Where are all these rabbits from?

In the Konoha training ground at night, Sasuke sat cross-legged in the center of the field once again.

He closed his eyes and formed the hand seal for a rabbit.

A lump the size of a fist bulged in the center of the shadow beneath his feet, then split open with a soft pop.

A rabbit rolled out from within.

It tumbled twice on the ground, landed on its back, and lay motionless for a good while.

"...Are you alive?" Sasuke reached out a finger and poked the rabbit's soft belly.

The rabbit finally flipped over slowly and crawled to the side of Sasuke's knee.

"It hurts, I bumped my head." Its voice was soft and slow.

White Dog walked over: "Just this one?"

Black Dog circled to the front: "You look a bit different too, what about your ability?"

The rabbit opened its mouth, then paused: "...Oh right, what was it again?"

White Dog turned to look at Sasuke: "Did you summon the wrong thing? This guy's brain is broken."

The rabbit finally remembered: "Clones, I can make clones."

A second rabbit appeared out of thin air beside the first.

Then a third, a fourth, a fifth.

In less than three seconds, the training ground was densely packed with dozens of white rabbits.

"Ah." All the rabbits spoke at once.

"Seems like I made too many," they said.

Sasuke looked at the sea of white before him.

"Escaping Rabbit, can you retract them?"

"I can." All the rabbits spoke in unison.

Black mist swirled once more, and the rabbit swarm condensed back into one, which hopped sluggishly to Sasuke's feet.

White Dog stared at Escaping Rabbit: "Clones are pretty impressive, but since we have new abilities, you should have one too, right?"

Escaping Rabbit blinked: "I suppose so."

"What do you mean 'suppose so'?" White Dog's ears flattened back.

"I don't remember. It seems I can't do it right now; I have to wait until I get stronger."

"So, each Shikigami's strength is tied to my own, but extra abilities need to be unlocked individually," Sasuke observed, looking at Escaping Rabbit.

"Assuming Black and White are at level two, you are different from them; you were just summoned, so you're still at level one."

Escaping Rabbit tilted its head to look at Sasuke, waiting a moment before replying: "Mm."

"Leveling up isn't a big issue. You have independent consciousness and can go out on your own," Sasuke said, standing up and walking to the low wall at the edge of the training ground.

White Dog finally understood: "So if we let it split into a bunch of clones and scatter them to every corner of the village, wouldn't that be like a bunch of rabbits grinding for experience at the same time?"

Black Dog added: "And gathering intelligence."

"People in Konoha won't have their guard up when they see a rabbit," Sasuke turned to look at Escaping Rabbit. "After all, everyone should like little rabbits, right?"

Escaping Rabbit tilted its head: "Like?"

"Alright," Sasuke brushed the dust off his hands, "Go play on your own. If anyone asks, just act like a normal rabbit. If you find any interesting information, report it back to me."

Escaping Rabbit stayed put, and it took about five seconds before it slowly nodded: "Okay."

It landed lightly and began to walk out of the training ground.

After three steps, it stopped and looked back at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I'm leaving now."

"Go on."

Escaping Rabbit walked five steps and stopped again.

"I'm really leaving now."

"...Just go."

Escaping Rabbit walked ten steps.

"If I have any information, I'll come back to find you."

"If you keep talking, it'll be dawn."

White Dog watched the direction it disappeared in, its mouth twitching.

"Kei... no, Sasuke."

"Yeah."

"Why do I feel like we just let a ticking time bomb loose?"

"Just a rabbit."

The next morning.

When the owner of Ichiraku Ramen in the Konoha commercial district rolled up his shutters, he found a white rabbit squatting on the steps at the entrance.

In the alley, Mrs. Nakano, who had risen early to wash clothes by the river, saw a rabbit perched on top of her mailbox, scratching its ear with a hind leg.

The elderly man responsible for cleaning the ninja academy walked into an empty classroom carrying a bucket of water, only to see a rabbit lying on the desk in the first row by the window.

At the same time, two rabbits sat side-by-side in the corridor of the Anbu interrogation department, causing great confusion for the Anbu members passing by.

Inoichi Yamanaka passed by a dango shop and saw a rabbit.

People were seeing rabbits everywhere.

Although they could be seen anywhere, it was strange to say there were many of them.

If you paid attention, there was indeed always a rabbit nearby, but if you actually had the Anbu count them, you wouldn't find more than a hundred in the entire village.

The Anbu members were on alert for rabbits while patrolling from the trees.

When Iruka pushed open the classroom door, he was stunned at first glance.

There was a rabbit squatting in the corner of the back row as well.

"Why are you here?" White Dog lay by the corner of the podium, his gaze sweeping straight across.

"Play." The rabbit in the corner of the back row replied in a dazed tone.

Naruto rushed into the classroom and almost stepped on the rabbit following behind him.

He pointed at the rabbit next to White Dog and shouted, "How is there another one! Sasuke! What is going on!"

Sasuke rested his chin on one hand, his gaze sweeping over the rabbits inside and outside the classroom: "It has nothing to do with me."

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair, his eyelids twitching twice: "These rabbits weren't here yesterday, and now they're suddenly everywhere... It couldn't possibly be ninjutsu, right? Who would use such a boring ninjutsu."

Sakura pushed open the classroom door, holding a white rabbit in her hands, and walked up to Sasuke.

"Maybe it's just a boring person."

"Sasuke, this rabbit on the way... it seems to be injured, it doesn't look like it can move much."

Sasuke took a look. This Escaping Rabbit clone had a scraped hind leg.

"Leave it there, it might be an experimental animal from somewhere, I'll deal with it later."

In the Hokage office, Hiruzen Sarutobi took his pipe out of his mouth and tapped the ash against the edge of the ashtray.

Kakashi Hatake squatted on the windowsill of the Hokage office, holding Make-Out Paradise in his hands, his left leg dangling in the air and his right knee bent, stepping on the window frame.

He turned a page, then held the book above his head, letting the rabbit squatting on his head shift its position.

It was a rabbit that had followed him from his apartment door that morning.

"You can use the front door when coming in to report, Kakashi."

"Ah, you're right." Kakashi jumped down from the windowsill and patted his clothes.

"Third Hokage, there is a rabbit on my head."

"I see it."

"Shouldn't you say something?"

He moved his office chair slightly to the side, revealing the armrest on his right.

An Escaping Rabbit was also sitting on the leather surface of the chair.

"I've been with it for a while now."

"Then what about my report just now?"

"Understood." Hiruzen took another puff of his pipe, "So what exactly is this?"

"Third Hokage, you are the Hokage. You can't just throw the question back at me." Kakashi leaned against the wall, "It's probably Sasuke."

"Ah." With just that response, Hiruzen Sarutobi took another puff of his pipe, lost in thought.

The sound of a cane came from the doorway.

Danzo pushed open the office door, bandages covering half his face, the visible eye emitting a gloomier gaze than usual.

A rabbit was squatting on his right shoulder.

The rabbit squatted very quietly on his shoulder, its ears drooping over his bandages, looking like it had no intention of coming down at all.

"Hiruzen." Danzo stood in front of the desk, his back straight.

"There are rabbits everywhere in the village."

Hiruzen Sarutobi placed his pipe on the ashtray and folded his hands on the desk.

"I know."

"You know?" Danzo's single eye swept over the rabbit on the table that was lowering its head to eat the petals of the dried flowers next to the ashtray, then looked back at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"You should know better than I do where all this came from."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Third Hokage, a thing like this should not be left to roam freely in Konoha. It must be utilized centrally. Hand him over to me, and I will—"

The Escaping Rabbit on the desk suddenly sneezed, spraying petal debris onto the finger Danzo had extended.

Danzo looked down at his fingertip, the muscles in his wrist tightening.

He slammed his right hand shut, clamped onto the rabbit's scruff, and hoisted it into the air.

The Escaping Rabbit's hind legs kicked twice in the air before going still.

The rabbit corpse in Danzo's hand turned into a lump of black sludge and quickly dissipated.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Another rabbit crawled in from under the doorframe of the Hokage office.

This Escaping Rabbit skirted around Danzo's feet, hopped onto the desk, and lowered its head to continue eating the dried flower.

The corners of Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched.

He shoved his pipe back into his mouth and took a fierce drag, the smoke obscuring the corners of his mouth that he couldn't help but turn upward.

"Danzo, have you forgotten what Itachi said to us before he left?"

Danzo's brows furrowed beneath his bandages.

Kakashi sensed the subtle silence in the air and pushed his back off the wall.

"May I be excused?" Without waiting for either of them to answer, the smoke from Kakashi's Body Flicker Technique had already dissipated by the window.

Only the two old men and the rabbit eating the dried flower remained in the office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took another puff of his pipe.

"Do you think Konoha can afford the consequences of losing him?"

The fingers of the hand Danzo used to grip his cane tightened and tightened again, preventing him from cursing out loud.

"I won't interfere with his life," he said, lowering his voice. "But don't you think it's a pity to have such a resource and not make use of it?"

Hiruzen blew the ash out of his pipe.

"I will speak with him."

The Escaping Rabbit tilted its head, its left ear flopping onto Hiruzen's wrist.

On a tree somewhere in Konoha.

"...Your eyes are so red." The rabbit spoke first.

The Crow did not answer, merely staring blankly at the rabbit.

"...What is your name?" The rabbit hopped a small step forward, its paws landing on the branch, causing it to sway up and down.

The Crow lowered its wings and retreated half an inch.

"...Can you not talk? You poor thing."

The two animals crouched face-to-face, the distance between them shrinking visibly to the naked eye.

The Crow opened its beak and let out a hoarse caw.

"...Are you here to see Sasuke?"

"Caw."

"...I see."

At the top of a high tower on the outskirts of Amegakure.

Rainwater followed the edges of the tiles to form a continuous curtain of water, falling directly from the top of the tower onto the tin eaves below.

"Are you watching that child again?"

Itachi's eyes suddenly snapped open.

Orochimaru leaned against the wall of the high tower, his long tongue moving lazily outside his lips.

"It's that Sasuke-kun, isn't it? Your..."

"No, I'm watching the rabbit."