the thief pointed.
The rogue stayed on the ground, continuing to search for more traces as he jogged along.
(Bold enough to steal that carriage, huh…)
Sukarma and Lillinett both flushed with embarrassment. Failing to protect a noble's property was a serious stain on the record of a mythril-rank team like [Four Weapons].
If Soren got angry over this and cancelled the commission, their entire party would end up in a very awkward spot.
"Soren-sama, the carriage will be found soon enough. Since we've got a bit of free time…"
Lillinett pressed her generous chest against his arm, gently nudging him under the shade of a tree, "why don't we discuss some deeper truths of magic instead?"
She looked around, ready to make him sit, and only then realised—there was nothing like a chair in sight.
"Such a shame. If only we had a proper seat."
She wrinkled her nose. "Sitting right on the grass… I just know some little bug will crawl up under my robes."
Soren made a small, vaguely put-upon sound.
"If I had a proper seat, the scenery would be perfect."
He didn't say anything more, just let his gaze casually, deliberately drift toward Sukarma.
Her heart clenched.
"Sukarma-san, what do you think I should use as a seat?"
Soren smiled. "What could possibly replace those soft velvet cushions in my carriage?"
Like a lightning bolt splitting her skull, Sukarma suddenly understood what he was actually asking for.
(…But it is a perfectly legitimate excuse to get closer, isn't it?)
Before she could overthink it, her body moved on its own. Under Lillinett's stunned stare, Sukarma silently unclasped her armour and set each piece aside, leaving only the close-fitting underclothes that outlined her long, trained limbs and narrow waist.
Then she knelt down on the grass, elbows braced on the ground so her back formed a straight line, parallel to the earth. Eyes shut, she forced her voice not to shake.
"The loss of the carriage is [Four Weapons]' failure."
"Until we retrieve it, let me—Sukarma Opero, captain of [Four Weapons]—serve as Soren-sama's mount and cushion."
The moment she finished, she felt a weight settle onto her back.
Whether it was her own reckless behaviour, or the sudden closeness with Soren, her mind became a noisy blur, like fog had rushed in and drowned every clear thought. Her heartbeat pounded so hard it almost hurt; she could practically feel each drop of blood surging through her veins.
(What am I doing…?)
Before she could find an answer, a pair of broad, calloused hands slid lightly along her back. Even through the thin cloth, his warmth seeped into her skin and arrowed straight for her chest.
The heat in her cheeks deepened; even her loose hair couldn't hide it.
Above her, Soren chuckled softly.
"Honestly, I was only planning to have Sukarma-san chop down a tree so I could sit on a log."
He let his palm rest comfortably on her slim waist. "I didn't expect you to be this decisive… this responsible… and this…" He squeezed lightly. "…temptingly well-built."
The words "get off me!" almost shot out of her mouth, but Sukarma swallowed them back down.
Her voice came out low and tight. "As long as Soren-sama is satisfied."
"Who wouldn't be satisfied with a top-class mount?"
The double meaning in his tone made her whole body tremble. Soren's eyes glittered with amusement. Off to the side, Lillinett just stared at her long-time companion, feeling like she'd never really understood her at all.
So the ever-serious captain… actually had this kind of kink?
(Still… with a shameless pervert like Soren-sama, they really are a perfect match.)
Lillinett let herself be tugged into his arms, settling against his side as they began to "discuss magic theory" under the tree.
On Sukarma's back.
Black Horn Domain – Former Cloud Ninja Forward Base, Cloud-Thunder Gorge
High above the jagged mountain range, thunderclouds boiled like ink. Lightning flashed, tearing across the sky in jagged lines that briefly illuminated the assembled ninja forces drawn up on either side of the ravine.
Wind howled between the cliffs, flinging cold raindrops against stone. The air reeked of wet rock and churned earth.
Standing on a ledge that overlooked both armies, Karatachi Yagura clasped his arms across his chest. As the Mizukage's personal guard and disciple, he'd been sent to the Black Horn Domain to act in the Mizukage's stead.
He stared at the line of Iwagakure forces, and the coalition centred around Amegakure, thoughtful light flickering in his eyes.
"Yagura-jōnin, what do you think?"
The man who addressed him was Ebizō, the representative Sunagakure had sent to Black Horn. Younger brother to the Third Kazekage, he was a man whose words carried weight. He stepped closer, not bothering to hide his own scrutiny of the battlefield.
Mist and Sand had already come to a tacit understanding.
On one hand, it prevented Iwa and the ninja coalition from suddenly deciding they'd rather settle accounts with Kirigakure or Sunagakure instead.
On the other, it was the foundation of future profit in the new continent, and of Sunagakure's plan to turn endless desert into green land.
"They won't fight," Yagura said bluntly.
Though short, he carried himself with a sharp, unshakable presence. "What we're watching now is just… a show of force. Each side hoping the other gets scared first and backs down."
"Sunagakure sees it the same way."
Ebizō's gaze slid toward the two camps, voice tinged with weary admiration. "Who would've thought—we'd see the day when a 'minor' ninja village could stand toe-to-toe with one of the old great powers, and even have a real chance of grinding them underfoot."
"Times change. Ninja villages have to change with them."
Yagura's tone held a faint edge of mockery. "Back then, Old Purple, Fourth Tsuchikage, couldn't see the new era at all. He thought he could block the will of the Supreme Leader just because he wanted to."
He smiled thinly.
"In the end, he got publicly executed for his trouble. One swing of Soren-dono's blade, and the entire Iwa leadership was sent a message."
"He died cleanly enough," Ebizō said after a moment. "But it dragged Iwagakure's reputation into the mud—and now Ame has its eyes on them like they're a fat sheep."
He folded his hands into his sleeves.
"I've met Hanzō of the Salamander once."
"With that man's ambition, even if he has to break all his teeth, he'll still swallow this piece of meat."
He continued calmly.
"After a few bloody clashes, their frontline territory in Black Horn has stabilised. Their zones of control are almost identical. What comes next… will be decided by the battle between their Kage-class forces."
"That's why both sides are hoarding strength now," Yagura added. "If their Kage loses, they need enough power left to rebuild in the New World. No one wants to walk away empty-handed."
"If the people live, the lost land can be reclaimed; if only land is preserved while the people die, both will soon be lost."
Ebizō quoted Soren's line from the First Great Ninja War, and even now it still rang crisp and sharp between the cliffs.
Yagura glanced sidelong at him.
"There's nothing more to see down there. Unless…"
He smiled a little. "Unless you want to go poke at Iwa and the Coalition's nerves a bit?"
"Stir them up right before the final moment, make them really draw blood? Cut five to eight years off Iwa and Ame's future growth?"
He nodded toward the distant rock formations.
"The reports from Konoha put Sunagakure's overall strength only a little ahead of theirs."
Thunder cracked overhead. Lightning slashed between the clouds. Ebizō watched Yagura's easy smile and, for a heartbeat, saw not a youth but a deep-sea predator baring rows of serrated teeth.
He forced the tension from his shoulders and laughed.
"Yagura-jōnin is really fond of jokes. Sand's orders this time were to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. I wouldn't dare disobey… unless, of course, you wanted to do it."
He turned the offer back with a polite smile. "If so, I'd gladly report it back home and ask Kazekage-sama whether he approves."
"We're all ninja under the Supreme Leader's rule now," Yagura replied blandly. "How could Kirigakure possibly do something as vile as framing an ally?"
Ebizō rolled his eyes inwardly.
(So Mist can't do it, but Sand can—that's what you're saying, right?)
Both men knew exactly how far the other would go. They understood each other's bottom line, and let the topic drop. Instead, they simply stood on the mountainside, silently watching the tense standoff below… while each privately hoping to see rivers of blood.
But in an age where every ninja ultimately fell under Konoha's Military Affairs Department, and where even a single sentence from Deputy Minister Uzumaki Mito carried the weight of a warning—no one dared move first.
Far away, in the Wind Country's village of sand, in the office of the Kazekage—
Chiyo pressed her fingers against her temples, trying to soothe the ache building behind her eyes. Her dark gaze was full of worry.
Compared to Kirigakure, with its three major bloodline clans, Three-Tails and Six-Tails, and a steady stream of young geniuses… Sunagakure's heritage looked painfully thin.
They had Second Kazekage Shamon'sMagnet Release, and their cherished puppet-master arts, plus One-Tail Shukaku.
But Magnet Release had no successor. The puppet arts, while terrifying when mass-produced, were starting to show their limits.
Against mid- and low-tier nin, puppets were perfect force multipliers. But in high-end or Kage-level battles, they were becoming more and more like expensive cannon fodder.
"We've already hit a gap in talent."
Chiyo sighed. "Suna is staring straight at a future with no one to pass the torch to."
Her long grey hair, tied up in a loose bun, swayed as she leaned back in her chair and stared up at the motes of dust dancing in the sunlight. To her, they looked uncomfortably like her village's fate—drifting wherever the wind took them.
Even Iwagakure, reduced and harried by Ame, still had Dust Release hidden away as a trump card. One successor was all it would take for Iwa to roar back to life.
And now their leader, Han, had created Boil Release based on Five-Tails' chakra, and forged an elite earth-style shock corps.
If Suna clashed with Iwa now… she honestly couldn't say who would win.
"If it hadn't been Old Purple picking a fight with Konoha back then, the one Ame was circling right now wouldn't be Iwa—it'd be us."
She glanced at the portraits on the wall—one of Second Kazekage Shamon, one of Third Kazekage Mero.
"Mero, you idiot. As Shamon-sama's successor, why did you have to charge the front with him? What were you doing rushing ahead on the battlefield like that…"
She clicked her tongue, then laughed at herself.
"Still… if we hadn't offended Konoha back then, Suna would probably be the strongest village under them now."
"I guess I'm lucky, in a way. If I hadn't stayed behind with Ebizō that day, I'd probably be one more speck of dust Soren-dono wiped from the map."
Four years for the First Great Ninja War.
Four days for the Second.
Chiyo's hunger for Transcendent-Kage power only burned hotter.
She pulled open a drawer and took out a small hand-mirror.
The reflection that looked back was that of a young woman—a cute face of soft lines, eyes like clear autumn water, a small, delicate nose that made her look a little impish, lips that seemed forever on the verge of a smile.
A genuine beauty in her late teens, no matter how she looked at it.
"Hmph, I'm not exactly ugly."
She tilted her head this way and that, then murmured, "If I'm going to get married anyway, I might as well marry the strongest man in the world, right?"
"If I become the Supreme Leader's wife, Suna never has to worry again—and I won't have to bother dealing with all this paperwork."
Uzushio and Ghost Ninja Village were already shining examples. A single marriage had elevated them to near untouchable status.
The problem was… no one had actually made it to Soren's bed yet.
Even the new brides in the Uchiha and Senju clans were mostly Konoha natives. Outsiders were rare.
The Hyūga insisted on marrying within the clan.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio and the Sarutobi, being a bit below the founding clans in status, were equally cautious. No one wanted to risk accusations of colluding with outside villages.
Right now, the ninja world looked a lot like the early days of the original Five Great Villages—every village eyeing the others warily, and knowing that true unity might only come through time… or a wave of mass political marriages from above.
"Guang, we just needed someone to check the Susanoo statue. Any Uchiha would've done."
Soren's scalp prickled as he trailed behind his little sister. "Why did you drag me to Ghost Ninja Village?"
"What do you think I dragged you here for?"
Uchiha Guang swiveled on her heel, white sundress swirling around her knees. Her skin was as pale as fresh milk, with a healthy glow under the sunlight. With her waterfall of black hair and bright eyes, she was like a white cherry blossom blooming in early spring—pure, soft, and very, very dangerous.
Hands on her slim waist, she pinned him with the look of a mother tiger addressing a wayward cub.
"You should be grateful I didn't bring Sister Chi with us."
Soren's expression shifted instantly. He plastered on the most fawning, sincere smile he could manage, thumping his chest.
"Wherever Guang wants to go today, big brother will accompany you."
"That's more like it."
Her hair swung past his nose, carrying the faint fragrance of some floral soap. By the time he blinked, all he could see was her slender back.
"Come on, big brother. Don't dawdle."
She held her hands behind her as she walked, fingers loosely twined, voice sweet and light.
"Coming, coming."
Heart thoroughly understanding the situation, Soren quickly caught up and laced his fingers with hers. The two of them wandered slowly through the busy streets of Ghost Ninja Village.
"Big brother, I want dumpling skewers."
"Big brother, I want candied haw."
"Big brother…"
They walked, ate, and drank their way through half the market. Only when Soren's hands were so full of snacks he couldn't carry another thing did Guang finally stop buying.
As the sun climbed higher, they reached the village centre and the towering statue that had become Ghost Ninja Village's symbol—a colossal image of Susanoo.
Guang popped the last meatball from her skewer into her mouth, tossed the stick neatly into a nearby bin, then turned to him with a bright, foxlike smile.
"Big brother, this Susanoo statue looks exactly like you."
Soren's danger sense screamed.
He laughed dryly. "Well, of course it does. My Susanoo is famous all over the ninja world. If the sculptors wanted a 'god of war' to copy, who else would they choose?"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Her tone was light, but the glance she gave him over her shoulder made his skin prickle. He quickly shoved the stick of candied haw into her hand.
Guang held it between her lips, lifting a few strands of hair to tuck behind her ear as she sucked the sugar coating. The simple movement, combined with her bright eyes, sent Soren's imagination lurching straight into indecent territory.
She noticed.
Of course she noticed.
Her lashes lowered a fraction, and she murmured, "Big brother, is this what you want Guang to do?"
She leaned in deliberately, her soft lips making a tiny, obscene pop against the sugar. Her gaze flicked down, below his waist, and then back up again, eyes turning shy and smug all at once.
"Too bad."
She straightened, dusting nonexistent crumbs off her dress. "Today, big brother isn't allowed to touch Guang. And you're not allowed to go anywhere either."
"Huh? Why?"
Guang curled a finger in his collar and tugged him down, soft breath tickling his ear as she let out a mischievous little devil-girl laugh.
"Big brother, do you remember what you said a few nights ago?"
"If you don't, it's fine. Guang can remind you."
She cleared her throat and mimicked his tone perfectly:
"'I'm innocent! I've never even met the miko from Ghost Ninja Village!'"
Soren's whole body jolted. His smile only grew brighter, more sincere, as he nodded fervently.
"Guang is the best. You know your big brother's exhausted lately. Today, I'm not going anywhere—just staying right by your side."
"Just… don't be too thoughtful, okay?"
"As deeply as possible," she replied sweetly.
Her smile bloomed like a flower, but every villager who happened to see it felt cold sweat on their backs.
"This is the punishment," she added casually, "for big brother making Guang lie to the two elder sisters."
She thought of her favourite romance novel, "How to Make Your Stepbrother Fall Hopelessly for His Little Sister", and judged that this was exactly the point in the story where you had to tighten the leash.
She pushed the half-eaten candied haw back into his mouth.
"But don't worry."
Her eyes curved as she watched him bite down, expression complex. "Guang will always be your soft, cosy little coat."
With that, she spun around again, hands behind her back, humming as she walked toward the miko shrine in the village's heart.
Soren watched her walk ahead, sugary tang and a faint girl-scent lingering in his mouth, then muttered behind the stick, "You're a coat full of holes."
"Hmm?"
"Guang is the most amazing."
"That's better."
Guang hopped up the shrine steps. Soren hurried after her.
"You've already seen Minako-neesan."
She ticked off on her fingers. "Now it's time to visit Miko-neesan. Big brother, is there any other sister Guang hasn't met yet?"
"Well…"
He only paused for a heartbeat, but under Guang's deep, dark eyes, a heartbeat was too long.
To his surprise, she didn't blow up.
She just spoke in a light, even voice as they walked.
"Guang knows what kind of person you are, big brother."
"I gave up on the idea of you controlling your lower half a long time ago."
Her lips quirked.
"But just like Sister Chi said—there's one line you can never cross."
She looked back, expression suddenly serious. "You are not allowed to bring home a woman who's already pregnant."
"And you are never bringing back a woman with a child in her arms."
"That's my bottom line. It's also the bottom line of our whole family."
As she spoke, crimson bloomed in her pupils, fanning into a complex, flower-like pinwheel.
Soren's breath caught—because what spun there wasn't just the Mangekyō anymore.
It was the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
By fusing the ocular power left behind by Uchiha Madara, Guang had finally taken that last step in these three years.
Soren's grin this time was utterly genuine.
"Congratulations, Guang. Next stop is the Six Paths realm."
Her cheeks coloured just a little. She lifted her chin, letting him bend down and brush a light kiss over her lips.
The moment he tried to wrap an arm around her waist and teleport, though, she shoved him away, face turning pink for a different reason.
"We agreed—today you're not allowed to do anything."
"Once we're inside the shrine, you're not allowed to talk. You're not allowed to move."
She didn't spare him another glance, just strutted toward the rear shrine with a bounce in her step. Soren followed, ribs aching from the frustration that had nowhere to go.
Their identities were announced at the gate, and the shrine attendants bowed them through to the inner sanctum. Before long, the two of them stepped into the rear hall and faced the woman waiting within—
Miko Momiji.
"What a beautiful, gentle big sister. No wonder big brother fell for you."
Guang's first sentence was a direct headshot. Caught completely off guard, Momiji's face went scarlet. Her amber eyes flicked to Soren, who was staring at the ceiling with the most innocent expression he could muster while frantically winking at her.
She took a slow breath, steadied herself, and bowed.
"Welcome, Lady Guang, Lord Soren."
Her voice was soft as ever. "What Soren-sama cherishes is the divine power Ghost Ninja Village offers the Uchiha, not this unworthy miko. I am merely dedicating myself to serving Uchiha's godly might as this country's symbol."
"Oh, come on."
Guang raised a hand, and a sound-proof barrier snapped into place around them, cutting off the outside world.
She stepped forward, fingers deftly removing Momiji's ceremonial crown. The miko froze as her hair spilled down around her shoulders.
"In front of these eyes," Guang said lightly, her Eternal Mangekyō spinning lazily, "you don't need to say things you don't mean."
She leaned close enough to smell the faint incense on Momiji's skin and whispered:
"Big brother already told me everything."
"You're not a secret to me."
"But you are a secret to the other sisters—and big brother's mouth is very tight. I expect yours to be the same."
Momiji's throat bobbed.
"Then… what does Lady Guang intend to do?"
"Do?" Guang smiled, all dimples and danger. "Didn't you just say you'd dedicate yourself completely to Uchiha's divine power?"
She held up a hand. Sharingan light danced at her fingertips. "Well, I have divine power too."
With a casual flick, Guang stripped off Momiji's outer robe, leaving the miko in her white inner layer. Momiji's hands flew up on reflex—but Guang just caught them, holding them gently yet firmly at her sides.
Unable to resist without disrespecting both the Supreme Leader and his sister, Momiji turned helpless eyes to Soren, who had quietly sat down beside the platform.
"Soren-sama, what does Lady Guang want to—"
"Don't bother looking at big brother."
Guang clicked her tongue.
"This is punishment for him fooling around."
Momiji watched, wide-eyed, as Guang pulled out a storage scroll, unfurled it with a snap, and dumped out a small mountain of… colourful, suspicious-looking "tools."
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
"At the shrine, in front of Soren-sama, Miko-fujin… let's play a very fun game."
Guang's smile was pure wickedness.
Soren could only sit there, eyes wide, as his little sister—once a soft and obedient girl—turned into something very much like him.
What followed was—at least in his mind—a new definition of the word "green."
Guang, half-wrapped in a glowing half-body Susanoo, kept both herself and Momiji firmly inside a translucent, violet armour shell. No matter how Soren itched to "help" adjust something, or "guide" a hand, or "demonstrate proper technique," every attempt was firmly repelled by Susanoo's ribs.
"Guang, you need to lubricate the cat tail."
"Guang, that angle's off."
"Guang, the switch is over there."
"Guang, you have to channel chakra into it."
"Guang—"
Her glare cut him off mid-instruction.
"Shut up and watch."
Her cheeks were burning red, but her tone was smug. "Today, big brother just sits there and looks."
"From now on, every single one of your little lovers—Guang is going to 'visit' them personally."
She bared her teeth in an angelic smile. "See if you still dare fool around outside."
On the other side of Susanoo's wall, Momiji clung to Guang's shoulders, voice breaking as she tried not to look at Soren.
"Soren-sama, d-don't look—"
"Soren-sama, Momiji… Momiji can't take much more—"
"Soren-sama, I… I've wronged you—"
"Wronged me my ass, stop saying things that make it sound like I'm bullying you!" Soren roared from the outside, half mad with frustration, half terrified and half delighted.
Steel-thick composure or not, he was still a man. Watching a little devil sister torment a pure shrine maiden behind a wall he couldn't pass had his blood boiling so hard it felt like it might turn to steam.
At last, when even Guang looked a little dazed inside Susanoo's glow, she finally let the armour dissolve, panting for breath.
Soren didn't even bother to hide his hunger as he lunged forward, pulling out his "special kit" with practised hands.
"Big brother, your image…" Guang groaned, covering her face.
"In Guang's eyes, I'm already a shameless pervert. What image do I have left to protect?"
By the time he was finally satisfied, Guang could only sit there, slumped, hair and clothes a mess, shooting him a look that was equal parts exhausted, flustered, and… grudgingly pleased.
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