The Dead Walk

Deep within an abandoned mine thirty li away, darkness and deathly silence were the eternal themes.

Xuan sat cross-legged, his expression as indifferent as the rocks at the cave entrance.

Before him, a roiling mass of black mist bound Morikawa Raiga like a living thing. The viscous fog seemed to possess countless invisible hands, gripping every inch of his skin and every flow of chakra within him.

Raiga's left arm was already charred black, giving off the pungent stench of scorched protein.

The Lightning Release chakra he had always been proud of now seemed to have been cast into a bottomless abyss, completely sealed by an incomparably bizarre devouring force field. He could not even spark a single arc of electricity.

He struggled, his muscles spasming painfully from the exertion, but it was all futile.

"You... you're not a ninja at all..." Raiga's voice was hoarse, every word seeming to be squeezed from his throat, filled with unwillingness and horror. "You're... a monster!"

Xuan slowly opened his eyes. There was not a trace of emotion in those black pupils, as though he were listening to an assessment that had nothing to do with him.

"You're half right." His voice was soft, yet it echoed through the empty mine. "I am something superior to a ninja."

He did not rush to savor the feast of devouring as he had with his previous prey.

For ingredients of Raiga's caliber, crude gnawing would be a waste.

He needed to squeeze out every last bit of value.

With a thought, [Soul Extraction: Slow-Release Mode] silently activated.

This was a more refined method of plunder, like a master surgeon using the sharpest scalpel to slice off only the thinnest layer of nerve tissue at a time.

It ensured that the target remained completely conscious throughout the process, experiencing the ultimate agony of memories being pulled away piece by piece and their soul torn apart thread by thread.

An almost imperceptible black filament extended from Xuan's fingertip and pierced Raiga's brow.

Raiga's entire body jolted violently. His pupils abruptly widened, as though something had been forcibly dragged out of his mind.

The first memory fragment surfaced in Xuan's consciousness. It was an encrypted recording, set in the conference room of the Hidden Leaf Village's uppermost leadership.

An aged, authoritative voice spoke. "...Regarding the disposition plan for the Progenitor bloodline holder, Plan B is activated. Upon locating the target, prioritize capture alive. His body is the only key to unlocking the Sharingan's ultimate evolutionary path. He must be brought back intact for research."

"A laboratory specimen..." A cold curve rose at Xuan's lips.

So that was it. They did not merely see him as a threat; they saw him as a priceless treasure of limitless value.

No wonder Morikawa Raiga had pursued him like a hungry wolf smelling blood, even resorting to forbidden techniques.

In the eyes of those lofty Kage, he, Xuan, was nothing more than a hen that laid golden eggs, waiting to be slaughtered.

He increased the force of the extraction. Raiga let out a muffled groan, and more memory fragments surged forth like a tide.

Soon, Xuan caught another instruction hidden even deeper.

"Supplementary clause: once the target's threat assessment is confirmed to exceed A-rank, or if the attempt to capture him alive fails, the pursuit team is authorized to use the [Sealing Scroll: Four Violet Flames Formation] for forced restraint. The scroll has been issued and is under Captain Raiga's custody."

Four Violet Flames Formation!

Xuan's gaze suddenly sharpened.

That was an immensely powerful barrier technique requiring four Kage-level or near-Kage-level barrier experts to activate, powerful enough to trap a tailed beast!

The Hidden Leaf Village had actually gone mad enough to turn such a strategic-grade sealing technique into a scroll and hand it to Raiga.

This meant that if he exposed his whereabouts again, what awaited him would no longer be a probing pursuit, but a joint encirclement by a Kage-level squad and elite barrier specialists—a net with no escape!

Time had never been more urgent. He had to gain greater strength at a faster pace!

Xuan's gaze fell back on Raiga. His eyes changed, from those of an interrogator to those of a predator about to feed.

A plan that had been shelved for a long time was activated ahead of schedule in his mind—fusing the [Wood Release Potential] template.

The system had given only one condition for fusion, but it was extremely harsh: "A sufficient quantity of high-quality life force."

Was there a more suitable sacrifice than an elite jonin in the prime of his life with abundant chakra?

"Do you know why your sensory ninjutsu was ineffective against me?" Xuan spoke softly, as if talking to himself, yet also as if pronouncing Raiga's final death sentence.

Without waiting for an answer, he gave it himself. "Because my chakra frequency changes every time I devour and reconstruct. With every meal, I become less like a 'human.' And you are still trying to find me by searching for your own kind. How laughable."

The instant his words fell, the black mist binding Raiga abruptly contracted inward, transforming into countless dense black tentacles that surged wildly into his chest, mouth, and nose.

Raiga's pupils shrank to pinpoints. He could clearly feel the life force within his body pouring out at the speed of a burst mountain flood.

His skin rapidly lost its luster. His muscles shriveled at a visible rate. His jet-black hair turned gray-white and withered within a few breaths.

It was an experience more terrifying than death—consciously feeling himself being "drunk dry" inch by inch.

"Notice: High-quality life source absorbed. Fusion requirements met."

"[Wood Release Potential] template fusion initiated... Fusion successful! Acquired basic Wood Release adaptability: able to imitate the surface properties of Wood Release for a short period of time, such as woody skin and extending vines. Warning: maintaining this state continuously consumes life force and cannot be sustained for long."

A gentle yet immense vitality flowed through Xuan's body.

He slowly raised his right hand. With a thought, the skin of his palm instantly hardened into keratin, turning dark brown like the bark of an ancient tree, tough beyond compare.

He clenched his fist and could feel the explosive power and astonishing defensive strength contained within it.

Xuan rose to his feet and dragged Raiga's shriveled, barely human corpse to the cave entrance.

He did not destroy the evidence. Instead, he carefully arranged a false scene.

First, he tore open parts of the corpse's flesh, making it look as though it had been gnawed by a large beast.

Then, he activated his newly acquired Wood Release ability. Several dark-brown vines resembling tree roots extended from his fingertips, coiling around Raiga's corpse and causing a ring of damp, rotten roots to grow across its surface.

From a distance, the corpse looked as though it had been partially dragged away and devoured by the roots of some divine tree lurking underground. It radiated an eerie natural aura and perfectly concealed every trace of lingering chakra.

After finishing all this, Xuan took Raiga's relatively intact ninja forehead protector and put it on. He then draped Raiga's coat bearing its special markings over himself and pulled the brim of his hat low, hiding most of his face.

His body shifted slightly, and his bones let out a series of fine cracks. His height and build had already been imitated to seventy or eighty percent of Raiga's.

After confirming the direction, he headed toward a temporary communications station established nearby by the Allied Forces.

By evening, Oda Kaori, a female ninja assigned to sort through the belongings of the fallen in the rear camp, was silently working.

When she came to Xuan's possessions, which had been classified as "MIA (Missing in Action)," she found a fire-scorched scrap of paper, with only one corner remaining, tucked inside a hidden compartment of a burned ninja tool pouch.

It seemed to be a torn diary page. The handwriting was crooked and filled with terror and haste. "...In the firelight, I saw Lord Raiga being... being dragged underground by a mass of black mist... He's still alive! That thing... save him..."

Kaori held the scrap of paper, her fingertips turning faintly white.

She stared at the words for a long time, but her mind could not help recalling Xuan's final look before he was "swallowed by the sea of flames."

It had not been the despair or fear of a dying man, but an extreme calm, a calculating gaze as though everything was under his control.

She did not believe in ghosts or gods, much less some so-called black mist monster.

But she believed her own eyes.

In the end, she did not raise an alarm. Instead, she quietly folded the strange scrap of paper and hid it inside her sleeve.

At the same time, Xuan, disguised as Morikawa Raiga, stood before the lone communications console.

Using Raiga's distinctive hoarse voice, he sent an encrypted emergency report to Hidden Leaf Village headquarters. "Target confirmed, codename 'Progenitor.' Completely incinerated in the Fire Release encirclement. All Progenitor bloodline reactions at the scene have vanished. Recommend terminating the search and concentrating forces on the increasingly violent Ten-Tails."

The confirmation tone for a successful transmission sounded. Xuan did not linger for even a moment before turning and walking into the deepening dusk.

Behind him, the indicator light on the communications station's crude equipment, signifying encrypted transmission, slowly went dark.

And at the entrance to the abandoned mine dozens of li away, the heart of the desiccated corpse disguised as having been devoured by tree roots gave one final weak beat before falling completely silent.

On the distant horizon, an inhuman roar tore through the clouds. It was the Ten-Tails' howl, more violent than ever before, closer than ever to completion.

The signs of Kaguya's descent had already appeared.

Xuan stopped and looked up at the ominous sky. He clenched his fist, feeling the new power surging within him, and muttered with a hint of bloodthirsty excitement, "The appetizer is finished. Next, it's time for the real feast."

The night wind passed through the communications station's rusted metal roof, making a sound like a mournful whimper.