Fog Demon

Author's note: If you spot any typos, please @ me so I can fix them.

No conspiracy theories.

The original Naruto storyline is somewhat inconsistent about the timeline, so to keep the plot moving smoothly, the author may change some events' dates.

This book follows the timeline in the Book of Formations: Part Two of Naruto (Shippuden) begins in Konoha Year 66, and Naruto was born in Konoha Year 51.

Land of Fire, Konoha.

As the Land of Fire's most prosperous town outside its capital, Konoha's streets were bustling even in the early morning, packed with people. But today, only a few scattered figures were out, and the streets were unusually quiet...

Dense fog blanketed the entire village. No matter how brightly the sun shone, it couldn't disperse it. Except for the small vendors who had to go out to make a living, the streets were deserted, leaving only the buildings on either side gleaming coldly.

In a rarely visited alley, the fog was even thicker than elsewhere in the village, tinted a faint grayish black...

"N-no... don't kill me!"

Blood splattered across the alley walls. A wealthy merchant in an elegant brocade robe, with a greasy, bloated appearance, had collapsed beside a trash can, his legs weak. He begged the pair of blood-red eyes in the fog to spare him.

—Click, clack...

The crisp sound of leather shoes striking the ground rang out like a death knell, making the merchant break into a cold sweat. Though he wanted to fight back with everything he had, he looked at his attendant lying in a pool of blood, reduced to "people chunks," and could only tremble uncontrollably, utterly powerless.

"Time to take you apart~"

A petite figure emerged from the fog. As a delicate, childish voice rang out, the merchant felt something hot and sticky in his chest. Then he looked down in disbelief and saw his beating heart being pulled out, still attached to its blood vessels. His eyes widened. The world went black, and he lost consciousness...

"Hey, hey... did you hear? Someone else was killed by that 'Fog Demon'!"

"I heard their heart was ripped out and they were chopped into pieces again! It's terrifying just to think about!"

It wasn't until the midday sun hung high in the sky and the fog had completely cleared that Konoha's residents dared to go outside and talk about the Fog Demon, whose recent crimes had become the talk of the village.

It had started about a month ago. Since that day, dense fog had covered Konoha every morning. Whenever it lifted, several corpses would appear in some corner of the village, their hearts ripped out and their bodies hacked into pieces.

Brr... It's terrifying just to think about...

—Ah!

A shrill, piercing scream shattered the stillness of the afternoon. Everyone turned to look at the woman, who was pointing with a hand and wearing an expression of sheer terror.

"T-this is?!"

The woman was pointing at the wealthy merchant and his attendant, who had been killed by the Fog Demon earlier and reduced to bloody chunks.

The screams and commotion from the crowd immediately caught the Anbu's attention. An Anbu Ninja wearing a fox mask landed, promptly dispersed the crowd, and cordoned off the scene.

"This is the seventh incident this month..."

The Anbu squad leader counted the bodies and spoke gravely.

"Captain... we've confirmed their identities... They're wealthy merchants from the Land of Fire..."

An Anbu Ninja handed over an "identification document" stained with blood in both hands. The squad leader took it and examined it, then asked, "Just like the previous victims, their hearts were taken?"

"Yeah..."

The Anbu Ninja's reply left him baffled. This so-called Fog Demon didn't seem interested in robbing or assaulting anyone. It was as if the killer murdered people just for fun.

Chopping the bodies into pieces every time was bad enough, but ripping out their hearts, too...

"I'll report to Lord Hokage. Seal off the scene and do your best to keep order!"

Hokage Building, Hokage's office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who possessed the Telescope Technique, had already learned that the Fog Demon had struck again before the Anbu Ninja arrived to report.

His expression was grave as he stared at the Fog Demon case files piled up like a mountain. He hadn't even noticed that the tobacco in his pipe had burned down to the end.

"The Fog Demon again..."

At first, no one had paid any attention to the drunkard dismembered beside a trash can.

After all, judging by his background, the man was a gambler and a womanizer, and he owed who knew how much money. In the Ninja World, being murdered over a grudge was only to be expected.

But when the visitors, wealthy merchants, and even nobles who came to the Land of Fire were targeted, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no choice but to take the matter seriously.

However... according to the Anbu Ninja, the fog seemed to be poisonous. The darker its color, the more toxic it was.

An Anbu had tested it. The moment they came into contact with the fog, their body weakened, and they could barely control their chakra. In the end, even their life force was devoured by the fog.

"It looks like we'll have to plan this carefully..."

Sending Anbu Ninjas to investigate or lie in wait would only get them killed. They needed someone fast and powerful if they hoped to deal with the Fog Demon.

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought it over for a moment and, naturally, settled on the man hailed as the "fastest in the Ninja World," Minato Namikaze.

Unfortunately, Minato was currently away on a mission with his ninja squad. It would still be some time before he returned to the village...

"I'd better send someone to contact him first..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen casually called toward a shadow in the corner. An Anbu Ninja dropped down from a gap in the ceiling and knelt on one knee before him.

"Please take this to Minato."

The Anbu Ninja accepted the scroll with both hands and replied, "Yes, sir!" Then he leaped out the window and vanished among the buildings like a phantom.

Underground in Konoha, the Anbu training department (commonly known as Root).

Leaning on a cane, his head and right eye wrapped in bandages, his face cold and his gaze shrewd—this was the man known as the "Darkness of the Ninja World," the "Root of All Evil," and the "First of the Pot": Shimura Danzō!

"Lord Danzō!"

"How did it go?"

A Root Ninja knelt before Danzō and reported that Sarutobi Hiruzen planned to wait until Minato returned before deciding what to do.

"Good... good!"

"Hiruzen, Hiruzen... Since that's your choice, don't blame me!"

As the saying went, "Good news stays indoors, but bad news travels a thousand miles." Thanks to Danzō's machinations, word that Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage, planned to "ignore the Fog Demon" soon spread throughout Konoha, embellished with all sorts of details.

The outraged villagers believed that Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't care whether ordinary people lived or died. They gathered in front of the Hokage Building to protest.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Hokage's office was tense. Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the crowd thronging outside the window, clearly not expecting the news to spread so quickly.

And it seemed to be turning into a rumor! (The power of journalism at work!)

For example, Sarutobi Hiruzen's actual intention was to wait for Minato to return to the village before devising a plan to capture the Fog Demon. But this had been distorted into, "The Hokage doesn't care about ordinary people and is letting the Fog Demon run wild."

"Hiruzen! More and more people are joining the protest!"

Just then, the other two members of the Konoha F4, advisors Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, hurried in. They looked flustered and asked Sarutobi Hiruzen if he had a way to handle the situation.

Ordinary people didn't have much standing in the Ninja World, but there were so many of them that dealing with an uprising was never easy. Using force was out of the question. Anbu sent to suppress civilians? If word got out, the other ninja villages would tear Konoha apart over it. And if that provoked even greater public anger and caused people to leave Konoha, the village's finances would take a severe hit! Konoha had plenty of ninja to support, after all. What would happen to its income and taxes if ordinary people stopped spending money?

"Looks like I'll have to go out and calm them down myself..."

"Homura, Koharu, please contact Minato for me..."

On the balcony of the Hokage Building, Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared. The noisy crowd below fell silent at once. They had come to demand an explanation, but Lord Hokage was an idol to most of them, the sun in their hearts. They respected him deeply.

"Everyone... I know why you've come."

"Please don't be misled by rumors. In the name of the Hokage, I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, promise you that I will never abandon the people of this village!"

"By tonight at the latest, I will personally lead a special squad to capture the Fog Demon and give you a safe, peaceful morning!"

There was no denying how useful a good reputation could be. A forceful speech from Sarutobi Hiruzen was all it took to quell the public anger. Quite a few people even spoke up in his defense.

"I knew Lord Hokage wouldn't abandon us!"

"Someone must be spreading rumors!"

"Whoever started the rumor ought to be dragged out and castrated!"

After the crowd dispersed, Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to his office. When he heard that Minato would be back that evening, his brow relaxed. "Now all we have to do is wait for Minato to return, then discuss our strategy..."