1.0 Let Down Your Light

The city shone brightly, just like every other night. Neon lights reflected off the towering buildings, their glow shimmering against the gloomy sky. The streets buzzed with life—cars wailing as they weaved back and forth, vibrant festivals dotting every corner. Tokyo was alive, as it always was.

Beneath the vast night sky, the Minamoto clan ruled the city with an iron grip. With their dominance came the legacy of Daigo Genji, whose daughter carried both his name and his ruthlessness. Mirai Genji—the vile princess of the Minamoto elite shinobi. A Jonin. The first female leader of her own squad. In some circles, a legend.

Mirai stood at the edge of a sixty-four-story skyscraper, Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower, towering over 330 meters above civilization. Her mission was clear: infiltrate and retrieve vital intelligence from the Taira clan's secret residence.

Few knew the true identity of the Minamoto heir. Only two people in the world had ever known both her face and her name—her father and Mirai herself. But now, that information was on the verge of exposure. There was only one person fit to stop it. A lone wolf, she often called herself, but in truth, she was the alpha of her pack—the leader of an elite team of Jonin shinobi.

This was their night.

The wind howled fiercely at their altitude, but the four figures clad in black stood unmoved. Their bodies were equipped with cutting-edge technology—gadgets that seemed stolen from the future—yet their greatest weapon remained their skill as shinobi. The true nature of their tools remained a closely guarded secret.

Mirai took a slow breath, savoring the electrified cityscape below. Then, with a press of a button behind her ear, a black metallic mask slid over her mouth and nose. Another layer extended from behind her head, covering her hair and stopping just above her brows, leaving only her sharp eyes visible.

"Alpha, ready," she declared, her voice filtered through a modulator, lowering her pitch.

"Beta, ready," the man to her right responded.

"Gamma, let's do this," the woman to her left added.

"Delta," the final voice followed, curt and focused.

Mirai nodded, extending her foot beyond the edge into the open air. "Execute."

At her command, a white-tinted visor slid over her eyes, displaying real-time calculations and an interface highlighting two points on the opposite building. Then, without hesitation, she stepped forward, plunging into the vast emptiness of the sky.

The city lights blurred as she fell, wind resistance whipping against her frame. The interface locked onto her target. It was time. With a snap of her fingers, a burst of compressed gas erupted from her belt, adjusting her trajectory mid-air.

Her arms shot forward, launching two large kunai from hidden mechanisms on her wrists. Metal spinal chains extended behind them, anchoring securely as they struck the adjacent building. For a brief moment, she was still free-falling. Then, the chains tightened, redirecting her momentum into a wide, arcing swing—straight toward the 49th-floor window.

Glass exploded inward as she crashed through, rolling to absorb the impact. Without missing a beat, she tugged on the chains twice, retracting the kunai back into their hidden compartments. But before they fully locked in place, she crossed her arms, sending them slicing outward in a deadly arc. Two men standing in her path barely had time to react before their heads separated from their bodies.

The alarm blared instantly.

A blade whizzed past Mirai's head, impaling an armed guard who had just aimed at her. Beta's sword.

In an instant, she flipped back onto her feet, her twin blades drawn. Gunfire erupted, bullets scattering in all directions. Some deflected harmlessly off her reinforced suit, while others missed by mere inches. She weaved through the chaos, her swords singing as they cut through flesh and steel alike. Every slash ended a life, blood painting the dimly lit room in streaks of crimson.

A pistol raised at her—too close.

Her blade flickered, shifting into a plasma edge. With one fluid motion, she severed the gun in half. Its wielder screamed, his severed fingers dropping to the floor. She paid him no mind, driving her burning sword into his skull. Blood vaporized upon contact.

By the time she pulled it free, the battle was over. Fifty men lay dead. Her team still stood.

"Gamma, secure the target," Mirai commanded, nodding toward the distant computer.

Delta approached her cautiously, his steps deliberate. He knew all too well that any sudden movement near Mirai could mean his death. "That was too easy," he murmured.

The distant hum of helicopter blades grew louder.

"We can take it down," Beta proposed, pulling out a high-powered firearm.

Mirai shot him a sharp look. He understood instantly—mission first.

"We're all done. We should leave," Beta called out, raising the flash overhead.

A gunshot rang out.

A bullet pierced through one of the few remaining intact bulletproof windows—the same window their frequency-equalizing boots had shattered moments ago.

A second shot followed, threading through the exact hole left by the first. This time, the bullet struck the computer Beta had just been working on, sending it crashing down in a shower of sparks.

"Get out of here!" Mirai snapped, waving them away.

"But—" Beta hesitated.

"Mission first!" she barked.

Delta yanked him back, and the team moved swiftly toward their exit.

Mirai, however, remained still, her gaze locked onto the chopper hovering outside. The side door slid open, revealing a mounted heavy machine gun, its barrel already spinning.

She twisted her wrists. Her kunai shot into her hands.

"Let's do this."