Dawn broke cold and gray over the forest.
After hiding through the night inside a narrow cave, Reina and Sora resumed their journey the moment the sky began to brighten.
Traveling at night had been too dangerous.
The forests surrounding the borderlands were pitch-black after sunset, filled with uneven terrain and endless hiding places.
If their pursuer cornered them there, they would have no chance of escape.
Reina held Sora’s hand tightly as they moved through the trees.
Her palm was warm despite the cold air.
“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered softly, forcing a smile for his sake.
“We’ll reach somewhere safe soon.” Then she quickened her pace toward Konohagakure.
Even now, she still didn’t fully understand why they were being hunted.
But deep down, she already knew the answer.
The Uzumaki bloodline itself was enough reason.
After the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan, survivors became valuable targets throughout the shinobi world.
Their enormous chakra reserves and abnormal life force attracted greedy people from every hidden corner of society.
To some, an Uzumaki survivor was less a person… …and more a prize.
— Suddenly, Reina stopped.
A suffocating pressure swept over the forest behind them.
Sora felt it too.
Their pursuer had caught up.
Reina immediately pulled Sora behind her, shielding him with her body as she stared ahead with trembling eyes.
A black-cloaked figure stepped out from between the trees.
“You…” Reina’s voice shook violently.
“What did you do to my husband?” The man’s expression barely changed.
“He’s dead.” The answer came coldly, without hesitation.
The bounty hunter clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“I was supposed to bring all three of you back alive,” he muttered.
“But your husband made that difficult.” His gaze carried open contempt.
“He came at me with a woodcutter’s axe like some lunatic.
Even after I broke his leg, he kept trying to stop me.” The man scoffed.
“In the end, he bled out.” Every word hit Reina like a blade.
For a moment, she looked as though her soul itself had cracked apart.
But then survival instinct took over.
She grabbed Sora’s hand and ran.
— The bounty hunter laughed mockingly as they fled.
With one smooth motion, he pulled several senbon needles from his sleeve and flicked them forward.
The thin projectiles sliced through the air with deadly precision.
Sora’s eyes widened.
Everything happened in an instant.
Without thinking, he shoved himself toward his mother— —and the senbon struck his back.
Pain exploded through his body.
The world spun violently before he collapsed into the dirt.
“SORA!” Reina’s scream echoed through the forest.
She dropped to her knees beside him, panic overtaking her completely.
Her husband was gone.
Now her son lay motionless in front of her.
The bounty hunter approached slowly, unconcerned.
The senbon had been coated with a strong anesthetic.
Even trained shinobi would struggle to stay conscious after taking a direct hit.
Capturing the woman and child alive was still enough to complete the mission.
Reina held Sora tightly in her arms as despair swallowed her whole.
Then something changed in her eyes.
The grief remained.
But beneath it, something fierce ignited.
This man had destroyed her family.
Killed her husband.
And now he was trying to take her child.
Slowly, Reina reached into her hair and removed a jade hairpin.
A simple ornament.
A gift from Ryu years ago.
Now, it was the only weapon she had left.
— The bounty hunter stepped closer and reached for her.
At that exact moment, Reina lunged forward.
With all the strength she had left, she drove the sharpened hairpin straight into his neck.
Blood sprayed across the forest floor.
The man staggered backward in shock, clutching at the wound.
He clearly hadn’t expected resistance from a civilian woman.
Rage twisted his face instantly.
“You bitch!” He lashed out with a brutal kick.
The impact sent Reina crashing violently against a tree trunk.
She slid to the ground coughing blood, her body trembling weakly.
Meanwhile, the bounty hunter staggered as blood poured through his fingers.
The wound was fatal.
He could feel his strength rapidly leaving him.
Madness filled his eyes.
“If I’m dying…” he rasped, “you’re coming with me.” With shaking hands, he ripped a kunai free and hurled it toward the unconscious Sora.
But his aim failed.
The blade slammed into the dirt several feet away, quivering uselessly.
A second later, the bounty hunter collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Stillness returned to the forest.
Only the wind moved.
— Time passed.
Neither Reina nor Sora stirred.
Then, distant footsteps approached through the trees.
Several masked shinobi landed silently nearby.
Anbu.
The group immediately spread out to assess the scene.
At their front stood a tall silver-haired man wearing a fox mask.
Kakashi Hatake.
Beside him was a much younger black-haired boy, small and silent beneath his own mask.
The scent of blood hung heavily in the air as the Anbu surveyed the aftermath.
Dead bounty hunter.
Red-haired woman.
Unconscious child.
Scattered senbon and a bloodstained hairpin.
Kakashi’s gaze sharpened instantly.
“Two of you investigate the attacker,” he ordered calmly.
“The rest, check the survivors.” The Anbu moved immediately.
One shinobi knelt beside Reina and checked for signs of life.
After a moment, he slowly shook his head.
“She’s gone.” Another examined Sora carefully.
“There are poison-coated senbon in his back,” he reported.
“But he still has a pulse.
Weak breathing too.” Kakashi crouched beside the boy.
His visible eye lingered briefly on Sora’s red hair.
For a fleeting moment, he was reminded of Kushina Uzumaki.
The similarity was impossible to ignore.
Kakashi quietly pushed the thought aside.
“Remove the senbon carefully,” he said.
“Administer antidotes immediately.” A medical kit was quickly unpacked.
The needles were removed one by one, the wounds cleaned and treated with antidote before being lightly bandaged.
Throughout it all, Sora never woke.
Only a faint crease between his brows showed any sign of discomfort.
When the treatment was finished, one of the Anbu carefully lifted the unconscious child into his arms.
Kakashi glanced once more at Reina’s body resting beneath the tree.
Something unreadable flickered behind his mask.
Finally, he spoke quietly.
“Bring her too.” The team moved out moments later, vanishing into the forest as silently as they had arrived.
And with that, Sora’s journey toward Konoha finally began.