53

Somewhere in a region of neutrality near the borders of the land of fire, where individuals who pass through knows that notorious criminals and bandits roam through the area.

Ghost stood on the peak of a large hill, watching the beautiful sunrise in mountains. Behind him stood a young man with dark hair, his fists clenched, his eyes unfocused, "Sensei, why?!", Uchiha Shisui asked, unwilling to hear the answer.

Yesterday he has seen it, a monster that everyone knows him as. The demon that prowls through the night and slays people for no reason. He was there when Ghost mercilessly killed those innocent villagers and burned their houses.

Blood-thirsty beast is not an exaggeration to describe what he saw yesterday. Sure enough, to truly understand the terror of a Demon, one would have to see its actions first-hand.

"Because that's what I am, a monster" Ghost answered indifferently, turning around with an air of indifference to look at Shisui.

The young man's face was as pale as if he had seen a ghost, "I... I thought... I thought..."

"You thought what..?! That I am some kind of a hero? A savior who save innocent people from the beasts? No. I am one of those beasts. Shisui", Ghost said, his voice cold and distant as he stared into empty space beyond the horizon.

He could sense Uchiha Shisui leaving with fear and surprise written all over his face.

Some might ask why to bring Uchiha Shisui with him last night..! Just to let the teen see through the gory sight of him killing innocent villagers..?! Burning their bodies alive and slaughtering them in cold blood?

The way he killed those villagers in front of Uchiha Shisui is completely inhuman and savage, no sane person would have done that.

The answer is rather simple, to make him understand what they are capable of. Shisui must know why he follows this path. The path of becoming a monster and not a human anymore.

He must understand they are not innocent bystanders, they are not saviors, they are killers, liars, the originators of crimes so heinous that a normal person would kill themselves before committing such acts.

If Uchiha Shisui wants to follow him, he should understand that the path he chose is the right one, otherwise, he would be foolish to stay here.

Since young. Ghost has been hammered with a simple concept that in this world, there is no such thing as a savior or knight in shining armor who is willing to lay down their life to protect an innocent person.

This is a world ruled by monsters, where there are many who will kill another person to defend themselves and their family. But they will not hesitate to take the life of a stranger if they can profit from it. Everyone in this world is ruthless, merciless, and without conscience.

And this is what he is going to hammer in Shisui's pure mind...

If what he thinks is right, with just a little push Shisui will break, taking shelter in Hokage and Danzo's arms. And this is what Ghost will wait for; waiting for the loyal and pure-hearted teen to turn into a traitor...

"Keep an eye on Shisui, make sure he does not meet Hokage or his other friends for the time being. Just throw him into Danzo's lap", Ghost said to no one but thin air.

"Yes, leader", A voice came from behind. It is one of his men that had accompanied him to the hill. As the Anbu faded from existence, Ghost chose to stand alone at the hilltop.

Sun rose higher from behind the hills, turning the eastern horizon into a vibrant orange-red. Ghost sighed and turn back. If everything goes right, Shisui will grow exponentially from this trial.

Someone worthy enough to acquire the assassination squad's leadership from him in the future.

...

~3 Days Later~Hokage tower..!!~~

Even with all the precautions, and patrolling the village's streets, neither the Hokage nor the clan leaders were unable to stop or find anything about the psycho who was causing the mass genocide.

The only thing they are able to figure out is that it's a one-man job after three days of investigation, however, that's it. He or she seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.

It has been ten days since the start of the massacre in the village hidden in leaf. Since then, the person infamously known as the Demon Killer by the village killed so many villagers that it's hard to describe, all the while leaving behind no trace whatsoever.

And now, the situation is beginning to turn even more dangerous, as the number of victims is rapidly growing; people are now unable to go outside their homes without fear.

"This can't go on, something must be done...", Hokage muttered to himself

...

~The next night~

Ghost stood on a beach of a high-standing tree, even though the entire village is now on high alert; all the gates, roads, and trails were being closely watched by ninjas. But none was able to see him, his eyes roam through the village, his hand twirling the flute he always carries.

In the dead of the night, he slowly vanished... This time, the target is the Shimura clan.

Today, many are to witness the true terror that roams the night.

...

A group of shinobi was patrolling the area surrounding the Shimura house, none of them found anything suspicious, but one of them, a Hyuga to be exact, saw something eerie with his Dojutsu, he could not put a finger on it but there is something he saw.

Something that disappeared in just a moment. Just as he was about to say something, A breeze blows and he shuddered inexplicably.

There was an extremely bad premonition in his heart. And at this very moment, a flute chimed slowly, as if darkness seemed to be rolling over in this place; heavy shadow enveloped the whole area.

The Hyuga began to tremble violently as his hair started to stand on end. The sweet melody seems to have an abyss-like magical power.

Everyone within the clan compound was horrified as if they were gradually losing control of their bodies, like a knife piercing their hearts...

The song of death seemed to have come alive and begun to play. They could feel their life fading away, like a candle flame that was dying off, their heartbeat slowing down...

They tried calling for help but the communication tag does not work; The eerie song continued and one by one, the people inside the compound were unable to resist anymore as if their soul itself was being drawn out into the melody.

Their body was crumbling, their breath getting slower, their vitality getting sucked in by the sound, as they lose consciousness.

A gust of wind blew, making one of them fall onto the ground, smashing onto the floor with a loud thud, many soon followed after.

The sound of head bones cracking was obvious to all, and even till death, the members of the Shimura clan looked with horror and fear written on their faces.

One of them survived though. His eyes filled with tears and horror when he realized that there is a person slowly walking up to him, he seems to be the one playing the deadly song that took his entire clan out within seconds...

The man's eyes were blurry and could not figure out the specifics of the figure in front of him, "Who... Who are you?!", The man asked weakly, his eyes still filled with horror, "Are you... are you a demon?"

He asked and his head fell back to the ground, dead without being able to hear the answer.

Then, Ghost stepped into the darkness, shrouded in a long cloak, burning the entire Shimura clan compound and the bodies within.

From this night onwards, Shimura Clan does not exist anymore...

...

The next day, the incident took over the village by storm. Everyone was talking about the massacre with some blaming it on the demon; others trying to find the truth behind this mystery.

Many people were outraged and blamed the Hokage, "How could you not prevent something like this? You have all the powers and authority as the village leader! What has gotten into you?"

"If you can't even protect an elder's clan, how can you protect us!!", Another yelled.

"Hokage sama, the mob is getting out of control. Should we use force?!", Kakashi asked

Hokage who was in deep knee sorrow at witnessing his villagers being butchered in cold blood is unable to look at anyone any longer, "Is there a witness?!", The old man did not answer Kakashi's question but instead asked a question.

Kakashi shook his head, "I am sorry Hokage sama. But the entire incident happened so fast that no one noticed anything...", The one-eyed goblin said while catching a tomato thrown at Hokage with a frown.

"Sir, let's use force..."

"No need. Get Uchiha Fugaku to meet me..!!", Hokage said tiredly.

"Yes sir"

"Also, find Ghost and tell him it's time to come back, he told me where he would go for the training. They might not be there anymore but you will most certainly find something about their location there. He always leaves the secret signs in case of emergency..."

"Yes sir"

"And... tell someone to bury the Shimura clan", Hokage said tiredly

"Yes sir", Kakashi bowed respectfully as Hokage made his way through the mobs with Anbus protecting his aged body that seems to have aged yet again.

Danzo stayed within the Hokage tower. The old man refused to come out, his children, and grandchildren have been butchered in cold blood and no one knew who did this. He swear he would kill whoever was responsible for this...

...

Konoha was hit hard. Since the founding of this village. This was the first time they were attacked in such a brutal manner as the culprit of this all, Ghost stood in the gravesite caressing the name of his subordinate...

Her blood shall feed the tree back to life...! So many legends are born in this village; so many already perished; all died because of the village itself. It's time to clean the village of its parasites...