The village head's house stood larger than the others, but like everything else in Kozakura, it felt hollow.
The group openly walked past civilians without asking any questions, mostly because their illness was written on their faces.
As for the healthy villagers, none were seen outside their houses.
They soon reached the village head's house as Kakashi knocked twice before a shuffling sound came from within, followed by the scraping of multiple locks being undone.
The elderly man who opened the door looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.
His clothes hung loose on a frame that had clearly lost weight recently, and his eyes darted constantly between the shinobi and the empty street behind them.
"Shinobi? Thank the gods... I'm Hayato, village head." His voice cracked with relief.
"Please, come in quickly."
The interior was sparse but clean, with heavy curtains blocking most windows.
Hayato gestured for them to sit around a low table while he poured tea with shaking hands.
Not all of them sat though, Kakashi, Asuma, and Shikamaru preferred to stand
"When did this start?" Asuma asked, getting straight to business.
"Three weeks ago... no, maybe four?" Hayato rubbed his temples.
"Time's been... difficult to track. It started when the merchants came through."
"What merchants?" Kakashi asked.
"Strange group. Usually, merchants stick to the main trade routes, but these ones... they said they were taking a scenic route. Stayed two nights, sold some trinkets, nothing unusual."
Hayato paused, his expression growing confused.
"But then people started getting sick. First just nightmares, then the aggression, then..."
"Then what?" Sakura prompted gently.
"The voices. People speaking in voices that weren't their own. Acting like... like they weren't themselves anymore and sleepwalking"
Shikamaru leaned forward.
"You sent for help. What response did you get?"
"Two teams came before you. The first team... they tried medical jutsu, thinking it was some kind of poison. Didn't help. The second team brought a specialist."
This prompted raised brows, they weren't briefed on this.
"What kind of specialist?" Asuma's tone sharpened.
Hayato's eyes took on an odd, distant look.
"He was also a Shinobi, he said... he said it was a curse. That our people needed to vent their negative emotions. That fighting it would only make it worse." The village head's voice grew weaker with each word, as if speaking was draining his life force.
"After that, all hell broke loose and everyone turned on each other."
The room fell silent.
Everyone's eyes turned to Yuta, who had gone very still.
The keyword "Negative Emotions" Was quite similar to what he said.
"This specialist," Kakashi said carefully,
"What did he look like?"
"Tall, dark hair... had strange markings around his eyes. Said his name was..." Hayato struggled to remember.
"Something with an S? He wore a Leaf headband, but... something felt wrong about him."
Asuma, Kakashi, and Shikamaru exchanged meaningful glances.
None of them recognized the description.
"Where are the affected villagers now?" Sakura asked.
"Underground. We... we had to contain them. The ones we can at least, They were hurting themselves, hurting others. The cellar beneath the community center seemed safest." Hayato looked ashamed.
"The healthy ones, we've locked in their homes. Told them it was quarantine, but really... we're just trying to keep them safe until help arrives," he said with alternating tone of voice, both reminiscent in fear and apprehensiveness.
"But every day, more people are changing; we can't even tell the pattern anymore. This led to the village being deserted and a lack of manpower. "
"That explains why sick civilians are roaming about," Asuma said
---
The community center stood empty above ground, but the sounds from below were unmistakable: moaning, crying, and occasional shouting.
Kakashi found the entrance to the cellar, a heavy wooden door with multiple locks.
Apparently, Hayato had been adamant about not following them for fear of being infected and only gave them a general direction.
"Are you sure about this sensei?" Ino asked nervously.
"We need to assess the situation," Asuma replied, though his own expression was grim.
The stairs descended into dim, humid air that smelled of unwashed bodies and something else, something sour and wrong.
As they reached the bottom, lantern light revealed the scope of the crisis.
The cellar had been converted into a makeshift holding area with rough wooden barriers separating sections.
In the first section, a dozen villagers sat in vegetative states, staring at nothing with empty eyes.
Their breathing was shallow, mechanical as they were malnourished.
In the second section, several people stumbled around as if perpetually drunk, bumping into walls and each other with no apparent awareness of their surroundings.
The third section made Ino gasp and cover her mouth.
The villagers there had clearly stopped caring for themselves entirely, with matted hair, filthy clothes, and a few showing signs of self-harm.
But it was the fourth section that made even Kakashi take a step back.
Three villagers had undergone physical changes, one woman's fingers had grown unnaturally long and sharp, a man's eyes had turned completely black, and a child couldn't have been more than twelve but now stood nearly six feet tall with elongated limbs.
"What in the hell..." Choji whispered.
Sakura immediately moved to examine the vegetative patients, checking for signs of genjutsu or poison.
Shikamaru studied the drunk-acting group, looking for patterns in their behavior.
Yuta stayed back, letting them work.
He could see what they couldn't, the cursed energy signatures emanating from each person, varying in intensity and influence level.
The mutated ones glowed with the strongest cursed energy density.
"No sign of genjutsu," Sakura announced after several minutes.
"No signs of conventional poison either. Their chakra systems seem... disrupted, but not in any way I've seen before."
"The behavioral patterns aren't consistent with any known mental afflictions," Shikamaru added.
"It's like their personalities have been... replaced, however, they seem to want to be moving in a certain direction"
"Could it be some kind of advanced hive mind technique?" Ino suggested.
"And why are they the only ones trying to move away? All the others seem out of it," Sakura said.
Kakashi was examining the mutated villagers from a safe distance.
"Physical transformation jutsu don't typically leave permanent changes like this. And the chakra cost to maintain this many simultaneous effects..."
He trailed off, clearly troubled by the implications.
Yuta watched his teammates struggle with explanations that didn't exist in their world.
Part of him wanted to help, to explain about cursed spirits and possession.
But another part needed to confirm something first.
"Have you tried... purification techniques?" he asked carefully.
"Purification?" Sakura looked up from her patient.
"Like what?"
"Spiritual cleansing. Exorcism methods. Things that address supernatural causes rather than medical ones."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.
"Do you know what this is?"
The question hung in the air like a challenge.
Around them, the affected villagers continued their various forms of suffering, some catatonic, some frenzied, some slowly losing their humanity entirely.
Yuta met each of their gazes in turn, seeing suspicion, hope, and growing frustration.
"You've been holding back," Shikamaru said, his voice sharp with anger.
"Haven't you? You know exactly what's happening here, and you've been letting us fumble around like idiots while these people suffer."
The accusation cut through the cellar's oppressive atmosphere like a blade.
"Shikamaru..." Asuma started.
"No," the young strategist continued, stepping closer to Yuta. "I've been watching you this whole time. Every symptom Hayato described, every detail about these people's conditions, none of it surprised you. You've seen this before."
Yuta's hand instinctively moved toward his katana, not in threat but in the unconscious gesture of someone preparing for a difficult conversation.
"So I'll ask you one more time," Shikamaru said, his voice deadly serious.
"What. Is. This?"
The cellar fell silent except for the soft moaning of the afflicted.