At that moment, deep inside a pitch-black cavern where one could not see a hand in front of one's face...
"Mmph, mmph!"
A boy ran for his life, his eyes brimming with tears, his teeth clenched tight to keep himself from making a sound.
It was as though some terrifying primeval beast were pursuing him.
But he could not see any path through the dark cavern. He had no idea where to run, or whether there was even an exit. All he knew was that he must not stop now.
Master Chiriku, Master Chen Ming, Master Luo Ze...
As the boy ran aimlessly through the darkness, he silently recalled the masters who had seemed so great and kind to him.
Perhaps the sudden calamity had left him too stunned to recover, but he still hoped those remarkable men in his memories could give him more courage.
Yet almost immediately, he recalled the horrific sight of their deaths. Fear overwhelmed everything else again, and helplessness, terror, despair, and a host of other dark emotions flooded his heart.
"Ah, ah!"
He clenched his teeth, but his ragged breathing and frightened cries still escaped through the gaps. What he did not know was that the thing he feared had already caught up with him.
In his panic, however, he had failed to notice it.
Behind the boy, a deathly pale aura formed an arm, following him like a phantom and creeping ever closer to his back.
But whenever that pale hand was about to touch him, red chakra would occasionally flicker from his body, as though protecting him.
That red chakra forced the pale aura to follow quietly, not daring to advance any farther.
"Whew. A needle in a haystack. This really is hard to find."
Meanwhile, on the surface, a bespectacled man