Arakawa Ran's desperate sealing technique locked Shiraishi's human-puppet inside a towering sand prison.
But in the next instant—
A violent steam explosion tore the sand tower apart.
Distorted air currents raged outward as the puppet Shiraishi stepped out of the shattered seal, gazing calmly at the exhausted Arakawa Ran.
"Is it the bond of your clan that has kept you going this long?"
Ran laughed bitterly.
"The demon who blew up three thousand of his own comrades…
Do you even understand what 'comrades' mean?"
Within many great clans—including the Arakawas—rumors had already spread that it was Shiraishi who had instigated Chiyo to plan the destruction of Kikyo Mountain.
To them, Shiraishi was a monster who would sacrifice anything to become Kazekage.
"The cruelty of war is far more complicated than you think," Shiraishi replied calmly.
"If the Sand ever needs it, I would make the same choice again."
He twisted and threw a punch.
Ran hurled several kunai, cutting off the strike, while fine sand surged forward, attempting to bind Shiraishi once more.
But the overwhelming steam field vaporized the sand instantly.
Ran was astonishingly resilient.
By now, large portions of Shiraishi's puppet body had been damaged, yet Ran was still fighting.
At this point, the battle itself had already lost its meaning.
To buy time for his comrades, Ran pressed multiple detonation tags onto his body and charged forward in a suicidal rush.
The blade flashed.
Before the tags could detonate, Shiraishi stabbed straight through Ran's chest.
A surge of electric talisman energy poured into his body, paralyzing every nerve.
Electricity ripped through his cells.
Ran could not withstand it.
His body went limp, and he collapsed unconscious.
Shiraishi had intended to kill him.
But at the moment the blade pierced Ran's body, something in this stubborn, loyal young man made him subconsciously avoid the vital points.
Someone who truly valued his comrades… perhaps did not deserve to die here.
It was naive, perhaps.
But Shiraishi chose not to kill him.
He used the lightning talisman to knock him out instead.
The silver blade slid back into its sheath, reflecting a cold light.
The old words of the Jōgaki clan—"A sword must know when to return"—echoed in his mind.
Now the question was no longer how to kill Arakawa Ran.
It was what to do with him.
By morning, before Shiraishi had made a decision, envoys from the Arakawa clan arrived.
"Shiraishi-sama, this is an apology gift from our clan head."
Five small wooden boxes were placed before him.
A faint scent of blood made his skin crawl.
He already knew what was inside.
"This is our lord's sincerity."
A wind swept out.
The lids flew open.
Inside lay five severed heads, still wet with blood.
They were the five companions who had infiltrated with Arakawa Ran.
Arakawa Akita had executed them as "traitors colluding with foreign powers" and sent their heads to Shiraishi as proof of cooperation.
The Arakawa envoys showed no emotion as they bowed.
"Jirō… Shūhei…!"
A broken scream tore through the room.
Arakawa Ran had woken.
Seeing the five heads, he went completely insane.
Even the envoys were startled.
They had assumed Ran was already dead—after all, Black Mist Shiraishi was known for slaughtering entire clans.
Yet Ran was alive.
"How were they executed?" Ran asked hoarsely.
The envoys recoiled under his gaze.
"They were… labeled as traitors collaborating with enemy nations."
Ran trembled.
Mission failure was one thing.
Being executed as foreign spies was something else entirely.
That kind of death erased their honor forever.
"You may leave," Shiraishi said quietly.
The envoys fled.
Ran stood there, shaking.
He hated the Arakawa clan now.
But that did not mean he trusted Shiraishi.
Yet if he did not defect, he would become a hunted traitor.
There was only one path left.
In the Elders' Office.
"You really want to recommend him for the Secret Mobile Unit?" Chiyo asked, amused.
"So even Black Mist Shiraishi can be soft-hearted?"
Shiraishi explained everything.
Chiyo agreed.
The Secret Mobile Unit was a special force under the Elders' authority, operating above ANBU, specializing in intelligence and foreign operations.
Shiraishi would be leaving for the Land of Rivers soon.
He wanted this settled before he left.
"Kirigakure's movements are becoming strange," Chiyo added.
"They are attacking Konoha—but their presence near our borders is also increasing."
The thirteen southern districts of the Land of Rivers were coastal.
They were exactly what Kirigakure had always coveted.
By handing them to Suna, Konoha had deliberately thrown Sand into conflict with Mist.
Then new intelligence arrived.
Chiyo's face changed.
"The Kazekage… has suffered a catastrophic defeat."
After Kikyo Mountain, Rasa had recklessly invaded the Revelation Mountains, believing Ōnoki was gone.
Instead, he ran straight into an ambush by:
Ōnoki
Han, the Five-Tails Jinchūriki
Rōshi, the Four-Tails Jinchūriki
Suna was nearly annihilated.
Rasa himself was gravely wounded and only survived because Chiyo used the White Secret Technique to rescue him.
Sand was now critically weakened.
If not for the treaty and Konoha's current weakness, Sand would already be crushed.
"On your mission to the Land of Rivers," Chiyo said gravely,
"watch Kirigakure very carefully."
The world was shifting again.
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