—Ssuk! —Ssuk! —Ssuk!
Suguru watched as his clone was struck in three different places. His three-tomoe Sharingan flashed with an ominous light.
There were no reservations in that strike, going straight for the kill.
Had Suguru been the genin he made himself out to be, he would've been dead. If not at that moment, then in the following moments right after.
Suguru would have perished without knowing who had been targeting him.
'Oh well, time to harvest a life.' Suguru licked his lips. He had already witnessed the Suna kunoichi enter through his room's window. All that was left was the following:
[Bird].
'Vampiric Gaze!'
Ethereal eyes appeared in front of Kiyomi. Her eyes first dilated in shock. However, she lost all thoughts of resistance in the next moment. With a blank and empty mind, her desire to resist all but dissipated.
Then, chakra began leaving her body, exiting through her eyes. It was a steady stream that made her weaker and weaker.
Her body twitched as she fought with all her willpower. Her lips quivered in desperation.
Yet she was no Shimura Danzo.
Her life was forfeited the moment she entered Suguru's room alone.
Suddenly, the ethereal gaze disappeared. Leaving her on her last wisps of chakra. She crumpled onto the ground like a rag doll, incapable of putting up any resistance. Her breathing was ragged, and her complexion was pale.
A boy appeared in front of her, gazing into her eyes with curiosity.
"W-Who... are you..?" Kiyomi forced herself to speak.
The fact that the genin she targeted wasn't actually dead... Kiyomi couldn't comprehend what had happened. She even confirmed his death through her chakra field.
She thought that her enemy was someone else entirely.
To see the genin she deemed nothing more than a sacrifice standing before her had given her a shock.
"..."
No answer was given to her desperate question. Instead, she felt compelled to look into the boy's eyes.
"...!"
Beautifully shattered irises appeared before her. Like a crystalline gemstone, the boy's eyes sparkled with every beam of light that shone upon his face.
In the morning sun, his eyes were majestic. Blooming like an icy crystal rose.
A thorned rose, to be exact.
Kiyomi watched as the boy put his hands together to form a seal.
'Dark Release: Inhaling Maw!'
What remained of Kiyomi's chakra and thereafter, her life force, all but disappeared.
***
After devouring all of Kiyomi's chakra, Suguru felt his hunger wane ever so slightly. It was like taking a small bite of meat.
The savory sensations assaulting your tongue. Mouthwatering and delicious beyond compare.
Suguru wanted more. He was suddenly tempted to consume the chakra of everyone within the compound.
"Eat..."
Suguru mumbled, almost lost in his desires.
"I want to eat..."
Upon hearing his own voice, Suguru was jolted into consciousness. His eyes dilated in shock.
'What was that..? That wasn't me.'
For a moment, Suguru did not feel like himself. His overbearing hunger had taken over for a moment. If not for his self-control, he would've become a rogue ninja in that instant.
A flash of worry streaked across his face. He stored Kiyomi's body in one of his scrolls. With it, he would be able to refill his stash of human bodies. Secretly, Suguru hoped that more of Kiyomi's kind would attack him alone.
If they did so, he would be able to fully replenish all the bodies he had used up in his experiments.
The supplies that Orochimaru left for him had been running low, after all.
Smacking his lips, Suguru headed out as if nothing happened. Not a drop of blood had been spilled in his room, nor were there any traces of battle.
Suguru knew that he wouldn't easily be suspected for Kiyomi's death. Although he didn't steal Kiyomi's emotions and desires through the direct use of Vampiric Gaze, he knew for a fact that some schemes were being held behind the scenes.
By acting as if nothing had happened and leaving no traces, Suguru was betting on a possibility. If his assassination attempt was due to a conflict of interests, no suspicion would befall him.
Instead, both sides would suspect each other.
If the attempt wasn't due to a conflict of interests, then this act of brazenly walking outside would be a point of contention for those targeting him.
He could use the mystery behind his actions as a deterring force.
Either that, or they would simply send a jounin his way.
If they did that, then Suguru wouldn't know how it would go.
'Hopefully, it's a conflict of interests. Otherwise, I'd have to hide behind Hyuga Kyou and pray that I make it back to Konoha without any further complications.' Suguru hoped that his prayers would be answered.
***
The streets of Sunagakure were shrouded in anxious unease. Those who had just woken up weren't aware of what had just transpired.
However, the perceptive knew that something was wrong. Or perhaps, it was more accurate to say that they knew something had already gone wrong.
The faint smell of blood permeated every region of the village. Suna shinobi were rushing around in a hurry, trying to bury all the evidence of what had just happened.
Unfortunately, some things couldn't be buried.
A burst of chakra erupted from one of the compounds. Suguru glanced in its direction and thought to himself.
'So Iwagakure was also targeted.'
And, judging from the hostile burst of chakra at hand, they had succeeded.
Suguru was tempted to exploit the situation somehow. Given that the Chuunin Exams would probably be delayed, there was an opportunity to act. Silently, he reactivated his Chakra Field Hacking.
Then, he obscured himself from vision and activated his Kaisugan.
From there, Suguru began to comb through his entire range. He searched for any hints, suspicious collection of forces, or secret bases.
It didn't take long until he found what he was looking for.
"Aha," He chuckled as he looked at the Suna shinobi walking through several corridors in a single file.
None of them were at the jounin rank. Or at least, none of them had the chakra normally seen in such shinobi.
"How intriguing," Suguru's smile had grown wider.
They were heading to a room right below him.
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