"This village is very peaceful considering what has happened over the past few months," Yamato said, walking with his hands in his pockets.
Hearing Yamato, Miroku sighed and replied:
"It's because no one wants to be afraid of something they've never seen."
Yamato paused briefly when he saw Miroku's distant and tired expression.
"It seems you trust your village quite a lot."
Miroku opened her eyes in surprise. Then she smiled calmly.
"I'm the one responsible for everything important in this place. It's only natural that I trust my village."
"I suppose so."
After that, the two continued walking for several minutes. Neither of them had said a word until Miroku suddenly leaned to the side curiously.
"Now that I remember, what was the name of that boy with the little wooden doll face who was traveling with you?"
Yamato stopped for a fraction of a second, something strange crossing his mind, and then said:
"His name is Asahi Toru."
"Hm... That's a rather unusual name. I mean, Morning Sun and Transparent don't really suit a little boy who always looks like he doesn't feel anything," Miroku said.
'An unusual name...' Yamato thought, reflecting on the meaning behind that name.
Suddenly, a tremendous crash echoed through the air, causing Yamato to turn his gaze toward the village. The instant the sound reached his ears, a wide smile appeared on Miroku's face.
'Something happened. I have to go!' Yamato thought as he looked at Miroku.
"I'm sorry, Miroku-san. I have to go..."
"No..." Miroku interrupted, bringing a sharp object close to Yamato's throat.
"You..."
—In Hinata's Room—
Moving from side to side beneath the sheets, Hinata tried to sleep but couldn't. Several hours had already passed since dinner.
"Everyone must already be asleep."
She still felt somewhat uncomfortable about what had happened during dinner. Toru getting up so abruptly and making Miroku fall had made her think.
Ever since they arrived in this village, everything had become strange: the people's behavior, the cold and heavy atmosphere.
'A giant spider...'
A giant spider that kidnapped people and ate them. It sounded ridiculous, but even so, Hinata decided to take it seriously.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Hinata's spine, causing her to activate the Byakugan. She immediately realized that the man with the rings was about to punch her directly in the face. So, in an attempt to dodge the blow, Hinata rolled across the bed.
Kouta's fist smashed through the floor as if it were paper, and Hinata rolled until she sprang back to her feet. Then, she raised her palms.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
Kouta responded with another punch, forcing Hinata to use her arms to block the attack, but the blow was so powerful that the recoil sent her through the wooden wall.
'Why is he doing this?!' Hinata wondered as she got back on her feet.
Stepping through the hole in the wood, Hinata looked him in the eyes.
"She's more resilient than her chakra suggests," he said.
—Minutes Earlier, in Ino's Room—
"Damn it, I'm tired! Who's the idiot making so much noise at this hour of the night?!" Ino complained as she got out of bed.
Opening the door to her room, she rubbed her eyes with her knuckle and yawned. She walked toward the exit, looking for the source of the noise.
"Why do these things always happen to me?" she said, but stopped dead in her tracks. She saw a familiar silhouette.
'Seriously?' Ino thought when she saw Toru quietly walking near Miroku's house.
"I'm going to catch you in the act. Today, everyone will know what kind of scumbag you are," she whispered as she moved forward.
She took a few seconds to analyze her surroundings. She wanted to make sure no one was watching her.
"How strange..."
Even after looking around, the village seemed completely empty, which was strange in itself, since during the day, the village was always crowded with people.
'I guess that works in my favor.'
A smile formed on her face as she tried to open the window.
'Huh?'
It wouldn't open.
To avoid raising suspicion, Toru had blocked the window. Clever.
'This can't be happening. What do I do now?'
After thinking for a while, Ino searched for something that would allow her to enter Miroku's house; however, she found nothing, not even an opening.
Making a disappointed face, she felt cornered, but that didn't make her give up.
'There's still one way,' Ino thought as she slipped into one of the nearby bushes.
"I'll wait here until the idiot comes out. Then I'll yell so Yamato-sensei comes running, and he'll get caught, and boom! He'll get what he deserves."
Ino watched every possible exit from the house and waited.
—Minutes Later—
Ino was still waiting with a serious expression on her face, but when she least expected it, her eyes widened in disbelief. Toru was sent flying through one of the walls of the house.
"What?"
Ino ducked deeper into the bush so she wouldn't be discovered.
'What's happening? That's... the guy with the spear,' Ino thought the moment she saw Yasu emerge from the hole left in the wall of the house.
Yasu walked slowly while swinging the spear in his hands. A smile was on his face.
Meanwhile, Toru was still on the ground, clutching his stomach after taking a kick there.
Coughing, Toru spat blood from his mouth. This made Ino's eyes widen.
'What the hell? Why is he...'
Ino covered her mouth with both hands. She had thought Toru deserved punishment for entering Miroku's house in such a suspicious manner, but something like what she had just witnessed...
"You were the first to figure it out... I really should have killed you and your friends when you first arrived in this village," Yasu said, looking down on Toru. "It's a shame Miroku-sama wouldn't let me kill you, but now the wait has been worth it."
Yasu began swinging his spear with great skill, creating a light breeze across the ground that caused the leaves from the trees to begin swirling around him.
'Kill us?! What's going on?!' Ino thought.
"But I'm surprised you managed to figure out that none of the people in this village actually exist. Tell me, how did you discover that everything was a Genjutsu?" Yasu asked with a smile on his face.
Toru didn't answer, as the blow to his stomach had left him unable to breathe.
'Genjutsu?' Ino couldn't understand what Yasu had just said. 'Wait...'
Bringing her hands together, Ino squeezed her eyes shut.
"Release..." she whispered.
Instantly, she realized everything. The houses, the people, the village... none of it existed, except for the ruined houses scattered throughout the area.
'Creating something like this with Genjutsu and keeping it active for so long...'
The amount of chakra required to do something like this was colossal.
'Then they're as strong as Yamato-sensei,' Ino thought. Her nerves and anxiety over what was about to happen took hold of her as Yasu moved closer to Toru.
"It's surprising that a brat like you has that level of reasoning ability. It's a shame it ends here. Die." Yasu's eye gleamed. He swung his spear to kill Toru, but...
His arms stopped just a few inches from Toru's head, and several yards away, Ino stood with her hands forming a triangle aimed directly at Yasu.
A second later, Ino's body collapsed to the ground.
'Are you inside my mind?' Yasu said, surrounded by the darkness of his own mind.
"I... I..." Ino said, causing Yasu's mouth to speak the words outside of his mind.
'Damn it...' Ino thought.
Another smile formed on Yasu's face before he swung the spear and stabbed his own leg.
"That doesn't work on me, girl."
Before she could feel the pain, Ino quickly returned to her body.
"I thought Kouta would have killed you by now. Did he go after the Byakugan girl?" Yasu said as he pulled the spear from his leg.
'What do I do?!' Ino screamed internally.
The moment she saw Toru about to be killed, she had used her ninjutsu without thinking twice.
"That idiot... But I can't blame him. He is blind, after all," Yasu commented. He approached Ino, spinning his spear. "Now I'll have to kill you first, or I won't be able to kill the other one."
'Is he going to kill me? Am I going to die? I'm going to die! I don't want to die!'
As Yasu approached with that macabre smile on his face, cold sweat began sliding down Ino's face, her legs started trembling, and tears welled in her eyes.
"Help me! Somebody help me!"
Realizing she was going to die, Ino began running while screaming.
Yasu smiled in satisfaction. In less than a second, he appeared in front of Ino. His spear swept past her, only managing to leave a small cut across her cheek.
"Ahhh!"
—Somewhere—
Hinata had assumed her fighting stance. The blindfolded man sighed.
"The chakra is being directed toward your hands, huh... Your chakra control is superior to that of anyone I've sensed before." His voice was flat, his expression emotionless.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I don't have time to answer," Kouta said. The next instant, he appeared in front of Hinata, throwing a powerful punch.