24. The Iron Duo

Creak. Creak.

The sound of footsteps pressing into the snow drifted from the woods.

"As expected, those two useless chunin we sent out failed their mission."

"In the end, it falls upon us brothers to act personally."

Under the watchful gaze of Kisame and the others, two figures, speaking in tandem, emerged from behind the trees.

They were both tall, burly men, each as imposing in stature as Kisame himself. They wore their hair cropped short, their skin a deep bronze, dressed lightly as if impervious to the cold.

Kisame noticed that although neither wore a forehead protector, each bore a conspicuous tattoo on their right shoulder: one marked with "Steel," the other with "Iron."

Cloud Ninja?

In an instant, he made a preliminary judgment about their identities.

In the Village Hidden in the Clouds, high-ranking ninja often bore shoulder tattoos—such as "Lightning," "Gold," "Silver," or "Iron"—a symbol of their strength and status.

These two were jonin of the Hidden Cloud.

Judging from their conversation, the two chunin who had previously attacked the merchant convoy were their subordinates.

At this thought, Kisame turned to glance at Sakura Yuki, only to find her trembling violently, her eyes brimming with terror.

"You brought these Hidden Mist ninja here for revenge for the old village chief, didn't you?"

"With just this ragtag bunch, you must think very little of us—the Steel and Iron duo."

At this, the two men spoke again, their tone mocking as they eyed Sakura Yuki, Kisame, and their companions, drawing steadily closer.

"The Steel and Iron duo?!"

Suddenly, Mei Terumi seemed to recall something, her expression changing at once.

"You know them?" Kisame asked.

Mei Terumi's face grew grave as she quickly explained to Kisame and Yuri:

"I've heard the elders in my clan speak of these two. The Steel and Iron duo are jonin brothers from the Village Hidden in the Clouds, Land of Lightning. Dissatisfied with the Third Raikage's policies, they tried to emulate the infamous Gold and Silver brothers of old and staged a coup to overthrow the Raikage. Their efforts, however, barely caused a ripple before the Raikage crushed them and threw them into prison for reflection.

"But even in prison, they were restless. After killing the guards, they broke free and have been wanted by the Hidden Cloud ever since, with a thirty-million ryo bounty on their heads. Who would have thought they would cross the sea and appear here in the Land of Water?"

After saying this, Mei Terumi's face grew even more troubled. She whipped her head around, demanding of Sakura Yuki:

"You knew from the start about these enemies, didn't you? With two jonin among them, this is bordering on an S-rank mission—why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Only now did Mei Terumi grasp the depth of Kisame’s concern, but it was already too late.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know they were so powerful... I thought you could handle them..." Sakura Yuki choked out, on the verge of tears, finally realizing the gravity of her mistake.

"Damn, we've been recognized. Even our embarrassing exploits have reached the Mist Village, have they?"

"All the more reason none of you can be allowed to leave alive," the Steel and Iron duo exchanged a glance, a tacit understanding passing between them.

Several months ago, after being declared wanted, they were hunted down by a terrifyingly strong bounty ninja and nearly lost one of their hearts to him. Narrowly escaping with their lives, they fled into the Land of Water and kept a low profile, hiding de