Iwamine had lived in Gorin City for two months.
The two most dangerous, nerve-wracking months of her life, where every moment, she faced the threat of death.
At first, after Iwamine was attacked, she tried to escape the city, return to Sunagakure, or smuggle herself out of the Land of Wind's territory, back to the Land of Water.
But she quickly discovered that there were large numbers of official samurai inside Gorin City searching for her tracks, and the city entrances and exits were filled with patrolling personnel.
Smuggling was even more impossible.
Smugglers were a bunch of people who recognized only money, not people. Once Iwamine went to them, she would be resold the same day.
Since she couldn't escape, she thought of trying to call Sunagakure for help, or directly sending out a carrier pigeon to Kirigakure for rescue.
Soon, Iwamine was glad she hadn't done that.
Because after asking around, she learned that the cities of the Land of Wind were different from other regions, ordinary carrier pigeons simply couldn't fly out of the desert. Only the specially bred desert falcons used by officials could.
As for phones, they were monitored from behind the scenes.
At this point, Iwamine clearly realized she was trapped inside this giant oasis city.
She could not escape, nor could she contact the outside world.
All she could do was try her best to guarantee her own safety, waiting for her friends in Kirigakure to notice something unusual as soon as possible.
The Land of Wind was vast, possessing the largest territory in the entire shinobi world. Yet because of its vast desert lands, agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry simply could not develop.
The only thing worth mentioning was the mineral resources and oil buried beneath the ground.
The civilians of the Land of Wind, the shinobi, before the shinobi villages were even established, generation after generation, had racked their brains to dig up underground resources.
Thus came three techniques.
Puppet Technique, which at first appeared to reduce casualties when mining and to improve efficiency; Wind Release, convenient for blowing away surface sand and dust.
Magnet Release, Sand Release, these types of Kekkei Genkai controlling sand and metal, were likewise for the sake of easier resource extraction.
Based on the Puppet Technique and the application of chakra threads, the surveillance facilities of the major cities of the Land of Wind were extremely complete.
If Iwamine walked openly on the streets, it wouldn't take long before she would be discovered by Arima Yukito's subordinates.
She could only hide in the lowest level slums of Gorin City.
The so-called "slums" were actually simple houses modified from abandoned underground drainage systems. Here, the number of surveillance devices was the rarest.
The people living here were mostly outsourced workers from factories, mockingly called "rats" by the factories.
They were just like rats, crawling out from underground every dawn, and drilling back into the earth after dark, relying on meager wages to buy food that wasn't even tasty to feed their families.
Iwamine became one of the "rats," working odd jobs at nearby factories while searching for a chance to escape.
But as she searched…
She felt something was wrong.
People living in Gorin City would, without even noticing, become extremely depressed, as if something was hollowing out the vitality in their hearts.
On one hand, it was the terrifying intensity of the work. Endless labor made people mentally and physically exhausted.
On the other hand, because of the mastery of puppet technique, people had to accept bodily modifications from the factories in order to work. The phantom pain and psychological illnesses brought by this also tormented them.
But still, it wasn't right.
As an outsider, and also unlike the migrant workers who came to Gorin City for labor, Iwamine had enough faith in her heart to support her soul.
Even so, she still sensed negative emotions sprouting within her.
That meant there had to be another inducement.
If she were still "Oiran," of course she wouldn't care, but…
Iwamine thought of that moment when she clinked glasses with Ryosuke, and from his mouth heard the words "Teacher Iwamine."
She decided to investigate.
She would lift the shroud covering this city… Perhaps she couldn't fully lift it, but even if she could pry open one corner, even just leave behind a white mark of her attempt to pry it open, later generations would be able to find a way.
This was not a pleasant experience.
She tanned, she got injured, she was hated, she was attacked, several times nearly killed… Yet at the same time, a group of people holding the same purpose gathered at Iwamine's side.
They were workers, students, and even blind people.
At this moment, everyone quietly looked at the candle flame raised high in Iwamine's hand.
"Ten days ago, two of our companions gave their lives to bring back important intelligence."
Iwamine's voice was clear and cold, "Underneath Gorin City is carved a barrier covering the entire metropolis. According to the barrier's incantations, this is most likely an ultra-large-scale illusion-type barrier."
Illusion, genjutsu, meant using delicate chakra fluctuations to disturb the opponent's five senses, thereby creating hallucinations.
As long as this disturbance process was finely adjusted, then for a group of people already driven by work to exhaustion, making their emotions turn even more negative…
This was simply too easy.
For example, after working a full day, you want to relax with a couple games of "casual entertainment," but then you lose ten times in a row. The negative emotions in your heart would absolutely explode.
A male member raised his hand to ask, "Boss lady, are we really going to act tomorrow? Won't it be too rushed?"
"Let me explain."
An old blind man standing on the other side said, "It was something I felt. Just yesterday morning, the barrier's energy fluctuations suddenly increased several times."
"At this rate, soon large numbers of people who can't endure it will choose suicide. And there will be even more, under the influence of negative emotions, who will erupt into violent tendencies."
Everyone in the room understood.
Waiting and preparing longer sounded beautiful.
But this city wouldn't wait for them.
The oasis that had fed their ancestors, in their generation, had already turned into a demon's lair that devoured people without spitting out their bones.
"They call us rats."
"But tomorrow, tomorrow night."
Iwamine said, "We rats will crawl up the Buddha's candlestick, overturn the oil lamp, ignite a great fire, and burn this so-called 'Gorin,' this glittering false Buddhist hall, to ashes."
The candlelight in her hand swayed slightly with the breathing of more than fifty people.
Yet, no matter how the flame flickered in their eyes, it could not shake their determination.
To avoid surveillance, and also to store up their strength, they had rested underground in darkness for a whole day…
It was time to move.
Iwamine swept her gaze around, then put on the hood of her cloak.
More than fifty people also put on their hoods, covering their faces in shadow.
Beneath their heavy cloaks, in their hands, each gripped clubs and smuggled explosive tags.
They were not shinobi, at most, just some brave ordinary people. The vast majority of their task was to create disturbances at the barrier's edges, supporting the elite squad led by Iwamine in striking at the deepest point.
Of course, they weren't without advantages either.
As "rats," Iwamine was extremely familiar with the intricate underground pipeline system beneath Gorin City.
"Move out!"
More than fifty people stepped forward, plunging into the shadows, beginning tomorrow night's "Mouse Operation."
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