At dawn, Shuo woke to a sharp pain in his palm.
It wasn't the dull ache of a wound, but a tingling pain that burrowed out from between his bones.
He opened his eyes and raised his hand before them.
That faint light was still pulsing, a little brighter than yesterday.
And at some point, a mark had appeared in the center of his palm-round, like an eye, pale purple.
The Rinnegan.
Kaguya's eye.
"Fuck," he muttered.
"Up so early?" Sai walked in from outside, carrying two oilpaper parcels. Shuo didn't need to look to know they were rice balls.
Shuo didn't answer. He held his hand straight out in front of him. "Look."
Sai leaned closer and stared for a long while, looking baffled. "At what? What's wrong with your hand?"
"This mark. You can't see it?"
Sai shook his head. "There's nothing there."
Shuo drew his hand back and stared at his palm.
The purple eye blinked softly, as though it had come alive.
"She left something on me."
"Kaguya?" Sai's brow furrowed at once.
"Yeah."
Shuo got up and hastily pulled on his clothes.
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"The Hokage Building. We have to tell them about this."
Outside, the sky was frighteningly dark.
It wasn't clouds blocking the sun. It was the moon.
The moon had grown so large that it covered half the sky, looming heavily overhead. Just looking at it made it hard to breathe.
That hand had reached out through the crack again.
This time there were two, gripping the outside as though they meant to tear the seal open by force.
The streets were deserted. Everyone had hidden away.
Occasionally, a few ninja raced past, their faces white as paper.
There were even more people outside the Hokage Building than yesterday, and the