In an unnamed village in the Land of Water Release.
Deep inside the dark Mu Hikari Dungeon.
A Haku-haired boy crouched against the wall, staring blankly at the ceiling.
In his hand, he held a razor-sharp Bone Spike...
He chipped away at the wall mechanically.
As he worked, a faint outline gradually emerged on the hard stone: the shape of a human face.
But...
To carve a lifelike human head...
That would probably take a very, very long time.
Half a month?
Several months?
A year?
Kimimaro Kaguya did not know. But he understood that staying in this Dungeon seemed to be the fate he had been born into... He did not understand why he had to be here.
He was simply too lonely.
So lonely that yesterday, it had occurred to him to carve a person out of bone.
Or two, or three... They could keep him company in this dark Dungeon.
Then he would not be bored anymore.
Crack—crack—
His hand moved mechanically, sending stone chips drifting to the floor...
Sometimes Kimimaro wondered what the outside world looked like now. He wanted to see it for himself, alive and bursting with growth.
To smell the fragrance of flowers.
That was all.
Until a dazzling beam of Hikari suddenly reached him from the Dungeon corridor.
Kimimaro's heart, which had not raced in so long, came alive again.
He looked up and stopped working, curiosity appearing on his face.
Who... was it?
"Kimimaro!"
Footsteps approached. A tall man stopped before the cell door and opened the small hatch, just large enough for a child to pass through.
"The moment has come. It's time we put you to use."
Half the man's face was hidden in shadow,
leaving only his chin and mouth visible.
But his strangely shaped eyes shone brightly.