"Di, my puppet has been broken."
Hidden in the mountains and forests surrounding the Orphanage, a male shinobi shrouded entirely in black robes abruptly opened his dark eyes. His deliberately lowered voice was deep and hoarse, yet carried a chilling murderous intent and suppressed fury.
"It was that Uchiha brat in black."
On the twisting branches of an ancient tree, an orange-haired shinobi pressed his fingers against one eye. Inside the distant Orphanage, an eyeball formed from sand lay concealed in an unnoticed patch of darkness, quietly observing every movement within and transmitting the images to the eye the red-haired shinobi covered with his hand.
The eye had already noticed Shingetsu and the clan's fan crest on her clothes, as well as her following the matron and their target into the small kitchen. Thus, the orange-haired shinobi easily deduced that she had discovered and destroyed the Orphanage matron controlled by the Dead Soul Technique.
Just what you'd expect from the Uchiha Clan. Even a child couldn't be taken lightly!
"We've been discovered. Should we retreat?"
With that thought, the orange-haired shinobi turned toward his two companions. Their plan had been to take the target away silently, without anyone noticing, but now Uchiha Shingetsu, an unexpected and unwelcome visitor, had shattered any chance of carrying it out.
In that case, rather than waiting for Konoha's top fighters to come after them, they would be better off abandoning the mission now and fleeing Konoha and the Land of Fire together!
His companions, however, clearly disagreed.
"We've already taken the deposit. How can we retreat? If we miss this chance, how are we supposed to complete the mission?"
The black-robed shinobi sneered, mocking his companion's cowardice and naïveté.
The mission they had accepted was to obtain all information about Konoha's recently established Ninja Academy. From its school system and personnel to its curriculum, they had to uncover every detail related to the academy.
Recently posted at bounty stations throughout the shinobi world, the bounty appeared at first glance to be a simple intelligence-gathering request. To experienced bounty hunters, however, it clearly carried another meaning-
For shinobi, the simplest and most direct way to obtain all the information was to abduct someone connected to the school and extract everything from their mind through interrogation.
Yes, abducting members of the Ninja Academy was the true purpose of this bounty.
Since it appeared, no one had touched the bounty. No one dared strike at Konoha, nor did anyone dare provoke the academy's monstrous teachers. Meanwhile, the reward had steadily increased, from fifty million at first to a hundred million later. By now, it had even become the largest bounty in the bounty stations' history-
A full three hundred million!
Faced with such an astonishing reward, three bounty-hunting shinobi had finally accepted it.
They were the bounty-hunting group known as the Beast Fang Trio. Having abandoned their families, names, and pasts, they prowled the darkness of the shinobi world with exceptional strength and cunning, ruthless dispositions, and trump cards few knew about.
Confronted with this difficult task, they had not rashly ventured deep into Konoha. Instead, they remained on its outskirts, using no ninjutsu and hiding among ordinary villagers as they gathered information on the academy's students.
At last, after a long period lying low, the ideal prey they carefully selected was Yakushi Chinatsu, a girl from the Orphanage.
Neither a member of a shinobi clan nor a civilian living within Konoha, she lived in a remote area among ordinary people who were not shinobi. She was the perfect opening for this mission.
Originally, the plan should have had no flaws or oversights, but Shingetsu's unexpected arrival had completely shattered the Beast Fang Trio's scheme.
Now, their exposure was only a matter of time. If they could not seize their target here, they would lose their chance to complete the mission altogether. Once Konoha was on alert, it would certainly not allow them to wreak havoc.
Yet leaving now and abandoning the mission was simply impossible.
Quite apart from a shinobi's obligation to complete a mission, these three seasoned bounty hunters knew perfectly well that the astronomical three-hundred-million reward must have involved the Five Great Nations. Even the Land of Fire's Daimyō had probably taken part.
Having accepted the deposit and failed to complete the mission, they would likely face the wrath of several Daimyō. How could they possibly survive that?
Sitting cross-legged at the roots of the tree, the man the other two called Di said nothing. He merely closed his eyes and considered quietly.
"We have no choice. Attack directly and kill everyone who gets in our way."
A moment later, Di, the leader of the Beast Fang Trio, opened his eyes. A cold gleam flashed through his emerald irises.
Originally, they had not intended to completely sever relations with Konoha during this operation. They had only planned to kill one person and take another, keeping the conflict to a minimum. But now, since this was their final gamble, they might as well kill everyone who obstructed them or had seen them!
"What about the target and that Uchiha brat?"
"If the target resists, kill her too. We can get information out of a corpse anyway."
Rising leisurely, Di drew a sword as tall as an adult from behind him. His presence radiated an icy chill that prickled like needles.
"As for that Uchiha brat..."
Thinking of that notoriously fearsome clan and the demon-like Madara Uchiha, Di could not help trembling. If possible, he truly did not want to touch that hateful brat who had ruined their plans, but...
Who told her to have such bad luck and walk straight to her death?
"It would be stranger if an Uchiha didn't get in our way. Kill her, and don't forget to gouge out her eyes!"
With that, Di looked at the black-robed man and gave his first order.
"Kang, activate your poison."
"Heh heh. At a time like this, it really does come down to me."
Beneath his black robes, the man named Kang revealed a cruel smile brimming with malice. Silently gathering chakra, he activated all the dormant toxins within the Orphanage.
Ever since devouring the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Shingetsu's sensitivity to death had continued to grow.
The moment she first saw the matron, despite the woman's rosy complexion, lively expressions, and heart still beating in her chest, her subconscious had already screamed deep within her-
This person was already dead!
(For details on why the matron still had a heartbeat, see the Dead Soul Technique. This ninjutsu can temporarily make a dead person's heart beat.)
Trusting her instincts, Shingetsu had followed closely behind this walking corpse. The moment she closed the door and activated her Sharingan, she confirmed it beyond doubt-
The instant her Sharingan activated, in that vision resembling the final scene of an apocalypse, scarlet death lines covered the matron's entire body. She looked like a broken puppet a malicious child had scribbled over furiously.
Now, Shingetsu solemnly examined the corpse, which someone had clearly tampered with. There was no stench of decay or rigor mortis. Evidently, an expert in medicine had meticulously treated the body. It was plain that whoever was responsible had been lying in wait for a long time and had come prepared.
Were they after me?
Shingetsu half closed her eyes and quickly recalled everything the matron had done. She soon realized that the woman's attention and intentions had always been directed solely at Chinatsu.
No, these people must be after Chinatsu.
But what exactly did they want? Why would they use such vicious methods against a child from an orphanage?
While Shingetsu struggled to make sense of it, Chinatsu beside her was crying so hard she was nearly fainting.
"Sniff..."
Seeing a beloved member of her family dead in such a horrible state, Chinatsu trembled uncontrollably. She clamped her hands over her mouth with all her strength to keep herself from wailing.
But whenever she thought of the matron, who had been living alongside her perfectly well that morning and was now a manipulated corpse, tears spilled uncontrollably. Her heart twisted with such pain that she could barely breathe.
Seeing her like this, Shingetsu hurriedly supported Chinatsu as she crumpled. Though her own emotions were in turmoil, her mind grew increasingly calm as she calculated, almost ruthlessly, how they could survive.
Forests and mountains surrounded the Orphanage, and there was only one road into and out of the village. But now the enemy was hidden while they were exposed. The attackers would surely seal off that sole escape route.
Right now, Uchiha Shingetsu was the only person in the Orphanage who could count as fighting strength. Chinatsu barely qualified as support. As for everyone else, they were all burdens!
Cruel as it was, that was the truth. She had to get Chinatsu to recover from her grief as quickly as possible.
"Chinatsu, calm down! We need to protect the children right now. The Orphanage has an underground shelter, doesn't it?"
"...Yes, yes! We have to hurry!"
Remembering that her younger brothers and sisters and the naturally airheaded, absentminded director were still in danger, Chinatsu hurriedly wiped away her tears and struggled to her feet. She immediately moved to rush outside and get the children and director into the shelter.
Shingetsu gripped her long sword tightly. Just as she was about to step over the matron's corpse, she caught sight of the bowl of rice that had fallen to the floor, still steaming hot.
Looking at the clump of white rice stuck to the floor and the meticulously treated corpse, Shingetsu suddenly had a terrible suspicion.
"Was the matron responsible for cooking here?"
"Yes. How did you... Ah!"
At that moment, the same suspicion struck them both-
Lunch had been poisoned!
"Oh no!"
The instant she realized this possibility, Chinatsu rushed desperately toward the door. But the moment she opened it, despair completely overtook her expression.
In the corridor, the children lay limply on the floor. Pain consumed their pale little faces, and their trembling lips were even whiter than their skin. Though they were clearly suffering terribly, they could not wake, as though trapped in nightmares.
Chinatsu immediately staggered. A moment later, her knees buckled, and she fell to the floor too. Her eyes lost focus, her lips trembled faintly, and she stared at the scene in a near daze, wondering whether she was the one caught in a nightmare.
"They're not dead yet!"
Shingetsu's voice cracked like thunder, rousing Chinatsu from her endless nightmare. Like someone rescued from drowning, she gulped down breath after breath, using almost self-punishing movements to make sure she was still awake, still alive.
With her scarlet Sharingan wide open and her long sword in hand, Shingetsu swept her gaze over each person lying on the floor. She lifted a child with one hand and placed him in Chinatsu's arms, signaling her to examine him quickly.
Having studied medicine under Yakushi Chan and learned some medical ninjutsu at the academy, Chinatsu was clearly better suited than Shingetsu to helping these children.
"Didn't you study medicine with the director? Haven't you been learning medical ninjutsu lately too? Chinatsu, pull yourself together. Your family needs you!"
As though waking from a dream, Chinatsu's eyes filled with determination. Recalling everything she had learned over the past three months, she checked the children one by one and used medical ninjutsu to ease their suffering slightly.
It had to be said that Yakushi Chinatsu truly lived up to her surname in this field. She was a genuine prodigy! In less than a few minutes, she had clearly identified the general type of poison afflicting everyone.
"They seem to have been given a poison specifically designed for shinobi. But they're all ordinary people who can't use chakra, so they aren't in immediate danger. If too much time passes, though..."
"Can you make an antidote?"
"We have herbs here that the director usually gathers. I can alleviate this poison a little, but..."
That answer already exceeded Shingetsu's expectations. Having roughly guessed who the enemy was, she managed a strained smile and offered Chinatsu reassurance she did not entirely believe:
"It's all right. We only have to hold the enemy off for twenty minutes!"
In twenty minutes, Madara Uchiha would finish work at the academy and come to the Orphanage to find her!
Before you continue