At the border of the Land of Fire, adjacent to the Land of Hot Water, a Konoha squad was stationed.
Because the camp was located near the sea, the rainfall in this area was heavier compared to the drizzling rain within the Land of Fire.
The falling raindrops smashed into puddles on the ground, making it seem as if it were raining both from the sky and from the earth below.
Strong winds carrying the sudden downpour blew incessantly, snapping the Konoha flags within the camp straight, causing the tents to flap and rustle loudly in the wind and rain.
Whoosh!
Inside one tent, a fire stove burned warmly, not only dispelling the darkness of the night but also driving away the damp chill in the air, bringing a thread of comfortable warmth.
Two figures lay on beds near the stove, eyes closed, still resting peacefully in slumber. Two other figures sat by the window, keeping watch through the night.
Danzo had originally brought four squads of Root ninja to this border camp.
When he returned to Konoha, he took two squads back with him, leaving only these two squads behind.
The two ninja on watch duty lifted the heated sake from the stove, pouring the liquid into bowls with a splashing sound.
As steam rose, they caught the mellow, warm aroma of the alcohol and their eyes narrowed slightly.
"Good sake," the female Root ninja remarked after taking a sip.
"This is a specialty bought from the Land of Hot Water. If Lord Danzo hadn't sent word saying we can return to the village tomorrow morning, I wouldn't have brought it out to share with you," the other, more easygoing male Root ninja joked.
Actually, Konoha ninja had three prohibitions: the first was against luxury, the second against carnal pleasures, and the third was against alcohol.
However, ninja were also human and needed to release pressure.
Everyone ended up breaking these prohibitions to some degree.
If there were no demand, the red street entertainment district wouldn't have been built so close to Konoha village.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen was known to frequent such places in his youth.
This was especially true for Root ninja.
If they didn't vent the negative emotions building up inside them, their mental state would gradually collapse.
Of course, even while sneaking a drink, the two didn't neglect their vigilance.
After all, relations between Kumogakure and Konoha were tense; they wouldn't joke around with their own lives.
"Don't drink too much," the female Root ninja said.
"It's fine. The perception barrier is still active."
The male ninja seemed thoroughly weary of the harsh border life.
Knowing they could return to the village tomorrow, he found it hard to suppress his emotions.
Hearing this, the female ninja didn't press further, but she put down her own bowl of sake.
Drip… Drop…
A sound resembling raindrops falling from the eaves and shattering on the ground reached her ears.
The sound itself wasn't strange.
But the female ninja felt an inexplicable sense of unease. She subconsciously frowned, peering carefully outside the tent.
All she could see was the raging wind and rain; the hazy rain mist blurred everything.
Furthermore, the perception barrier hadn't given any alarm.
What's going on? Where is this feeling of wrongness coming from?
Is something missing?
Or, is there something extra? "…"
After a moment of silence, the female ninja scanned the area outside the tent and pushed the companion beside her. "Hoshi, something doesn't seem right."
But the moment she applied slight pressure, she suddenly felt the force in her hand meet empty air.
Thud… thud-thud…
The female ninja instinctively turned her head to look.
She saw her companion toppling over to the side.
His head, still wearing a faint expression of joy, slid off, making a series of crisp sounds like a football bouncing on the ground, rolling a trail of blood on the floor.
In that brief instant, the female ninja suddenly realized what was wrong.
The breathing was missing.
The breathing was too faint.
There were four people in the tent, but only her own breathing remained.
There was an extra faint smell of blood, growing stronger with the wind.
Not from outside the tent, but from inside.
But now, realizing it was already too late.
Squelch.
A glint of cold light, reflecting the faint light, flashed. In the tent, which was dimly lit from outside, several drops of blood splattered against the canvas.
Hyuga Kumokawa, clad in black robes, hung upside down above the two.
He withdrew his extended index and middle fingers, coated in a thin layer of chakra blades, from the female ninja's skull.
"Root ninja really aren't as sharp as ANBU, after all."
Hyuga Kumokawa glanced out of the corner of his eye at the two figures on the beds behind him, whose skulls he had also pierced.
They had already lost all signs of life.
The sound of 'raindrops' the female ninja had heard earlier was actually the sound of these two men's blood dripping.
If they hadn't placed so much trust in the perception barrier, perhaps they could have noticed the abnormality sooner.
But who would have thought that Hyuga Kumokawa could block perception? Even Pain had to circumvent Konoha's barriers.
Hyuga Kumokawa had spent another thousand points on the way to further enhance the perception-blocking effect of his "Shadow Robe".
In terms of infiltration ability, probably only a very few individuals could rival him now.
"A shame, wasted one 'puppet'."
Hyuga Kumokawa glanced regretfully at the headless corpse, stored it in a scroll, and then used the Puppet Curse Sphere to take control of the other three corpses.
This ability couldn't prevent the corpses from decaying.
So, unless he could turn the corpses into human puppets, these three bodies would rot before long.
Furthermore, without Otsutsuki Toneri's Giant Tenseigan, his current capability wasn't enough to control nearly a hundred puppets like Toneri could.
His current upper limit was ten puppets.
And Hyuga Hiashi was still alive. Controlling a living person took up five "slots".
"But, it's enough for now."
Hyuga Kumokawa looked at the three puppets kneeling on one knee before him and gave them the order to imitate their actions in life and await further commands.
Then, he once again recited silently in his mind: "Manifest - Otsutsuki Ruins."
[Please input coordinates]
"Coordinates - One thousand meters underground, Longitude 119°17'13.202" E, Latitude 54°12'12.115" N…" Hyuga Kumokawa silently recited the coordinate location agreed upon by Kumogakure and Konoha.
[Please input layout]
"Layout - Five-layer subterranean palace structure, impervious to perception abilities. Each layer requires absorbing chakra to open. The lower the level, the more chakra required. Leave a stone carving of the Ten-Tails at the entrance. Engrave a stele on the base left by 'Otsutsuki Kumoshiki'. The stele's content…"
Hyuga Kumokawa pondered, roughly sketching out the imagined underground ruin complex in his mind.
After several additions and refinements, the system's voice finally stopped asking for various details.
[Cost: 13000 Truth Points. Manifest?]
"…" Hyuga Kumokawa's eye twitched. "How much did you say?"
This was the first time he was manifesting such a large "project."
[Cost: 13000 Truth Points. Manifest?]
"Did you look at my balance and decide to drain me dry?" Hyuga Kumokawa took a sharp breath.
After a moment of silence, he asked mentally, "What if I only manifest the overall structure and the entrance of the ruins, along with the entrance details I mentioned, requiring the absorption of a massive amount of chakra to open?"
[Cost: 3000 Truth Points. Manifest?]
Hearing this, Hyuga Kumokawa's eyes flickered slightly.
After thinking it over for a long time, considering his Shadow Robe—every time the system was expensive, it seemed to deliver value exceeding the cost, perfectly matching his requests and even adding some details…
"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child."
With this thought, Hyuga Kumokawa's pupils focused. He said firmly, "Manifest!"
[Deducting 3000 Truth Points. Remaining Points: 10651]
The moment the prompt sounded in his mind, Hyuga Kumokawa felt a tremor beneath his feet.