The air in the safehouse was thick with the mingled scent of blood and medicinal herbs.
Kurenai Yuhi lay on a makeshift bed, her face pale as paper, fine beads of cold sweat covering her brow. Her breathing was shallow, each inhale trembling faintly as though it might stop at any moment. The black threads of Torune Aburame's "Heart-Binding Gu" wriggled slowly beneath her skin like countless tiny strands, spreading from her chest toward her limbs.
Hyuga Xiao sat cross-legged beside her, his hands hovering three inches above her chest.
The Tenseigan's deep blue radiance flowed through his eyes. In his vision, Hong's chakra pathways were clearly visible—the paths of chakra flow had been more than half eroded by black poison. Like living vines, the toxins tightly wrapped around every chakra node. Deeper within, Orochimaru's Cursed Seal lay coiled at the base of her spine like a dormant venomous serpent, exuding a cold, purple-black aura.
"Twelve hours." Xiao muttered softly, his voice especially clear in the cramped space. "Less than ten remain."
Samui stood guard by the door, both hands resting on the hilt of her ninja sword. Beneath her silver hair, her eyes vigilantly swept the surroundings. Her senses remained extended, catching any chakra fluctuations within a hundred meters. "It's safe outside for now. But Danzo's Root won't stop tracking us. We need to leave Leaf Village's territory as soon as possible."
"Before that, we need to keep her alive."
Xiao drew a deep breath and brought together the index and middle fingers of his right hand. A thread of pale golden chakra condensed at his fingertips—the pure, ancient core energy stripped from the Covenant Stone Fragments, carrying the cold quality unique to the Otsutsuki Bloodline.
He looked at the unconscious Hong.
This woman had once been a pawn