Flames and thick smoke shot skyward as shattered wood and roof tiles flew in all directions. The once lively, peaceful street was instantly engulfed in screams and panic. Like a disturbed hornet's nest, the crowd scattered in every direction, plunging the scene into chaos.
"Enemy attack!"
"They're rogue ninja!"
Several ninja wearing forehead protectors from other nations burst out of the smoke, kunai in hand, slashing at anyone they saw and creating even greater chaos.
"Little Chen, don't be afraid!"
Shizune reacted extremely quickly. Almost the instant the explosion rang out, she pulled Senju Chen behind her to shield him. Her usual gentleness vanished, replaced by a Chunin's vigilance and sharpness. Tonton, the little pig in her arms, also squealed shrilly in fright.
"Stay behind me. Don't run off!"
Shizune barked in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the approaching "rogue ninja."
Her mission was to protect Chen. She could not let him suffer the slightest harm.
Chaos was the best cover.
Just as one rogue ninja engaged Shizune head-on, forcing her to divide her attention to deal with his fierce attacks-
A black shadow appeared silently behind her, like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness.
It was a ninja wearing a white mask, showing no trace of emotion, like a precision killing machine. From the very beginning, his target had been neither the rogue ninja committing slaughter nor Shizune, but the four-year-old child protected behind her.
Senju Chen sensed it.
That cold, unadulterated killing intent had already locked onto him.
He did not resist or reveal even the slightest fluctuation of chakra. He merely turned his head slightly, looking with those innocent eyes at the shadow approaching like a phantom.
Here he comes.
The shadow's hands moved like lightning. One clamped over Senju Chen's mouth while the other gripped his body like an iron vise. The entire sequence was fluid and seamless, without a single sound.
"Hah!"
Shizune kicked the rogue ninja in front of her away. Alarm flared in her mind, and she whipped her head around.
Behind her, there was nothing.
The child she had sworn to protect with her life, who had been wheedling her for candy just moments ago, had vanished right under her nose.
"Little Chen...!!"
An icy terror shot from the soles of Shizune's feet to the crown of her head, making even her blood seem to freeze. She let out a piercing scream, her voice filled with boundless panic and despair.
At Shizune's cry, four more Anbu members instantly appeared nearby.
One of them looked toward the spot where Senju Chen had disappeared, then turned to the other ninja and said,
"After him. We must ensure Senju Chen's safety."
In an instant, the four ninja raced in the direction Senju Chen had been abducted. Shizune also recovered her senses and immediately followed.
The wind whistled past his ears.
With Senju Chen tucked under his arm, the ninja sped across Konoha's rooftops and through dense woods. Chen kept his eyes closed, sensing the rhythm of his captor's movements and the way his chakra circulated, committing the route firmly to memory.
Soon, his captor stopped.
This was a secluded training forest on the outskirts of Konoha. Towering trees blocked out the sky and sun, and a thick carpet of fallen leaves covered the ground.
The ninja who had abducted him casually tossed him onto the ground.
Thud.
Senju Chen's small body landed on the fallen leaves with a soft sound.
He could feel the ninja's cold gaze falling on him like a tangible blade.
Senju Chen stood up and surveyed his surroundings.
Ancient, towering trees cut the sky into scraps of cloth. Sunlight struggled through the gaps, casting mottled light and shadow over the thick fallen leaves. The air was filled with a damp smell of soil mixed with humus.
Tsk, he picked a good spot, Senju Chen muttered inwardly. Quiet, no one to disturb us. It really is a good place to kill someone and bury the body.
Yet rather than threatening him, this environment gave him the comforting familiarity of being on home ground.
The chakra inside him resonated strangely with the surrounding natural energy. Every tree and every blade of grass seemed to become his eyes and ears, revealing the forest's intricate network clearly within his perception.
He could even "see" a squirrel gnawing on a pine cone in a nearby tree hollow and "hear" the faint sounds of roots spreading deep underground.
This was the power of the First's bloodline, that innate affinity with nature.
He was long past being the weakling who had just transmigrated here, helpless at anyone's mercy.
The man slowly stepped forward, looking down at him from above. His voice held not a trace of emotion, sounding like metal scraping as it squeezed out from beneath his mask.
"Brat, don't blame me when you're dead."
"Konoha shouldn't, and cannot, have another 'God of Shinobi.' So blame your own bad luck."
His words fell silent.
The innocent expression on Senju Chen's face, with its hints of timidity and bewilderment, also faded little by little.
Those eyes, clear as water, seemed to have been stained with ink too thick to dissolve. They became deep and cold, devoid of any emotion a child should have. In its place was an unnerving calm and indifference, as though he had seen through life and death and toyed with everything in the world.
He smiled softly, ever so softly, the curve of his lips carrying a hint of amusement and mockery.
"Are you a Root ninja, or a spy from another nation?"
His voice was very quiet and soft, still carrying a trace of childishness.
Yet those lightly spoken words struck the battle-hardened ninja's heart like a heavy hammer, sending an involuntary chill up his spine.
Those eyes... that tone...
They could never belong to a four-year-old child!
In an instant, without another word-
The figure lunged at Senju Chen. His opening move was his fiercest killing strike! Holding a kunai, he thrust straight at Senju Chen's throat.
Although this ninja belonged to Root, his true identity was an undercover agent the Land of Earth had planted in Konoha. His mission this time was to kill this child rumored to possess the First's bloodline. Once the mission was complete, he would immediately withdraw and leave Konoha.
Then he would pin the entire incident on Danzo, making it appear to the outside world that it had resulted from infighting among Konoha's higher-ups. As for accidentally killing the Senju Clan's little "crown prince"? That was merely an "accident."
The orders he had received were to test the limits. To test the methods, mindset, and mettle Senju Chen displayed when his life was threatened, then bring him back to the Root Base.
Their exchange just now had, in fact, already counted as completing the mission. All that remained was to take him back.
But now, he intended to truly kill him.
Facing the ninja suddenly charging at him, Senju Chen stood where he was, utterly motionless.
It would have been a lie to say he was not nervous. He knew he only had enough chakra to use one ninjutsu. His sole opportunity was to exploit his opponent's disdain for this young body of his.
This performance has to be convincing enough, shocking enough.
I have to make everyone believe that I, Senju Chen, unleashed the power of the Senju Clan's bloodline in a moment of desperation...
Then let's start with you.
Become the first sacrifice at my coronation.
At the very instant the poisoned blade and vicious iron claw were about to touch his body-
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"