A Bloody Morning

When Suguru woke up the next day, he was greeted by a cold morning. The sun had yet to rise and roast the sands.

It was a peaceful hour.

'Even though it feels like the calm before the storm,' Suguru squinted.

There it was again. A vague gut feeling that something was going to happen. It was a coldness in his stomach — like adrenaline on the verge of being released.

Now, however, he knew that it wasn't a sign of just danger. It also signified an opportunity. It was his body anticipating the thrill of battle.

The bone-chilling brush with death.

Suguru excitedly breathed in the atmosphere, relishing in the impending moments wrought with the scent of iron. The acrid smell of burning flesh.

Peace could only be the beloved of those embroiled in war.

'I'm getting unnecessarily emotional,' Suguru shook his mind off of such thoughts and returned to his senses.

He glanced around his room.

It was clean as if no one had lived there for an entire week and rarely left. Although dust had accumulated in some places, it wasn't enough to warrant it as dirt.

They were mere specks, undeserving of a tired cleaner's attention.

'It's time to head out,' Suguru thought as he got up.

As he did, his eyes drifted towards the window of his room. For a moment, he felt that somebody was there. It was a feeling that disappeared before he could react.

A dangerous premonition surfaced within Suguru's mind.

'...Something's going to go wrong,'

It seemed like his instincts weren't telling him to be aware of an opportunity. Instead, he was being warned of a threat to his life.

Suguru's eyes flashed as he debated on what to do.

If he activated his Kaisugan right now, something was going to happen.

After a tense moment, Suguru laughed.

'Why am I thinking about such things? It seems like I lack resolve.' Suguru's eyes began to shatter. 'I'm soft.'

And his Kaisu-Sharingan was activated, shining with a crimson gleam and stained with black tomoe.

His gaze drifted away from his body while he hid in plain sight. To any sensor, he was but a normal genin, weak and ignorant of what would occur. However, to anyone standing before him, he was a hungry vulture searching for prey.

'Now,' Suguru grinned, 'Let's see what we have here.'

***

There was a faction of shinobi opposed to the use of the Real Mirage Formation. They did not fancy the idea of being spied on constantly. Even Hiruzen never spied on the people of Konoha day in and day out.

The Real Mirage Formation, however, did just that, intruding upon the interests of the more secretive shinobi out there.

Like Suguru, they devised a technique to avoid detection.

They used the technique to communicate with each other. Secret messages were passed around rapidly, further fuelling their frustrations.

Many thought such things wouldn't have been necessary if not for the existence of the Real Mirage Formation. Under such a formation, even their private lives were not safe from scrying.

Thus...

Blood was scheduled to be drawn amongst the people hiding in the sands. Their targets were the various shinobi who had once maintained or were currently maintaining the formation. These were all shinobi who had looked into their secrets.

They were secretly using them as blackmail.

Or even using them as leverage.

Furthermore, they also targeted the genin attending the Chuunin Exams. If the current leadership of Sunagakure suffered a loss from such an incident, they would stand much to gain.

Although it was a gamble given the possible retaliation of other villages, losing only a few genin would not make them do much. Perhaps a few sanctions and a worsening reputation would be the only thing Sunagakure would face.

Suguru was one of such targets. A genin with no important clan behind him. A child who had likely been a genin only for a year.

One glance at him was all it took to write him up as a target.

Katayama Kiyomi was the one who suggested making Suguru a target. She was one of the more vocal shinobi when going against the Real Mirage Formation. People around her knew that she was very much against it.

However, they would never have expected her to go so far...

'The last one should be that genin from Konoha,' Kiyomi thought while blood continued to drip from her blade.

The bastards who dared spy on her had met excruciating deaths. Carved out by their blades. She made sure to torture them slowly.

For every lecherous gaze they had sent her way, she had healed them and reapplied the pain. It was a satisfying experience.

Unfortunately, it meant that she spent too much time with each of her targets.

She was one of the last to complete her list, and she was not yet done.

'Oh, he's awake.' Kiyomi saw the boy through his window. He had just finished getting ready for the Chuunin Exams he would participate in later in the day.

Despite the assaulting smell of blood, she moved towards her last target. She advanced brazenly. After all, she had been a chuunin for a while. Among the chuunin, she was already considered strong.

After all, she could kill so many of her fellow shinobi.

A measly little genin would not prove to be much of a challenge.

***

Entering through the window, Kiyomi felt that the boy was going down the stairs to the main area of the compound. She heard her footsteps and extended her chakra field just enough to encompass his location.

After confirming that she indeed found her target, her fingers twitched.

'Blade Manipulation Jutsu,'

Chakra extended from her hands, engulfing an area and causing her kunai to levitate. She then sent them forward at deadly speeds, slithering through the doors of the compound and instantly reaching her target's back.

—Ssuk! Ssuk! Ssuk!

'Easy,' Kiyomi thought. It was as expected.

Upon feeling that she made contact with her target's vital points, she confirmed his death using her chakra field.

Upon noticing the dissipating chakra, she nodded to herself. There was no need to torture the child like she did all those men. The Konoha genin was merely a sacrifice for her goals.

It was already unfortunate enough that they had to include an outsider in their protests.

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