dmims Chapter 519 Border Town of the Land of Fields
Chapter 519 Border Town of the Land of Fields
Danzo, expressionless, reached out and pulled one out of the paper bag as well.
He held the dried scorpion between his thumb and forefinger, his posture upright and cautious, his gaze like that of a highly precise instrument, quickly scanning the granularity and uniformity of the salt grains on the scorpion's shell.
Two seconds later.
He put the scorpion in his mouth.
The upper and lower jaws bite precisely. Once. Twice.
"It's too salty."
"It's because you have a bland taste."
Sakumo Hatake retorted without hesitation, and with lightning speed, he snatched the paper bag back, as if afraid that Danzo would reach for a second one.
He turned the paper bag toward Uchiha Kagami.
"Mirror, would you like to try some?"
"Give me two."
Uchiha Kagami smiled and took it, then, just like Sakumo, popped it into his mouth. After savoring it, he gave a gentle and sincere evaluation.
"It's really good. The flavor is much richer than the batch that Deer Antlers brought me last time."
"That batch was an air-dried experimental sample, and the dehydration was not complete."
As Shuo Mao explained, he resealed the paper bag and put it back into his tool bag, completing the entire action in one smooth motion, as if he were finishing the final step of a precise process.
"This batch has an improved formula. After using wind-style dehydration, the salting time has been extended by half a day."
"call--"
A stronger gust of wind blew in from the west, carrying a dry, unique scent of sand.
Shuo Mao folded the bamboo leaves in his hand and put them into his waist pouch.
When he looked up, his gaze was calm as he looked toward the southwest horizon.
The moonlight there had its edges dulled by a layer of pale yellow dust that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, making it slightly dimmer than the moonlight overhead.
"Let's go."
The three started afresh.
This time, they were a gear faster than before.
The formation remained unchanged, with Sakumo in front, cutting through the wind like a sharp blade; Danzo on the left flank, as steady as a rock; and Kagami at the very back on the right flank, silently holding the line.
The perfect advancing formation, composed of isosceles triangles, remained unchanged in the distance between its three sides—a number personally measured by Danzo with a measuring tape, a number that had been deeply ingrained in the instincts of these three men through decades of tacit understanding.
The wind began to blow into my collar.
After traveling for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a few faint, swaying halos appeared on the distant horizon of the night sky.
The light was faint, like stardust soaked in thick ink.
Uchiha Kagami paused slightly on the rightmost treetop, his pupils revealing three tomoe that slowly spun, their fleeting crimson reflections mirroring the distant night.
"lights."
His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of the other two, as if it were right next to their ears.
"Seven...eight places. It's a small town."
He paused briefly, and his Sharingan scanned the area again, taking in all the information.
"The chakra reaction within the town is weak, with no fluctuations at the level of a strong individual."
Almost the instant Kagami finished speaking, Danzo on the left flank had already vanished like a ghost into the deep shadow cast by a giant tree. His right hand silently rested on the ninja tool pouch behind his waist, his five fingers loosely clenched, ready to unleash a thunderous attack at any moment.
"Scale?" His voice came from the shadows, low and hoarse.
"Not big, about thirty to forty households."
Uchiha Kagami responded quickly.
"At the entrance of town, there's a two-story wooden building with a sign hanging on it; it looks like a hotel. The rest are all residences and warehouses."
Ahead, Sakumo Hatake, acting as the arrowhead, peeked out from between the tree canopy, his gaze passing over the layers of branches and leaves, landing on the sparse lights in the distance.
A small town in the southern part of the Land of Fields.
There are also hotels.
This means that traveling merchants or travelers would occasionally stop here.
For three ninjas on a highly classified mission, this place was the ideal resupply point.
The scale was small enough not to attract any unnecessary attention, yet large enough to provide them with the necessary dry rations and water.
"A hidden sentry?"
Danzo's voice rang out again, carrying his usual caution.
"Nothing was found."
Shuo Mao withdrew his gaze, having already made up his mind.
"Then... rest for half an hour."
Danzo Shimura emerged from the shadow that seemed to devour light, his expression hidden beneath his hood.
But he reached out and straightened his slightly disheveled collar; this meticulous gesture itself represented tacit approval.
Uchiha Kagami's figure also floated down from behind, and he nodded slightly.
Before entering the town, the three of them did the same thing, almost without prior arrangement—
Conceal your breath.
It was as if three drawn blades had been instantly sheathed, and all the sharpness, killing intent, and the heavy oppressive feeling belonging to the top experts had vanished without a trace in an instant.
The three men who stood at the pinnacle of power and combat strength in Konoha disguised themselves as three ordinary travelers who had been traveling all night.
Sakumo removed the headband that symbolized Konoha's honor and responsibility from his forehead, carefully folded it, and tucked it into his bosom close to his body.
Danzo pulled down the hood of his outer robe, the wide brim obscuring half of his angular face.
Uchiha Kagami took out a pair of black-rimmed non-prescription glasses from his pocket and put them on.
These glasses were produced by Orochimaru's research lab. The lenses contain an extremely subtle interference technique. Even if the Sharingan is activated inside, the leaked chakra fluctuations will be distorted and smoothed out, so that outsiders cannot see anything unusual.
"Let's go."