「 ✦ Wandering the dangerous woods✦ 」

The forest of Shinsenkyo is not normal.

It is not simply overgrown, nor simply dangerous. It is wrong in a way that cannot be immediately explained—quiet when it should be alive, still when it should be teeming, and heavy in a way that presses into the lungs like damp stone.

Every member of the expedition understands one thing clearly:

This island is watching them.

Gabimaru leads at the front, moving with the controlled efficiency of someone who has survived countless executions. He does not speak unless necessary. He does not hesitate. But beneath his stillness, his instincts are constantly active—reading for movement, pressure, threat.

Sagiri walks beside him, blade drawn but disciplined. She is a Yamada Asaemon executioner trained to observe life and end it when required, yet Shinsenkyo challenges that clarity. The boundary between duty and doubt becomes thinner the deeper they go.

Senta observes the environment with cautious curiosity, attempting to maintain rational thought in a place that defies it.

Yuzuriha remains relaxed on the surface, but never careless. Her survival depends on reading danger before it arrives—and this island feels like danger that does not announce itself.

They are not explorers.

They are not guests.

They are intruders in something ancient and unwelcoming.