Gua felt he might be having a bit of bad luck.
Had he run into some kind of ninja duel just after entering the Land of Earth?
Gua didn't linger. He hid behind a tree farther back and leaned against its trunk, where he could turn his head and see the scene beside the fire.
"Ah!"
"Ah!!"
"Ah!!!"
Agonized screams came from the woods. It was a boy's voice, and he didn't sound very old. His voice seemed to be breaking, so he was probably around ten.
Gua didn't know what had happened. He simply leaned against the tree and silently watched the flickering fire, hoping he wouldn't be discovered...
But clearly, he wasn't that lucky.
Someone came stumbling toward the fire.
Gua couldn't see him yet, only hear his footsteps. They drew closer and closer until the boy appeared beside the fire.
Yet he seemed not to notice the conspicuous fire at all and simply brushed past it.
He threw himself down at the riverbank, kneeling there and looking at his face reflected in the water.
For a long time, he didn't move.
Suddenly,
The boy took off his round glasses and forehead protector, then leaned close to the stream, almost pressing his entire face against the water. He seemed to want a clearer look at his own face.
"Why... why..."
"Why!!!"
At first, the boy choked out the words softly, then began screaming like a madman.
His short gray hair swayed with his movements in the darkness.
The boy suddenly clutched his chest and fell hard beside the stream!
A dark figure hurled shuriken down from a tree.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The black shuriken were well concealed by the night, but the boy on the ground didn't dodge. It seemed the pain in his heart had completely swallowed