They ran without stopping for an entire day and night.
The boy Ayane had been carrying woke up halfway through. Before he could even speak, she shoved a Military Rations Pill into his mouth—then knocked him unconscious again.
Only after fleeing several hundred li did Woodpecker finally slow down before a dense forest.
"…Alright. We should be safe now."
He let out a long breath, relief evident in his voice.
"Masho probably isn't chasing us."
The wounds on his body had only received crude emergency treatment. Blood had long since dried, fusing torn fabric to ripped flesh in dark purple scabs.
Ayane couldn't help thinking—
There was a good chance that the elite jonin puppet master had never intended to chase them in the first place.
Their escape had been… suspiciously smooth.
Meanwhile, Woodpecker had grown so jumpy that he looked ready to throw a shuriken at every roadside dog just to check if it was a disguised ninja.
The caution of the older ANBU generation…
You really had to learn from that.
Still, it was only speculation. She had no proof.
I really need a sensory ninjutsu… Being blind like this is way too passive.
In her previous life, she wouldn't even play a game without a full-map mod and quest markers. How was she supposed to endure this?
The woodpecker seemed extremely familiar with the forest. After weaving through several paths, he located a hollow tree.
"One of ANBU's safe houses," he explained. "Supplies inside. Replenished regularly."
He glanced at the unconscious boy Ayane still carried.
"Why not leave him behind? Planning to drag him to the battlefield?"
Ayane gently laid the child down.
"If we leave him too… then no one from Ma Dam Village survives."
She spoke softly.
"Someone has to remember them, don't they?"
She recalled the principal's ramblings from before.
Woodpecker snorted.
Looking at the demon mask she wore, he muttered:
"Naive. Foolish mercy."
Ayane puffed out her chest.
"Correct. I am a woman."
They had only traveled together for two days.
But after surviving a life-and-death battle, she'd realized Woodpecker wasn't truly heartless.
If he were as cold as he claimed, he would've said those words long ago.
"Tian'e. I need to treat my wounds. Stand guard."
He sat cross-legged.
"Stay sharp. We're close to the front line. Konoha scouts could appear anytime."
Please stop raising death flags.
If you enjoy tempting fate so much, why not change your codename to Crow?
Ayane leapt onto a tree branch in response.
She was exhausted.
Every muscle screamed for rest.
After consecutive battles and a full day of flight, even a chakra-powered superhuman felt it.
But she was the only pillar standing.
After confirming no abnormalities nearby, she found a concealed perch and summoned her panel.
[You have completed a difficult physical training session!]
[Achievement Points +16!]
She nearly lost her composure.
So the system considered fleeing for her life a jogging session?
How unintelligent!
Skipping that notification—
She scrolled down.
[You have obtained a new trait!]
[New Trait: Killing Intent Overflow (White)]
[Trait Description: Kill one and you are a criminal. Slaughter ten thousand and you are a hero!]
[Trait Effect: You may manifest intangible killing intent, releasing it to oppress and intimidate enemies. Note: The intimidation effect depends on your accumulated Killing Intent value.]
[Upgrade Requirement: 1000 Achievement Points + 1000 Killing Intent Value]
…What is this?
The shinobi-world version of Conqueror's Haki?
She complained internally.
So others had kingly potential—
And she had serial killer potential?
Still, killing intent did exist in Naruto.
During the Chunin Exams, Sasuke had nearly collapsed in the Forest of Death when Orochimaru released his killing intent.
And Sasuke was an Uchiha—naturally resistant to mental pressure.
Which meant—
This thing was amazing for bullying the weak.
She checked her current Killing Intent value.
Killing that rogue chunin had only granted 24 points.
To upgrade this trait—
She'd need to kill at least forty similar targets.
Wasn't that basically pushing her onto the battlefield?
Killing is a bad habit… looks like I won't be quitting anytime soon.
She closed the panel, swallowed another Military Rations Pills, and her mind drifted back to Ma Dam Village.
Not to the thrill of victory—
But to the corpses soaked in mud.
This was only the Second Great Ninja War.
Amegakure is still strong.
Hanzō is still ambitious.
And yet it already looked like that.
What would the Third War turn the Land of Rain into?
No wonder the Akatsuki would later rise so quickly.
The civilians needed hope—
Even if that hope burned them alive like moths to flame.
But—
The Land of Rain had started this war.
Amegakure wasn't innocent.
Rain falls year-round here.
Commerce was nearly impossible.
Even farming was difficult.
She remembered her mother once saying that rice from the Land of Whirlpools was more than ten times cheaper than in the Land of Rain.
A country that had to import food—
How could it not consider invasion?
During poor harvest seasons—
A single bowl of rice cost five thousand ryō.
Five thousand.
In coins, you couldn't even hold it all in one hand.
Thunder rumbled, breaking her thoughts.
Ayane exhaled and cast aside her patriotic melancholy.
She was just a ninja about to enter the battlefield.
Who knew if she would even survive?
Why think so far ahead?
She looked up at the sky.
A black canopy of clouds pressed down like a suffocating net.
Then—
Like lightning splitting the heavens—
A thought flashed through her heart.
If one day…
I become a god of this world…
The first thing I'll do—
Is tear this ugly sky apart—
So it can never block my sight again.