The night hung heavy.
The tree line outside Konoha resembled a silent black tide, wrapping the world in shadow. Wind slipped through the treetops with a faint rustle. Occasionally, a startled night bird flapped away from the heights, quickly vanishing into deeper darkness.
In a dense forest northwest of the Land of Fire, more than a dozen figures sped silently forward.
No one spoke.
Only the faint sounds of feet touching branches, landing on trunks, and springing off again broke the silence, kept so brief and soft that they almost blended into the night wind.
The figure in the lead suddenly raised a hand.
Everyone behind him stopped at once.
Kakashi landed on a horizontal branch, resting his right hand lightly against the trunk. Looking toward Uchiha Chisen at the front, he asked quietly, "Are we there?"
Chisen stood on a higher branch farther ahead, looking past layers of trees toward a distant valley half enclosed by the hills.
"Almost."
His voice was soft, but everyone nearby could hear him clearly.
Kakashi followed his gaze. Several dim yellow lights hovered deep in the valley like ghost lights flickering in the wind. A closer look revealed that these were not ordinary camp braziers, but several deliberately spaced lighting stations. Considerable distances separated each light, with rings of low wooden fences and makeshift watchtowers between them.
Beyond the reach of the light, rows of low tarpaulins were faintly visible.
This was not the main camp.
It looked more like a large supply depot.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "More guards than I expected."
"Not that many."
Hyuga Neji spoke quietly beside him, his Byakugan fully activated and veins bulging at his temples. "Thirteen visible guard posts along the perimeter, twenty-one concealed ones. Two patrol squads northwest of the valley entrance, six men each.