Among all the food Shiraishi prepared, the first thing that caught Maki's eye was the dessert.
She picked up a spoon and carefully took her first bite. Instantly, every nearby gaze locked onto the two of them.
"These two are way too dazzling…"
At some point, Jogaki Shikasahad put on a pair of sunglasses. He had absolutely no desire to watch the interaction between Shiraishi and Maki. To him, even watching her take a single bite was blinding.
Being teammates with these two was genuinely painful.
"…It's delicious."
Maki tasted it slowly and seriously. Her eyes quickly lit up, and before anyone realized it, she had finished the dessert—then immediately moved on to the rest of the food Shiraishi had made.
It had to be said:
Female shinobi—especially those who had been on the battlefield—had terrifying appetites.
The amount of food Shiraishi prepared was roughly three times what a normal person would eat, yet almost all of it disappeared into Maki's stomach.
Only after finishing did she suddenly cover her mouth, realizing something was off.
"You're this good… how am I supposed to make lunch for you in the future?"
"I usually spend most of my time reading and studying, so I don't have time to cook," Shiraishi replied honestly. "How about arranging a set of notes, and you learn from that?"
The suggestion was sincere.
Maki's face turned even redder, and she nodded softly.
"Eh? It's all gone already?"
At that moment, Ebizo walked out of the camp. Seeing the scene of total annihilation, his eyelid twitched.
"Yashamaru heard you made a very good dessert. She really wants to try it—but it'd be awkward for her to ask."
"There's still one portion left in the cold storage."
"Then I'll go get it myself."
The story of Shiraishi turning into a warm, considerate man and cooking delicious food for Maki quickly spread throughout the Sunagakure camp. Everyone found this bit of gossip highly entertaining.
In a brutal wartime environment, something this gentle and romantic was more than enough to ease the tense atmosphere.
The second portion Shiraishi had saved was eventually shared between Ebizo and Yashamaru. Compared to Yashamaru, the elderly Ebizo clearly had a much stronger sweet tooth.
For a while afterward, Kikyo Pass entered a rare period of calm.
As Shiraishi recovered from his injuries, his daily routine mostly consisted of cooking for Maki. Naturally, Ebizo and Yashamaru also frequently showed up to "sample" his desserts.
However, at night—when he was alone—Shiraishi continued his training.
His focus was on Flying Water Shuriken and Black Mist.
Under the swirling veil of strange black fog, streams of water condensed instantly into shuriken and shot outward.
During training, Shiraishi discovered something unexpected:
When his Round Pupils were active, the accuracy and firing speed of Flying Water Shuriken increased dramatically—almost reaching instant-cast levels.
Extremely powerful.
Yet among all his techniques, the one he valued most was Curse.
Unfortunately, its proficiency stubbornly remained at 0.05%.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not successfully cast it. This was the first time Shiraishi had encountered such a situation.
After completing all fifteen hand seals, he circulated his chakra once again—
—and a violent, oppressive surge of dark, negative emotion flooded into his body.
His cells screamed under the pressure. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He had lost count of how many times this had happened.
Every attempt to use Curse resulted in the same overwhelming wave of negative emotional energy, crushing his body and mind and leaving him barely able to move.
Perhaps this was the true reason Curse reduced the user's speed.
The negative emotions bound the body itself, suppressing movement and turning agility into sluggishness.
Konoha.
Inside a vast hall, the Third Hokage stared solemnly at a card that had been reduced to scrap metal. A horrifying hole pierced straight through it.
Konoha's investigation had made no progress. Every lead was a dead end—whether it was the mysterious attackers who slaughtered the Sensory Division, or the mystery of how the cards lost their supposed indestructibility.
"The faction that attacked the Sensory Division likely also possesses the means to destroy these cards."
No matter how they analyzed it, Konoha refused to believe that a teenage boy alone could wield a technique powerful enough to destroy such artifacts. This was clearly the signature of another hidden force.
"Hiruzen, what exactly are you hesitating about?"
Danzō finally spoke, dissatisfied with the Third Hokage's silence.
"Danzō… do you remember our teacher's death?"
During the First Shinobi World War, after the passing of the First Hokage, Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, was ambushed alongside the Second Raikage by the rebellious Gold and Silver Brothers during an alliance ceremony.
Later, while being pursued, Tobirama chose to act as bait so his subordinates could escape. After appointing Hiruzen as the Third Hokage, he faced the enemy alone—and died.
That was Konoha's darkest era.
The two men exchanged glances, and Danzō immediately understood.
"You're saying… the doubts are similar?"
Although the Gold and Silver Brothers were powerful, Tobirama—second only to the First Hokage—should not have fallen so easily.
Based on intelligence gathered later, Tobirama had likely been attacked by an unknown masked individual during that battle.
For decades, an unseen force had been quietly steering the balance of the shinobi world.
As Hokage, Hiruzen was painfully aware of that undercurrent—yet despite years of investigation, no concrete evidence had surfaced.
"I only hope… this isn't another coincidence."
Several days later, once Shiraishi had mostly recovered, and Ebizo had stabilized the situation at Kikyo Pass with Yashamaru's help, Sunagakure sent multiple summons calling Ebizo back.
"It's time to return. We need to plan our next move."
The war between Sunagakure and Konoha had reached a stage that unexpectedly benefited Iwagakure and Kirigakure. The future would be even harsher for Sunagakure.
Ebizo had to return to the village to strategize with Rasa and Chiyo—and, just as importantly, to protect Shiraishi.
After his explosive performance on the battlefield—even dismantling the Sensory Division—Root, ANBU, and multiple Konoha factions would inevitably focus on him.
Ebizo decided Shiraishi should return to the village and rest for a while.
After all, their master–disciple training was far from over.
As for returning to Sunagakure, Shiraishi felt reluctant only because he would be leaving Maki behind.
Otherwise, he was quite willing—especially since Jogaki hayata had recently informed him that the deep-sea mithril weapon he had commissioned earlier seemed to have encountered some kind of problem.
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