Inside the bustling inn on the outskirts of a trade town, Yamato Shion—known truly as Neji Hyuga—stood motionless in his private quarters. Then it struck him—a surge of chakra-born memories, vivid as if he had lived them himself.
The message was from Shin, his shadow clone stationed with the caravan. They were departing tonight.
Neji, in his Yamato form, moved quickly, entering the room where Aya and Riku were reviewing merchant ledgers. "I'm leaving for now," he said calmly, his eyes cool with purpose. "This place—our cloth cataloguing house—remains your responsibility."
Aya stood upright. "Is something wrong, Lord Yamato?"
Neji offered only a nod. "Things may escalate. Continue recruiting, but only those you've vetted through observation. If anything seems off, do not engage—just report."
Riku exchanged glances with Aya. "Understood."
---
Minutes later, Neji reversed his transformation and reverted to Shin, the inconspicuous caravan boy. He returned just as Daizo, the injured caravan guard, knocked softly at the adjoining room's door. "We're leaving tomorrow morning," Daizo grunted.
"Understood," Neji said, feigning a yawn as if disturbed from sleep.
Across the hallway, the merchant Yugo, unaware of what the night had in store, was already fast asleep.
---
**Time Unknown — In the Night**
A figure clung to the rafters of the inn like a specter. The assassin was mid-level chūnin, known only by whispers and a red tattoo across his knuckles. He moved silently, having already slipped past the sleeping innkeeper with a paralytic needle. The room had no windows, just one door. And inside, Yugo lay in a bed of silk, unaware.
The moment arrived. The assassin dropped like a viper from the beams, blade out, silent as the grave.
But Neji jolted awake—his instincts and Byakugan flaring from subconscious paranoia. Before the blade fell, he burst from his room, chakra already gathered.
A metallic whisper. A gleam of moonlight on steel.
Yugo's eyes opened to the faintest shuffle—and the blur of motion as Neji, in his Shin form, flickered into the room, intercepting the deadly strike. The blade caught Yugo across his right cheek as Neji shoved him aside.
The assassin hissed in frustration. He had failed.
---
**Clash Within the Chamber**
The assassin struck again, this time at Neji, who barely raised his forearm to redirect the blow. Sparks flew. Neji struck with a modified Gentle Fist—fast but not yet lethal. The assassin twisted and struck at his legs, trying to slow him down.
"Wake up! We're under attack!" Neji shouted toward Daizo's room.
Yugo rolled under the bed, bleeding from his brow, the cut shallow but messy.
Daizo staggered into the doorway, still bandaged from the forest fight. But before he could even speak, the assassin pounced again.
And Daizo, too slow from injury, made the fatal mistake—he hesitated.
In two blinding seconds, the assassin ducked Neji's sweeping kick, spun under his arm, and slashed Daizo's throat open with a backhanded stroke.
Blood sprayed the door frame.
"Daizo!!" Neji's scream tore through the corridor as he lunged with a full-body tackle, chakra burning through his palms.
But the assassin knew the room. He slipped behind the fallen Daizo, kicked open the thin wooden door frame, and vanished into the night before any villagers could respond.
---
**The Aftermath**
Neji fell beside Daizo, pressing his palm against the gushing wound. "Stay with me!".
But Daizo's lips only mouthed "Protect...Yugo..." before his eyes went still. His hands fell limp, soaked in his own blood.
Yugo crawled from under the bed, eyes wide. "He...he saved me," he muttered.
Neji, still panting, stood slowly. His hands were red, his white robe stained crimson. "We're leaving at first light. This place is compromised."
He knew what this meant.
Whoever sent that assassin knew about Yugo. And worse—if the assassin identified Shin as more than he pretended to be, the entire operation could unravel.
He turned to the doorway, where villagers had begun gathering with lanterns.
"Call a coroner. This was no bandit," Neji said. "This was a trained assassin. Tell no one until we leave."
---
This night changed everything. Neji stood over Daizo's corpse with a solemn vow:
**"I will find who sent him—and what this message meant."**
The moonlight filtered in through the broken door frame, glinting off the blood-soaked tatami.
And the hunt for answers began.