How Scary

To get the Hero Water, I had to find the Hero Clan.

During the Warring States era, the Hero Clan was not a clan in the traditional sense. They had no surname, and their origins probably lay with a group of commoners who knew a few ninja techniques and banded together to survive the chaos of the era. As a result, their inherited teachings lacked any deep roots and were a hodgepodge of skills. They knew a little bit of everything, but had none of the bearing or distinctive traits of a proper ninja clan.

All they could rely on was their willingness to risk their lives. The clan head had to be prepared to drink large amounts of Hero Water and fight when the moment came. Even if they won, the water's side effects would cause their vitality to plummet after the battle, and they would die.

To keep clan members from drinking Hero Water recklessly and abusing its power, the Hero Water had always been kept in the clan head's hands.

Fortunately, the previous clan head had already died like a hero after drinking a large amount of Hero Water during the operation to capture the Seven-Tails. Now, the only person who knew anything about the Hero Water was the young clan head.

Yura had seen the girl around the village a few times. She was seventeen, and her name was Huan. When Yura was alive, she'd thought Huan was an obnoxiously cheerful extrovert. Now, she seemed more like a social butterfly who knew how to work a room.

Huan was currently staying at the Hero Clan's compound in Takigakure. Sneaking her out unnoticed would be difficult, so to avoid alerting anyone, Yura had no choice but to wait patiently for an opportunity.

So Yura settled down outside the village. Apart from her training, she never let up on keeping the village under surveillance.

Four days later, an opportunity presented itself.

It was common knowledge that ninjas had to take on missions, and Takigakure was no exception. The village had large numbers of ninjas out on missions year-round. Some were commissioned jobs, while others were secret missions for the village. Takigakure was small, but even a conservative estimate put its ninja population at two or three thousand. All those mouths had to be fed.

It might have seemed strange for the young clan head to go on missions, but there were reasons for it. That didn't matter to Yura, though. What mattered was that Huan had left the village.

Outside Takigakure, three ninjas raced through the forest, heading toward the Land of Earth.

Based on what Yura had overheard at a high-level meeting of the village elders, they were heading to the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and other countries to negotiate an alliance. Their envoy was someone with sufficient standing: the young clan head of the Hero Clan and next in line to become Takikage.

After their failed attempt to assassinate the God of Shinobi, the village had no choice but to prepare for the worst. Takigakure was far from heaven and too close to Konoha. The village's fear of Senju Hashirama and Konoha ran bone-deep.

Moving along the treetops, some distance behind them, was a slender, willowy young woman. She had long black hair and dark eyes, and wore a simple, loose-fitting pale blue outfit. The most striking detail was the tattered red scarf around her neck. It looked ancient. Her overall appearance was a little rustic and plain, but she was still an attractive young woman.

The two ninjas traveling ahead of her were scouting the way. One came from the Qian-Gui Clan, and the other from the Kusanagi Clan.

The Qian-Gui Clan member was an ugly man covered in body hair, while the Kusanagi Clan member was a young man carrying a sword.

The Kusanagi Clan's features were unmistakable: very pale skin, and eyes that looked more like a beast's than a human's.

Yura thought they looked familiar.

What kind of beast did they resemble?

A snake.

They had a chilling air about them.

Yura didn't have any great grudge against the Kusanagi Clan. Their clan's traditions were what they were, and they hadn't singled her out. Besides, the swordsmanship instructor who had beaten her back then had died long ago in the Warring States era.

So Yura simply crooked a finger.

An interwoven web of threads silently blocked the ninjas' path, forming a deadly net.

Black Secret Technique: Birdcage

The forest was perfect terrain for Yura to set traps.

The next moment, ten meters ahead of Huan, the two ninjas were silently and effortlessly cut apart before her eyes. They didn't even have time to scream before their bodies abruptly fell into two heaps of bloody chunks, dropping soundlessly from the air.

They had simply walked into Yura's Birdcage without noticing it. But even for a seventeen-year-old who had seen the brutality of the Warring States era, a sight like this was utterly terrifying.

Her eyes contracted to pinpoints in sudden shock. Suspended in midair with nowhere to brace herself, Huan felt death close in. Cold sweat burst from her skin, and her hair stood on end. By the time she landed, she was on a tree branch.

Crouching there, she looked around in terror and shouted, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Hidden beneath a tree, Yura didn't reveal herself. She simply crooked a finger again.

Black Secret Technique: Puppet Strings

Dozens of fine threads scattered through the air, encircling Huan. Invisible lines plummeted like shooting stars. Huan's body jolted as little blossoms of blood opened across her body, limbs, and neck. Tiny droplets appeared, and she froze rigid on the branch, unable to move.

Huan's eyes quivered, filled with shock and terror.

She couldn't move. It was as if invisible threads had bound her tight, gripping the back of fate's neck.

Just then, a woman's voice drifted through the forest.

"Everyone has their own sorrows..."

Following the voice, Huan spotted Yura standing beneath a tree not far away. Anxiety and fear flickered in her eyes.

Yura stood beneath the mottled shade of the tree, the morning light drifting around her. It seemed as if she had been there all along, yet also as if she had suddenly appeared, like an apparition in the woods. She didn't seem quite real, but there was also a faint sense of familiarity in Huan's memories.

Huan stared closely at the delicate, pale face and a look of recognition dawned in her eyes.

"It's you, Ai!"

Ai was Yura's name in her previous life. The young couple who had died protecting her had called her by that name in her memories. They had cried out for her to run, begged her to stay alive—over and over.

"Ai..." Yura's eyes filled with memories.

It was a cute but weak name, she supposed. She'd changed it because she was embarrassed by the name her parents had given her.

Yura absolutely did not want people calling her "Ai" over and over.

"Why..." Huan began.

Yura crooked a finger, cutting her off. Although Huan's body was under control, her mouth wasn't sealed. Her body jerked, and to her horror, she rose into the air, dangling as she descended to the ground. Then a tearing pain welled up from deep inside her. Her limbs moved against her will, awkwardly taking one staggering step after another until she slowly reached Yura.

It was her doing!

Huan's gaze fell on Yura's slender fingers, constantly bending as if she were manipulating a puppet. Her fingers danced lightly.

At that moment, Huan herself was the puppet in Yura's hands.

By the time she stopped in front of Yura, blood was already pouring from her wounds. Yura's way of controlling a puppet was far from gentle. In a way, it was torture: not just physical pain, but also the helplessness and oppression of watching her own body being controlled while she could do nothing at all. It was not a pleasant experience.

Looking uneasily into those calm, crimson eyes, Huan struggled to swallow and asked, "What do you want?"

"It's not about what I want," Yura replied with a faint smile. "It's about what you want."

What did she want?

Huan stared at Yura's question and couldn't help feeling confused. As her lips parted, a glint of cold light flickered in her mouth.

They were already very close.

"Some things can't be understood until you've experienced what it's like to have no choice."

Huan didn't understand. She stared at the confused reflection of herself in those crimson eyes.

"Shadows of sin drifting without direction, a tragic fate, a road lost. Two mirrors shattered by hatred and by being hated, a double shackle, appearing in tangled time and darkness..."

It sounded as if Yura had said something, and yet as if she hadn't said anything at all.

Huan watched Yura's calm face and gradually steadied herself. Her throat bobbed as the senbon lodged there readied itself to fire.

"Your resentment..." Yura looked into Huan's eyes, where a turbulent hatred lay hidden, and asked calmly, "What are you resentful of?"

Yura could absorb the negative emotions buried in the darkest depths of people's hearts. In other words, she was a monster who could sense the darkness in people's hearts.

A monster who could see into people's hearts.

In a way, this ability was called Malice Perception.

Huan's eyes shook violently. After a long moment, she lowered her head in defeat. The senbon slipped back down her throat and into her stomach.

"What should I hate? The hateful fate that means I'll eventually have to drink the Hero Water?"

Heh...

Just as expected.

Yura chuckled softly. She'd found her opening.

"Are you afraid of dying? Isn't it good to become a hero?"

"A hero?" Huan's eyes brimmed with mockery as she smiled. "In other words, everyone's just hoping I'll die someday."

"How scary." Yura clapped her hands. "You don't want to die?"

Huan shook her head, then nodded. She looked up and studied Yura seriously. "Ai, you've changed so much from how you used to be."