Seeing the Light Again

"Treat his injuries!" White Fang didn't waste any time. He stepped back and jerked his head toward the others.

The medical ninja Qingsuo flickered to Li Tong's side. She brought her hands together and quickly formed a series of Hand Seals.

Li Tong had quite a few injuries, but none were serious. Green light shone from Qingsuo's hands as they passed over his body, treating him again and again. Soon, his cuts and bruises had healed. She then gave special attention to his eyes, but something seemed wrong.

"Huh, that's strange." Qingsuo pulled her hands away and turned to ask, "Was he born with Dual-Colored Eyes?"

"No!" Chen He answered. "When we first caught him, both his eyes looked the same. Then, during the interrogation, we punched him in the eye. He pretended to die, and when he woke up, he'd lost his memory."

"He was punched?" Qingsuo asked, puzzled, then leaned in to examine Li Tong's eyes more closely.

Li Tong stood stiffly without moving, every hair on his body standing on end. He didn't like strangers getting so close to him.

"It's not a bruise... His iris is red. How strange. One punch, and it turned like this..." Qingsuo murmured over and over.

"M-my eye... What happened to it?" Li Tong couldn't help asking. Qingsuo was examining his left eye—the one that let him see ninja data.

"It turned red," Qingsuo replied, taking a mirror from her clothes and holding it in front of his face.

In the mirror was the face of a young boy, eleven or twelve years old. His cheeks were filthy, and dried blood still marked the corner of his mouth.

Of course, none of that was the point!

The important thing was his left eye. It was red!

A human eye could be divided into three main parts: the outermost was the white of the eye, the middle was the cornea, and the round center was the pupil. Li Tong's normal right eye had a dark brown cornea—or so it appeared, since the cornea was actually transparent. It looked dark brown because the iris beneath it was dark brown, while his pupil was black.

But now, the area of his left eye where the cornea should have been was blood red...

It looked a little like the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, but unlike theirs, Li Tong's eye had no Tomoe. It was just a field of blood red.

Li Tong understood why his eye had changed. It was because of the system... The system had been implanted in his left eye, causing some kind of mutation. Or maybe the True Sight Eye was supposed to be red. There was no other explanation.

"Is that important?" White Fang asked coolly.

"Oh, uh..." Qingsuo quickly raised her head and glanced at White Fang. She seemed a little nervous. "It's not important."

"Then stop looking at it and unlock him," White Fang said, turning to leave.

Qingsuo unlocked Li Tong's restraints, while Chen He stepped forward and took a black blindfold from his clothes, covering Li Tong's eyes. Then the two of them led him out, following White Fang.

Beyond the cell lay a long, dim corridor.

Li Tong couldn't see, but he knew why. This was probably Konoha's most secretive Anbu base. Although he had joined Konoha, he wasn't an Anbu Ninja, so they naturally couldn't let him learn the layout.

"Remember what I told you. Be careful in everything. The village won't send you on missions for a while, but Rain Assassins will definitely sneak into Konoha to kill you!" White Fang's voice came from ahead.

"Mm... Actually, I have a few questions," Li Tong said.

"What?"

"What's my name?"

"You can't even remember your own name?"

"No."

"We don't know either. But as far as I know, ninjas like you in Amegakure are raised from childhood and don't have names, only codenames. That's all in the past now. Since you've joined Konoha, you can start over and choose a new name."

"Then... I'll call myself... Li Tong!" Li Tong said, deliberately hesitating.

"Li Tong? Your surname is Li?"

"Yeah. Doesn't Konoha have people with the surname Li?"

"It does... Why did you think of that name so quickly?"

"It feels familiar. Maybe I knew someone named Li Tong before," he said offhandedly, making it up as he went.

"Mm." White Fang gave a quiet acknowledgment and didn't press him. It was just a name; it didn't matter.

"Wait!" Li Tong spoke up again. "I have another question. What exactly happened before? I was brought here, but... I don't remember anything."

"You were an assassin sent by Amegakure," Chen He said from beside him. "A few days ago, in the forest north of Konoha, six child assassins aged nine to twelve, including you, tried to break through the patrols and approach Konoha. The Hyuga Clan was in charge of patrols outside the village. By the time we noticed you, you'd already killed three Chunin from the Hyuga Clan... The other five are dead. You're the only one we captured alive. We don't know why you came or what your objective was."

"So that's what happened..." Li Tong nodded.

"Amegakure in the Land of Rain possesses the finest assassination techniques in the Shinobi World. You may only be a Genin, but you silently killed a Chunin in a sneak attack. Your talent is undeniable." White Fang spoke from ahead. "But because you've lost your memory, you've forgotten those skills. You have some chakra, but you don't know how to use it... I hope you'll resume your training as soon as possible. Ideally, you'll remember something about ninjutsu or secret techniques and regain your strength quickly. That's the only way you'll have a better chance of surviving!"

White Fang kept hinting that Li Tong was likely to die. It made him feel strange.

Was Konoha really so useless that it couldn't even protect one person?

If that were true, wouldn't the ninjas who relied on administrative skill and political cunning to hold high positions have all been killed long ago?

"W-White Fang-sama... Is there something you haven't told me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, who exactly wants me dead?"

The four of them walked along the dim corridor, White Fang in front and Chen He and Qingsuo behind. Li Tong, blindfolded, walked between them. White Fang didn't answer right away. He stayed silent for quite a while. He knew some things, because he was the captain of the Konoha Anbu and had access to all of Konoha's secrets, but he couldn't tell Li Tong everything.

"You'll find out," White Fang replied as they passed a fork in the corridor. He said nothing more.

Li Tong didn't ask again. He had a vague idea now: the danger wasn't only coming from outside Konoha. It was coming from within, too. After all, he had once been Konoha's enemy. He had killed Konoha ninjas—for example, members of the Hyuga Clan!

A little over ten minutes later.

Li Tong had no idea where they were when he suddenly felt a firm grip on his shoulder.

Chen He grabbed him by the shoulder and moved in a flash... Li Tong felt as if he were flying. The sensation lasted only an instant, and then he found himself in a completely different place. Before, it had been quiet and oppressive. Now there was wind, birdsong, fresh air, and the rustle of leaves.

It seemed they were in a forest!

"Are we out?" Li Tong asked.

"Mm." Chen He gave a quiet reply and removed the blindfold from Li Tong's eyes.

Light—blinding light!

Unused to it, Li Tong shut his eyes again. He waited a moment, then slowly opened them.

It was a beautiful, sunny morning. In the endless forest, Li Tong stood beneath a towering tree dozens of meters high, looking especially small. The wind carried the fragrance of flowers. Dewdrops clung to the lush green grass, which swayed and bowed to one side in the breeze. A brightly feathered bird darted out from the canopy and soared away...

Everything was so beautiful!

To see the light again!