Shinobi World No. 1.
Autumn, Year 43 of Konoha.
The skies over the Land of Rain remained heavy with low, leaden clouds, the rain pattering down without end. But a careful observer would notice that the raindrops seemed darker than in previous years-not clear and colorless, but tinged with a faint, almost transparent dark red.
Like diluted blood.
Ever since the Evil God descended and Hanzō died, the changes in the Land of Rain had never stopped.
First came the areas shrouded in the Evil God's aura. Plants grew wildly, their shapes twisting as strange dark red patterns appeared on their leaves. Wild beasts became aggressive, their bodies swelling, their eyes gleaming with an unnatural scarlet light. Some animals even began to "mutate"-growing extra limbs or developing skin as hard as rock.
Then came the villagers living near the Evil God's altars.
They had not died or gone mad-at least, not completely mad. But they had changed.
The first to draw attention was a hunter named Abe.
That day, he went into the mountains to hunt as usual, only to encounter a boar corrupted by the Evil God's aura-larger than an ox, with tusks like curved blades and dark red flames burning in its eyes. Abe thought he was certain to die.
But his arrow pierced the boar's skull.
It was no ordinary arrow. The instant it left the bowstring, a dark red, flame-like sheen appeared on its surface. It pierced the boar's tough hide, muscles, and bones, pinning the monster to a tree.
Abe looked at his hands, then at the arrow still glowing faintly, and remained silent for a long time.
From then on, he could kill any prey in the same way. His arrows always carried that unsettling dark red glow. He became faster and stronger, and