The forest was too quiet.
No birds.
No wind.
No insects.
That was the first sign.
Izumi stood in the clearing, small hands folded behind her back, staring at the treeline.
She had walked here deliberately.
Step by step.
Without rushing.
Without fear.
If someone was watching her—
She would force them to reveal themselves.
Inside her mind, Zack was uneasy.
This is reckless.
"No," she answered internally.
"This is necessary."
She needed to know.
Was it Danzo?
ANBU?
The Hokage?
Or had someone truly discovered her?
Her chakra sense extended outward.
Careful.
Controlled.
Then—
There.
A pulse.
Strong.
Disciplined.
Compressed.
Not Leaf.
Different signature.
Heavy.
Dense.
Electric undertone.
Her pupils narrowed slightly.
Cloud.
Hidden Cloud chakra had a distinct sharpness to it.
And this one…
Was Chunín level.
Her stomach tightened.
She could not defeat a Chunín.
Not yet.
Not in direct combat.
That realization did not scare her.
It sharpened her thinking.
Branches shifted.
A man stepped out.
Mid-twenties.
Standard Leaf clothing.
But wrong posture.
Wrong gaze.
Wrong aura.
His smile was thin.
Polite.
Fake.
"Well," he said calmly, "you led me here."
So he knew.
Good.
That meant he underestimated her.
"You were following me," Izumi said softly.
Her voice trembled slightly.
Perfectly rehearsed fear.
His eyes studied her.
Too carefully.
"Children shouldn't wander alone," he replied.
She felt it now.
The killing intent.
Subtle.
Suppressed.
But present.
Not aimed at harming her immediately.
But measuring.
Assessing.
He wasn't a random predator.
He was evaluating a threat.
That was worse.
Zack whispered:
He's not Leaf.
"I know."
The man stepped closer.
Each step slow.
Deliberate.
Testing her reaction speed.
Testing her chakra fluctuation.
"You've been near several… incidents," he said quietly.
Her heart skipped.
Just once.
Missing children.
So he knew something.
But not everything.
"I don't know what you mean," she whispered.
Her eyes glistened slightly.
The image of a frightened child.
Perfect.
He crouched down to her level.
Now she could see it clearly.
A faint scar near his jaw.
Lightning-calloused fingers.
Cloud shinobi trained heavily in lightning release.
And his chakra—
Condensed.
Controlled.
Experienced.
Far beyond her.
"You don't behave like other children," he said.
"You don't react like them either."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"And your chakra…"
He paused.
"There's residue."
Her mind went cold.
Residue?
Impossible.
She had been careful.
Hadn't she?
Zack felt dread for the first time.
He tracked it.
Not proof.
But suspicion.
The man stood up again.
"And if what I suspect is true…"
His voice lowered.
"…you are far more valuable alive."
Valuable.
That word chilled her.
He wasn't here to kill her.
He was here to capture her.
For the Hidden Cloud.
If she was taken—
Experimented on.
Studied.
Her ability exposed.
War.
Political disaster.
Everything would collapse.
For the first time—
Fear bloomed.
Small.
Sharp.
Real.
She couldn't overpower him.
She couldn't outrun him.
She couldn't use Lip Absorption.
Thirty seconds against a Chunín?
Impossible.
He would break free in two.
He stepped forward.
And then—
He vanished.
Too fast.
Pain exploded at the back of her neck.
Her body slammed into a tree.
Her vision blurred.
He held her easily with one hand.
Pinning her against the bark.
Effortless.
"You're not normal," he said softly.
"And I intend to find out why."
Her limbs wouldn't respond.
Chakra suppression grip.
Precise.
Professional.
She couldn't move.
Couldn't activate her ability.
Couldn't even scream.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
This was it.
This was the gap between her and real shinobi.
This was reality.
She was still weak.
Zack panicked.
We're going to die.
"No," she whispered internally.
Think.
Think.
Think.
The man raised his free hand.
Forming a one-handed seal.
Lightning crackled faintly around his fingers.
Not lethal.
Paralysis technique.
He wanted her conscious.
Interrogation.
Transportation.
Extraction.
Her vision darkened at the edges.
Her oxygen restricted.
He was careful not to crush her throat completely.
Just enough to keep her weak.
"I'll ask once," he said calmly.
"What are you?"
Her mind raced.
Lie?
Cry?
Beg?
No.
That wouldn't work.
He was trained.
She needed something else.
Something unexpected.
She stopped struggling.
Completely.
Her body went limp.
Her eyes lost focus.
Dead.
Or dying.
His grip loosened instinctively.
Just slightly.
That was enough.
She forced chakra violently into her own system.
Not outward.
Inward.
Disrupting her pulse.
Causing her body to convulse unnaturally.
Foam gathered at the corner of her lips.
Her pupils rolled back.
A seizure.
His eyes widened.
"What—?"
He had expected resistance.
Not collapse.
He released her throat fully.
Checking her pulse.
Chakra instability.
Erratic.
Unnatural.
"Damn it…"
He muttered.
If she died—
She became useless.
He placed both hands on her shoulders.
Trying to stabilize her chakra flow.
That was the mistake.
Physical contact.
Full contact.
Both hands occupied.
His guard lowered.
And in that half-second—
Her eyes snapped open.
Lip Absorption activated.
She lunged upward.
Kissed him.
Shock.
Pure shock froze him.
[Ability Activated]
But this was different.
His chakra resisted violently.
Lightning flared.
Pain ripped through her body.
He reacted instantly—
Throwing her away.
She slammed into the ground.
Rolling across dirt.
Coughing blood.
She had managed—
Four seconds.
Only four.
But four seconds from a Chunín—
Felt like swallowing lightning.
Her body burned.
Her skin trembled.
Her chakra overflowed wildly.
Too much.
Too fast.
The spy stared at her in disbelief.
"What… are you?"
Now there was no doubt in his eyes.
No suspicion.
Certainty.
She was not normal.
And that made her dangerous.
He stepped forward again.
Slower now.
Cautious.
Killing intent rising.
This time—
He would not hesitate.
Lightning gathered around his arm.
Real lightning.
Lethal.
She tried to move.
Her body screamed in protest.
Too weak.
Too damaged.
Too small.
This was it.
Death.
Real death.
The world slowed.
Leaves drifting through air.
Lightning illuminating the clearing.
His arm raised.
Descending.
And then—
A second chakra presence exploded into the forest.
Sharp.
Overwhelming.
Leaf.
The Cloud spy froze.
Someone had sensed the clash.
Too strong.
Too close.
He clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Tch."
His mission wasn't to engage Leaf jonin.
He vanished in a burst of speed.
Retreating.
Gone.
The lightning dissipated.
Silence returned.
Izumi lay on the forest floor.
Breathing ragged.
Body trembling.
Burn marks on her lips.
Chakra unstable.
Alive.
Barely.
For the first time since reincarnating—
She had been seconds from death.
Real death.
Not theoretical.
Not calculated.
Real.
Zack whispered weakly:
We are not ready.
Her fingers dug into the dirt.
Her crimson eyes flickered faintly.
"…Then we grow."
But now—
There was a problem.
A bigger one.
The Cloud spy knew.
He had seen.
He had felt it.
And if he reported back—
Hidden Cloud would start hunting her.
Not as a child.
But as a weapon.
And war-level danger had just entered her life.
End Chapter 4.