Kumogakure.
Dusk settled, and purple lightning appeared across the sky like withered branches. Deafening thunder rumbled in the distance.
Ketsuki Seiji had finished a full day of seeing patients.
He was past sixty, and his back was no longer straight.
He was widely acknowledged as Kumogakure's finest physician. He had spent half his life practicing medicine and excelled at treating all manner of difficult conditions.
From impotence and premature ejaculation to injuries of every kind.
As long as there was a sliver of hope, he could usually save those who came under his care.
Even in Kumogakure, where strength was valued above all else, Ketsuki Seiji commanded universal respect despite having only the strength of a Chunin.
"It's going to rain."
He looked up at the dark sky, rubbed his aching brow, and headed home.
He arrived at the house where he lived alone.
His wife had died in an accident during the Second Shinobi World War, and he had lived alone ever since.
Out of habit, he reached behind him and closed the door.
The instant the door shut out all the noise outside, a bone-chilling touch suddenly pressed against his neck.
As a Chunin, he naturally understood what he felt against his neck.
A sharp kunai.
Ketsuki Seiji stiffened, all his fatigue vanishing in an instant.
He could not understand it. He spent his days saving lives and had never offended anyone in the village.
Why would someone break into his home and take him hostage?
The house was deathly silent.
A single jet-black kunai rested lightly against the neck of the man known as "Kumogakure's finest physician."
"Sir, I have no quarrel with you. Why are you doing this?"
Ketsuki Seiji swallowed and asked somewhat nervously.
"Dr. Seiji, you don't need to be nervous."
A gentle voice