Five figures moved swiftly through the trees with the practiced efficiency of seasoned shinobi. They wore dark ninja attire marked with the insignia of the Kamizuru Clan—bee users from the Land of Stone, renowned for their unique techniques.
On the far left, Hayabumi moved with steady precision, his short dark hair barely shifting as he leapt from branch to branch. His eyes constantly scanned their surroundings.
Second from the left was Shirobane, the tallest of the group. His long, light-colored hair was tied back in a practical tail.
At the center was Akatsuki, the leader. Her medium-length dark hair framed her face, and her outfit bore distinctive red accents that caught the moonlight.
To her right was Tsuchiosu, a mountain of a man who moved with surprising agility despite his size.
On the far right, slightly behind the others, was Kagewata. Petite and swift, her dark hair pulled into a high ponytail.
They had been tracking for days. The massacre at the village had left few clues, but they were persistent. With their bees' help, they had found a trail and were following it now.
"How much farther?" Hayabumi called back, his voice eager despite the grim nature of their mission.
"I can't tell yet. Our trail ends in this forest," Kagewata replied softly from the rear.
Shirobane's eyes narrowed. "A large massacre at the border village... Do you think outsiders did it? Whatever we're tracking—"
BOOM!
The forest erupted.
The ground shook. Trees swayed violently, their branches whipping back and forth. Birds exploded from the canopy in a panicked mass, their cries piercing the night.
All five Kamizuru shinobi stopped instantly, crouched on their branches, bodies tense.
"What was that?" Hayabumi's hand went to his weapon pouch.
"An explosion," Shirobane said, his voice level despite the chaos. "About one kilometer northeast. Massive chakra discharge."
Akatsuki's eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "That's our target. Move."
"Wait." Tsuchiosu's deep voice rumbled. "An explosion that big can't be done by just one person. It might be an ambush."
"You're right," Akatsuki said sharply. She raised her hands and stuck her right thumb into her left palm.
Puff!
A swarm of bees appeared before her—Hayabachi shidare, a special kind known for their speed. The Kamizuru Clan used these for emergencies, like requesting reinforcements.
The bees flew away quickly, disappearing within moments.
Kagewata also summoned scout bees. "I'll scout ahead."
"Okay." Akatsuki nodded. "Hayabumi on point, Kagewata on our six. Shirobane, high position for overwatch. Tsuchiosu and I take center. Understood?"
A chorus of acknowledgments.
They moved.
Hayabumi shot forward like an arrow, his body a blur between the trees. Behind him, Akatsuki and Tsuchiosu followed in perfect sync. Above and to the right, Shirobane took to the higher branches. Kagewata followed at the rear.
As they drew closer, the destruction became clear.
Trees were snapped in half, their trunks splintered like matchsticks. The ground was scorched in places, still smoking. The smell of blood and ash grew stronger with each passing second.
"What the hell?!" Hayabumi muttered, his earlier eagerness replaced by grim focus.
"Stay sharp," Akatsuki ordered.
They broke through the tree line and stopped.
Before them was a crater—easily fifty meters across. The edges were still crumbling, loose earth and stone sliding down into the darkness. Smoke rose in thin columns, and scattered fires burned at the edges.
"Is this even humanly possible...?!" Tsuchiosu breathed, his usual calm cracking.
Shirobane landed beside them, his expression carefully neutral. "Whatever happened here involved massive earth release or something equally powerful."
"There." Kagewata pointed.
In the center of the crater, partially hidden by lingering dust, was a figure.
It stood alone, hunched and trembling, silhouetted against the pale moonlight. Even from this distance, they could see it wasn't standing quite right—the posture was too animalistic.
"Survivor?" Hayabumi asked.
"No one survives a blast like that," Akatsuki said coldly. Her hand moved to her weapons. "Kagewata, can you get a visual?"
The petite kunoichi was already moving, her body flickering as she used Body Flicker. She reappeared on a partially collapsed stone at the crater's edge, crouched low, eyes focusing.
For a long moment, she was silent.
"Kagewata?" Akatsuki's voice sharpened. "Report."
"It's... a man," Kagewata said slowly, uncertainty creeping into her usually steady voice. "But something's wrong with him. His body—there's something wrong."
"Define 'wrong,'" Shirobane said.
"His chakra... My bees won't get closer. They're—" She paused, searching for words. "—terrified. Like they're facing a predator."
As if responding to her words, the figure in the crater raised its head.
Even from this distance, they could see the eyes.
Glowing. Crimson.
"Subdue him," Akatsuki snapped.
---
Muzan's senses flared as he felt someone—no, several people—approaching.
He raised his head, his eyes easily piercing the darkness to pinpoint each one.
"Ggrrrhhh!"
His chest heaved as he let out a guttural noise.
The ground exploded beneath him.
BOOM!
He launched forward like a missile, covering thirty meters in less than a second. His body was a blur of pale skin and crimson eyes.
"He's moving!" Hayabumi shouted.
"Scatter!" Akatsuki's voice cut through the air.
The five shinobi dispersed instantly. Hayabumi dove left, Tsuchiosu right. Shirobane went up, Kagewata disappeared in darkness. Akatsuki stood her ground, hands already forming the summoning sign.
Muzan's feet hit the crater's edge where Akatsuki had been standing. The stone crumbled beneath the impact, cracks spider-webbing outward. He didn't stop. His head snapped toward the nearest movement—Hayabumi.
He lunged.
Hayabumi's eyes widened. "Fast!"
The young shinobi threw himself backward, hands moving through seals. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
A wall of stone erupted from the ground between them.
Muzan's fist crashed into it.
CRASH!
The wall exploded. Chunks of stone scattered like shrapnel. Hayabumi barely rolled away in time, one piece grazing his shoulder and drawing blood.
"What the—?! He just punched through my jutsu!"
"DON'T ENGAGE PHYSICALLY!" Akatsuki shouted. Her thumb pressed into her palm. "Summoning!"
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Dozens of bees materialized around her, each the size of a fist. They swarmed forward in a coordinated attack pattern, stingers gleaming.
Muzan's head turned toward the approaching swarm. His mouth opened, revealing elongated fangs, and he let out a roar that physically pushed the air.
"GRAAAAAAH!"
Several bees faltered mid-flight, instincts screaming at them to flee. But they pressed on, driven by their summoner's will.
From above, Shirobane's voice rang out. "Bee Sting Senbon!"
Dozens of senbon needles coated in bee venom rained down on Muzan's position. They struck his back, shoulders, arms.
The needles embedded themselves in his flesh—then were immediately pushed out. His skin rippled, and the wounds sealed as if they'd never been there.
"Impossible," Shirobane whispered from his perch. "He's healing instantly."
Muzan's head snapped up, locking onto Shirobane's position. His right arm began to change.
The flesh rippled and extended, stretching like rubber. Red, spike-like protrusions burst from the extending limb. His hand twisted, fingers merging and sharpening into a blade-like point.
The arm whip lashed upward.
CRACK!
It moved faster than Shirobane could react. The whip sliced through the tree branch he was standing on, cutting it clean in half.
Shirobane leapt away, but the whip curved in mid-air, following him. It wrapped around his leg.
"Ghk!"
The spikes dug in. Blood sprayed.
"Shirobane!" Tsuchiosu's massive form blurred forward. His hands slammed together. "Earth Release: Earth Pillar!"
A thick column of stone erupted from the ground, slamming into Muzan's side with tremendous force.
WHAM!
Muzan's body was thrown sideways. His arm whip released Shirobane, who crashed to the ground and immediately rolled to his feet, favoring his injured leg.
But Muzan didn't fall. He twisted in mid-air and landed on all fours like a beast. His crimson eyes fixed on Tsuchiosu.
"Grraaahhh..."
Both his arms began to extend now. The flesh stretched and morphed, red spikes erupting along their length. His hands transformed into bladed whips, each easily three meters long.
He swung them.
The whips cut through the air with a whistling sound. Tsuchiosu raised his arms, channeling chakra. "Earth Release: Hardening!"
His skin darkened, taking on a stone-like texture just as the whips struck.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Sparks flew. The whips carved shallow gouges in Tsuchiosu's hardened skin but didn't penetrate deeply. The big man grimaced but held his ground.
"His strength... it's monstrous!"
"Tsuchiosu, move!" Kagewata's voice came from behind Muzan.
She appeared from the shadows, a swarm of hornets erupting from her palm. "Hornet Fury!"
The hornets, larger and more aggressive than regular bees, descended on Muzan's back. Their stingers struck repeatedly, injecting venom with each hit.
Muzan's body twitched. He turned, abandoning Tsuchiosu to face this new threat.
His mouth opened impossibly wide.
Multiple smaller mouths erupted along his arm whips—grotesque, fanged maws that shouldn't exist on human flesh.
They inhaled.
WHOOOOSH!
The suction was immense. Air rushed toward the mouths with the force of a gale. Kagewata's hornets were pulled from their attack pattern, sucked directly into the fanged openings.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
The mouths bit down, destroying the summons instantly.
"What kind of monster—" Kagewata's words cut off as the suction pulled at her.
Her feet slid across the ground. She threw a kunai into the earth and grabbed it, anchoring herself. "I can't—the pull is too strong!"
"Bee Explosion Formation!" Akatsuki's voice was sharp with authority.
Her remaining bees positioned themselves in a circle around Muzan. They began to glow with chakra, their bodies swelling.
"Detonate!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The bees exploded in sequence, creating a chain of blasts that engulfed Muzan in fire and force. Smoke billowed up, obscuring him completely.
"Did we get him?" Hayabumi panted, blood dripping from his shoulder.
The smoke cleared.
Muzan stood in the center of the blast zone, completely unharmed. His skin showed not even a scorch mark. The craters around him proved the explosions had landed, but his body had regenerated faster than the damage could accumulate.
His crimson eyes swept across all five shinobi.
Then his back began to bulge.
Nine thin protrusions burst from his spine—extensions that rapidly grew into bladed whips, each four meters long. They writhed in the air like serpents.
"Fall back!" Akatsuki ordered.
But it was too late.
Muzan moved.
All eleven of his whips—two from his arms, nine from his back—lashed out simultaneously.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
They moved too fast to track. The forest around them erupted in chaos as the whips carved through everything in their path.
Trees were cut in half, their trunks sliding apart. Boulders split like fruit. The ground itself was torn up, leaving deep furrows.
Hayabumi threw himself flat, a whip passing centimeters above his head. "They're everywhere! I can't see them all!"
Shirobane, still injured, was slower. Three whips converged on his position.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!" He formed the seal desperately.
The wall rose—and was immediately shredded. The whips punched through the stone like paper.
One caught him across the chest. Blood sprayed. He gasped and fell backward.
"Shirobane!" Kagewata appeared beside him, grabbing his arm and flickering away just as another whip slammed into the ground where he'd been.
Tsuchiosu charged forward, his massive frame barreling toward Muzan. "Earth Release: Rock Fist!"
His hands became encased in stone, growing to twice their normal size. He swung with devastating force.
Muzan's whips coiled, forming a defensive barrier. The rock fist collided with them.
CRASH!
For a moment, they held. Then Muzan's whips rotated.
They spun like drills, grinding against Tsuchiosu's stone fists. Sparks flew. Chunks of rock broke away.
"Ghk—!" Tsuchiosu's eyes widened as he felt his jutsu failing.
The whips broke through. They wrapped around his arms, torso, legs. The spikes dug in deep.
"AAAHH!"
Blood poured from dozens of puncture wounds. Tsuchiosu struggled, his massive strength failing against Muzan's inhuman power.
Muzan pulled.
Tsuchiosu was yanked off his feet and slammed into the ground. Once. Twice. Three times.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Each impact created a crater. Blood splattered across the torn earth.
"Tsuchiosu!" Akatsuki's face twisted with fury. Her hands flew through seals. "You want a monster? I'll show you a monster! Summoning Jutsu!"
PUFF!
The smoke that appeared was massive. From it emerged a bee the size of a horse, its stinger as long as a sword. Its compound eyes gleamed with intelligence, and its buzzing shook the air.
"Kill it!" Akatsuki pointed at Muzan.
The Queen Bee shot forward with shocking speed for its size. Its stinger thrust forward like a lance.
Muzan released Tsuchiosu, letting the bleeding shinobi collapse. He turned to face the charging Queen.
His thighs began to bulge.
Eight new whips burst from his thighs—four on each side—each seven meters long. They shot out like spears.
The Queen Bee tried to dodge, but the whips were too many.
They pierced through its body from multiple angles.
SQUELCH! SQUELCH! SQUELCH!
The Queen Bee let out a terrible buzzing scream. Its wings faltered. It crashed to the ground, whips still embedded in its body.
Muzan's thigh whips retracted, pulling back into his body. The Queen dissolved into smoke, its summoning broken.
"No..." Akatsuki's voice was hollow. "That was our strongest summon..."
Muzan's head tilted, focusing on her. All nineteen of his whips—arms, back, and thighs—rose into the air, poised to strike.
"SCATTER!" Shirobane shouted from where Kagewata had dragged him to safety. "We can't fight this thing! We need to retreat and wait for reinforcements!"
But Muzan was already moving.
His body blurred forward. The whips struck like falling rain.
Hayabumi formed seals. "Earth Release: Earth Prison!"
Walls of stone erupted around Muzan, trying to cage him.
The whips rotated. The stone prison shattered in seconds. Muzan didn't even slow down.
He crashed into Hayabumi with the force of a battering ram. The younger shinobi's body was flung backward, smashing through a tree. He hit the ground and didn't get up, blood pouring from his mouth.
Kagewata appeared behind Muzan, her hands releasing a cloud of hornets directly at his face. "Hornet Blind!"
The hornets swarmed his eyes. For a moment, his vision was obscured.
His back whips lashed out blindly. One caught Kagewata across the ribs.
SLASH!
She screamed. Blood sprayed. She flickered away, but her movements were sluggish now.
Only Akatsuki remained standing uninjured.
She stood alone, breathing hard, her eyes locked on the monster that had decimated her team in minutes.
"What... what are you?" she whispered.
Muzan's whips withdrew slightly, coiling around him. His crimson eyes fixed on her with an intensity that felt almost curious.
Then the mouths on his arm whips opened.
They inhaled.
WHOOOOOOSH!
The suction was stronger than before, pulling at Akatsuki with irresistible force. Her feet left the ground. She flew toward the fanged mouths, unable to resist.
"NO!"
She threw every kunai she had, but they were all sucked into the mouths and crushed. She formed seals desperately. "Bee Shield!"
Her remaining bees swarmed around her, trying to form a defensive barrier.
The mouths bit down on them instantly. The shield collapsed.
Akatsuki flew into range of the whips.
They struck.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Blood filled the air. Her body was cut from multiple angles simultaneously. She gasped, the light fading from her eyes.
Muzan's whips released her. She fell to the ground, lifeless.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Four bodies lay scattered across the torn earth—Hayabumi unconscious and bleeding, Shirobane barely alive, Kagewata clutching her ribs and wheezing, Tsuchiosu unmoving in his crater.
And Akatsuki, dead at Muzan's feet.
Muzan stood over the bodies, his chest heaving. The whips retracted slowly, sinking back into his flesh until his body looked almost human again.
His crimson eyes stared down at Akatsuki's corpse. Something stirred inside him—hunger.
His body moved on instinct.
He dropped to his knees beside her. His hands grabbed her shoulders. His mouth opened wide, fangs extending.
He bit down on her arm.
The flesh tore. Blood flooded his mouth, hot and rich. He swallowed, then bit down again, tearing away meat and muscle. His teeth worked methodically, ripping through tissue like a starving animal.
The taste sent shockwaves through his system. His body shuddered with relief, like a man dying of thirst finally finding water. Each swallow made him feel stronger. His wounds sealed completely. His exhaustion faded.
He fed until Akatsuki's body was mangled and drained, then moved to the next.
Tsuchiosu lay unconscious in his crater. Muzan crawled over to him on all fours like a beast. He grabbed the big man's arm and bit down, tearing away chunks of flesh. Blood ran down his chin as he chewed and swallowed.
He was already full, but his body demanded more. The thirst for acquiring strength was unquenchable.
He moved to Hayabumi next. The young shinobi was still breathing, barely. Muzan's fangs sank into his shoulder, ripping away meat. The body twitched once, then went still. He kept feeding.
Kagewata tried to crawl away, one hand pressed to her bleeding ribs. She looked back and saw Muzan approaching, his face covered in blood, bits of flesh stuck between his teeth.
"No... please..." Her voice was weak.
Muzan grabbed her ankle and dragged her back. She didn't have the strength to resist. His teeth found her throat, tearing it open. He fed on the flesh and drank the blood that poured out.
Finally, Shirobane. The tall shinobi had propped himself against a tree, trying to stop his bleeding. He looked up as Muzan approached, his face pale with horror.
"Monster..." he whispered.
Muzan's fangs pierced his neck, ripping away the flesh. Blood sprayed across the ground. The last of the five went limp, and Muzan continued to feed until his sanity finally began to return.
When it was done, Muzan remained crouched over Shirobane's mutilated body, blood and gore covering his hands and face. His breathing slowed. The red haze in his vision began to clear.
His crimson eyes regained clarity.
Awareness returned like a crashing wave.
Muzan blinked. He looked down at his blood-covered hands. At the mangled body beneath him. At the carnage spread across the forest floor.
Five corpses, torn apart and partially devoured.
"What...?"
His voice was his own again. Hoarse, but human.
He stumbled backward, away from the corpse. His legs gave out and he fell, landing hard on the torn earth. His eyes swept across the scene.
"No... no, no, no..." His hands went to his head. His fingers touched something wet and sticky. He looked at them—covered in blood and flesh.
The memories came flooding back. The fight. The whips. The feeding. The taste of flesh and blood in his mouth.