Across the valley, on the opposite cliffside—
Boom!
Thunder roared through the pitch-black sky. Lightning flashed as rain poured in torrents, flooding the narrow mountain path that clung to the edge of a sheer cliff.
In the stormy darkness, five shadowy figures cloaked in black ran swiftly along the slick path in tight formation.
The one leading them was a tall woman with striking features—graceful yet mature. Her long black hair, soaked by rain, clung to her face as she gritted her teeth, carrying a severely injured comrade on her back while holding a young boy's hand in her right.
Water splashed under their feet as they sprinted upward through the downpour.
"Faster—faster! Once we cross this mountain, we'll reach the border of Bird Country!" she shouted over the storm.
Her voice was almost swallowed by the wind and rain.
"Natsuhi… put me down. I… can't go any farther… cough, cough…"
The man on her back finally spoke, his voice weak and broken—barely clinging to life, like a flickering candle in a storm that could go out at any moment.
Lightning flashed again, revealing his pale, deathly face streaked with rain.
He was a man gravely ill—his life clearly near its end.
"Papa…"
The boy beside her cried out, voice trembling.
The woman—Natsuhi—didn't stop running. Her expression tightened as she said, "You have to hold on! We're going to make it out of here, I swear it!"
Her eyes burned red as tears mixed with the rain streaming down her face.
"You… still look beautiful," the man rasped between coughs. "Like a flower blooming in the dark, refusing to bow to the storm… It's a pity… I won't be around… to see it again… cough, cough!"
His coughing turned violent. The jarring motion from being carried jostled his already crushed organs, and a gush of blackened blood poured from his mouth.
"Ugh—!"
His face twisted in agony. More black blood spattered from his lips, staining the right shoulder of Natsuhi's robe. The brief warmth of it spread across her back before the cold rain quickly washed it away.
"Don't—don't talk. Please, stop talking…" she begged hoarsely, vision blurring as she kept running, clutching her son's hand tight.
But before she could take another step—
"Lady Natsuhi, watch out!!" shouted two of the followers behind her.
Tat-tat-tat!
From further up the path, a dozen shinobi suddenly appeared, each wearing a forehead protector engraved with a ☆ symbol and dressed in light-blue sleeveless vests.
They looked fierce, blocking the narrow path or crouching along the cliff face.
These shinobi came from the local Star Ninja Village.
That village had been founded two hundred years ago.
The villagers trained their chakra around a meteorite that had fallen from the sky and even developed a unique secret technique called the "Peacock Art."
A few days earlier, the star meteorite used for training suddenly disappeared from the Star Ninja Village.
When the Third Star Kage investigated, it was discovered that the meteorite had been stolen by the village's once-in-a-century genius, Natsuhi.
The Star ninjas now before them were the team sent out from the village to hunt down the deserter.
Suddenly things went wrong.
Natsuhi's face went pale with fear and she was forced to stop. She wiped the rain from her eyes and looked back, only to find more than a dozen Star ninjas blocking the narrow mountain track behind them.
"Give up resisting, Natsuhi. Hand over the meteorite and come back with us to admit your crime, or… hm…"
One of the Star ninjas at the front strode forward — a bald, burly man. His gaze was cold and a sinister smile touched his lips, hiding intentions that were hard to name.
"Lady Natsuhi, you should leave. We absolutely cannot let the meteorite return to the village!"
"We believe our path is the right one!!"
Two of the Star ninjas who had once accompanied her snarled and, with a shove, pushed the woman and her family off the cliff.
"Everyone!!"
Natsuhi's eyes widened in shock. Caught off guard, her mouth parted as she and her two companions tumbled down the mountainside.
"Ah—!" the little boy screamed in terror.
In mid-fall, Natsuhi glanced at the valley below. At the last possible moment she formed hand seals and performed: "Peacock Art: Wings!"
Instantly her expression hardened as a peculiar pink chakra ignited around her. The chakra twisted irregularly and then coalesced behind her into a tail-like shape — like the tails of a nine-tailed fox or the petals of a blooming flower.
With that, her body grew light and she gained the ability to control flight. While still falling she snatched up her husband and son.
Their only escape route was to cross to the cliff on the opposite side. The valley below was already filled with Star ninjas; only by vaulting this ridge could they flee the Bear Country.
As she descended with her family in her arms, Natsuhi painfully looked back at the peak they had come from.
"Kill them!" the bald Star ninja ordered.
The two followers who had shoved Xia Rixing were now caught. The bald man's subordinates cruelly slit their throats with kunai and then shoved their bodies off the cliff into the raging rain.
Then the bald Star ninja gave the order to hurl weapons at Natsuhi, who was still high in the air.
Whoosh—
The Star ninjas immediately threw their tools; countless kunai and shuriken sliced through the dark night, blending with the curtain of rain as they shot toward her.
"Mm—" She let out a muffled cry, forcing herself to swallow the grief tearing at her heart.
She focused all her will on controlling her chakra, manipulating the air currents as she dodged the flying blades in midair, carrying her remaining family as they landed upon another mountain cliff.
Across the gorge, the bald Star ninja saw this and once again smiled coldly.
Xia Rixing didn't give up. The moment her feet touched the ground, she began running again with her family.
Her husband, weak and fading, spoke once more: "Take Sumaru and go… leave me here…"
"No!!"
Natsuhi shouted back, stubbornly refusing.
But before she could get far, the same situation repeated itself—Star ninjas were already stationed atop this peak as well, blocking her from both sides.
There was nowhere left to run.
Using the secret Peacock Art to fly, she couldn't go very far; and in this stormy, pitch-black night, her pink chakra glow stood out too vividly, making her an easy target for the enemy's kunai.
"There has to be another way!"
Natsuhi scanned her surroundings in panic.
As the Star ninjas closed in, her eyes widened in sudden hope—she had spotted a cave on the side of the cliff.
"There!!"
Her face tensed, anxiety tightening her chest. If the cave turned out to be a dead end, they were doomed.
But there was no other choice.
If they didn't go in, they'd die anyway.
After a brief hesitation, Natsuhi placed her husband and son behind her, wrapping them in her pink chakra. Then she burst forward with everything she had, sprinting toward the cave.
Reaching the bend, she turned sharply and dashed inside—only to freeze in shock the moment she entered.
Standing deeper inside the cavern was a young man with short black hair and a strikingly handsome face.
And before she could stop herself, she crashed straight into his arms.
°°°
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