You, Want to Try Dying Once?

These were five balloons, hot air balloons woven from invisible strands of hair. At the base of each balloon burned a cluster of ghostly blue flames. As the flames flickered, the rising heat distorted the air, and swirling within that distortion were human faces composed of the vengeful souls trapped inside the fire, visible to the naked eye.

The villagers stood frozen at the sight.

The bizarre and cruel imagery struck their minds with overwhelming force.

Suspended beneath the invisible balloons hung a person, covered in wounds, their limbs twisted into grotesque shapes. They wore a blood-red fox mask with a sinister, smiling expression. With disheveled hair and a head hanging low, the victim appeared to be unconscious, yet their body would twitch unnaturally from the excruciating pain. With every muscle spasm, dried dark-red blood dripped from the fine, jagged lacerations covering their body. It splattered down from the high altitude, tracing a straight path as it struck rooftops, stalls, leaves, streets, and stone slabs—striking the faces and the very souls of the onlookers.

From the perspective of the crowd, the defeated Anbu ninja hung eerily in mid-air, surrounded by the five clusters of ghost fire like a prisoner being escorted by guards. It moved steadily and ostentatiously, crossing over the gates of Konoha and heading deep into the heart of the village. Many witnessed this spectacle.

They recognized the Anbu ninja; though they did not know who it was, they knew it was one of their own.

A ninja of the village had been defeated abroad and returned in such a manner.

Without a doubt, this was a provocation against the dignity of Konoha, a humiliation. If not handled properly, it would be a severe blow to the village's authority.

"Can you shoot it down?" a Jonin wearing a Konoha flak jacket asked, looking up at the sky.

"Shoot what?" another ninja replied with a bitter smile. "The person, or those five clusters of ghost fire? Throw kunai? Can we even reach that height? Or should we use Wind Style? Water Style?"

Water Style. Water Severing Wave.

Someone acted faster than them.

A line of water rose from within the village, spanning a distance of several hundred meters, and shot precisely and diagonally toward the sky, targeting one of the ghost fires.

"It's Lord Tobirama's technique."

The sharp line of water pierced through the ghost fire, the two passing through one another. Yet, after a few seconds, when the technique ended, the ghost fire continued to flicker.

Seeing this, the pupils of many onlookers constricted.

A fire that does not fear Water Style?

Is it an inextinguishable flame?

On a rooftop, the two Senju brothers stood with arms crossed. Seeing this, Hashirama said in a deep voice, "An enemy not to be underestimated, Tobirama."

"Brother, do you have a way to deal with it?" Tobirama asked, his face cold and solemn.

"Let's wait for the enemy to reveal themselves," Hashirama said.

"She won't appear," Tobirama said with certainty, glancing at his brother. Wait for you to beat her to death after she shows herself?

"Then there is nothing to be done." Hashirama frowned as he looked at the sky. He could vaguely sense that something existed up there. It was hard to describe specifically; it was something different from chakra, surrounding the Anbu ninja—something very dangerous.

It wasn't that there was nothing to be done, but if he acted and still couldn't handle it, the situation would become difficult.

Furthermore, Hashirama was worried that his intervention might provoke the other party into killing the hostage.

If possible, he still wanted to save his comrade.

"Did you sense any abnormalities, Tobirama?" His younger brother Tobirama's sensory abilities were far superior to his own.

"No." With his arms crossed, Tobirama lowered his eyes in thought. Did Brother sense something unusual? He asked, "Is there a problem?"

Hashirama said, "Perhaps it was just my imagination."

Compared to fighting such a bizarre ninja, Hashirama preferred the straightforward, head-on clash of ninjutsu he shared with Madara.

The opponent was just a bit too "ninja-like."

It reminded Hashirama of the normal skirmishes between ninjas from long ago.

"Ghost Princess?" Hashirama sighed. "I couldn't sense any chakra fluctuations at all. Your naming sense is truly apt, Tobirama." In this case, one of his Wood Style's great trump cards—chakra absorption—would be ineffective. Moreover, since fire overcomes wood, Hashirama was curious if his Wood Style could absorb this flame. If it were fire of Madara's caliber...

Hashirama's eyes flashed.

A ninja who does not fear me—that is truly an interesting thing.

Tobirama's eyelid twitched. He had simply named her Ghost Princess because he saw she liked to dress in the clothes of the dead. Who knew she would be this troublesome? Even though he had tried to overestimate her, he hadn't expected to underestimate her this much when they actually faced off.

The opponent's Fire Style seemed to suppress his Water Style.

If there was no elemental advantage, it was a classic case of being countered.

Being unable to sense even a shred of chakra gave Tobirama the same feeling as the ghost fires that floated across the battlefield at night when he was a child—a sense of nothingness.

"Is it Sage Art, Brother?"

"No," Hashirama confirmed.

Wearing the blood-red fox mask, the Anbu ninja drifted along, and the entire village fell into an eerie silence until, moving steadily, the figure stopped above the Hokage Building in Konoha, floating there in broad daylight.

In terms of behavior, this was no different from defecating on someone's face.

Tobirama's expression was ugly, though he always wore a grim face, so it was hard to tell the difference.

"Look! What is that!?"

The Konoha Academy was not far from the Hokage Building. The children in the academy had all discovered the anomaly, and ninja after ninja leaped across the nearby rooftops, the swish-swish-swish sounds of Body Flicker techniques filling the air.

The sparring had already come to a halt. The children jumped onto the academy walls in unison, staring at what was happening at the Hokage Building.

"What happened?"

"Was that Lord Tobirama's technique just now?"

"So many ninja. Are they enemies?"

In three years, the village had rarely seen such a formation.

"It seems something unfortunate has occurred in the village. Hiruzen, let us battle another time." Danzo stared at the Hokage Building, his eyes filled with curiosity and a restless urge to act.

The most defining trait of half-grown boys is their audacity; it is always a matter of "do you dare," followed by "I dare." These little brats all wore the same expression.

Adult ninja dared not act without authorization due to their many concerns, but these half-grown kids lacked such hesitations. Several boys had already slipped away, rushing toward the Hokage Building.

Watching his classmates' actions, Sarutobi Hiruzen thought for a moment before following in their footsteps.

Enemies? Who could it be? Uchiha Madara?

Ninja gathered at the top of the Hokage Building, scattering to the surrounding areas, all looking up in unison at the figure in the high sky.

They did not know how the figure was flying, nor was there a clear target to strike, and they could not even sense where the caster was. Those conspicuous, eerie blue flames were unaffected by Water Style, leaving them in a state of complete helplessness.

All everyone could do was watch and wait for further instructions.

The ghost fire carried a gift, circling and hovering around the Hokage Building as if showing off. After several laps, its altitude began to descend.

Seeing this, the ninja tensed in preparation, silently drawing their ninja blades and kunai.

Until the gift landed safely on the ground.

The gift had been delivered...

"Let's go, Little Monster." Yura issued the command. Lucy flapped her wings, pulling Yura away. Through layers of clouds, her crimson eyes looked down at Konoha below.

She wanted to say, "I will return."

But that was too small-fry.

As a parting remark, what would be good to say?

"You, do you want to try dying once, Senju Tobirama..."

Yura smiled faintly and flew away without looking back.

On the ground, Tobirama's eyes were gloomy as he watched Yura leave, unable to even learn her name in the end.

"Big Brother, she is gone," Tobirama said coldly, his face showing nothing but gloom.

Hashirama nodded. He thought for a moment, waved his hand, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Watching his older brother's desolate and dejected back, Tobirama lowered his head. His brother was still mired in the pain of losing Uchiha Madara, unable to pull himself out.