Moonlight lay like a layer of pallid frost across the abandoned training ground in Leaf Village's back mountain.
Mitaraishi Anko leaned against a broken wooden post, her fingers absently rubbing the Curse Mark at the back of her neck. It had been pulsing more and more frequently lately, like a heart parasitizing her flesh and blood. Every beat brought searing pain.
The appointed time was midnight.
She took a deep breath and forced her tense muscles to relax. The "Vitality Seed" implanted in her body three days ago lay quietly dormant deep within the Curse Mark—a tracking device Tsunade had modified using purified Hashirama Cells samples. In theory, it could disguise itself as part of Orochimaru's Cursed Seal and trace the caster's location in reverse.
The price was the permanent loss of thirty percent of her chakra, along with the risk that Orochimaru would instantly notice if she were exposed.
"Just gambling with my life." Anko muttered, tugging her lips into an ugly smile.
Footsteps came from the edge of the woods.
They were light, so light they nearly blended into the night wind. But Anko still heard them—the distinctive steps of an ANBU ninja, every stride precisely controlled to avoid crushing fallen leaves.
Beneath the moonlight, a figure wearing a cat-faced mask emerged from the shadows of the trees.
ANBU uniform, standard equipment. Yet Anko's pupils contracted slightly—the figure did not carry a regulation short blade at his waist, but a long, slender ninja sword. Its sheath glimmered with a dim purple sheen beneath the moonlight.
"Hayate?" Anko asked cautiously.
The newcomer stopped and raised a hand to remove his mask.
Gekko Hayate's slightly pale face was revealed. He coughed twice, his voice carrying its usual weakness. "Anko-senpai, it has been a long time."
"Indeed." Anko straightened up, her