Tokuma's Warning

The night was like thick ink, soaking through the eaves of Leaf Village.

Xiao sat cross-legged on the tatami in the Branch House dormitory. Moonlight filtered through the paper lattice outside the window, cutting shifting lines of light and shadow across his face. His eyes were closed, yet his Byakugan vision pierced the walls and swept over the Main House guards patrolling the outskirts of the clan grounds—twelve men in three rotating teams, changing shifts every four hours.

Twenty-three hours remained on Anko's life countdown.

His fingertips tapped lightly against his knee, following a rhythm only he understood. The barrier structure of Konoha Hospital, the guards' shift changes, fragments of the Cursed Seal suppressant formula... the information rearranged itself over and over in his mind, searching for the optimal solution like pieces of a puzzle.

Just then—

Three nearly inaudible taps sounded against the window frame.

Short, long, short.

Xiao opened his eyes, a faint glimmer flashing through his pupils in the darkness. He rose and pushed open the window. A black figure slipped into the room like flowing water, landing without a sound.

The visitor wore black night gear and a mask, but his pale eyes were especially striking beneath the moonlight.

"Tokuma." Xiao's voice was low, almost no more than air brushing over vocal cords.

Tokuma Hyuga pulled down his mask. The Caged Bird Seal on his forehead gave off a dim bluish-gray glow in the moonlight. His breathing was somewhat hurried, his chest rising and falling slightly. He had clearly rushed here at full speed.

"Something happened." Tokuma took a thumb-sized transparent crystal from his robes. Pale blue chakra patterns flowed within it. "The meeting record. See for yourself."

Xiao accepted the crystal and fed a thread of chakra into it with his fingertips.

Ripples spread across the crystal's surface, and an image emerged like a reflection on water—

The Hyuga Main House conference hall, lit by wavering candlelight.

Hyuga Hiashi sat at the head of the room, with six Main House elders on either side. Every face bore the same cold, almost indifferent expression. Xiao knew that look all too well. It was the look one gave a tool.

"Abnormal chakra fluctuations have appeared at the border of the Land of Rice Paddies, suspected to be residual traces of Orochimaru's escape route." An elder's voice came from the crystal, dry as sandpaper scraping together. "Lord Hokage has requested that the Hyuga Clan dispatch an elite reconnaissance team. They will depart in three days."

Hyuga Hiashi lightly tapped his fingers against the armrest. "Have the candidates from the Branch House been decided?"

"Following precedent, they will be selected from young Branch House members under the age of twenty." Another elder unrolled a scroll. "Tetsu Hyuga, Homura Hyuga, Iroha Hyuga... and Hyuga Xiao."

When Xiao's name was read aloud, Hyuga Hiashi lifted his eyelids slightly.

"That boy who's been acting 'normal' lately?" Hiashi's voice held no emotion. "Let him go. Branch House members should contribute something to the clan."

Contribution.

The corner of Xiao's mouth curved faintly. There was no amusement in that expression, only ice.

The recording continued.

"The mission has been rated S-rank." A white-haired elder added, with deliberate emphasis in his voice. "Orochimaru is one of the legendary Three Legendary Ninja. Even tracking his residual traces would be exceedingly dangerous. But for Leaf Village, for the honor of the Hyuga Clan..."

Xiao did not listen closely to the rest.

S-rank mission, Branch House elites, Land of Rice Paddies border.

Put those three phrases together, and the meaning could not have been clearer—murder by borrowed blade.

They intended to use Orochimaru as the blade to eliminate a group of potentially unruly young Branch House members, especially Hyuga Xiao, the anomaly whose behavior had recently become "too normal." If they died, it would be a glorious sacrifice. If they returned alive, the Branch House's fighting strength would still be depleted, and their loyalty could be tested in the process.

One move, three gains.

The image in the crystal gradually faded, finally freezing on Hyuga Hiashi's calm, unruffled face. Those pale eyes stared into empty space, as if they had pierced through time and seen the Branch House children dying miserable deaths during the mission.

Xiao put away the crystal, and the room fell into a brief silence.

"How did you get this?" Xiao asked, his voice terrifyingly calm.

Tokuma took a deep breath. "That improved version of the Mirror Shadow Technique you gave me last time—I carved it inside the crystal chandelier on the conference hall ceiling. Its chakra fluctuations would be hidden by the chandelier's decorative patterns. Unless someone used Byakugan: X-Ray Vision to inspect every corner specifically, they wouldn't find it."

As he spoke, a trace of lingering fear entered his voice. "But I could only maintain it for three minutes. Any longer, and the chakra traces would be impossible to hide."

Xiao nodded.

Three minutes was enough.

He took out a blank scroll and spread it open. Chakra gathered at his fingertips as he began writing rapidly. Ink spread across the scroll, forming lines of coded words—signals only he and Tokuma could understand, combining the Hyuga Clan's ancient script with a code Xiao had created himself.

"Three things." Xiao spoke as he wrote. His pace was unhurried, but every word seemed to nail itself into the air. "First, find a way to contact the people on this list in the name of the Caged Bird Mutual Aid Society. Tell them this mission is a trap, but don't say it outright. Hint at it."

Tokuma accepted the scroll. As he looked at the dozen or so names written on it, his pupils contracted slightly. "These people... they're all talented Branch House members who resent the Main House."

"That's right." Xiao finished the last stroke, rolled up the scroll, and sealed it with chakra. "Second, I need access to the Main House medicine vault tomorrow night. Not for long. Fifteen minutes."

Tokuma's expression changed. "The medicine vault has a double barrier, and two Main House Elite Ninja take turns guarding it. Fifteen minutes is too risky. If you're discovered—"

"That's why I need your cooperation." Xiao cut him off and took an even smaller crystal from his robes. "This is a Phantom Voice Stone. It can simulate specific chakra fluctuations. At exactly eight tomorrow night, create a little 'commotion' at the training grounds on the west side of the clan grounds and draw those two guards' attention. From eight to eight fifteen, they'll be away from their posts for at least ten minutes."

Tokuma accepted the Phantom Voice Stone, his fingers trembling slightly.

He knew what he was doing—betraying the Main House, betraying the seal carved into his forehead, the Curse Mark that held his life and death in its grasp. If he was discovered, Hyuga Hiashi would need only a thought to make his brain burst like a smashed watermelon.

But Tokuma raised his head and looked at Xiao.

This Branch House youth, two years younger than him, had no fear or hesitation in his eyes. There was only an almost cruel clarity. That gaze reminded Tokuma of a lake in deep winter—calm on the surface, with an undercurrent beneath that could swallow everything.

"What is the third thing?" Tokuma asked, his voice steadier now.

Xiao pulled a mission scroll from beneath the tatami. It had been delivered by the Main House that afternoon. On the surface, it was an "assignment for a routine patrol mission," but Xiao had used his Byakugan to see through the hidden layer within the scroll, where the real mission details were concealed.

He unfolded the scroll and lightly tapped a set of coordinates.

"The border of the Land of Rice Paddies, thirty-five degrees forty-two minutes north latitude, one hundred thirty-nine degrees forty-six minutes east longitude." For the first time, a subtle fluctuation entered Xiao's voice. "This location is less than fifty kilometers in a straight line from Orochimaru's secret base in the Land of Rice Paddies."

Tokuma sucked in a sharp breath.

"The Main House... knows Orochimaru may be there?"

"They may not know the exact location." Xiao rolled up the scroll, his gaze profound. "But the Hokage's upper ranks definitely have intelligence. Hyuga Hiashi's expression was too natural when he accepted this mission. So natural that it was as though he had prepared his response long ago."

He stood and walked to the window.

Moonlight spilled over him. The Caged Bird Seal on his forehead glowed faintly bluish-gray under the light, like a scar that could never heal.

"Tokuma." Xiao faced away from him, his voice very soft. "Tell me, if a dog knew its owner was sending it to a beast-fighting arena to die tomorrow, what should it do?"

Tokuma opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Xiao turned around. His pale eyes were startlingly bright in the moonlight.

"It would bite through the chain tying it down first," Xiao said. "Then, before entering the arena, it would drag its owner inside first."

The room fell deathly silent.

Tokuma felt cold sweat seep across his back, but something hotter burned within his chest. It was anger suppressed for far too long, humiliation from being raised as a tool for over a decade, and the teeth he had ground to pieces every time he lowered his head.

"I understand." Tokuma rose and carefully put away the scroll and Phantom Voice Stone. "At eight tomorrow night, there will be an 'accidental fire' at the training grounds. I'll bring you the medicine vault's barrier layout before dawn."

Xiao nodded.

Tokuma walked to the window and was about to leap out when he suddenly stopped.

"Xiao." He turned back, the seal on his forehead especially glaring beneath the moonlight. "If we fail..."

"We won't fail." Xiao interrupted him, his voice as calm as if he were stating a fact. "Because we have no way back."

Tokuma looked deeply at him once, then his figure melted into the night and vanished.

Xiao closed the window and returned to the tatami.

He unfolded the mission scroll, his fingertips brushing over the words "Land of Rice Paddies border," while the corner of his mouth slowly curled upward.

Orochimaru's base.

Anko's Curse Mark.

The Main House's murder by borrowed blade.

Those three lines, once parallel, were now beginning to converge in his hands. Like a carefully woven net, every node fell perfectly into place.

A system interface surfaced in his mind, pale blue text flowing across it:

[Detected an opportunity to intervene at a Fate Node: Main House Conspiracy · Murder by Borrowed Blade]

[Method of intervention: Turn the mission to your advantage and simultaneously execute the "Mitaraishi Anko Rescue Plan"]

[Expected rewards: Byakugan purity +3%, unlock "Cursed Seal Analysis · Beginner," Destiny Points +500]

[Warning: Mission failure will result in the Main House forcibly activating the Caged Bird Seal. Mortality rate: 99.7%]

Xiao closed his eyes.

Hyuga Hiashi's face appeared in his mind, that face always calm, always lofty and untouchable. Then came Anko struggling in unconsciousness, the bluish-gray seal on Tokuma's forehead, and the flashes of hatred in the eyes of every Branch House member whenever they lowered their heads at the training grounds.

Those images intertwined, finally condensing into one clear thought—

It was time to close the net.

He took another scroll from his robes. It was a map of Leaf Village's underground pipelines that he had secretly drawn over the past month. One abandoned drainage tunnel ran from the edge of the Hyuga Clan Grounds all the way to the woods behind Konoha Hospital.

Distance: 1.2 kilometers.

Travel time: seven minutes.

Xiao drew a circle around a point on the pipeline map with his fingertip.

There was an access hatch there. Directly above it stood the outer wall of Konoha Hospital's isolation ward. The wall was thirty centimeters thick, with a sensory barrier embedded inside, but the barrier had one flaw—every day from three to three-oh-five in the morning, automatic calibration caused a 0.3-second fluctuation.

0.3 seconds.

For an ordinary person, it was no more than the span of a blink.

But for someone who had developed his Byakugan nearly to its limit and planted chakra markers in advance, it was enough.

Xiao put away all the scrolls and blew out the oil lamp.

The room fell into darkness. Only moonlight filtered through the paper lattice, casting cold squares across the floor.

He lay down and closed his eyes, his breathing gradually evening out.

But the calculations in his mind did not stop—the list of medicine vault ingredients, the proportions for the Curse Mark suppressant, the precise timing of Tokuma's distraction, possible accidents in the pipeline, the exact moment of the barrier fluctuation...

Every detail ran through repeated simulations, like a chess player calculating ten moves ahead before placing a piece.

Outside the window, the night watch drum sounded three times.

It was midnight.

Xiao opened his eyes, his pale pupils glowing faintly in the darkness.

Tomorrow night, the medicine vault.

The morning after tomorrow, the hospital.

Three days later, the Land of Rice Paddies.

A clear timeline stretched through his mind, each node gleaming with dangerous, enticing light.

He turned over, facing the wall.

On the other side of that wall lay the core territory of the Hyuga Main House. The lights there blazed brightly. The Main House elders might be enjoying a late-night meal, discussing the "glorious sacrifice" of those Branch House children in three days, discussing the Hyuga Clan's standing in Leaf Village, discussing the greatness and necessity of the Caged Bird Seal.

They would not know that just beyond a single wall, a "dog" in their eyes was sharpening its teeth.

A cold, sharp curve lifted at the corner of Xiao's mouth.

Sleep.

Tomorrow, the game would officially begin.