The old wooden door let out a dry creak.
Beneath the dead cherry tree, the girl gripping a bamboo broom abruptly turned around. The night wind blew back her hood, pressing her short dark-blue hair against her pale cheeks. Her pure Byakugan held a trace of panic beneath the moonlight.
Hinata Hyuga.
Xiao stood beyond the threshold, his dark-gray cloak blending into the night. His gaze swept across the courtyard—the moss on the flagstones had been scrubbed clean, and even the broken window frames had been fitted with fresh paper. There was no musty smell of a long-abandoned home in the air. Instead, it carried a faint scent of soapberry.
The "doghouse" that had trapped him for ten years had been kept spotless by the young lady of the Main House before him.
Hong stood at Xiao's side, her Eye of Time slowly turning as she prepared to speak. Xiao suddenly raised a hand and pressed it against her shoulder.
"Stay hidden."
Xiao spoke two words and formed a seal with one hand. Tenseigan chakra instantly enveloped them, utterly erasing their forms, breathing, and even heartbeats as they melted into the shadows beyond the door.
The next second, two dark figures flipped over the courtyard wall like night owls and landed heavily on the flagstones.
Dead leaves shattered. Two ninja wearing blank animal masks, one before and one behind, cut off Hinata's retreat. They radiated the cold, sinister air of people who had long been deprived of daylight. Their black bodysuits bore no Leaf Village ANBU markings; only the blades of their short swords gleamed with an eerie blue poisonous light beneath the moon.
Root.
Hinata retreated half a step, her back pressing against the rough trunk of the cherry tree. Her fingers clenched around the broom until they turned