Tsukinoko was sorting out paperwork in Haruo's office at the end of summer, while he was receiving mission returns at the Academy. When her work was done, she wanted to leave to stretch her legs, but came across a falconry messenger rushing into the building, climbing the stairs four at a time. Curious, she climbed the facade to spy on the room where Haruo was, waiting to see what the messenger intended to announce.

  He finishes reading the message, then throws the parchment out of the window, as the assembly looks on in surprise. Tsukinoko catches it and straightens up to sit on windowsill, reading it with her back to the room.

  The message had come from Nezumi and Kakashi, who had been on a spying mission for several days, reporting that Subaku, the hidden village of the Land of Sand, had set up a hidden camp on the border between the two countries, in violation of the peace treaty.

  - Go and join them immediately, and comb the border," he says, his nose in another document.

  Without answering, Tsukinoko slips the parchment into her pocket and drops from the window, causing the room to cry out in surprise. One roll later, she lands on solid ground and rushes back to the quarters to collect the rest of the Ro squad.

  On the edge of the sand country, perched atop a giant conifer, she kept watch over the spotted camp. For her, this meant dreamily gazing up at the stars, while watching the movements of the soldiers below with her aura, entangled in the thorns of the fir tree. Dawn broke.

  Tsukinoko counted more and more presences around them. Her aura faded and she opened her eyes again. Subaku's soldiers were beginning to stir, and the troop seemed to be packing up camp, before moving on towards the Land of the Sun.

  Without waiting, a hawk flies out of the tree, a message hanging from its leg, towards Hanamaru. Returning with the entire squad, they precede the troop to the border, ready to prevent them from entering the country without authorization. After a long wait, they find themselves facing a group of twenty men, led by their commander, at the entrance to the plain. Yet Tsukinoko's mind was not at ease. The excess chakra she had perceived earlier was oppressive, more so than the men in front of them, even if they were supernatural beings.

  - Who are you?" began Kakashi. Subaku didn't tell us he was coming to the land of the Sun. Please explain the reason for your visit.

  - I am Kabi, Commander of the hidden village of Subaku and member of the Council," exclaimed the commander. Our leader requests an immediate meeting with Hanamaru to renegotiate the peace treaty agreements.

  Kakashi was about to reply, but Tsukinoko followed suit, shouting behind him.

  - Why mobilize so many men if you've only come to ask for an assembly?

  - Would Hanamaru be so paranoid to think that a mere twenty men could overthrow her? he retorted ironically.

  - Five hundred and thirteen men," replies Tsukinoko.

  The squad was astonished, but said nothing, Kakashi on his guard as Kabi seemed to rage.

  - There are five hundred and thirteen of them," she says to her supervisor. A hundred of them are hiding around us, another hundred are in the back, and the rest are in the camp.

  - What are your real intentions?" exclaimed Kakashi.

  - You're not prepared for this, since you're the only one who can stop us," he says harshly. The situation in Subaku has changed, and we're going to renegotiate certain points of the treaty, whether we like it or not.

  Six faced a real army, and the squad waited for orders before reacting, full of composure. It was too late to wait for reinforcements.

  An old voice deep within Tsukinoko echoed, taunting the troupe before her. The ancient celestial being was heard again, having remained silent for over a year. Presumably there to taunt Subaku's troop, perceived as a tiny anthill in his eyes.

  Tsukinoko shook her head to chase him away and stay focused. But with his strength at her side, she felt superior. With a symbolic gesture, she removes her mask and throws it into the air, breaking it in two with a sharp blade stroke. The squad is speechless at her gesture.

  - What's this?" astonished Kabi. Do you admit defeat?

  - Certainly not," she says, accompanied by a wry grin.

  Her head held high, she looked him straight in the eye and he suddenly frowned.

  - I no longer need to conceal my identity, because whatever happens, none of you will make it to Hanamaru alive. I'll be the last face you see before you pass on, lamenting the fact that you didn't kiss your children goodbye and bid your loved ones farewell before you left! By revealing my identity to you, I promise that you won't win!

  Subaku's men widen their eyes, increasingly anxious. Murmurs fill the troop, until one of them questions Kabi.

  - Commander, who the hell is that?

  - Violet eyes and a pair of swords... It seems she's Haruo Sato's disciple. Nothing to fear, her reputation is based on rumors alone.

  - I'm TsukinokoHanamaru's Amethyst Dragon! she shouts with dignity.

  Her aura explodes around her under the infatuation, blowing the air with her purplish chakra. The soldiers took a step back as the squad shielded themselves from the blast, stunned. Kabi hadn't moved an inch, his eyes riveted on her, and with a flare of distress called for a hundred more soldiers to join them.

  - What are you playing at, you moron?! panics K? from behind.

  - There are so many more of them than us, what are we going to do?

  - Nothing, as long as they don't throw the first punch," replies Kakashi without batting an eyelid. Tsukinoko, don't try anything!

  The latter was about to insist to Kabi, but chakra stirred in the ground just beneath their feet. The purplish aura quickly enveloped the squad before they were swallowed up by the ground, transformed into quicksand.

  Underground, sheltered in her protective bubble, Tsukinoko concentrates and signs the tiger mudra. Kakashi calms his squad and waits for her signal, unable to do without her even if her impulsiveness will cost him dearly. Using her aura as a shield to dig beneath the ground, Tsukinoko brings out every member of the air-free squad to surround the hundred or so men. Twenty kunais caught with her chakra, she spots the twenty starting opponents above her and charges the Lightning weapons.

  - Ishi-ka suru seidenki!

  A dull rumbling resounds underground and everyone stops for a second, confused. Twenty bolts of lightning erupt from the ground, right at the feet of Subaku's men. The weapons, sharper than ever, pierce them from both sides simultaneously. They collapsed, dead on the spot. Recognizing their team-mate's signature, the squad took advantage of the deconcentration to rush the rest of the army. Kakashi, pushing the soldiers back one by one, couldn't help but wonder.

  Had Tsukinoko called on the Guardian to mobilize twenty weapons at once, or had she burned through half her reserves, for he was puzzled not to see her emerge. Underground, Tsukinoko was catching her breath, counting less than a hundred enemies still standing. At last, she emerged from the ground and, saber in hand, eliminated them with kicks, blows and slashes.

  Suddenly, a shadow swells around her, as if someone were falling on her. Kabi kicks up the dust as he lands where Tsukinoko was, narrowly missing her. With determination, he uses his wind swords. The squad soon finds itself outnumbered and outworked.

  A soldier lunges forward to stab Y?ji, with three others covering him. Y?ji, defeated, remains standing, and the four men suddenly find themselves covered in insects, just like him. Y?ji must have used his ultimate technique, and the insects scatter.

  There was nothing left, no one, the bodies were gone. Kimaru was surrounded by a dozen men, in a bad way. Seeing his distress out of the corner of her eye, Tsukinoko spat in Kabi's eyes.

  Taken aback by her wacky technique, he let his guard down for a moment to wipe himself, and she took the opportunity to fly to her comrade's aid.

  Side by side, with the neutralized men at their feet, Kimaru thanked Tsukinoko, before falling to his knees. Stabbed in the stomach, he could no longer stand, bleeding. Tsukinoko stooped to carry him to safety, but was brutally struck by Kabi's wind sword, which slashed his arm and knocked him out with its force.

  The latter charged at them, and Kimaru created a rampart with his wood to protect them. Distraught, he shakes Tsukinoko, who finally wakes up. The insects come to rest on their hands for a few seconds, before joining the cloud that belonged to Y?ji just a few moments ago. Kimaru, his mask turned towards her, could see only hatred and resentment in his eyes. Without waiting, she summoned Yukihyō and ordered him to take Kimaru back to Hanamaru, explaining the situation in two words.

  Subaku's commander finally bursts through the rampart, leaping at Yukihyō with his wind sword. Tsukinoko pushes him away, stabbing her sword into his thigh, sending him tumbling with a howl of pain. Yukihyō immediately flees, slipping between the soldiers with Kimaru on his back before bolting across the plain.

  Kabi, full of rage, yanks the sword from his thigh and throws it away, before leaping on Tsukinoko.

  Straddling her, he uses all his strength to plant his kunai between her collarbones. Holding her wrist with one hand and pushing it away with the other, fingers crossed, the kunai advances slowly towards her windpipe.

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  - You were wrong to show off!" he shouted. Subaku-

  - Shut the fuck up!

  With a master stroke, Tsukinoko takes a deep breath while using Kabi's hand to sign her incantations. He realizes too late, and a flame erupts from his mouth. The inferno ignites the air, and Kabi rolls out into the earth. He stands up, but the melted flesh of his face drips onto his jacket, and the blackened shreds fall to his feet. Half his face was burned. He staggered back to his men, covering his face, and ordered a retreat.

  The rest of the squad hid behind a mound, waiting for Subaku's army to return. A falcon landed on Kakashi's shoulder an hour later, carrying a message from the Chief, which he reread several times, puzzled.

  - How many are left? K? is suffocating. Boss, we can't hold out much longer.

  - I know, I know. Tsukinoko, how many reserves do you have left?

  - Well... Barely half," she sighs.

  - The four of us won't be able to fend them off," exclaims K?.

  - We don't, but Tsukinoko does. Call him," ordered Kakashi.

  - Huh?! she panics.

  - The Chief orders you to try just once to repel them. Hanamaru is not ready to retaliate. If the attempt fails, you must retreat immediately to beat them to Hanamaru. The most important thing is to prevent them from reaching Hanamaru and causing any casualties. Let's take advantage of their retreat!

  - Okay! they shout.

  - We'll round them up with Nezumi, Tsukinoko get ready, K? covers her!

  - But-

  - We only get one go, so stay focused!

  Tsukinoko understands that Haruo has authorized her to use Shinigami no Hikari to eliminate the army in one fell swoop, regardless of the consequences. Petrified, she doesn't dare take the plunge.

  Her adrenalin had subsided and she was terrified to try the technique again. Why hadn't Haruo asked to negotiate, instead of demanding this irreversible solution? Unable to concentrate with all the commotion around her, the troops had immediately launched the offensive. A few more seconds of concentration were needed to achieve this, but K? violently pushed aside a man right behind her. Three more arrived and Kakashi returned as reinforcements.

  - Tsukinoko! he insists. Concentrate!

  - Stop screaming! she panics.

  She wasn't standing still, she couldn't keep her cool. Everything rested on her, and the tension was making her lose her nerve. She opened her eyes abruptly, and her eyelashes regained their natural color. This isn't going to work. Too bad.

  Nezumi was still in front of the army, and she yelled at him to come back before stretching out her hand in front of her. Standing on the mound, she screams to gather her strength as her Lightning stores in her hand.

  - What's she playing at?! exclaims one of the men far ahead. Commander?!

  - Hold your positions!" cries Kabi, unsettled but reckless.

  Even if Tsukinoko had no value in his eyes, her self-assurance and posture just now boded ill for them. The men clutched at their guts, feeling the air grow suddenly heavier.

  The ball formed in the hollow of her palm, but Tsukinoko was violently pulled backwards and fell behind the mound, while the explosion, nipped in the bud, exploded into the air. Furious, she rushes at Kakashi, who had stopped her in mid-stride, and grabs her by the breastplate.

  - What the hell are you doing?! You have to know what you want!

  - You have to be possessed first! he shouted, pushing her away. Concentrate, if you can't then we won't waste time and we'll go straight to Hanamaru.

  - I can do it! Let me do it like this!

  - Out of the question! Have you forgotten what happened last time? The Chief has forbidden the use of this technique if-

  - Leave me alone! I know what I'm doing!

  She pushed him roughly, but he didn't let go, knowing the unfailing stubbornness of his subordinate. Following the aborted attempt, Kabi, accompanied by one of his men, went around the mound to get rid of Tsukinoko for good. They arrived on either side of Kakashi and Tsukinoko, still at odds, crouched behind the mound.

  Nezumi warned of their arrival, a few steps away with K?. Tsukinoko reacted immediately, balancing on her hands and suddenly spreading her legs as the two threw themselves with their weapons. Having seen nothing coming, they are hit head-on and waltz several meters behind on either side. Face to face, Tsukinoko's face upside down, Kakashi is stunned. He watches Kabi land on his feet, but then joins the other two agents and cries out.

  - We're pulling out, there's no time! Let's go, let's go!

  Tsukinoko ignores her and slowly advances alone against the army, out of breath and patience.

  - Come on! Kakashi's getting angry.

  Nezumi stabs the man before any attempt is made, but Kabi keeps his distance and K? pulls Tsukinoko with him. The four of them flee across the plain towards Hanamaru.

  With a mass movement, the whole army swarmed to the ground. The black mass pursues them like a tidal wave, a kilometer behind. Kakashi sets the record straight and lifts his porcelain mask in fury. Tsukinoko flinches at his real wrath, which he had never allowed to be expressed, and senses his concern.

  Head held high, undecided whether to risk letting the army get to Hanamaru, she listened with one ear and pondered an offensive with the other, running away at full speed. Only she could stop the army behind them. Even though Haruo had given strict orders, she felt it was her duty to stop them, even if it meant sacrificing herself in the shadows for Hanamaru.

  These scoundrels would never set foot in her village. Kakashi huffed beside her.

  - Tsukinoko, are you listening?! Stop doing as you please!

  - I know what the fuck I'm doing!" she retorted. I've got to stop them getting to Hanamaru!

  - It's not going to make any difference if you run into them alone! You can't fight them off, it's too dangerous.

  - I have to!" she insists.

  - I've given the order to fall back, and it's imperative that everyone follows orders to maintain cohesion!

  - They're coming!" shouts Nezumi. About fifty men are on our heels, the rest behind them.

  - You're pissing me off..." she rants. Anyway, I refuse to let them get to Hanamaru!

  - Stop it!" annoyed Kakashi. There are hundreds of them! You're no better than them if you break orders.

  - Yeah, that's right," she smiles suddenly. But as long as I'm on my feet, they won't take another step," she continues. Go ahead, I'll hold them back!" she shouts, suddenly turning around.

  After the Hebimaru affair several years ago, Haruo had seemed to understand that she dared to disobey him for Hanamaru's sake, which she felt was the right thing to do.

  Maybe he'll be understanding today too.

  She avoids Kakashi's gaze as he tries to hold her back and charges forward. The three of them turned in their tracks, caught off guard, and Kakashi hesitated to go after her. He found himself having to make a choice between sacrificing his subordinate to escape with the others, or throwing himself into certain death by trying to retrieve her, and thus disobeying and risking jeopardizing the retaliation. Yet the Colony agent had a strict code.

  - Our aim was to gather information about their intentions," he says impassively. The chief was clear: if the counterattack fails, we must catch up with the scouting party that left earlier. The safety of the village comes first.

  Old memories come back to haunt him. Where he had finally decided to follow his teammate after his disobedience cost him his life. Memories and reality become entangled, preventing him from thinking.

  Kabi and his right-hand man had stayed back, behind the mound. Tsukinoko reached the level of the army, which immediately halted. Tenryū, annoyed at the idea of revealing the extent of his powers, growled in the back of his mind, but Tsukinoko preferred to ignore him for the moment.

  Reflecting her state of mind, her aura soars through the air, rising above the distant treetops. Condensed, the crimson cloud undulated over itself, gradually taking on the appearance of a dragon. Faced with it, Subaku's soldiers stood tall, despite their shaky knees.

  The sweat on their foreheads testified to their apprehension, accompanied by shivers that ran down the back of their necks. Imposing and majestic, Tsukinoko's transformed aura roared thunderously over the army. With her skin studded with scales and her pupils dilated to a deep purple, Tsukinoko had finally allowed herself to be possessed.

  With a hesitant hand, the leader launched the assault. The front lines let out a cry of courage, before charging straight for Tsukinoko, followed by the rest of the army. But as they neared their goal, a powerful inferno charred the will of Subaku's men.

  - Liberation from the Great Fire of Annihilation," she breathes, repeating Tenry?.

  The blaze overhangs the human tide, burning to the bone the valiant warriors scattered in the chaos.

  Screams of terror and agony escape from the blaze and echo across the plain.

  The rest of the army, some three hundred men, fled.

  Kabi sat up abruptly, startled by the howling and the fire rising into the air. The plain ablaze, the men were running for their lives before they came face to face with Tsukinoko, moving as fast as lightning. They froze. No longer daring to move, at the risk of unleashing the dragon's wrath. The translucent being circled the men, surrounding them like prey.

  Distracted, Tsukinoko took the opportunity to leap above them, her sabers charged with Lightning. Catching sight of the glow above them, they looked up, believing they were seeing an apparition.

  Like the light at the end of the tunnel, before death, it comes to cover them, announcing deliverance.

  Men lower their weapons, some fall to their knees, smiling as they accept their fate. Like lightning striking the earth, it falls among them.

  Lightning strikes the ground, which explodes beneath their feet, creating a wave of energy that lifts the floor for acres around. Swept into the rubble, electrified alive, the men lay on the ground in a horrifying spectacle.

  The screams of agony fade, ashes fly into the air, the dragon scatters, the stench of burnt flesh fills the atmosphere. Standing among the corpses, Tsukinoko slowly turns back to Kabi before resuming her normal appearance.

  The backlash hit her hard, but she held her head high. Kabi, his soldier and the two doctors tending her face are stunned, their lips trembling as they try to put into words the atrocity that has just happened in a matter of seconds. They shuddered with their whole being as they met his gaze.

  - How did you... Kabi grieves. How did you...

  On the other side, Nezumi, K? and Kakashi had finally turned back after meeting Hanamaru's first defense force, commanded by Shikaru, to negotiate Subaku's withdrawal.

  They had left as soon as the first message arrived in the early hours of the morning, and had arrived just in time to witness the macabre spectacle. A stony silence filled the battlefield, and no one dared move as Tsukinoko clenched her sabers in her fists and slowly advanced towards Kabi.

  Shikaru and his colleague step forward with Yukihyō, followed by the three squad agents, through the burning necropolis.

  - K? exclaimed, stunned as he surveyed his surroundings. She's wiped out their whole army!

  - The last person capable of such feats," exclaimed the colleague, "was Hanamaru's first Chief.

  - Hey," boasts Shikaru, "you can thank me for raising this dragon to take over!

  - Now's not the time," he sighs crookedly.

  - Was that the retaliation?" he shouted to Kakashi. How did you get there before she attacked? It wasn't supposed to happen like that.

  - Shikaru, what's she doing?" hesitated her colleague as he saw her leap onto the mound. You're the one who's supposed to be negotiating with Subaku's commanders. Haruo Sato had warned that she might lose her temper after drawing on her strength, so should we intervene?

  - One second, she's still perfectly aware of what she's doing.

  Shikaru cuts him off with a wave of his hand while Kabi stares at her with one eye, the other completely melted by her flame.

  Shikaru recalls the crazed look in his eyes at the incident with the Taki deserters when he first started out, but also his great spirit when he was captured in Somitto, and then waits for the denouement.

  Tsukinoko grabs Kabi's three men and throws them in front of her, the sharp faces of her sabers resting on their necks. She exclaims calmly, piercing him with her big violet eyes.

  - I ask again, why mobilize so many men if you've only come to ask for an assembly?

  - Why are you asking this question now? You've eliminated them all!

  - Close enough. You sent a troop to reconnoiter Hanamaru.

  She turned and looked at Shikaru, who nodded.

  - Your entire army is wiped out in the end. I propose a truce. You order Subaku to abort his attempt, as I have no doubt that many other soldiers are waiting in the Land of Sand, and as for you," she tells the three, "your path ends here. You have to set an example. Or, I'll let you and your men go, but expect reprisals for your insolence. You have one minute to give me your answer.

  His dilemma leaves him speechless. He watches his men, for he had to decide their fate, as they panic, the sharp blade digging into the back of their necks.

  - Please! one of them shouts.

  - Commander! Please save us!

  Kabi stands up, looking into her eyes and holding his face with one hand.

  - Hanamaru promises not to take revenge? he asks, looking at Hanamaru's commanders.

  - Yes," she replies immediately.

  - How can you say that? You're not the Chief.

  - I'll see to it personally. I never go back on my word, no matter what it costs," she exclaims with determination.

  Kabi looks at her for another second, then exclaims.

  - Time's up.