Kumo Ninja Gathering Place

The forest at night returned to its most primal state, utterly peaceful. Sleeping predators began to stir, and beneath that tranquility, the law of the jungle played out to the fullest. Killing went on every second.

Pale moonlight fell softly upon the crown of a towering tree. On a branch as thick as an arm, Yemo sat cross-legged with his hands clasped and his eyes closed, perfectly still.

Yemo did not know how long he had remained in that state, but he sat there motionless as the moonlight fell over him like a fine veil.

Suddenly, Yemo's tightly shut eyes snapped open. A sharp gleam flashed through them, and he gently exhaled a stale breath.

"I've finally refined enough Chakra to replace what I used up!" Yemo said. Replenishing the Chakra he had consumed using the Revival Technique had taken quite some time.

By rights, after escaping death, Yemo should not have stayed in the dense forest. The most sensible course was to leave quickly while no one had discovered he was still alive, return to Konoha, and inform the Konoha Military Police Force that Kumo Ninja had infiltrated the border. Whatever happened after that would have nothing to do with him.

But after coming to the world of Naruto, he had finally encountered something like this, and he was unwilling to run away just because it was dangerous. The question of why the Kumo Ninja had come here also stirred his curiosity.

Besides, if he ran back now and notified the Konoha High Command, by the time they sent ninja here, it would probably be far too late. The Kumo Ninja would likely have long since gone who knew where.

After thinking it over, Yemo decided he still needed to investigate. Even if something really did turn out to be wrong, it would not be too late to run then.

The tree beneath Yemo's feet was the tallest for several hundred meters around, but beneath the cover of darkness, even with the pale moonlight, it was hard to make out anything more than ten meters away with the naked eye.

After all, Yemo's eyes were still ordinary eyes. He had neither the Byakugan nor the Sharingan, so he could not see in the dark under these conditions. But that did not mean he had no way to find the Kumo Ninja Jonin.

Yemo slowly closed his eyes and stood motionless, as if turned to stone. In truth, however, he had already activated his Mind's Eye.

"Open! Mind's Eye of the Kagura!"

This was one of the abilities inherited by the Uzumaki Clan, an auxiliary sensory secret technique that required strong sensory abilities to master. Its range was enormous: within a radius of dozens of kilometers, it could detect unusual movements through Chakra. It was one of the strongest sensory techniques of the age, an S-rank secret technique.

It was a secret technique passed down within the Uzumaki Clan, one that only members of the clan could learn. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Yemo naturally knew how to use the Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

As one of the strongest sensory techniques of the age, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura naturally had more to offer than its enormous range. If the user knew a specific Chakra signature, he could also sense its precise location and movements. He could learn the enemy's numbers and characteristics, even their movement speed, in great detail.

Having fought the Kumo Ninja Jonin earlier, Lin Yan naturally knew his Chakra. As long as the Jonin was still in the forest, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura would find him.

When Yemo extended his Mind's Eye, everything before him underwent a tremendous change. The night vanished, the pale moonlight disappeared, and even the dense forest faded beneath its gaze.

What appeared in Yemo's mind was a world of nothing but black and white. The ancient trees became black outlines, and the colorful world grew remarkably simple.

"Where is he? Where is he?"

Yemo used his Mind's Eye to search the surroundings. Everything that blocked his view vanished beneath its scrutiny, but after looking all around, he found no trace of Chakra.

With no other choice, Yemo expanded his search. As he did, more of the landscape appeared in his mind.

At last, a red light appeared in the black-and-white world in his mind. It represented the Kumo Ninja Jonin who had severely injured Yemo earlier.

"I finally found you!"

Yemo thought excitedly, but his expression soon grew serious. There were several blue lights beside the red one, which meant there were other ninja near the Kumo Ninja Jonin. Only ninja appeared as blue lights, while the Jonin appeared red because his specific Chakra was known.

Yemo was not yet very skilled at using the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, and finding the Kumo Ninja Jonin's location had already been a stretch. He could not yet determine how many ninja were around the Jonin or how strong they were.

Yemo opened his tightly shut eyes and deactivated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. After surveying his surroundings and confirming the direction of the Kumo Ninja Jonin, he leaped away and raced toward him.

Through a forest crisscrossed by countless branches, Yemo leaped like a nimble ape. The Kumo Ninja Jonin was more than ten kilometers away.

That distance was neither particularly short nor particularly long, but even at Yemo's speed, it took him more than ten minutes to arrive. After using the Mind's Eye of the Kagura again to pinpoint the Kumo Ninja Jonin's location, Yemo used the cover of darkness and the dense undergrowth to approach him slowly.

In the dark forest, a fire glowed through the leaves. The Kumo Ninja's gathering place was not far ahead, and Yemo was exceptionally cautious.

Just how cautious was he? He stopped to check his surroundings with almost every step. That caution allowed him to slip past three Kumo Ninja security lines.

Yemo bent down and carefully made his way through a thicket. Just above his head hung a nearly transparent thread, even harder to spot in the dark, with several small bells tied to either end.

Fortunately, Yemo had been careful. Otherwise, his body would have struck the thread and set off the bells, alerting all the Kumo Ninja. He would then have been surrounded by all the Kumo Ninja Jonin and faced certain death.

After passing the trap, Yemo concealed himself in a thicket. Before him was a clearing of middling size, with a fire burning in the center and roughly six ninja beside it.

Four of the ninja were asleep, while two sat by the fire keeping watch. Anyone who thought those were all the Kumo Ninja Jonin was underestimating them.

There were not six Kumo Ninja here, but nine. Besides the six by the fire, the other three were all hidden in the crowns of the surrounding trees. If Yemo had not had the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to search for them, he really would not have discovered the hidden Kumo Ninja.

Deep in the enemy camp, Yemo not only dared not move, but also concealed his own Chakra. This was another use of the Mind's Eye of the Kagura: in danger, it could conceal the user's Chakra, granting "the power to escape from every peril." That way, even if the Kumo Ninja had a sensory ninja among them, it would be hard to detect Yemo.

The night was utterly silent except for the crackling of wood splitting in the flames. Yemo kept his breathing extremely quiet. After observing them for a while, he discovered that all six Kumo Ninja were Jonin-level experts.

He did not know about the other three hidden ninja, but since they had come together, they were probably Jonin too. That meant a total of nine Jonin had crossed the border and were hiding just outside Konoha Ninja Village.

Nine Jonin. Yemo could not help drawing a sharp breath. He had already guessed that quite a few Kumo Ninja had come this time and that they were strong; otherwise, how could they have crossed the sealed border and hidden outside Konoha? But he had not expected there to be nine Jonin.

Nine Jonin were an extremely powerful force. Even in Konoha, they could cause tremendous trouble, and they were enough to strike fear into many small countries.

Now such a powerful force was hiding outside Konoha. It was not hard to imagine that the Kumo Ninja had grand designs. Moreover, at this very time, the Kumo Ninja had suddenly launched an incursion against Konoha, and the two sides were fighting at the border.

Yemo could not help thinking that there had to be some connection between the two; it could not be a coincidence. Shikaku had said earlier that the Kumo Ninja's incursion had come without warning, and that even the Konoha High Command could not figure out what they were thinking.

But now, Yemo felt he had found the answer. These Kumo Ninja were very likely the reason Kumogakure had launched this incursion.