Chapter 31 – Shadows Behind Shadows

The mist clung low to the ground as Team 8 broke camp under the pale light of dawn. Their time in the Forest of Death had been long enough. With both scrolls secured and more strange events occurring by the hour, it was time to move.

Shino finished feeding a cluster of his kikaichū. "We move within the hour. My insects confirm a clear corridor northeast. It avoids the denser hotspots."

Kiba gave a thumbs-up, cracking his knuckles. "Let's go before things get worse."

Michel agreed silently. The balance of the forest had shifted. There were fewer spiritual presences now. Fewer pulses of life. As if the forest itself had devoured some of the teams already.

Hinata adjusted the straps on her gear. Her eyes drifted to the dark canopy ahead.

She could feel it too.

<<<< o >>>>

They moved under cover of foliage, navigating around carcasses of felled trees and battle-scarred ground. The air smelled of scorched bark and blood.

Kuro padded silently beside Hinata. Akamaru moved ahead, guiding Kiba with soft growls. The coordination between them was seamless.

Michel kept his threads faint, but his senses expanded. The trees whispered of panic. The leaves held echoes of screams. Chakra signatures had faded—but not vanished. Just… absorbed.

At one point, Kuro paused, nose twitching.

Hinata knelt beside her. "What is it?"

The dog didn't bark. Just stared into the undergrowth.

A streak of dried blood.

Shino stepped forward, inspecting the area. "A team passed through here recently. Heavily injured. One member was dragged."

They found no bodies.

<<<< o >>>>

As twilight fell, they rested briefly by the roots of a hollowed-out tree. A rare moment of calm.

Hinata, watching the stars emerge above the canopy, spoke softly.

"I don't want to be the strongest," she said. "I want to be the one people trust. The one who always shows up."

Shino didn't reply right away. But he gave a slight nod.

"You already are," Kiba said quietly, surprising them both.

Michel floated just above the group.

She's starting to see it… he thought. The shape of her own strength.

He felt pride. And a twinge of sorrow.

He couldn't follow her forever.

<<<< o >>>>

They resumed their march after moonrise.

The trees thinned as they approached the inner perimeter of the forest, near the tower. But that's when they found them.

Three genin from the Grass Village.

Unconscious.

Not dead.

Bruised. Disarmed. Marked.

Shino bent to examine the one nearest him. "Same chakra traces as before. Another unknown fūinjutsu."

Michel studied the jagged mark. No, he thought. This is another cursed mark. Different origin, same intent. Orochimaru left behind more than corruption—he left agents.

Kiba scowled. "They didn't even fight back. Someone stomped them, hard."

"We're being hunted," Shino said.

<<<< o >>>>

Far away, another team moved through the forest.

Team Guy.

Neji Hyūga stood motionless on a branch, Byakugan active. He saw chakra networks through bark, through stone, through blood.

He turned slightly. "Team 8 is nearby. They're moving toward the tower."

Lee smiled. "Perhaps we'll get to test our flames of youth against them in the next round!"

Neji didn't smile.

"They're stronger than before."

He didn't mention the strange unease he felt near Hinata. It wasn't chakra—and it wasn't visible to the Byakugan. Just a pressure that made the air feel heavier around her. Something outside of what his dojutsu could fully comprehend.

<<<< o >>>>

Back near the tower, Team 8 scouted from atop a bluff. A storm was brewing, clouds low and heavy.

Two teams waited by the main entrance.

"Too risky," Shino said.

"Unless," Hinata said, eyes narrowing, "we go during the storm."

Lightning crackled in the distance.

Kuro barked once.

<<<< o >>>>

They moved just before the rain began. Shino released his kikaichū in advance to map shifting positions. Kiba and Akamaru flanked, ready to intercept. Hinata and Kuro advanced at the center.

Thunder masked their footsteps.

They bypassed the watch teams, slipping into the outer ring of the tower like shadows.

It was almost too easy.

Almost.

A trap triggered—kunai from a tree.

Hinata's body moved on instinct.

She turned.

Rotated.

The kunai veered wide, caught in a strange spiral of deflection.

Kiba blinked. "Did you just… spin that away?"

Hinata looked at her hands—not in fear, but as if they belonged to someone else.

Someone she was just starting to remember.

Michel stared.

That was a flawed version of Kaiten, he thought. She's drawing on muscle memory she doesn't consciously have.

The fusion is accelerating.

<<<< o >>>>

Inside the tower, they sealed the scrolls as instructed. A puff of smoke. A vision appeared. A warning. A test.

They passed.

Safe.

For now.

But Michel could feel it.

There were shadows behind shadows.

And they were watching.