Illusion

Naoki moved with light steps, his body weaving through the dense barrage of attacks like a ghost; with every flash of his blade, another ninja fell to the ground.

Blood bloomed under the moonlight, and the metallic, sweet scent of it permeated the night breeze.

Aikawa Yumi hid behind a rock, her eyes shining with an extraordinary brilliance.

Her Anu was simply like a work of art when he killed under the moonlight.

His white robes fluttered in the darkness, and every swing of his blade was accompanied by the passing of a life.

"Watch out behind you!"

She suddenly shouted.

Without turning his head, Naoki struck backward with his blade, pinning the ambushing ninja to the ground.

The man with triangular eyes struggled to stand, clutching his blood-drenched right hand, his eyes filled with terror.

Naoki carried his blade and walked toward him step by step.

The moonlight plated his body with a cold, silver edge.

The man with triangular eyes was finally afraid; he had completely miscalculated Naoki's strength!

And so, he turned and ran.

A kunai lay at Naoki's feet, and seeing this, he kicked it into the air.

The kunai whistled through the air from behind, instantly piercing the man's heart.

"Thud."

The corpse hit the ground.

Naoki stood in place, scanning his surroundings.

Fifteen ninjas, all dead.

He flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed it.

Aikawa Yumi clapped her hands.

"My Anu is truly amazing!"

In two or three strides, she reached Naoki, then suddenly leaped up, clinging to him like a koala.

Dropping his weapon, Naoki used both hands to support her.

The sweet scent of Aikawa Yumi filled his nostrils, and with her warm, soft body in his arms, he felt his heart waver for a moment.

Yet, what Naoki did not notice was that the red mist in his mind had begun to expand again, and the clear space was now less than half...

Under the moonlight, the woman's complexion became increasingly alluring.

"Anu," she whispered near his ear, her warm breath brushing against his earlobe, "do you know? The way you killed just now made my heart jump out of my chest."

Naoki tilted his head to avoid her closeness, his tone feigning indifference: "Get down."

"No." Aikawa Yumi hugged him tighter, clamping her legs around his waist, "Carry me as you walk; my legs have gone weak."

Whether Aikawa Yumi was truly oblivious or doing it on purpose, she kept rubbing against Naoki's abdomen, which made his blood boil.

"Get down!" Naoki's voice was slightly hoarse.

Aikawa Yumi jumped down with a mischievous smile.

Just then, Naoki suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Naoki?"

He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, turning around stiffly to see Sakurai Hideko looking at him with an expression of disbelief.

Under the moonlight, Sakurai Hideko wore simple attire, her long hair tied back plainly, her face so pale it was almost transparent.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between Naoki and Aikawa Yumi, her lips trembling slightly, yet she could not make a sound.

"Hideko," he finally spoke, his voice hoarse, "why are you here?"

Sakurai Hideko did not answer.

Her gaze fell upon Naoki, then on the few specks of blood still staining his face, and finally on the woman standing beside him, disheveled yet beaming with a smile.

"I..." she lowered her head, her voice so soft it was almost scattered by the night wind, "I heard you were still alive, in the Land of Hot Water..."

Naoki's heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by something.

"Hideko." He took a step forward.

Sakurai Hideko took a step back.

"If that's the case, what am I?"

"Uchiha Naoki, you really are a scumbag."

"I..."

Naoki wanted to explain, but before he could speak, Sakurai Hideko suddenly pulled a kunai from somewhere.

"Since that's the case, I shall grant your wish."

Naoki's eyes widened as he watched Sakurai Hideko collapse to the ground, only then snapping back to reality.

He rushed forward a few steps and scooped Sakurai Hideko into his arms, only to suddenly find the world around him shifting.

"This is..."

He looked at his surroundings and began to tremble.

Isn't this the house of Sakurai Hideko from his dreams?

Looking down, he saw Sakurai Hideko dressed in red bridal attire, her body covered in black curse marks.

This scene was enough to make Naoki break down.

"Ah... ah... ah!"

Naoki screamed repeatedly until someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

With that tap, he jolted awake from the illusion.

He found himself crouching, with Aikawa Yumi standing beside him, one hand resting on his shoulder and a look of concern on her face.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. "You suddenly walked over in a daze, and you wouldn't respond when I called you."

"Then you started acting crazy, hugging the air and suddenly screaming."

Naoki gasped for air, his back soaked in cold sweat.

He looked around; the moonlight was still cold and desolate, corpses lay scattered across the ground, and the stench of blood permeated the night wind.

There was no Sakurai Hideko.

There was no familiar room.

There was no red bridal attire.

There was only Aikawa Yumi standing by his side, looking at him with concern.

"What did you see?" Aikawa Yumi asked, her voice much softer than usual, her face etched with worry. "Was it... that dream again?"

Naoki did not answer.

He looked down at his own hands, clean and slender, unstained by Hideko's blood.

But the scene in the illusion had been too real—so real that he could still feel the sensation of the kunai slicing through her throat, the warmth of the blood splashing onto his face, and the despair of feeling Hideko's life force fading away in his arms.

"Hideko..." he murmured to himself.

Aikawa Yumi's brows slowly furrowed.

"That girl named Hideko, she's the most important person to you, isn't she?" she asked.

Naoki remained silent, offering no reply.

Aikawa Yumi waited for a moment, then suddenly smiled, though the smile was somewhat forced.

"It seems my Anu still has room in his heart for someone else."

She released her hand from Naoki's shoulder and took half a step back. The moonlight fell upon her face, reflecting her radiant beauty, yet her expression held a touch of desolation.

"Let's go," she said. "The pursuers could return at any moment."

The two set off toward their destination once more, but the atmosphere between them grew increasingly stifling along the way.

Naoki was already a man of few words, and after such an incident, his heart grew even heavier; meanwhile, Aikawa Yumi also frequently frowned, appearing distracted and lost in thought.

Finally, one night, Aikawa Yumi took the initiative to break the strange atmosphere between them.

The night was as dark as ink, the moonlight obscured by thick clouds, leaving the world in dimness.

Naoki and Aikawa Yumi walked in silence along a road in the northern part of the Land of Hot Water. Neither spoke; only the rustling of footsteps on gravel and the moaning of the night wind through the treetops intertwined.

Naoki walked in front, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan kept active in the darkness, vigilantly scanning his surroundings, though his mind was entirely elsewhere.

That illusion.

Hideko's pale, desperate face, the kunai piercing her throat, the body gradually cooling in his arms... and the red mist swelling ever larger within his mind.