The moon shone bright and the stars were few, while the autumn wind whispered bleakly. Konoha's public cemetery lay in silence, broken only by the rustle of dead leaves dragging across the ground and the steady rhythm of digging.
A figure was desperately shoveling away at a grave. Judging by the color of the soil, it should have been a fresh burial.
The gravedigger worked quickly. Before long, a nearly brand-new coffin appeared before him. By then, he was panting heavily from exhaustion, but his hands did not pause for even a moment. He set down the shovel, picked up a hammer and a cloth-wrapped iron pry bar, and began pulling out the coffin nails one by one.
At last, after his unrelenting efforts, all six long nails came free. Gathering his strength, he yanked hard. With a creak, the coffin lid flew aside, revealing a male corpse with a white cloth draped over its face. The gravedigger tore off the cloth and looked at the dead man.
The corpse was pale-faced and handsome. Its only flaw was its missing right eye, covered by a black eyepatch. A green X-shaped mark lay on its forehead. Though his features suggested a man in his thirties, his hair was already completely white, giving him an eerie air beneath the moonlight.
The gravedigger studied him for a while, seeming somewhat agitated.
"Gentle Fist, Sky-Piercing Finger!"
With a low shout, the gravedigger jabbed a finger into the corpse's Tanzhong acupoint, then tightly pinched the spot beneath his nose.
After some time, the corpse's single eye abruptly opened. He actually sat straight up from the coffin, followed by a violent fit of coughing.
The gravedigger gently patted the one-eyed man's back while muttering softly, "Keep it down, keep it down."
Once the one-eyed man caught