Bzzz!
The high-speed grinding wheel sent sparks flying. A young ninja polishing a raw thunderstone, still carrying the earthy scent, focused intently, his brown eyes reflecting the crystal's shimmer.
Thunderstones were hard but brittle. One wrong move during polishing could crack the stone, reducing its ability to store lightning and making it prone to exploding when discharged. The warehouse keepers affectionately called such stones "scrap."
"Hey, Saru, did you see Lord Yagura yesterday?" asked a colleague sitting beside him, setting down a finished stone and stretching his stiff body. He was clearly curious about Yagura, who had arrived a month ago but stayed hidden in his tent.
Saru had once been just as curious.
"Yeah, I saw him," Saru replied, not glancing at his nosy companion. He carefully ground away the stone's yellowish-brown shell. After rinsing it with water, the deep blue crystal gleamed. In the overcast weather, its color was somber, but under sunlight, it would sparkle sky-blue.
Thunderstones weren't just functional; they made great decorations. Saru's six-year-old sister would love something this shiny and practical. Thinking of her, giggling as she showed him her missing front tooth after a fall, Saru's lips curved into a faint smile.
"Is he really as grumpy and forgetful as they say?"
"Pretty much."
Recalling the imposing man meditating in the tent, Saru's eyes gleamed with admiration. The Cloud Village's obsession with strength was in his blood.
"One day, I'll definitely become Raikage!" he declared, his bold dream echoing in the air.
He braced for the usual barrage of mockery from his peers, but instead, there was silence. Dead silence.
This caught Saru off guard, unprepared for the lack of jeers.
Had everyone suddenly changed?
The zzz of the grinding wheel filled his ears, sparks bursting as the thunderstone blurred before him.
Stopping the wheel, Saru rubbed his bleary eyes with the back of his hand and looked up, confused.
Misty tendrils of fog swirled around him, enveloping everything in a white haze.
"Goi? Goi?" he called, his voice echoing in the fog. No response came. The eerie quiet made it feel like he was the only one left in Site No. 1.
Gulp.
His throat tightened as he realized something was wrong.
"Release!" he shouted, disrupting his chakra flow, his voice edged with panic. But the fog remained thick, showing no signs of being an illusion.
Breathing in the damp air, Saru's heart pounded. The endless fog blocked out the sky, and even the thunder's flashes eluded him.
Following his memory of Goi's workstation, Saru cautiously stepped forward.
Thud!
Something tripped him, and he fell to his knees.
"Ow—damn, that hurts!" he hissed, clutching his bruised forehead. His hand felt slick against the ground.
Looking down, he saw a stream of crimson blood pooling in the ochre dirt.
Goi, the tough but lazy ninja, lay there, his face split in two like blooming petals, a gash between his eyes. Saru could still see a trace of familiar mockery in those lifeless eyes.
How could this happen?
Staring at his dead friend, Saru sat in the blood, overwhelmed by grief, fear, and confusion.
No. I have to report this to Lord Yagura.
The image of Yagura's lightning-clad figure gave Saru strength. Fighting back tears and terror, he tried to stand, only to find his body unresponsive.
The world dimmed, his mind foggy, everything tilting until it flipped upside down.
Saru collapsed, his eyes straining to see a headless figure standing blankly nearby.
Who… is that?
Bzzz!
The fog warped and rippled.
The headless body froze, red cracks splintering across it like shattered porcelain. It crumbled, mixing with Saru's severed head on the ground.
So, it was…
The world plunged into darkness.
Tap… tap…
A petite figure moved through the fog, wisps swirling around her like a mythical mist maiden.
Haku calmly walked toward the thunderstone warehouse.
Bzzz! Bzzz!
Wind threads pulsed outward from her, stirring the fog. Nearby, a faint pink mist emerged.
Blood flowed down the slope.
Behind her, countless severed limbs soaked in pools of blood, the air thick with a metallic stench. No living thing remained in her wake.
The power gap was too vast.
Haku's Byakugan locked onto every ninja in the site. Her Wind Release, unleashed from her pores, cut them down effortlessly.
Combining Wind Release with Rotation, she turned the modest Gentle Fist into a deadly detector. Whether it was the two seemingly elite Chunin guards or the miners polishing stones, they were all the same to her.
Those lacking perception or defense were lambs to the slaughter, unable to even approach her before her invisible wind sliced them apart.
Her ninja boots left deep prints in the ground, blood pooling in the neat grid of her footprints, reflecting a haunting black-red hue.
Unhindered and undetected, Haku stepped over the scattered limbs at the entrance and entered the warehouse.
A small mountain of thunderstones glowed faintly, brimming with latent lightning.
Haku picked up a stone, channeling Lightning chakra into it. The stored current erupted instantly, arcs crackling outward.
Good stuff.
The Leaf Village's power grid was advanced, but using raw electricity to temper the body risked overloading and burning out the system. Thunderstones solved that problem.
With this many, she could build a training room, using their currents to refine her body. Paired with her Eight Gates' limitless vitality, she could create a perpetual cycle of growth.
No time to waste.
Haku pulled out her prepared blank sealing scrolls.
Seal!
Boom!
It took two one-time-use scrolls to seal the entire pile of thunderstones. A "Thunder" symbol slowly appeared at the center of the sealing formula.
Bzzz!
A sudden electric hum filled the warehouse.
Haku froze, sensing a trap triggered. Hidden runes on the walls and door flared to life.
Zzzzt!
Blue electric light surged, forming a cage of lightning that trapped her inside.
"Well, that's a neat trick," Haku remarked, eyeing the laser-like thunder bars connecting floor to ceiling. Tucking the scrolls away, she unleashed her invisible Wind Release to strike.
Zzzap!
The moment her wind hit, the thunder bars erupted with fierce current, repelling her Wind Release, which was supposed to counter lightning.
Narrowing her eyes, Haku focused all her Wind Release into a single point, slashing wildly at the thunder bars.
Crack!
Arcs scattered as the bars struggled against her cutting wind. Finally, the lightning snapped under her relentless assault.
But then—
Whoosh!
As her wind tore a small gap in the thunder bar, flames burst out from within, igniting her delicate wind threads and burning away their form and nature.
Zzzzt!
The lightning re-encased the flames, locking Haku in the laser-like cage once more.
"A Lightning-Fire combination sealing technique!" Haku said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Her Byakugan zoomed in on the runes, searching for a way to break them.
Meanwhile, in the underground mine…
"The fish has taken the bait!"
Darui closed his eyes, sensing his warehouse seal activate. A smug smile spread across his face.
Before fishing, you set the trap.
The enemy targeted both miners and their hard-earned thunderstones. Based on this, Darui and Yagura had crafted their plan.
Reassigning guards to other sites increased their defenses, forcing the enemy to target Site No. 1—a calculated move.
Darui and Yagura entering the mine, leaving the surface vulnerable, was the second layer of bait. If the enemy took the bait and raided the warehouse for thunderstones, they'd trigger the seal, falling into the third trap.
One ring linked to another.
They hadn't ignored the miners' safety either. Past abductions left no signs of fighting or blood, suggesting the victims were likely alive, taken deep into Thunder Drum Mountain. The surface miners were probably safe.
Letting the culprit continue hiding in the mine would only lead to more disappearances. Stopping them at the source was the key to everyone's safety—and might even rescue the missing.
With the Lightning-Fire seal locking the enemy in the warehouse, Darui rushed to Yagura, who was disguised as a miner cutting stones.
"Captain!"
No words were needed. Yagura dropped the cutting machine, tossed his hard hat aside, and both men flared with lightning, shoving through the crowd toward the surface.
The wind howled in their ears as they sped through the rugged tunnels, unimpeded. In moments, they burst out of the mine, plunging into the thick fog at the peak.
"What a fog," Yagura muttered, scanning the haze. His vision was clouded, and the sticky mist clung to his hand, reeking of dampness.
He took a breath. The unnaturally humid air carried the stench of rust and entrails, like breathing evaporated blood.
"Darui."
"On it!"
Their long partnership needed no commands. Darui began forming hand signs, his rare mastery of Wind, Fire, and Lightning Releases ready. He knew what Yagura needed.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Whoosh!
A gale burst from Darui's mouth, scattering the sky-obscuring fog and clearing their view.
Boom!
Lightning cracked above, the fog's muffling effect gone. Thunder roared in their hearts.
Blood. Endless blood.
The mine entrance, the slopes where miners worked, the unpolished stone piles—everything was drenched in crimson.
Severed limbs littered the ground. Familiar faces rolled down the slope, machines were smashed, tents torn, even the hard earth cracked unnaturally.
Site No. 1 was like a shattered cup, trembling with cruel scars and undeniable malice.
"How could this happen?" Darui's pupils shook, his mind reeling with emotions.
He couldn't have miscalculated. The mysterious figure in the mine had never killed directly or left such devastation before.
They went to great lengths to abduct people alive, likely needing them for some purpose. Slaughtering valuable human resources like this defied logic.
Was this retaliation for his plan?
Guilt gnawed at Darui.
Zzzzt!
The screech of Lightning Armor, like a thousand chirping birds, snapped him out of it. Yagura, cloaked in thunder, his black hair bristling like steel needles, glared with uncontainable fury.
"Captain—!"
Boom!
The ground quaked as Yagura's bear-like frame, wreathed in lightning, shot toward the warehouse like a cannonball.
With a final glance at the carnage, Darui's blue eyes burned. Clenching his teeth, he chased after Yagura.
The scattered body parts formed a twisted arrow, guiding them. No words were spoken—the roaring thunder above echoed their rage.
Stepping over the blood-soaked mud at the warehouse entrance, Yagura kicked the door open.
Clang!
The iron door smashed against the wall. The two stormed inside.
The sight froze them.
The mountain of thunderstones was gone. Layered runes glowed on the empty spot, a massive laser cage trapping the culprit.
A petite, black-clad figure crouched, studying the floor's runes. Silver hair draped over her shoulders, glinting dully under the lightning's glow.
Sensing their arrival, the figure looked up.
A small face wore a stark white "Cuckoo" mask, red-black patterns framing the eyes. The eyeholes revealed only terrifying darkness—no whites, no pupils—paired with the eerie mask, it was chilling.
"Are you from the Mist's Anbu?" Yagura asked.
"Something like that," came the girl's crisp voice, echoing in the warehouse. Emotionless, it carried a chilling calm that pierced the soul.