It had been a month.
Since the day the system initialized—
Hieta had done nothing reckless.
No flashy entrances. No random attacks. No revenge.
He disappeared.
Beneath Kumogakure's northeast industrial ridge, where old lightning generators once powered the academy and barracks, lay a buried structure long abandoned.
Engineers had tried once to run chakra lines through the mountain's ore-veins to boost power efficiency. The project failed. Left behind was a concrete shell built into the rock—half bunker, half ruin.
Hieta found it weeks ago, traced through survey blueprints discarded at the district archive. The main entry had collapsed. But the vent shafts? Still intact.
It had become his hideout.
Hieta blinked.[ Reversal Edge ] glowed in the corner of the system screen, its details etching themselves into his mind like instinct.
A skill perfect for someone who'd always taken beatings.Now, he could give them back.
His fingers tapped lightly against his leg as the rain slid down the rusted sheet of metal overhead.
His first step had to be loud—not in noise, but in shock value.
Someone like...
Yugito Nii.
The Two-Tails Jinchūriki.Elite ANBU.Second only to Killer Bee in Kumogakure.
She was a walking warhead.And perfect.
Not because she was weak—but because her strength was isolating.
Hieta had spent the last two weeks mapping her pattern.
Daylight:Usually on patrol. Accompanied.
Nighttime:Vanished into ANBU networks. Off-grid.
But in the twilight?Just before the evening briefing, when the village dimmed but didn't sleep?
She walked alone.
A narrow path behind the west ridge towers, where ANBU HQ met the outer defense wall. She used it like a ritual—ten minutes of silence, motion, and stillness. A habit. A breathing space.
He had watched her from rooftops and ducts, never closer than fifty meters.Even through the haze, her chakra glowed like a wildfire. Untouchable.But habits meant vulnerability.
He scribbled the full route onto scrap parchment.
Start: ANBU exit gate near the fourth tower.Path: Ridge wall curve → Shrine ruins → Utility building ruins → Back through the northwest elevation stairs.Time Window: 7:05 PM to 7:17 PM.Twelve minutes. Alone.
He would strike at the shrine ruins.
They were secluded—no direct sightlines, just cracked stones and old offerings half-swallowed by moss. The kind of place nobody watched anymore.
Plan A: Get close without detection. Let the Chakra Interference Field activate naturally. She'd notice—but too late. One flash attack. Cloth over mouth. Chakra sealed. She goes limp.
Plan B: If she resists, tank one hit. Use Reversal Edge. Break a limb. Then drag her.
Plan C: If it all goes wrong, retreat underground. Tunnel access from the base of the shrine—already marked, already rigged. Smoke bomb. Drop-in.
He would drag her to the hideout.Keep her locked down.And begin the reprogramming.
He would talk. Reveal. Show her the truth—how the village used her, isolated her, feared her.
How chakra was a chain. How strength wasn't freedom.
Day of Action: 3 Days From NowWeather Pattern: Rain (Confirmed forecast)Sound dampened. Vision impaired. Perfect.
Hieta folded the paper once. Slid it into the concrete crack beside him.
No one knew what he was planning.
But they'd feel it.
One Jinchūriki would vanish.And the world would think Akatsuki was to blame.
Perfect cover.
Three days later.
The rain came exactly as expected—cold, thick, constant.It blanketed Kumogakure in gray, masking footsteps and warping sound.
7:01 PM.Hieta was already in position.
He lay still beneath a cluster of moss-covered stone fragments near the shrine ruins, body low, breath controlled. The world within five meters of him was a dead zone. No chakra. No presence. No hint of killing intent.
Just a shadow waiting for a signal.
7:06 PM.Footsteps.
He recognized the rhythm immediately—Yugito's light but firm stride, a shinobi's gait that blended grace with constant readiness. She moved alone, exactly on time, her hood raised but not sealed.
Her cloak was ANBU-issue. Matte, reinforced, resistant to blades and fire.Useless against what he was about to do.
She passed by the first archway.Slowed near the offering stones.
Stopped.
Hieta moved.
Silent. Swift.A blur without chakra.
By the time she heard the breath behind her, it was too late.
Her hand snapped down toward her pouch—reaching for a kunai. But the moment her fingers tried to channel chakra, they seized. A full-body hitch. Like the power inside her veins had been shut off mid-flow.
Her body staggered. Her senses blinked.The sudden void tore through her balance—Matatabi's presence, once faint but constant, vanished like a thread cut loose.
"What—?"
Her voice barely escaped her lips.
A cloth slammed over her mouth. Cold. Damp. Laced with chakra-reactive agents. Her body tried to fight back, but her strength didn't come. Her muscles felt like they'd been forced underwater. Slow. Weak. Detached.
Her legs kicked. One elbow shot back.
Hieta took it.
The impact rattled his ribs, but he didn't let go.
He absorbed it. Reversal Edge hummed through his spine.
Then—
Crack.
His fist drove straight into her side. Amplified. Precision-angled.Ribs folded. Air escaped her lungs in a voiceless gasp.
She collapsed.
Not unconscious. Not yet. But shocked. Dazed. Confused.
Hieta caught her weight and spun her around in the same motion, arms locking hers at the joints. He dragged her limp form toward the base of the altar ruins—where a small latch of stone had already been removed.
She tried once to scream.Only breath came out. No voice.
Matatabi did not answer.
Her chakra was gone.
Gone.
She was a vessel without fuel.
Down the shaft.Thirty seconds. Vertical drop.Rain hid the opening. No alarms triggered. No bystanders.
Inside, the concrete tunnel was sealed behind a camouflaged panel, reinforced hours ago. Water dripped around them. Dim lights hummed to life.
Hieta tossed the soaked cloak aside and lowered her to the floor. Chains, pre-prepared, clinked softly as they tightened around her wrists and ankles—chakra-suppressant alloy, stolen from a scrapyard.
He stood over her now.
The mighty Jinchūriki.Face pale. Breathing ragged.Unable to speak. Unable to move.Eyes burning with shock—and hate.
"You'll get your chakra back," Hieta said softly, kneeling beside her. "In time."
He tilted his head, watching her struggle to adjust, brain trying to process what had happened.
"Don't worry. I don't want to kill you. I don't want your beast."
He leaned closer, voice calm, deliberate.
"I want you."