Outside Nanyun Town stood a secluded little mountain.
Inside a rundown cave, Uchiha Kiyoshi and the other two were resting and recovering their condition.
There was a campfire for cooking and a large, relatively flat boulder covered with a layer of dry grass, presumably used for sleeping.
Judging by the cave's layout, someone had lived here before. Uchiha Kiyoshi guessed they had been homeless refugees or beggars with nowhere else to go.
However, the things inside the cave showed that no one had touched them in a long time. It had likely been abandoned for quite a while. He did not know whether its former occupants had died or wandered elsewhere.
Uchiha Kiyoshi's group had grown tired from the journey as well. After arriving at the cave, they hastily tidied it up, sat down where they were, and began recovering.
For shinobi, quickly entering a state of rest was also an essential skill. Having completed more than sixty missions, the members of Team 3 had all mastered it. Moreover, Orochimaru had been absent for the past half year, leaving them to rely on themselves. They had gradually developed the habit of remaining sufficiently vigilant even while resting.
Especially Uchiha Kiyoshi. Ever since mastering the new Secret Jutsu, Mental Perception, his sensing ability had improved tremendously. Even while resting, he was basically unafraid of anyone sneaking within ten meters of him.
Though Mental Perception was called a new Secret Jutsu, it was actually a sensory Ninjutsu Uchiha Kiyoshi had developed to complement the Substitution Body Flicker Technique, allowing himself to better adapt to spatial shifts.
The principle behind Mental Perception was not difficult. It simply altered the Body Nourishment Technique so that Chakra was restored outside the body, using the Spiritual Energy dispersed through the surroundings to sense the environment.
Spiritual