The genjutsu shattered. The bed remained empty, but the phantom breathing cut off. She shook off the last clinging threads of the illusion and stretched her chakra out in time to sense a second foreign presence closing in on her like an arrow. Katsuko cursed and went for her blades.

Which was when a third enemy shinobi lunged up out of nowhere and crashed into Katsuko like a tidal wave.

An armored shoulder dug into Katsuko’s sternum; the back of her head smacked the wall hard enough to make lights explode behind her eyes. Wood and plaster caved underneath their combined weight; the bastard had tackled her through the wall.

For a heart-stopping second, everything went black. Her pain centers shut down. Katsuko’s focus narrowed down to the buzzing in her ears and the isolated sound of her own breath rasping in her throat.

They hit the floor with a crash. Katsuko lashed out blindly, breaking the enemy shinobi’s hold on her with an elbow to the underside of his chin. He cursed, breath hot against her ear; Katsuko kicked him away and flipped back up to her feet in a graceless, jerky movement. The world dipped and swayed around her like a drunken carousel as she lurched. She managed to stay upright and drew her katana, forcing her grip to remain steady. Her vision filtered back slowly, the blurred edges of the world resolving into a cloud of dust and scattered debris. They were in the hall outside Masaaki’s room.

The complete lunatic who’d used her for interior renovations surged to his feet, shaking plaster off of his shoulders. Tall, Katsuko’s brain supplied, helpfully. Maybe taller than Raidou. Definitely taller than Kakashi and the lieutenant. There were no lights in the narrow hallway, but the moon shone from Masaaki’s room through the ruined wall. The four dashed rain-marks of Kirigakure glinted on the man’s hitai-ate. He smiled, showing long white teeth filed into dagger-points, and opened his mouth.

Raidou’s chakra was still wavering at the edge of her senses. Katsuko didn’t have time for small talk. She lunged at the Kiri-nin and he drew a kunai from nowhere to block the scything edge of her katana, dancing backwards out of range. She snarled and gave chase.