The night was black as ink, painting Konoha in shadows of varying depths.
Miwa Kato walked home alone, the Micro Scroll against her chest like a red-hot branding iron pressed to her heart.
The street she had walked countless times was eerily quiet tonight-the insects had fallen silent, and even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
An exceedingly faint scent lingered in the air, a foreign mixture of rust and kunai oil.
Her shinobi instincts and battlefield-honed sense of danger screamed in unison!
The gaps in the records she had "just happened" to discover were too deliberate, like carefully placed bait prepared especially for a fish trying to swim upstream.
This was no oversight. It was a trap designed to lure her in!
Almost the instant that thought flashed through her mind, everything changed!
The twisted shadow of the old tree beside the training ground abruptly stretched, split apart, and became three dark figures racing low across the ground!
At the same time, two more figures leaped from the shadows of a crumbling wall behind her flank, cutting off her retreat.
Five attacks came from every direction in flawless coordination. Kunai targeted her joints, while ninja blades went straight for her neck and heart. Every strike aimed to kill or cripple, utterly merciless and chillingly efficient.
Root! And an elite team specializing in coordinated attacks!
"As I thought-" Miwako's heart turned to ice, but she moved like lightning.
She drove her toes into the ground and arched sharply backward, barely avoiding the blade sweeping toward her throat. At the same time, the senbon she had long held ready in her sleeve shot out in a fan!
But her opponents seemed to have anticipated it. With slight, ghostlike shifts of their bodies, they evaded every needle!
*They knew her fighting