Chance Encounter in the Forest of Death

The dampness of the Forest of Death clung to his skin like a sticky film.

Hyuga Xiao stepped over rotting leaves as his Byakugan silently activated. His vision instantly pierced through layers of overlapping canopies, tangled vines, and venomous insects sprawled across decaying logs—everything within a kilometer in every direction came into view.

He had accepted a D-rank mission: collect three Blood-Stanching Herbs.

This medicinal herb usually grew only around the forest's outskirts, but the collection point marked on Xiao's scroll lay deep within the middle reaches of the Forest of Death. When the apothecary owner had issued the mission, his eyes had shifted evasively as he claimed that all the herbs around the outskirts had recently been picked clean, leaving only those deeper inside.

Xiao had merely nodded gently and accepted the scroll.

Now, he understood.

This was a test from the Main House.

That old bastard Ko Hyuga... Xiao sneered inwardly, though his steps remained steady. In his Byakugan's field of vision, several venomous snakes coiled along the branches ahead, their tongues flickering; farther away, a wild boar rolled about in a mud pit.

None of them were his target.

His gaze continued to extend, piercing through layer upon layer of obstacles, before finally settling roughly eight hundred meters to the southeast—

A girl in a dark purple short-sleeved shirt and black shorts was viciously driving shuriken into a tree trunk.

Nine-year-old Anko Mitarashi.

Her movements were far too ruthless for a child her age. Rather than throwing the shuriken, she was practically stabbing them into the tree, every strike carrying the force of some desperate release. Sweat soaked her short hair and plastered it to her temples. There was no longer any childish innocence in her eyes, only near-obsessive focus and... a trace of barely suppressed savagery.

Xiao deactivated his Byakugan.

The plan began.

He deliberately veered away from the route marked toward the collection site and headed in Anko's direction. His footsteps were light, but not completely concealed—he wanted Anko to "discover" him, not merely "notice" him.

The vegetation of the Forest of Death grew denser and denser, while the light was broken into scattered patches by layers of leaves. The air was thick with the mingled scent of humus and cloyingly sweet flowers, an allure released by carnivorous plants.

Xiao stopped in an area tangled with vines.

He took a short bamboo tube from his ninja tool pouch and pulled out the stopper. Inside was an unconscious Red-Chain Snake—one he had deliberately caught yesterday. Its venom was not particularly potent, but a bite would quickly cause swelling and numbness, and its symptoms looked terrifying.

He gently set the snake by his feet and used chakra to stimulate its nerves.

The snake awoke, instinctively raised its head, and aimed at Xiao's exposed calf—

It bit down.

A sharp pain flared.

Xiao let out a muffled groan and did not use chakra to resist the venom. He allowed the numbness to spread from his calf while circulating chakra through his body and deliberately expanding the blood vessels around the wound. Within seconds, the bite swelled into a purple-black lump the size of an egg, a horrifying sight.

He staggered forward a few steps, then "happened" to collapse at the edge of a relatively open clearing.

At the instant he fell, Xiao used the last of his strength to toss the cloth bag containing the Blood-Stanching Herbs some distance away—creating the illusion that he had been attacked while gathering them.

Then he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing.

It became faint, but not faint enough to suggest he had stopped breathing.

The sound of shuriken striking wood ceased.

Anko Mitarashi wiped the sweat from her forehead and was about to retrieve her shuriken when her ears suddenly twitched.

She had heard the dull thud of something hitting the ground.

She frowned.

Unlucky ninja or animals died in the Forest of Death every day. That was nothing unusual. But that sound... had been too close.

Anko hesitated for two seconds, then drew a kunai and silently made her way toward the source of the noise.

Pushing aside a huge fern leaf, she saw a boy lying on the ground.

White pupils. Hyuga Clan.

Branch House.

Anko recognized him—the Hyuga Xiao from the Ninja Academy who always wore a gentle smile and treated everyone politely. She had heard that his talent was ordinary, though he got along well with people.

At that moment, his face was pale, and dark red blood seeped from the swollen purple-black wound on his calf.

"Red-Chain Snake..." Anko muttered, crouching to inspect the wound. The venom had already spread. If it was not treated, he might lose that leg—or even his life.

She bit her lip.

Orochimaru-sensei had once told her that in the ninja world, unnecessary sympathy would get her killed.

But...

Anko looked at the boy's faintly trembling eyelashes and remembered how she had been injured during training yesterday. As the female ninja from the medical unit had bandaged her wound, she had sighed and looked at her as though to say, "Orochimaru-sama's disciple really does give everything she has."

There had been no concern in that gaze.

Only appraisal.

As if she were looking at a tool and judging whether it could still be used.

"...Troublesome." Anko spat to the side, yet still rummaged through her ninja tool pouch for antidote and bandages.

Rather than applying medicine immediately, she bent down and used her kunai to cut a cross-shaped incision over the wound on Xiao's calf, then—

She opened her mouth and sucked at it.

The fishy-sweet blood mixed with venom entered her mouth. Anko quickly spat it out, then sucked again, and spat again. After several repetitions, the blood flowing from the wound gradually lightened in color. Only then did she apply antidotal herbs and tightly wrap it with bandages.

The entire process was swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Xiao assessed her inwardly.

Ruthless, but not completely cold-blooded.

She could still be saved.

When Anko had finished bandaging him and was about to get up and leave, Xiao "timely" opened his eyes.

His gaze was unfocused at first, then slowly settled on Anko's face.

"...Thank you." Xiao's voice was weak, but every word was clear. "You are... Anko Mitarashi, right? Orochimaru-sama's disciple."

Anko paused.

"I've seen you train." Xiao continued, struggling to prop himself up and lean against a tree trunk. "At the Third Training Ground... your Shurikenjutsu is incredible."

A subtle crack appeared in Anko's expression.

She turned her face away. "...Not anymore."

Her voice was quiet, but Xiao heard the suppressed emotions within it.

"Why?" Xiao asked, his tone carrying just the right amount of confusion. "Orochimaru-sama is one of the legendary Three Legendary Ninja. Countless people would envy anyone who could become his disciple."

Anko remained silent for a long time.

Long enough for a brightly colored poisonous butterfly to land on her shoulder, then flutter away.

"He doesn't need disciples." Anko finally spoke, her voice dry. "He only needs... experimental materials."

The moment she said it, she seemed to regret it. She abruptly stood up. "Can you still walk? I'll take you to the forest's outskirts."

Xiao shook his head and slowly pulled himself upright using the tree trunk—his movements were arduous, but he did manage to stand.

"No need. I can manage on my own." He gave her a gentle, grateful smile. "Thank you so much for today. If it weren't for you, I might have died here."

Anko looked at him and suddenly asked, "Why would someone from the Branch House accept a mission that goes this deep into the Forest of Death? There are Blood-Stanching Herbs around the outskirts too."

Xiao's smile faded slightly.

He lowered his head and looked at the bandaged wound on his calf. "The collection point marked on the mission scroll was here. The Branch House... doesn't have the right to choose its missions."

He said it very calmly.

But Anko understood.

She was an orphan who had clawed her way up from the bottom as well. She knew what "having no choice" meant.

"Next Wednesday," Anko suddenly said. "Three in the afternoon, in the woods east of the Third Training Ground. I'll be practicing Fire Release there. If you're interested... you can come watch."

With that, she turned and left, giving Xiao no chance to reply.

After a few leaps, her figure vanished into the depths of the dense forest.

Xiao stood where he was, watching the direction Anko had gone. The weakness on his face slowly faded away.

He crouched and untied the bandage. The wound on his calf was no longer swollen, and the venom had been thoroughly removed. Xiao circulated chakra, and the wound began healing at a visible rate—the Hyuga Clan's constitution was already superior to that of ordinary people, and with him secretly using chakra to speed up his recovery, it would scab over by tomorrow at the latest.

"Experimental materials..." Xiao quietly repeated Anko's words.

It seemed Orochimaru had already begun targeting his disciple.

In the original story, Anko had only been branded with the Curse Mark of Heaven after Orochimaru's defection, becoming a "living sample" for him to observe the Curse Mark's effects. But now, it seemed this process might have begun long ago—psychological conditioning started far earlier than physical modification.

A system interface appeared before his eyes:

[Contacted a character with great fortune: Anko Mitarashi]

[Probability assessment of intervening at a Fate Node: 72%]

[Recommendation: Establish initial trust and intervene deeply during Orochimaru's defection]

Xiao closed the interface.

He bent down, picked up the cloth bag of Blood-Stanching Herbs he had tossed to the ground, and brushed the dirt from it.

The first step of the plan was complete.

Anko had given him an appointment for "next Wednesday." That meant she was at least not opposed to further contact. And Orochimaru's defection would happen in one week—the timing was perfect.

By then, a nine-year-old girl betrayed by her mentor, branded with a Curse Mark, and standing on the edge of collapse would be at her most receptive.

Xiao tied the cloth bag at his waist, turned, and headed toward the forest's outskirts.

His steps remained steady.

Yet deep within those white pupils, something was slowly gathering.

Like a predator lurking in the darkness, it had already locked onto its first prey.

And all of it was silently watched by the dense canopy of the Forest of Death. Wind swept through the woods, stirring a soft rustling sound, like some kind of whisper—or perhaps a warning.

Xiao raised his head and looked at the gray, overcast sky through the gaps between the leaves.

The weather was about to change.

He quickened his pace and disappeared at the end of the winding forest path.

The forest returned to silence.

Only the dense shuriken holes in the tree Anko had trained against continued to silently tell the story of a child's world, soon to collapse.