It was early April, when icy streams flowed and the trees in the mountains had all sprouted brown buds that gradually darkened and turned green.
Huge boulders rose across the lofty slopes, some covered in moss. From afar, they looked like a green screen standing upon the hillside.
Treacherous rocks divided the face of heaven; interwoven woods left the sun's visage incomplete.
This was Green Screen Slope, a hillside outside a small town more than five hundred li from the Sacred Mausoleum.
Hayato Tenin and Shinobi had led a group of Hidden Sword Style subordinates on a five-hundred-li dash and temporarily stopped here to rest.
They had deliberately avoided the main roads and had not entered any towns along the way, completely staying out of everyone's sight. This was to avoid being spotted by those Otherworlders, whose information spread at terrifying speed and who had no scruples whatsoever, lest their whereabouts be leaked.
Having reached this place, they were basically safe.
Yet Hayato Tenin had continued to feel an inexplicable sense of dread, as though he had overlooked something. No matter how he thought about it, however, he could not figure out where the flaw lay. Thus, he had remained on edge throughout the journey, avoiding everyone and not daring to relax in the slightest.
"Big Brother, did you sense something?"
Shinobi approached and handed him a waterskin, his eyes beneath the black ninja mask carrying a trace of confusion.
Hayato Tenin took the waterskin and drank. The moment he raised his head, the blazing sun to the east, like a massive fiery mirror, made his pupils contract. His metal mask gleamed white beneath the light, painfully dazzling. He felt even more irritated for no reason, abruptly sealed the waterskin, and rose to his feet. "Keep moving!"
Although all the