Hyuga Yuto walked through the frigid, rainy night, umbrella held aloft.
The natives of Amegakure (Village Hidden in Rain) didn't favor umbrellas. To them, rain was the norm, sunny days a rare occurrence, a once-in-a-century oddity. They were accustomed to the downpour, and holding an umbrella felt pretentious. After all, their skin wasn't waterproof.
The young man from the Hyuga branch family was in high spirits. His trip outside the village had been fruitful. Besides gaining wealth and establishing a secret base in the Land of Hot Water, he had also made contact with the Akatsuki organization. With Nagato's help, he had completed the "Lion's Fang Bites the Void" technique, giving him the capital to survive and thrive in the ninja world.
It was time to return to the village, he thought, heading towards the outskirts of Amegakure.
Plop. His foot landed in a puddle. Hyuga Yuto suddenly realized that the water beneath his foot had an unnatural "stickiness."
His Byakugan activated instantly. Without looking down, he saw through his own body what was stuck to the sole of his shoe – a bloody piece of flesh.
Then, in Hyuga Yuto's wide field of vision, a man's figure appeared.
It was Takeda Seigen.
He was sitting in a filthy alley, his back against the wall. Blood and viscera seeped from his body, flowing with the rainwater that had accumulated on the ground, out of the alley, and finally to Hyuga Yuto's feet.
The branch family youth hesitated for a moment before entering the alley and approaching Takeda Seigen.
The Byakugan was the best tool for a medical ninja. With a single glance, Hyuga Yuto sighed.
Green fluorescence gathered in Hyuga Yuto's palm. Mystical Palm Technique was applied to Takeda Seigen. After a while, Takeda Seigen slowly regained consciousness, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Hyuga Yuto withdrew his hand and said softly, "I'm sorry, your internal organs are completely destroyed... Even if my master were here, he couldn't save you... You probably have a few minutes left. For the sake of being neighbors for a month, I can help you deliver a message. Do you have any last words?"
Takeda Seigen opened his mouth, gasped for breath, his voice hoarse to the extreme, "No... The person who would have listened to my last words has already died before me."
The stimulation of external chakra, coupled with the body's final surge of energy before death, made Takeda Seigen's mental state much better. Ignoring the gaping hole in his abdomen, he looked no different from usual.
"Is that so," Hyuga Yuto nodded, standing calmly in front of Takeda Seigen. "I will watch you leave. Even ninjas would feel sad if they die alone."
"You are a kind person... Yuto," Takeda Seigen murmured, then hesitated. "In the next street, there's a tavern with a gourd hanging at the entrance. Can you get me a pot of sake? Please be quick, I'm afraid I..."
"I'll be back."
Hyuga Yuto disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique and quickly returned.
He squatted down, holding the sake pot, and slowly poured it into Takeda Seigen's mouth.
"Cough, cough..." Takeda Seigen coughed violently, then inhaled comfortably. "Good sake. On a rainy night like this, you should really drink something like this. It warms the body."
Hyuga Yuto glanced down.
The sake poured into Takeda Seigen's mouth only flowed through his esophagus for a short time before immediately flowing out.
His body was riddled with holes. The large wound in his abdomen caused his soft internal organs to spill onto the ground, and his spine was completely broken. Takeda Seigen was now merely being kept alive by Hyuga Yuto's chakra.
"Impressive technique," the branch family youth frowned. "An attack from behind, ripping open your body. A skilled swordsman like you, to be caught off guard..."
"Heh, the man wore a bird-faced mask. I asked his name, he called himself [Owl]. He should be from your Konoha."
"One of our village's experts came here specifically to kill you?"
"Probably cleaning house. Kaoru... she was a spy you sent."
Hyuga Yuto clicked his tongue and continued to feed Takeda Seigen sake.
"Cough... Slow down... This sake is strong... Hmm?" Takeda Seigen paused, murmuring, "My tongue is numb."
"Because you're dying."
"Ah..." Takeda Seigen slumped against the wall, death beginning to claim his last vestiges of life. He thought for a moment, then said with difficulty, "Behind me, about two hundred meters from here, there's a package. There's a lot of money in it. It's yours, consider it a reward for accompanying a dying man like me, talking and drinking..."
After saying this, his body weakened like an avalanche. In just a few seconds, Takeda Seigen's expression grew dimmer and his voice became increasingly hoarse and weak.
In the end, the last words Hyuga Yuto heard were only fragmented sighs, mixed with the rain: "Kaoru... I just wanted to take you to a good place... But why..."
A broken seashell fell from the increasingly cold hand of the corpse.
In the alley, Hyuga Yuto looked at the man's body, remaining there for a long time.
Things have become more complicated, he thought.
Asano Kaoru was a spy, so close to me. This past month, everything I've done has probably been seen by her and reported to her superiors.
Cleaning house outside the village... It doesn't seem like the work of normal ANBU. This highly secretive and cold-blooded approach, could it be "Root"?
Being noticed by someone like Danzo is not a good thing...
Hyuga Yuto sighed inwardly, knowing that after returning to the village, he would have one more person to be wary of.
Shimura Danzo, this man was ruthless and loved to play dirty tricks in the shadows. In the future, orchestrating the ambush of the Amegakure trio and stealing Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan would be among his proudest achievements.
Should I chase after that "Owl" and kill him now? Hyuga Yuto had this fleeting thought.
No, information about me may have already been reported to Shimura Danzo. This action is too risky. And if Owl escapes, I'll become a target and will have to defect immediately. My current strength is not enough...
Hyuga Yuto pondered continuously. While thinking, he found a curtain and covered Takeda Seigen's body.
"Takeda Seigen, Asano Kaoru, although we weren't friends, in some ways, we are alike. Most people are stray dogs who don't even dare to bark. Only hopeless fools like us choose to draw our swords against fate..."
His hand suddenly stopped.
Under the cold rain, a flame of madness ignited in the heart of the young Hyuga branch member.
If you don't even dare to sit at the gambling table, how can you win?
He shook the sake pot and drained it.
The intense spiciness and aroma burst from the tip of his tongue, burning into his stomach, dispelling the chill of the rainy night.
Emotions began to boil, something stronger than fine liquor roared within the young man's heart. Chakra surged and churned, almost becoming a raging tsunami.
"Good sake indeed."
Hyuga Yuto chuckled and tossed the sake pot aside.
The next moment, he crashed into the rain, his speed increasing rapidly. The raindrops that hit him instantly vaporized, forming a long trail of white smoke.
Like a scorching blade.