"Wait for me, Rin. I'll definitely save you!"
Rin woke groggily to find herself in a dim cave.
The damp air was thick with the smell of earth and blood. Her hands were bound behind her back with coarse rope, leaving her unable to move.
She struggled once, and the rope bit into her wrists, sending a sharp pain through them.
Where was this? She tried hard to remember—she had been treating the wounded on the battlefield when a Hidden Mist Village squad had surrounded her. Then came a burst of searing pain, and after that, she remembered nothing.
Low voices drifted from deep within the cave. Rin held her breath and listened closely.
"Captain, will this really work?" asked a young voice, tinged with unease.
"Heh heh!" Another voice was deeper and raspier, brimming with confidence.
"Leaf Village is locked in a fierce battle with Hidden Stone Village, and Hidden Sand Village is also waiting to make its move.
As long as we release the Tailed Beast inside their village, the entire Leaf Village will be destroyed!"
"But... if the Three-Tails explodes inside someone from Leaf Village..."
"What do you know? The Three-Tails has enough power to destroy the entire Leaf Village.
Then Leaf Village will be finished, and our Hidden Mist Village will become the new overlord."
Rin's pupils shrank abruptly. A Tailed Beast? The Three-Tails? Inside me?
She lowered her head to look at her abdomen. There was nothing there, yet she could feel an unfamiliar, immense power surging within her.
It was Tailed Beast chakra, cold and violent, like a beast imprisoned in a cage.
"Oh? Is that so?"
A voice came from outside the cave. It was calm as still water, yet it made the temperature inside drop several degrees.
"Enemy attack!" Every Hidden Mist