The Runaway Boy

The laboratory trembled more violently by the second.

The metal pipes overhead groaned under the strain, while fine concrete debris sifted down, stirring up a haze of dust beneath the dim emergency lights. Hyuga Xiao crawled through the narrow ventilation shaft with Shisui Uchiha unconscious on his back.

The data chip pressed painfully against his ribs, sending a dull ache through him with every movement.

But what made him even more wary was the faint sound of breathing coming from ahead.

His Byakugan had long since been activated.

His three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision pierced through layers of metal partitions. At a fork roughly twenty meters ahead, he spotted a curled-up figure—a boy who looked no older than ten. His short silver-white hair clung messily to his forehead, his skin was pale enough to seem translucent, and he wore nothing but a tattered lab coat.

What drew the eye most were the two crimson marks on the boy's forehead.

And the chaotic yet extraordinarily immense chakra flowing through his body.

"The Kekkei Genkai of the Kaguya Clan..." Xiao narrowed his eyes.

Just as he came within five meters, the boy abruptly opened his eyes.

They were hollow eyes, utterly unfocused.

But his body's instincts remained.

"Bone Spurs: Dance of the Camellia!"

The boy did not even fully rise. Still curled up, he suddenly spun, and dozens of sharp bone spurs shot from his shoulder blades, elbows, and knees, filling the entire cross-section of the tunnel!

Xiao's pupils contracted sharply.

Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!

Chakra burst from every acupoint across his body, forming a rapidly spinning spherical barrier. The bone spurs struck the Revolving Heaven with a barrage of sharp impacts. Most were deflected, while a few penetrated half an inch into the barrier before stopping completely.

But Xiao's heart sank.

A casual attack from this boy, even in his severely wounded and weakened state, had managed to pierce his Revolving Heaven defense. Even if it was only an incomplete version hastily deployed, it was enough to show that the hardness and penetrating power of his bones far surpassed ordinary ninja tools.

"Lord Orochimaru..."

The boy murmured, a flicker of confusion appearing in his vacant eyes. "Where... are you..."

Before his words had even faded, his body swayed and collapsed limply.

Xiao did not approach immediately.

Keeping his Byakugan active, he carefully observed the boy's chakra flow. It was an exceptionally peculiar structure, similar to the Curse Mark he had previously seen on Mitaraishi Anko, yet more stable and more deeply rooted in the bones.

No, not similar.

They were different variants from the same source.

"System, scan the target."

[Scanning...]

[Target: Kaguya Kimimaro]

[Status: Severely weakened, late-stage Bloodline Disease, Stable Orochimaru's Cursed Seal corrosion level: 37%]

[Fate trajectory: Originally intended to be cultivated by Orochimaru as a vessel candidate three years later; would die during the Konoha Crush Plan]

[Interceptable point: Currently escaping Orochimaru's control]

[Estimated reward: Destiny Points +800, Shikotsumyaku bloodline sample (incomplete)]

Xiao's breathing paused slightly.

Eight hundred Destiny Points.

That was nearly one-third of the reward for intercepting a minor female lead. More importantly, there was the Shikotsumyaku bloodline sample. If he could analyze this Kekkei Genkai, which was as well suited for close combat as the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, it would greatly supplement his taijutsu system.

A more violent collapse sounded overhead.

A chunk of concrete came crashing down. Xiao twisted aside, and it slammed into the bottom of the shaft after grazing his shoulder, producing a muffled impact.

There was no time to hesitate.

He moved forward quickly and tapped several fingers against Kimimaro's neck, temporarily sealing several critical chakra nodes with Gentle Fist. Then he slung the boy over one shoulder. With Shisui on his back as well, he was now carrying two people through the cramped shaft.

Weight was not the problem.

Space was.

"I have to find an exit..."

Xiao picked up speed, his Byakugan continuously scanning the surrounding structure. The laboratory's self-destruct sequence had entered its final stage. He could sense whole sections of the passageways behind him collapsing, with searing gusts of air surging through the ducts.

Five minutes later, light appeared ahead.

It was a ventilation opening, with dense forest outside. Xiao kicked the rusted grate open and rolled out with the two of them, landing in a soft bed of fallen leaves.

Almost at the same instant, a deafening roar erupted behind them.

The mountain containing the laboratory began to collapse. Smoke and dust shot into the sky, startling great flocks of birds from the forest.

Xiao rose, panting, and laid Shisui and Kimimaro flat on the ground. He swiftly checked their conditions. Shisui was still unconscious, but his breathing remained relatively steady. Kimimaro, however, began convulsing unconsciously, black Curse Mark patterns emerging beneath his pale skin.

The patterns wriggled like living creatures.

"A sign that the Curse Mark is going berserk..."

Xiao frowned and rapidly formed hand seals.

Gentle Fist: Sealing Points!

His fingertips struck thirteen acupoints on Kimimaro's body with precision, trying to suppress the Curse Mark using the Hyuga Clan's chakra-sealing technique. But the instant his chakra entered—

A sudden change occurred.

Kimimaro abruptly opened his eyes.

His hollow pupils had taken on a strange dark-red hue, while the two crimson marks on his forehead glowed blindingly. A beastlike growl rumbled from his throat, and the skin on his back suddenly split open!

Not one.

Dozens of bone spurs burst out from both sides of his spine at once, forming a pair of savage bone wings that swept toward Xiao at point-blank range!

The distance was too short.

The attack was too fast.

Xiao did not even have time to retreat. He could only gather chakra in both arms in an instant—

Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palm: Revolving Heaven Barrier!

It was not a complete spherical defense, but a compression of Revolving Heaven's principles before his arms, forming an arcing chakra barrier. The bone wings smashed fiercely against it, producing a grating sound that made his scalp tingle.

Crack.

Cracks appeared in the barrier.

Xiao's pupils shrank. The hardness of these bones was actually increasing continuously!

"Lord Orochimaru..."

Kimimaro repeated the name hoarsely, the dark red in his eyes growing deeper and deeper. He struggled to rise as even more bone spurs emerged from his arms and legs, making him resemble a monster covered in spikes.

But Xiao noticed something.

Dark-red blood was seeping from the tips of the newly formed bone spurs.

"The backlash of Bloodline Disease..." Xiao understood.

The boy was burning through his life.

He stopped hesitating.

Within his Byakugan vision, Kimimaro's chakra flow was clearly visible. The Curse Mark's power was spreading from a core point near his spine, corroding every chakra pathway. And that core point...

Was three millimeters to the left of the third thoracic vertebra.

Xiao moved.

Rather than retreating, he stepped forward. His body spun sideways at an unbelievable angle, evading the sweeping bone wings. At the same time, he brought his right index and middle fingers together, condensing chakra at their tips into a needle-sharp point.

Gentle Fist: Pressure Point: Core Break!

That strike was so fast that it left only an afterimage.

It pierced precisely into Kimimaro's back, passing through flesh, avoiding the ribs, and striking the core of the Curse Mark.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Then—

Kimimaro's body suddenly went rigid.

All the bone spurs stopped growing, while the dark-red Curse Mark patterns faded at a visible rate. The blood-red color drained from his eyes, returning them to hollow gray-white, and his whole body fell limply forward.

Xiao reached out and caught him.

The boy's body was alarmingly light, and his temperature was too low for a living person. Xiao laid him flat on the leaves and examined him again. The Curse Mark had been temporarily suppressed, but its corrosion had already seeped into his bones and could erupt again at any moment.

The Bloodline Disease was even more troublesome.

Through his Byakugan, Kimimaro's skeletal structure showed a sickly state of overgrowth. The bone density in some areas was abnormally high, while other parts were as fragile as rotten wood. This contradictory structure was slowly destroying his body.

"He won't live three years..." Xiao muttered.

He looked at the unconscious Shisui, then at the data chip in his arms.

Then he opened the system interface.

[Current Destiny Points: 1720]

[To treat Kaguya Kimimaro (stable condition): 600 Destiny Points required]

[To treat Shisui Uchiha (remove Curse Mark + repair injuries): 900 Destiny Points required]

[Note: Treatment can only restore them to a mobile condition. Fundamental issues such as Bloodline Disease and missing Sharingan must be resolved later.]

Xiao silently looked at the two numbers.

Save them, or not?

If he saved them, he would nearly exhaust his current reserve of Destiny Points. If he did not, these two forces with immense potential—or rather, experimental specimens—would die here.

The sounds of distant pursuers came from the forest.

Kakashi would not give up easily, and Leaf Village ANBU were likely expanding their search range. He had to make a decision quickly.

Three seconds later.

Xiao raised a hand and pressed it against Kimimaro's forehead.

"System, exchange for treatment."

[600 Destiny Points consumed. Beginning treatment...]

A gentle white light flowed from Xiao's palm and seeped into Kimimaro's body. The rampaging chakra gradually calmed, his torn wounds slowly began to heal, and the Curse Mark patterns vanished completely beneath his skin.

But the source of the Bloodline Disease remained.

This was only a temporary extension of his life.

Then Xiao turned toward Shisui.

This decision was even harder. Shisui was an Uchiha genius with the Mangekyō Sharingan, though both his eyes had now been removed. His value was far greater than Kimimaro's. Yet treating him required 900 points, more than half of Xiao's current reserves.

And besides, what did saving an Uchiha mean?

It meant formally involving himself in the deadlock between the Uchiha Clan and Leaf Village's upper ranks.

It meant he might draw the attention of Danzo, and even the Third Hokage, ahead of time.

Xiao's fingers hovered over Shisui's chest, unable to descend for a long while.

In the distance, another flock of birds took flight.

The pursuers were closer.

He took a deep breath, his gaze turning cold and resolute.

"System, exchange."

[900 Destiny Points consumed. Treating Shisui Uchiha...]

A more intense white light enveloped Shisui's body. The wounds inflicted by Orochimaru's experiments began to heal, and the Curse Mark that had invaded his body was slowly forced out, turning into black smoke that dissipated in the air.

But his empty eye sockets remained empty.

The Sharingan did not regenerate.

Xiao withdrew his hand, looked at the mere 220 Destiny Points remaining on the system interface, and pulled his lips into a smile without warmth.

I'm gambling on this.

He quickly cleaned up the scene and erased every trace. Then he hoisted one person over each shoulder and raced in the direction opposite Leaf Village.

Deep in the forest, the three figures vanished beneath the shadows of the dense canopy.

Ten minutes after they left, masked Leaf Village ANBU appeared in the clearing. Kakashi, at the head of the group, crouched and brushed his fingers over the faint traces of chakra left on the fallen leaves.

"Traces of two different medical ninjutsu..." His single eye narrowed. "One of them carries the distinctive precision of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist."

He stood and looked toward the direction where Xiao had disappeared.

"A Hyuga Branch House member, a surviving Uchiha, and a survivor of the Kaguya Clan..."

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Kakashi did not pursue them.

He merely stood there quietly for a moment before turning around and ordering the ANBU behind him, "Report to Lord Hokage that the laboratory has been completely destroyed and all test subjects have been confirmed destroyed. Also..."

He paused.

"Request access to the recent mission records of Hyuga Branch House member Hyuga Xiao."

"All of them."

Late at night.

At an abandoned shrine somewhere along the border of the Land of Fire.

Xiao settled the two of them inside the relatively intact main hall and lit a small bonfire. The flickering firelight illuminated three young faces, each bearing the weight of a heavy fate.

Shisui woke first.

He abruptly sat up, one hand instinctively reaching for his eyes—then froze.

"Orochimaru removed your Sharingan," Xiao said calmly, handing him a waterskin. "But you're alive."

Shisui silently accepted the waterskin but did not drink.

After a long while, he spoke hoarsely. "Why did you save me?"

"I need the Uchiha Clan's power," Xiao said without concealment. "Or rather, I need an ally who understands the Uchiha Clan, understands Leaf Village's upper ranks, and understands 'that plan.'"

Shisui's body trembled slightly.

"You know about 'that plan'?"

"I know more than you think." Xiao sat across from him by the bonfire, his Byakugan glimmering with faint blue light in the darkness. "For example, Danzo wants your eyes. The Uchiha Clan is about to be exterminated. And... Itachi's choice."

Every word struck Shisui's heart like a heavy hammer.

He tightened his grip on the waterskin until his knuckles turned white.

"Who exactly are you?"

"Hyuga Branch House, Hyuga Xiao," Xiao said calmly. "Someone like you, unwilling to be at fate's mercy."

At that moment, Kimimaro let out a faint groan from the other side.

The boy opened his eyes and blankly stared at the ruined shrine ceiling before slowly sitting up. He looked down at his hands, then touched his back—the bone spikes had retracted, leaving only wounds that had yet to fully heal.

"I... didn't die?"

"Not yet." Xiao looked at him. "But your Bloodline Disease remains. Without treatment, within three years at most, your own bones will kill you."

Kimimaro fell silent.

Then he raised his head, his gray-white eyes fixed on Xiao. "You saved me. Why?"

"Because you're useful." Xiao's answer was just as blunt. "The Kaguya Clan's Shikotsumyaku is one of the Shinobi World's finest taijutsu bloodlines. I need that power."

"In exchange?"

"In exchange, I'll find a way to prolong your life and treat your Bloodline Disease." Xiao paused. "And give you a new reason to live—one that doesn't require you to keep clinging to Orochimaru, who treated you as nothing more than an experiment."

Kimimaro's gaze flickered.

Orochimaru-sama...

The man who had given his existence meaning, yet abandoned him in that collapsing laboratory.

The boy lowered his head, silver-white hair concealing his expression.

After a long while, he softly said, "I need time... to think."

"That's fine." Xiao rose to his feet and walked to the shrine entrance, gazing into the pitch-black night outside. "But there isn't much time. Leaf Village's pursuers will find this place sooner or later. We have to leave the Land of Fire as soon as possible."

He turned back and looked at the two people inside the hall.

An Uchiha Clan genius who had lost her eyes.

A terminally ill Kaguya Clan orphan.

And himself, a deserter from the Hyuga Branch House.

What a... perfect combination.

The corner of Xiao's mouth curled into a cold arc.

In his arms, the data chip taken from the laboratory was faintly heating up.

Deep within the chip, the title of an encrypted file flickered in and out of view:

[Top Secret: Experimental Records Regarding the Correlation Between "God Tree Cells" and "Byakugan Purity"]