In a forest in the Land of Waterfalls, several Mist Ninja woke one after another and looked around. The forest was still quiet. Nothing seemed amiss.
"Captain, the ground shook pretty hard just now. I don't know what happened."
A tall, thin Mist Ninja scanned the surroundings, a vicious look flashing across his face now and then.
"The sound came from far away. Whatever happened, it wasn't nearby. Stay alert. We'll move somewhere with better cover."
The Mist Ninja captain spoke, and the others nodded. They quickly got up to choose a new place to settle. One Ninja pulled out a map and picked a location by the light of a few sparks.
Just then, a dark shape appeared in their field of vision.
One Mist Ninja pointed upward and stammered, "Captain, what is that? How can a bird be so big?"
The captain looked up. In the darkness, he could make out only a shadow flying across the sky, seemingly a great distance away.
Cold sweat ran down his forehead. As captain, he had a better grasp of how far away the shadow was—and just how enormous it had to be.
"Stay hidden. Don't draw its attention. It's too dark to see what it looks like, but something that size can't hide. We'll report it to the senior officials at daylight and search for it.
"If we capture it, Kirigakure will gain another powerful asset."
As the captain imagined what that might mean for the village, a team member stammered, "Captain, it looks like it's flying toward us."
The captain whipped his head around. The enormous shadow swelled in his sight, and in the blink of an eye, it was upon them.
A streak of black light plunged from the sky like a ribbon. The Mist Ninja could not