The wind was unusually quiet.
Kiyoshi crouched low on the high branch of a maple tree near the edge of the Forest of Death. His crimson eyes scanned the dense foliage below, his senses sharp. The mission had seemed dull at first—observe chakra disturbances and report back. But something was off.
"The forest is... breathing."
The trees swayed slightly, but not with the wind. It was more like a pulse. A thrum. A low vibration just beneath the senses.
He activated his Ketsuryugan cautiously, veins around his eyes darkening for a moment. His vision sharpened—and that's when he saw it.
Not far from the assigned post, the air shimmered faintly—a dense pocket of chakra, moving unnaturally, like a mist spiraling through tree branches.
Kiyoshi dropped down silently. As he approached, he noticed claw marks on the bark of several trees—deep, wide, and fresh. Too big for any normal animal. Yet no signs of a fight, no blood, no remains.
Then he found it.
A broken ANBU mask.
Cracked clean in half, resting beneath a bush, nearly buried in dirt. No body. No sign of a skirmish.
"Why would an ANBU be here... on the border of a D-rank mission zone?"
He picked up the mask and turned it over. The seal on the back was burned out, the chakra signature smeared.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed through the trees. It was far—but not far enough. And it didn't sound like any animal Kiyoshi had ever heard.
He pulled back behind a tree trunk, focused on his breathing.
"I wasn't supposed to engage. But something's hunting in this forest. And it's not a normal creature."
Still, he had a job to do. He recorded the details in a small scroll—chakra distortion, signs of advanced presence, possible threat—then made a choice:
He'd observe one more night.
If whatever was out there showed itself, he would see it. Learn its pattern. Its weaknesses. He couldn't risk it preying on someone weaker—or wandering into the village.
As the sun dipped beneath the horizon, and the forest bathed in twilight, Kiyoshi perched himself atop a narrow ridge, cloaked in shadow.
The growl returned.
Closer.
Low. Raspy. Wrong.
He didn't flinch. He simply reached for the kunai strapped to his leg, his eyes glowing faintly red in the dark.
"Whatever you are... I'll find out."
And if needed, I'll stop you.
[End of Chapter 5]