The Main Characters Arrive

Two men sat at a corner table, their voices hushed as they exchanged whispers.

"Psst, have you heard?" one man in a wide-brimmed hat asked, leaning closer to his companion.

"Yeah, I heard Konoha was outraged to learn that Tazuna was killed," the other replied, his voice low. "No one knows who did it. Everyone was wiped out—no witnesses."

Kai, sitting a few tables away, listened intently, his eyes narrowing as he absorbed the information. The gossip continued, and he heard that Konoha had sent several shinobi to investigate the attack.

His interest piqued. This was exactly what he had expected. He quietly slipped away from the bar, vanishing into the shadows, leaving nothing but an empty chair behind.

...

Across the Great Naruto Bridge, four figures moved swiftly, their expressions tense and focused. The first was a boy with bright blond hair, spiky and unruly, and eyes as blue as the sky. His face was set in a determined frown, and a headband with a metal plate sat across his forehead, bearing the symbol of Konoha. He wore an orange jumpsuit, its bright color standing out against the mist surrounding the bridge. 

Beside him was another figure, quieter and more composed. He had pale skin and short black hair that framed his face neatly. His dark eyes were unreadable, and he carried an ink brush tucked into his pouch. He moved with the grace of a shadow, his presence subtle but purposeful.

Following them was a young woman with short pink hair, her emerald-green eyes filled with determination. She wore a red dress and a forehead protector similar to the others. Her expression was one of worry, but beneath it lay a readiness for action. Her hands flexed as if itching to unleash the power she held within.

Leading them all was an older man with silver hair that spiked upward and a mask covering the lower half of his face. His left eye was covered by his Konoha headband, which tilted diagonally across his face. His lone, visible eye was sharp and focused, scanning the area ahead. 

The four of them rushed forward, and soon, the ruins of the town hall came into view. The blond boy was the first to react, his eyes wide with fury as he took in the destruction. "This is terrible!" he shouted, clenching his fists.

The others followed, and they all moved into the wreckage, their eyes searching for any signs of survivors or clues. The ruins were a mess of shattered wood and stone, the remnants of the town hall that had once stood as a beacon of hope for the village.

As the blond boy sifted through the debris, he stopped, his eyes catching something partially buried in the rubble. Reaching down, he pulled out a small hat, one he recognized immediately. It was small and simple, the kind often worn by a young boy he knew well

His face tightened with emotion, and he gripped the hat, his voice barely a whisper. "Inari..."

The pink-haired girl knelt beside her friend, her expression gentle as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, calm down," she urged softly, trying to comfort him. But her words did little to ease the pain in his eyes.

Naruto fell to his knees, clutching the small hat tightly. The anger in his face faded, replaced by a look of sorrow. "Inari... all these people..." he whispered, his voice cracking. It wasn't rage that filled him now, but grief. The village he had once fought to protect, the people he had shared an adventure with, were gone.

The silver-haired man, standing a few paces away, observed the scene. His lone visible eye softened for a moment, but then, a sudden sensation rippled through him. It was as if an invisible eye had scanned his very being. His body tensed as he immediately shifted his gaze, scanning the area with a heightened alertness.

"Hmm?" he muttered under his breath, eyes darting around as he looked for any signs of the presence he had felt. But there was nothing—just the rubble and the stillness of the night. "Is it just my feeling?" he wondered, his instincts sharpened, but the sensation vanished as quickly as it had come.

Shaking off the thought, he turned back to the others. "Naruto," he called out, his voice calm but firm. "I know this is hard for you, but we're still on a mission. We need to investigate and find any possible clues."

Naruto looked up at his mentor, his anguish clear. But he nodded, wiping his eyes as he stood. "Yeah... I understand," he replied, though his voice was heavy with the weight of loss.

The four shinobi spread out across the ruins of the town hall, each moving with practiced precision as they searched for any trace of the culprit behind the massacre. 

The pink-haired girl called out, "Over here!" Her voice echoed through the silent ruins.

The others quickly gathered around her, and she pointed to a section of the floor that had been charred and gouged by some kind of violent attack. Amidst the blackened wood and crumbling stone was a faint, but clear, mark: an intricate symbol carved into the ground, still glowing faintly with dark energy. The symbol looked like shadow or head of the devil. It was unlike any seal or jutsu symbol they had seen before.

"What is this?" the blond boy muttered, crouching down to get a closer look. "I've never seen anything like it."

The silver-haired man studied the symbol carefully. "It's not from any village's technique that I know of," he murmured, his hand hovering over the glowing mark. "But it's recent."

The pale-skinned shinobi took a closer look, his expression thoughtful. "It doesn't resemble any chakra-based symbol I'm familiar with. This isn't from a shinobi school—it's something else entirely." He sketched a copy of the mark in his notebook for future analysis.

The pink-haired girl frowned, kneeling beside the symbol. "But why would someone leave this behind? It looks like a signature."

"Or a warning," the silver-haired man added, his expression darkening. "Whoever did this seems like they're confident... or they're taunting us."

The blond boy clenched his fists, his anger rekindling. "So, they're mocking us? Whoever did this—I'll make sure they pay for what they did to this village!"

The silver-haired man remained calm, his sharp gaze focused on the symbol. But then his eye caught something else—a small fragment buried in the rubble next to the mark. He carefully reached down and pulled it out. It was a piece of black fabric, torn and singed, with a faint, sickly green residue staining it. He held it up for the others to see.

"This… looks like it came from someone's cloak," he said. "And this residue—it's not normal chakra. It feels tainted, almost like dark energy."

The pink-haired girl looked at it closely, her brows furrowing. "Could it be a trace of the attacker's power?"

"Possibly," the silver-haired man responded, slipping the fragment into his pouch for further analysis back in Konoha. "But whoever this person is, they're not using traditional chakra techniques. We're dealing with something completely foreign."

The pale-skinned shinobi nodded, his expression serious. "If this person is using an unknown energy source, it might explain the massive destruction they caused here. We'll need to report this back to Lady Tsunade as soon as possible."

The silver-haired man looked out over the wreckage of the town hall, his eye narrowing. "Whoever this is, they're powerful. And if they left this clue behind, it means they're not afraid of us—or they want us to find them."