**"Earthquake! Run!"**
**"Get out of here—now!!"**
The sky was a murky gray, heavy with storm clouds pressing down on the horizon.
The earth shook violently, like a trampoline flipping the world upside down. Skyscrapers crumbled one after another, roads split open, and people scattered like ants in panic.
A lone girl stood frozen in place.
Her eyes reflected the devastation before her.
Her mother—half-buried under rubble—screamed in agony, while her father lay motionless beside her, his body mangled beyond recognition.
**"Run…"**
Amid the chaos, the sobbing girl was swept away by the fleeing crowd, pushed toward a sliver of light in the distance.
She turned back one last time—
**BOOM!**
The ground split apart. Buildings collapsed. Darkness swallowed everything.
---
**Splash—**
A bathroom.
A silver-haired girl burst from the water, droplets scattering.
**"Cough… cough…"**
Pale fingers gripped the edge of the tub, skin wrinkled from soaking too long. Pressing her hand to her mouth, *Hikari*—her face ghostly white—choked and gasped as she dragged herself out.
*Where… am I?*
A sterile bathroom. Thick steam. A slumped figure in the distance.
*Kirigakure.*
Her dull gray eyes sharpened in an instant, glowing faintly.
The world shifted—flattening from two dimensions into three. Walls turned transparent, streets like glass.
She scanned the area. No threats.
Deactivating her *Byakugan*, Hikari exhaled shakily, wiping water from her face. Wet strands of hair clung to her neck, itching uncomfortably.
*I must've fallen asleep in the bath…*
Her forehead burned under her palm. Her breath came out hot. Limbs heavy.
*A low fever?* She wondered if the *Shikotsumyaku*'s healing could even cure a cold.
*Probably fine.*
Bare feet met cold tile as she stood naked before the sink. *Amasaka Naoko* still lay beneath it, her once-lovely face now ashen, lips tinged blue.
*Life is so fragile.*
Hikari grabbed a towel, drying her hair while staring down at the corpse.
The woman's discolored face dragged her back—to that cataclysmic earthquake years ago. The day she lost her parents, her home, everything. Even kind neighbors turned savage for scraps of food.
Her parents' deaths haunted her like a curse.
*I won't end up like them.*
*I'll survive. No matter what.*
She wiped the foggy mirror, revealing her reflection—a silver-haired girl, nude, her skin flawless as porcelain.
Her features were delicate yet striking, her long hair shielding her chest. But her eyes…
Milky-white irises, pupils a deep, unnatural gray—darker than she remembered.
Pushing back her bangs, she checked her forehead. The wound from yesterday—a stab straight through—had healed without a scar.
*This body…*
*Did I miss a card in yesterday's reading?*
Stepping over dried bloodstains, she dried herself and left the bathroom.
---
The living room was a mess of blackened filth.
Morning light seeped through the curtains, casting a glow on her bare skin—pale as jade. Outside, the sky bled purple at the edges.
*How long was I out?*
**"Byakugan—Kai!"**
Veins bulged around her eyes as her vision pierced through walls, mapping the entire street.
*Kirigakure was a mountain village.*
Houses clung to slopes, roads uneven, some even bulging like a giant ball buried underground. The layout reminded her of a city from her past life—twisted, surreal.
Her gaze snapped back to the present.
Something was off.
Returning to the bathroom, she fished out a tangled clump of silver-gray hair from the drain. Then she noticed it—Naoko's clenched fist, hidden under her abdomen.
*Chakra surged.*
**SHINK!**
Bone blades sprouted from her fingers, sharp as scalpels.
*Sssk—*
Naoko's stiff fingers were pried open one by one.
A bloody **"骨"** (*bone*) character was carved into her palm.
*Even after marriage and childbirth… even in death, she left a clue.*
*Truly a shinobi of the Bloody Mist.*
Hikari sliced off the marked flesh, then dressed in Naoko's clothes—a loose T-shirt and shorts, both too big. She tightened the waistband to keep them from slipping.
Using the *Byakugan*, she scoured the house for cash—under the bed, in drawers, a hidden box in Naoko's closet. She stuffed most of it into a bag, keeping only a little on hand.
**Click.**
A lighter ignited her bloodstained clothes. Flames devoured the *Kaguya clan crest*, rising high as she tossed in Naoko's palm and the hair clump. The stench of burning protein filled the air.
Once every trace of evidence was ash, she swept the remains into a trash bag.
Then—**"Henge no Jutsu."**
Her form shifted into a former coworker from her past life—a weary salaryman heading to work.
Bag slung over her shoulder, garbage in hand, she stepped outside.
---
**Three Hours Later**
**Kirigakure Underground**
**"Captain, we found Meiko."**
**"Where?"**
*Takeru Tochike*, masked as a *Tengu*, stood rigid as a crow-masked ANBU delivered the news.
**"The hospital."**
Takeru's brow furrowed. **"He was injured? I sent him to clean the battlefield. What happened?"**
**"He's dead."**
Silence.
The ANBU—*Mist Crow*—swallowed hard. He'd never seen the captain so still.
**"Continue."**
The order came out hoarse, but the killing intent beneath it was unmistakable.
**"Last night, Meiko found a wounded ANBU member during cleanup. He carried them to the hospital alone. At some point, he vanished. We tracked him there—nurses said the patient was dead, and the ANBU who brought him left to notify the family… but never returned. The description matched a corpse we found earlier—skull split open by claw-like blades."**
*Mist Crow* hesitated.
**"We suspect a surviving Kaguya infiltrated the village. Their motives are unknown, but they might've hidden in Meiko's home. We just sent a team to search—"**
**"What about Naoko?"**
Takeru's voice was colder than a *Yuki clan's ice*.
**"Dead. No signs of struggle—killed instantly. The scene was… *clean*. Too clean. No evidence, not even a strand of hair. Whoever did this… they're at least *jonin-level*."**
*Mist Crow* omitted the gruesome details.
**"Cleaner than ANBU protocol?"**
**"Yes. Impeccable."**
Another long silence.
**"The Kaguya are brutes. This wasn't their style…**
**Orochimaru was spotted near their territory. This could be his doing."** Takeru's voice turned lethal. **"Lock down the village. No one leaves. Every entrance gets inspected. Any suspicious activity—terminate on sight."**
**"A full lockdown? But the elders—"**
**"I'll handle them."**
**"Yes, sir!"**
With a *Suiton* shunshin, *Mist Crow* vanished.
Alone, Takeru stood motionless.
He'd lost his parents young. Now, his closest friend and… *lover* were gone.
Rage burned in his chest—but he couldn't afford to lose control.
*Elder Gengetsu, Mei Terumī… they're fighting the Mizukage and his puppet master now. The ANBU Commander, 'Kiba,' is chasing Orochimaru.*
*Kirigakure has never been weaker.*
If this *was* Orochimaru's doing, and if he learned of the village's vulnerability…
*We can't let him escape.*
*No need to rush the search.*
Once Gengetsu returned, he'd have *Ao* scan the village with the *Byakugan*. No disguise could fool that eye.
And when they found the killer—
*I'll carve their skull into an offering for Naoko and Meiko.*
---
**"Hey, you hear? The Kaguya clan rebelled last night—tried to attack the village! Got wiped out!"**
**"Seriously?"**
**"Bodies piled like firewood—no joke."**
**"I heard the Mizukage just wanted their secret techniques…"**
**"Shh! Watch your mouth!"**
**Kirigakure Central Street**
Gossip buzzed among villagers.
The street sat at the village's peak—a steep climb from anywhere below. From above, the roads formed a cross, with the *Mizukage's tower* at its heart.
And now, the topic of their whispers stood atop that very tower.
**Tap. Tap. Tap.**
A wooden cane echoed on stone.
The gossiping men turned—
A silver-haired girl in a white hooded cloak walked slowly up the slope. A green pack hung from her shoulders, her face hidden behind a blindfold.
*What a beautiful blind girl.*
They glanced away.
Women and politics were fair game—but not children.
In the *Bloody Mist*, some sins were unforgivable.
**Tap…**
Listening to their whispers, the girl—lips like pale cherry blossoms—tilted her head slightly.
Then she continued toward the Mizukage's tower, her blindfold hiding eyes that saw *everything*.
---
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