---
After the white-clad mercenaries retreated, Chen Xing moved silently toward a massive tree deep in the jungle. She sat down in meditation, quickly recovering her chakra. Although she had full confidence in her strength, Chen Xing knew better than to relax when more fights were inevitable. She always maintained peak condition.
Two hours later, fully recovered and with her chakra perfectly suppressed, Chen Xing removed any lingering scent from her body using a specialized medicinal agent. Camouflaged in the canopy of a towering tree, she lay in wait for her prey.
---
Half a day later...
Rustling.
Several figures appeared, accompanied by a ninken—an Inuzuka-style ninja dog with a pitch-black coat. Its sharp gaze swept the area.
"Sniff..."
The dog sniffed the ground intently, circling as it confirmed a scent. The masked operatives around it—Root ANBU agents dressed in standard black—exchanged nods.
Before their leader could issue commands, a sound like thousands of birds chirping suddenly crackled through the air—
"Chidori!"
Shing! Puff—!
Whether it was the dog or the masked operatives—none stood a chance.
Chen Xing's attack was blindingly fast. Combined with the piercing power of Chidori, her strike was swift, precise, and merciless.
Within seconds, bloodied bodies crashed to the forest floor—each with clean, fatal punctures. Chen Xing stepped out, a faint violet aura lingering around her.
Others might hesitate, but Chen Xing was once known as the Peacock King, whose wrath was feared across rebellious ninja circles.
After quickly examining the markings left by the tracker's tools, Chen Xing surged onward in the direction they had come from. An ambush here wouldn't suffice—there was a larger threat ahead.
---
Ten minutes later.
Chen Xing arrived just as several tall shinobi from Root halted at a ridge overlooking a valley.
"The ninken trail confirms it—the enemy scent is strong. They're close," reported one Root agent.
Shimura Danzo, their leader, frowned, leaning on his cane.
"I've let this hunt go on too long. If they manage to slip away again... it would be most troublesome."
As Danzo surveyed the valley, his single exposed eye narrowed. A cold calculation flickered within.
This must be the one the Uchiha spoke of... the rumored Peacock King. Mysterious. Dangerous. I'll eliminate them here, before their power becomes a threat—or before that Sharingan sees through me.
Chen Xing, restrained but ready, waited for Danzo and his entourage to step fully into range. Her chakra surged. Killing intent sharpened to a fine blade.
She knew: if Danzo faced her directly, his Kotoamatsukami—Shisui's genjutsu—might activate, forcing thoughts into her mind without warning. She couldn't risk hesitation.
---
30 meters... 29... 28...
Chen Xing crouched behind a boulder, muscles tightening.
15 meters.
Now.
She burst forth like a thunderclap—Chakra wrapped around her arm, compressed, spiraling. It formed a crystalline vortex of lightning-natured chakra in her palm.
"Raiton: Spiral Flash Spear!"
(An original technique derived from Rasengan and Chidori principles.)
"Enemy!" one of the Root shinobi shouted.
Danzo's Sharingan dilated as he half-turned—
Too late.
The spiral spear pierced his abdomen, ripping through flesh and bone. The rotating chakra shredded internal organs, carving a gaping hole through his torso.
A shockwave boomed as the attack continued onward, cleaving into the cliff behind them and tearing a path through stone for over a hundred meters.
Danzo staggered, stunned. Chen Xing appeared before him in a flash. With one swift hand movement, she gouged his right eye from its socket—the stolen Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui—and leaped away.
Danzo collapsed.
(Without Hashirama cells and the Binding Seal activated, Danzo's body lacked resilience—Sasuke bested him in canon, after all. In this instance, the sudden assault was decisive.)
---
"Danzo-sama!"
"No... How could he—?!"
"He's dead!"
The Root squad rushed forward, horrified as they saw their leader lifeless—his chest hollowed, his Sharingan missing.
"It's him—The Peacock King!" one whispered. Another retrieved a vial of saline preservation fluid, dumped it over Chen Xing's chakra trace—but she was already gone.
"He dared kill Danzo-sama—! Get him!" they roared, drawing blades.
But they were too slow.
Even though they were elite jōnin, they couldn't track a fighter who had broken the first human body limit. Chen Xing was like lightning itself—leaving only fading violet afterimages.
One by one, they were struck hard in the abdomen and sent flying into trees, unconscious before they hit the ground.
Chen Xing stopped atop a rock, calm.
"Next," she whispered, turning toward the horizon, "the hunt continues."