The dark mountain forest, surrounded by towering pines, reflected faint moonlight on the snow disrupted by countless cat paw prints.
And there was something else—
Golden, illusory patterns rippling across her field of vision.
Those golden patterns seemed to captivate the soul.
They appeared on the pines, on the snow, and crept into Akimichi's retinas.
Making her consciousness blur once again.
Akimichi thought of something at that moment.
It's like… she'd seen them before.
Not in the warehouse at home, but at the platform of Mount Hakkoda.
She had followed those golden, illusory patterns and wandered into the forest in a daze.
Thump.
Nachi Akimichi collapsed powerlessly into the snow.
She saw the shadows of several large cats break through the struggling tidal wave of black fur, rushing toward her.
The contours of the beasts grew larger and larger in her vision.
"It's over…"
This wasn't… there's no way to escape, is there?
"Nai Xun!"
