Withered Flowers, Broken Wings

Withered Flowers, Broken Wings

Splat.

Asano Kaoru stepped into a puddle, splashing rainwater onto the cuffs of her pants.

What rotten luck. The woman frowned slightly.

I'll grab the bottle and leave... Thinking this, she pushed open the door and entered the house.

The instant she stepped inside, Asano Kaoru froze. Overwhelming terror and panic seized her heart like demons.

Inside, a tall man stood silently in the center of the room. Muscles bulged beneath his black robe, and his bird-faced mask was hideous and terrifying.

—It was Owl!

"You were far too careless... Dark." Owl spoke slowly from inside the room. "If you were your usual self, you should have noticed the bent weeds in the courtyard. In that case, you would have had more time to escape. You might even have lived a little longer."

"Lord Owl..." Asano Kaoru swallowed with difficulty, but she did not drop to one knee as she usually did.

She did not dare kneel. That posture would only affect her speed and reduce her chances of successfully escaping or resisting. But... how had Owl seen through her?

Owl shook his bird-masked head and stared at the female subordinate before him. "As expected, if you fly a kite for too long, the string will break someday. A few hours ago, when you verbally hinted that I should leave the Land of Rain without worry, you were far too eager. Why did you want me to leave the Hidden Rain Village? I guessed that you wanted to do something behind my back."

"Just because... of that?" Asano Kaoru asked hoarsely.

"Anyone suspicious must be killed without exception." The tall man's body began to emit a terrifying aura, like the talons bared by a bird of prey before hunting. "If there is even one thing worth suspecting, it means there are more doubts beneath the surface. You should know how the codename [Owl] came to be."

Root's Owl was a man in ANBU infamous for slaughter and brutality.

Better to kill the wrong one than let the right one go. In Owl's eyes, there was no such thing as punishment—only the death penalty!

Asano Kaoru gritted her teeth. She knew the man before her had already made up his mind, so she stopped putting on a pretense and said coldly, "Owl, have you ever considered that Lord Danzo will kill you someday? You've killed too many people. Even within Root, plenty of people would love to see you dead."

"You're wrong, Dark. I won't die." Owl paused before continuing. "To Lord Danzo, I am a tool. As long as the job gets done, it doesn't matter how many people are killed. Consumables of your level can be cultivated batch after batch with ease."

"A tool... Hmph. Owl, have you forgotten? The First Hokage founded the village precisely to prevent shinobi from becoming tools of slaughter."

"The First Hokage was a great shinobi, but unfortunately, the essence of this world did not change because of him." The tall man pointed at himself, then at Kaoru. "I am Lord Danzo's tool. You are my tool. Hyuga Yuto is a tool of the Third Hokage and the Hyuga clan."

"You tricked me into leaving the Hidden Rain Village, and Hyuga Yuto hid here for a month... Both are cases of tools rebelling against their masters. The crime is unforgivable."

"A tool is a tool. It must fulfill its duties and follow its predetermined path. The moment it deviates even slightly, it is no longer a qualified tool."

"Fortunately, I am here. I will kill you, this tool, and report everything Hyuga Yuto has done during this time to Lord Danzo... He is suspected of amassing a large amount of wealth, suspected of having deep ties with Akatsuki of the Hidden Rain Village, and suspected of developing a powerful new ninjutsu..."

"Over this past month, the intelligence you provided was very detailed, Dark."

Bang!

Before Owl could finish his final sentence, Asano Kaoru smashed through the window with her back. The instant her feet touched the mud in the courtyard, chakra erupted from her body, leaving a shallow crater in the ground.

Run! Run! He let his guard down just now... The female shinobi roared madly in her heart, seizing the opportunity to flee more than ten meters in the blink of an eye.

Yet in the next moment, Asano Kaoru's vision blurred. Her throat burned, and the strength in her limbs poured away uncontrollably like a collapsing riverbank.

Owl appeared before her. The Root member who delighted in killing had blood dripping from his hand—and half a throat clutched within it.

"I told you, you were too careless and too impatient tonight... You couldn't even see through the opening I deliberately gave you. As expected, as a tool, this is all you're worth."

With a thunderous crash, Asano Kaoru slammed into a wall under tremendous momentum, her bones and tendons shattered.

"Tool... cleanup successful." Owl flexed his hands and crouched down, watching Asano Kaoru slowly breathe her last.

Hmm?

Owl let out a soft sound of surprise. He pried open Asano Kaoru's hand and took out what she had been holding.

"A seashell... Seriously, even at death's door, you still clung to it so tightly..."

Takeda Shigen had lost count of how many times he had checked the time.

It was already past midnight.

At first, Takeda Shigen had thought, She's a woman, after all. She's late no matter the occasion, and had been able to wait patiently.

But as time trickled away, his heart gradually grew restless.

Kaoru... did she return to the Hidden Leaf Village? Takeda Shigen thought as he stood listlessly beneath a red road sign.

Now, a new fear completely engulfed him. He thought of an even more terrifying possibility—Kaoru had met with an accident and could not return.

Before long, Takeda Shigen could no longer control himself. He left the road sign, rushed into the street, and searched with all his strength for the woman's figure.

He knew where Asano Kaoru's house outside the base was. Though he did not hold much hope, Takeda Shigen still chose to search there first. Perhaps he would find some clue.

After midnight, there were naturally few people in the Hidden Rain Village. There was no such thing as a curfew, but the cold, dreary Land of Rain was clearly no place for nightlife. There were almost no pedestrians on the streets.

Still, no matter how deserted it was, a few scattered shops remained open. Most were taverns. The Land of Rain was in a rainy season year-round, and warmed wine could ward off the cold. Such little shops were popular and never lacked business.

Takeda Shigen ran through the icy streets. He was highly experienced and could make a rough judgment about a person at a glance.

The search did not last long. He soon stopped and stood dumbfounded by the roadside.

Inside a tavern, a tall man sat with his back to him, his face hidden from view.

The man wore a black robe and lounged lazily in his seat. In his hand, he toyed with a glossy white seashell.

There was still blood on the shell.

In an instant, Takeda Shigen understood what had happened. His fury erupted like a volcano, destroying his reason.

Is this a trap? Go back and beg the leader for support. Think it over carefully and find a place to ambush him. None of those thoughts entered his mind.

By the time Takeda Shigen came to his senses, his body had already charged forward uncontrollably, wielding the two Flying Wings.

Boom—

The sharp chakra weapons slashed into the table.

"A shinobi who has lost his reason actually fell for such a simple trick... Heh."

In the rainy night, Root's Owl laughed wildly.