A Trap for the Prey and the Shadow of the Waning Moon Barrier

Night fell like ink, swallowing all the bustle and splendor Konoha had known by day.

The Wind Chime Pavilion, an ordinary-looking inn on Konoha's western side, now seemed like an island surrounded by unseen currents.

Inside a guest room, an oil lamp flickered uneasily, casting Kidomaru and the others' wary faces in shifting light and shadow.

"Sakon and Jirobo, contact the official's residence. Tayuya, investigate the details of Danzo's downfall through the Underground Black Market. Remember, stay hidden above all else. Once you have what we need, withdraw immediately." Kidomaru kept his voice low as he assigned their tasks, cautious as a venomous spider at the center of its web.

Tayuya clicked her tongue in irritation. She tied back her red hair, changed into inconspicuous dark clothes, and gave a scornful sneer. "I know. You talk too much. He's just a kid who's barely taken office. Even if he has some ability, what's he going to do, turn his own village upside down?"

Even so, she carefully swallowed another dose of the Chakra-suppressing medicine Orochimaru had made. Only after she felt the cold power within her sink deeper under its restraint did she open the window and slip into the night like a ghost.

She thought she had gone unnoticed. But the moment she leaped from the window, dozens of pure-white eyes across the village shifted their focus at once. The route she believed was hidden appeared clearly on an invisible map.

The Hokage's Office was deathly still.

Baishi did not sit in the chair that symbolized supreme authority. Instead, he rested one hand on the windowsill and quietly looked down over the village's scattered lights.

Moonlight spilled down like quicksilver, lending a solemn, almost sacred air to his white Hokage Haori with its red trim.

From his fingertip