Chapter 33: Pawns and Predators
Yukimi, the sole surviving child of the Iburi clan.
She'd once had a younger brother, a boy who resembled Yamato. He, like so many other Iburi children, was taken by Orochimaru three years prior, vanishing into the snake summoner's labs, never to return. Her brief connection with Yamato had filled that void; she saw him as a surrogate brother.
When her clansmen moved to kill Yamato and Kakashi, she was the first to object. Without a word, she dissolved into a swirling plume of mist. A small, controlled tornado formed from her high-speed rotation, scooping up the two unconscious shinobi and whisking them away from the cavern.
Onigarasu, observing from the shadows, twitched with the impulse to follow. But Shuichi's command echoed in its mind.
"Enough, crow. Stay. Others will come to slaughter the Iburi. When that happens, consume the remains. That will suffice."
The ghost crow understood. The original story ended with the Iburi sacrificing themselves, vaporizing to save Yukimi. A poetic, tragic end. Now, it was an opportunity.
None of his demons had yet consumed a shinobi with a fully realized Kekkei Genkai. The few bloodline users he'd encountered—like Tenmu—had been turned into demons themselves. The Iburi's mist-transformation was a Kekkei Genkai, however flawed.
Onigarasu would be the first test subject.
Would devouring a bloodline limit influence a demon's development path? The Ghost King was watching. The crow felt a surge of pride, then excitement. It hadn't been forgotten amidst the newer creations! The Ghost King still valued it!
The Iburi? I'll feast. Devour every last scrap.
Task assigned, Shuichi's attention shifted to the other demons he'd created on his journey—ordinary civilians turned into mediocre, unremarkable fiends. His expectations for them were low. They were hidden, dormant, tools for later use.
Elsewhere, in the perpetually dim room that served as home for the Akiwa siblings.
"Kyōshun."
The snow-white girl, Karyūka, knelt on the clean floor. The room had been scrubbed of its grime. The windows were boarded, allowing only slivers of light to penetrate, keeping the space in a deep, protective gloom even at midday.
Life had irrevocably changed since that night.
"Yes, sis?" Kyōshun peeked around the doorframe but didn't enter. He longed to be near her, but the memory of her feeding—the tearing, the blood—held him back like an invisible wall. Staying close only brought a suffocating, relentless pressure.
His sister had always loved snow, seeing it as pure, flawless beauty. Her illness had trapped her indoors, making it a distant dream. Now… she could see snow whenever she wished, snow of her own making. She's still my sister, Kyōshun told himself, clinging to that thought. The hatred was reserved for the man who'd remade her.
"I have a task for you." Her violet eyes, cold and calm, fixed on his face.
Kyōshun's heart sank. Luring travelers was one thing. This tone was different. This was the Ghost King's work, channeled through her.
"W-what is it?" He dreaded the answer.
"Go to a specific location. Bring back a girl. A girl with… special abilities."
Huh? How did his housebound sister know of such a girl? This wasn't her request. This was his command. But he didn't voice the doubt.
"Where? Who?"
Karyūka gestured to a cluttered corner. Kyōshun remembered a map of the Land of Fire he'd lifted from a traveler. He fetched it and spread it before her.
"Here." Her pale finger traced a small circle not far from their town. "A girl named Yukimi. Not much older than you. Long, brownish-red hair. She can… turn to mist. Do not attempt to capture her by force. Trick her. Bring her here."
Kyōshun's skill at deception, honed through countless petty thefts and lures, was now formidable. Tricking a child, even one with an uncanny ability but no formal shinobi training, should be within his means.
"I understand." He memorized the location, carefully rolled the map, and tucked it into his ragged shirt.
"I'll leave now." He hesitated, looking at his sister with deep worry. The round trip would take two or three days. Leaving her alone… The missing were all outsiders, travelers with few connections. The disappearances were sporadic, not yet raising alarms in the town. But if something happened while he was gone…
"Worried?" Karyūka's voice was flat. She conjured a palm-sized, intricately frozen snowflake and pressed it into his hand. It was cold, but not painfully so. "My power is in this. While you carry it, I will know where you are."
Kyōshun studied the beautiful, deadly token. "Okay. I'll be back as soon as I can." He stored it with the map, gave a final, fraught look, and slipped out the door. The sooner he left, the sooner he could return.
Back in the Iburi caverns, Onigarasu didn't have to wait long.
Orochimaru arrived, slithering into the clan's sanctuary. But he brought not salvation, but carnage. Severely wounded from his defection, nearing his limit, he saw only one path to escape Konoha's hunters: acquire the Iburi's mist-transformation for himself.
To gain it quickly, he needed the blood of an Iburi child—the purer, the better. The only child left was Yukimi.
But Yukimi was gone, having fled with Kakashi and Yamato.
Furious and desperate, Orochimaru turned to the adults. Perhaps consuming enough of their blood would grant him the ability. He activated the cursed seals he'd placed upon them years before, seals meant to stabilize their power, now used to suppress it completely. Stripped of their mist-form, the Iburi were just frail, untrained civilians.
The slaughter began.
From its hiding place, Onigarasu watched the Snake Sannin drain the life from clan member after clan member, sucking them dry in a grotesque search for their power.
'This Orochimaru… he's sucking them dry! Leaving nothing for me!' the crow thought with bitter irritation. 'Who's the real demon here?' It was a macabre competition, a predator annoyed that another was poaching its designated feast. It waited, patient and hungry, for the slaughter to end and the leftovers to become its own. The game of monsters continued in the dark.
(End of Chapter)
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