Crackle! Crackle!
Night had fallen completely. Though it was not so dark that one could not see their hand in front of their face, it was already difficult to make out anything more than a meter away. Somewhere in the Death Forest, flames flickered, casting a warm glow that painted the surroundings a dim yellow.
Sizzle... sizzle sizzle...
Above the fire, a plump wild boar roasted continuously, its golden, glossy skin giving off sounds that whetted the appetite.
Wisps of smoke drifted slowly upward.
"Y-You... you did this on purpose!"
At that moment, from a not particularly concealed corner some distance away from the bonfire and roasted pig, a wail gradually sank into silence before vanishing completely.
"So it really is a Heaven Scroll?"
Then, from the same place, came a lazy voice.
Clack!
It was followed by the sound of a blade sliding back into its sheath.
With a soft sigh, Hada Ichiba released the Ninja Sword he had already sheathed, slowly rose to his feet, and tucked the Heaven Scroll in his hand into his robes.
At that moment, a Waterfall Village ninja's corpse lay at his feet, his heart pierced through from behind by a single sword strike. Blood still seeped from the wound in his back. Above the body hung another Waterfall Village ninja's corpse. Its blood seemed to have stopped flowing; aside from the occasional drop falling with a patter, there was no movement at all.
At the rear beneath the corpse hanging from the tree, blood slowly seeped from the bushes as well.
There was probably another corpse hidden inside.
That made exactly three ninjas. It should have been a Waterfall Village team.
"I originally thought it would be that Konoha team. Could it be that they've really given up on me?"
However, Hada