"Anko… you two are together now?"
In a tight red bandage dress, with her elegant black hair and calm aura, Kurenai Yuhi stared at the shy girl beside her, utterly stunned.
Mitarashi Anko's cheeks flushed.
"Ah— keep your voice down…"
Under the night sky, the two sat side by side on a rooftop, whispering about private matters.
But as girls' talk always went, the topic drifted into more and more sensitive territory.
"Anko… you and Evan…"
Kurenai pressed her lips together, a little embarrassed. "Have you… you know… already done it?"
"Eh?"
Anko lowered her head bit by bit.
"Don't… don't ask…"
Kurenai understood immediately.
Her curiosity only grew.
"So… how does it feel?"
"Does it hurt?"
"I heard the first time always hurts."
"T-That…"
Anko squirmed, mortified.
How was she supposed to answer that?
"It… it feels really… good…"
Her voice grew softer and softer, barely louder than a mosquito.
A faint blush crept up her pale neck.
Feels good, huh…?
Kurenai's curiosity spiked even more.
Judging from Anko's face, it clearly wasn't just "good"—it was very good.
"Ah, then you're basically going to marry him, aren't you?"
Kurenai covered her mouth, hiding a teasing smile.
Anko said nothing.
The blush on her neck spread slowly up to her cheeks.
"Oh dear, my best friend is getting married," Kurenai laughed softly. "I wonder when I need to prepare my gift and attend the wedding banquet?"
Her beautiful red eyes bent into crescent moons, voice full of gentle teasing.
"Come on, Kurenai, stop teasing me already… Right, what about you and Asuma?"
"Ugh, don't even bring him up. That guy's always reeking of smoke. It drives me crazy…"
Kurenai sighed, conflicted.
"But… he is the Hokage's son…"
Out of nowhere, her mind drifted to Evan.
Back at the Academy, he'd been frighteningly withdrawn.
He looked at everyone like they were test subjects in a lab.
Who would've thought that on the battlefield, he'd become such a feared, legendary figure?
And yet… even now, he still felt cold and distant.
No warmth, no "normal" human atmosphere around him at all.
She didn't like that.
RUMBLE—
Suddenly, a deafening explosion tore through the night, cutting their conversation off cleanly.
Anko and Kurenai snapped their heads toward the sound.
Against the night sky, a pillar of flame roared up.
Not far away, firelight surged, crimson and violent, as if it were about to swallow everything in its path.
The two women's eyes widened, their faces changing drastically.
The building on fire—
was the Hokage Building!
"Help! Somebody, put out the fire!"
"Enemy attack!"
"Help—!!"
"AAAARGH!"
Shouts and screams echoed across all of Konoha.
Evan charged at the vanguard.
His entire body was wrapped in churning black iron sand, the demonic mask on his face twisted and hideous.
Rip—
Crack—!
After barely half a day, he had stepped into the Hokage Building once again.
Every Konoha ninja or ANBU who crossed his path was swallowed by the iron sand—
their bodies ground into paste.
"I-Is he even human…?"
The Sand shinobi following behind him were horrified.
This "Magnet Release" he wielded was terrifyingly refined, and his methods were ruthless.
No corpses remained intact in his wake.
Just how much hatred did he have for Konoha?
Pakura and Jun, who knew the truth behind all this, were still stunned.
Is he really a Konoha shinobi?
Why did he butcher Konoha's own forces more viciously than any Sand shinobi ever had?
"Kill!"
Dozens of Sand nin stormed in behind him.
Their faces were already covered in bloody scratch marks from earlier, making them look all the more ferocious.
Pakura and Jun also threw themselves into the fray.
Scorching waves of heat erupted—
one Konoha ninja after another was baked into a dried corpse by Pakura's flames.
No one in Konoha had ever imagined
that one day, enemies would attack the Hokage Building directly.
Their response was a mess.
In no time, severed limbs and shredded remains littered the floors.
Blood flowed like rivers throughout the Hokage Building.
Inside, everything had already devolved into utter chaos.
As the political heart of Konoha, there were always shinobi working inside—day or night.
ANBU squads were stationed around it as permanent guards.
Now, they had no choice but to desperately defend.
Nearby clans and shinobi, sensing something wrong at the Hokage Building, rushed over one after another.
"Kill them all!"
"Those damned Sand bastards really were up to no good!"
"They dare attack the Hokage Building? They're asking for death!"
"Damn Sand scum!"
Koharu Utatane led the Utatane clan's shinobi, arriving ahead of the other elders.
But before they could even join the fight, a dense, blood-streaked wall of iron sand blocked their path.
"Who are you?!"
Koharu stared at the grotesque demon mask before her, her heart sinking.
Sand iron… Magnet Release?
Since when did Sunagakure have another Magnet Release user?
"Kuyue."
Evan spoke just two syllables, eyes lighting up with delight behind the mask.
He hadn't expected Koharu to be so considerate—
actually delivering herself right to his doorstep.
Saved him the trouble of hunting her down later.
After all, among his personal targets,
two names were written very clearly:
The ones who coveted his swordsmanship—
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
Evan was not the type to let grudges go.
He repaid them all—with interest.
His black robe billowed as he swept his arm.
The mass of iron sand roiled like a dark tide, surging toward Koharu, forming a massive hand that slammed down from above.
Koharu's eyelid twitched.
"Scatter!" she shouted, leaping away.
BOOM!
Even so, several Konoha shinobi were a step too slow.
They were smashed into a spray of blood and flesh on the spot.
"Damn you!"
Koharu ground her teeth.
Those had all been shinobi from her own clan.
"Still distracted?"
A mocking voice sounded right by her ear.
Koharu's heart lurched.
She suddenly felt something coil around her leg.
She looked down—
black, viscous iron sand had already wrapped around her leg and was rapidly crawling upward.
"When…?!"
In the blink of an eye, the iron sand condensed into a gigantic hand once more, closing around her entire body.
Koharu was trapped in its grip, completely immobile.
Evan clicked his tongue in disdain.
This is a Konoha elder's combat awareness?
Years of comfort had dulled her far too much.
Had she forgotten she was a shinobi?
If Tobirama Senju could see how weak his disciple had become,
he might just claw his way out of the Pure Land in rage.
"Elder!"
Seeing Koharu captured, the Konoha shinobi and ANBU around her turned pale.
Supported by the iron sand, Evan rose into the air until he was level with Koharu.
He leaned in, voice low enough for only the two of them to hear.
"You think you're worthy of 'coveting my swordsmanship'?"
Koharu, still struggling, froze.
Her cloudy eyes widened, as if she were trying to see through the demon mask to the face beneath.
His swordsmanship…? He's…
"You are… it's you…"
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