The hospital room was too quiet.
Tsunade stood over the sleeping boy—her boy, if the scrolls were to be believed—watching the steady rise and fall of his chest. He looked so peaceful. So alive.
But she knew better.
The moment she had touched his hand, she had felt it—the unnatural chill beneath his skin, the whisper of chakra that didn't belong to this world.
The Yurei No Ko. A ghost given flesh.
And if the legends were true, his presence meant only one thing:
More children would disappear.
---
The Second Vanishing
The next morning, another child was gone.
A boy from the Hyūga compound, vanished from his bed in the dead of night. No broken seals. No signs of intrusion. Just an empty futon and an open window, the curtains fluttering like pale, grasping fingers.
Tsunade arrived to find Hiashi Hyūga standing rigid in the center of the room, his Byakugan flaring as he scanned every inch of the space.
"There's no trace," he said, voice clipped. "No chakra residue. Nothing."
Tsunade clenched her fists. Because it wasn't a person who took him. It was something else.
Then, from the hallway—
A giggle.
High-pitched. Playful.
Tsunade turned just in time to see a small shadow dart around the corner.
She moved instantly, shunshining into the corridor—
But it was empty.
Except for a single, tiny handprint on the wall.
Still damp.
As if a child had pressed their palm there moments ago.
---
The Boy Who Remembers Nothing
Back at the hospital, the nameless boy sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at the wall with an eerie stillness.
"Do you know what's happening?" Tsunade asked bluntly.
The boy blinked slowly. "They're lonely."
A chill crawled up her spine. "Who is?"
"The other children." His voice was soft, distant. "They want to play."
Tsunade's jaw tightened. "Play where?"
The boy finally looked at her, his dark eyes hollow.
"Where the light doesn't reach."
---
The Third Victim
By nightfall, a third child disappeared.
This time, there was a witness.
A young chuunin on patrol swore he saw a group of children—pale, silent—leading a crying girl into the forest. When he gave chase, they vanished like mist.
Tsunade listened to his report with growing dread.
The summoned spirits were taking the living.
And the boy in the hospital was the key.
---
The Bargain
She confronted him that night, slamming her hands on either side of his bed.
"Enough games," she snarled. "You're drawing them here, aren't you?"
The boy didn't flinch. "I didn't ask to come back."
"Then why are you here?"
For the first time, emotion flickered across his face—something raw and aching.
"Because you called me."
Tsunade recoiled. No. That wasn't possible.
But then—
She remembered the nights spent drowning in sake. The whispered regrets. The desperate, foolish wish she had buried so deep she almost forgot it herself.
"I should have been there. I should have saved you."
Her breath hitched.
The boy's eyes gleamed in the dim light.
"You wanted me back," he whispered. "And now I'm here."
A beat of silence.
Then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
From the hallway.
Three slow, deliberate raps against the door.
The boy's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"They're here."
---
To Be Continued…
Next Chapter Preview:
- The spirits arrive in force—Tsunade must face the ghosts of her past or watch Konoha's children vanish one by one.
- A forbidden ritual comes to light, revealing the horrifying truth behind the boy's resurrection.
- The final choice: accept the ghost child as her own… or condemn him—and herself—to oblivion.