Fake Camera

After locking onto all the hidden ninjas, Shuichi didn't rush to the shop location Mitsui had told him about. Instead, he planned to first test whether there were any ninjas along the way who could sense chakra.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Transformation Technique!"

The Shadow Clone transformed into a filthy rat, its eyes still sparkling with intelligence, looking no different from a real rat.

"The Third Hokage really has good taste," Shuichi thought to himself.

During his time at the Ninja Academy, he had little to do for a long period, so he could only practice the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques. For example, in order to become as flawless as a real rat, he even caught rats from Konoha for research.

The mouse peeked out from the corner and quickly appeared in the moonlight. It ran and stopped cautiously, twitching its nose as if searching for something by scent.

It soon disappeared from Shuichi's sight, and its final destination was the shop where it was shipped.

"Hmm?" In the shadows of a street, a ninja wearing Sunagakure Forehead Protector opened his eyes and saw the rat. He watched it carefully for a while and found that its behavior and movements were no different from those of an ordinary rat. It must have come out to forage for food at night.

After the Sunagakure looked away, the rat weaved left and right, finally managing to squeeze into the large shop.

As soon as the Shadow Clone dissipated, Shuichi's main body received the feedback from his experience.

"I'm really awesome. I doubt anyone else in Konoha would test things like I did." The reason I went through all this trouble was because I was afraid that a ninja with chakra sensing abilities might be on this path. Even if the chance was only one percent, it was best not to gamble.

After trying to find humor in his predicament, Shuichi immediately got to work.

With a few hand seals, his body sank into the ground, and then he walked the same path as the rat before, except this time he moved forward by burrowing underground. Fortunately, there were no Sensory Ninja, and the hidden Sunagakure could not see him.

The operation went very smoothly, and he successfully infiltrated the shop where Mitsui was located in no time.

After emerging from underground, he found himself amidst wooden crates filled with goods. These crates were all numbered and contained a variety of necessities for the Sunagakure, such as cotton cloth and herbs.

He came to a medium-sized box, which was the hiding place he decided to take, but he wanted to check it first just to be safe.

Gently open the lid, and you'll see it's filled with large, round melons. This is one of the fruits with a very limited yield in desert regions, so it's quite valuable.

"It's just right!" Shuichi gestured, the box was quite big, the melons took up about two-thirds of the area, and there were still some gaps, so if he hid inside the box, he could fit perfectly.

After deciding on his infiltration method, he observed the environment inside the warehouse. It was a standard Sha Tu building, and the roof was not very thick.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

After the Shadow Clone, it disappeared underground without saying a word. Its purpose was to tell Mitsui that it would personally be in charge of the box containing the melons, and that even if the box was opened and inspected, there was no need to worry, as it had a way to handle it.

After seeing the Shadow Clone leave, Shuichi decided to wait here until the group departed, and also keep an eye on the situation outside to ensure nothing went wrong.

He jumped upside down on the roof, formed another Hand Seals, and slammed his hand against the wall.

Earth Release technique, creating a hole the size of an eyeball in the roof. After landing, Shuichi took out Scroll and a prepared ink pen from his person.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation Drawing - Camera Technique!"

A jet of black liquid sprayed from the paper and shot towards a small hole in the roof, where it transformed into a black object resembling a camera, monitoring the outside world. Shuichi himself sat below, spreading out a piece of white paper, waiting quietly.

"My technique is still a bit troublesome. Can it be improved?" With nothing to do, Shuichi was thinking about how to make the Super Beast Imitation Drawing technique more practical.

"Improving in direct combat is still too difficult; let's try to find a solution through reconnaissance." Suddenly, a thought struck him, "That's it! I've fought the Puppeteer twice. If Chakra Threads are connected to this camera, we can maintain continuous surveillance. But what about ordinary Steel Wire?"

"No, ordinary materials can't transmit chakra. If we mix a little Chakra Metal into the Steel Wire, then it will definitely work, it'll just be a little more complicated than Chakra Threads."

Thinking about this, his mind started to wander. Chakra Threads are a kind of Yin Release secret technique, so any method involving Yin Release has the potential to achieve the effect of visual transmission.

"Genjutsu! I still have this option!" Shuichi was pleasantly surprised. There are quite a few Yin Release secret techniques in the Shinobi World, but it would be very troublesome for him to create them. However, if he could find a way to connect the Super Beast Imitation Drawing with the principles of Genjutsu, the detection capabilities of this technique could be greatly enhanced.

"There's even the principle behind Shadow Clone. This technique has a lot of potential for development. I must study it carefully when I return to the village." If the Super Beast Imitation Drawing can combine the advantages of Genjutsu and Shadow Clone, its reconnaissance capabilities would be incredibly strong.

Just as Shuichi was conceiving how to develop this technology, the ninjas outside began to take action.

"Nagano- senpai, why are we conducting this pointless search?" As dawn approached, the young Sunagakure guarding Sengoku City couldn't help but ask his superior.

"I can't do anything about it. The higher-ups said someone stole our Sunagakure's secret techniques. To prevent this from happening again, we have no choice but to check these caravans," Nagano said.

"Alright, stop complaining. They're all veteran teams who've been running this for decades; a quick check will be fine."

When the Sunagakure inspected the goods ahead of time, the black camera turned into ink and dripped onto the paper, Shuichi noticed immediately.

"They're even checking ordinary goods? That's abnormal." He felt that this kind of workload would normally kill him. "It seems the Sunagakure higher-ups wanted to mobilize all their resources to find the Third Kazekage, but didn't want to reveal this information, so they made up an excuse."

Nagano quickly completed the inspection of several shops. After entering a large shop again, he opened and inspected every single box.

"Hmm... This store actually delivers these melons, I'm so envious!" He opened the box in the center of the building and saw the plump, juicy melons inside. He felt a pang of jealousy for the living conditions of those in high-class families; his own income was simply not enough to afford such melons.

Everything was peaceful; after the others left, there was no further activity in the shop.

At dawn, many workers appeared on the streets of Sengoku City, hurrying along because today was another day for transporting supplies.

"Captain Mitsui, you're up so early today!" A young man exclaimed in genuine admiration for Mitsui's diligence, noticing that a small portion of the goods in the shop had already been loaded onto the truck.

"Okay, let's get to work, we're leaving soon..."

An hour later, a long procession set off from Sengoku City, accompanied by several ninjas, heading straight towards Sunagakure.

Everyone in the transport team worked hard, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they would reach their destination before sunset.

The journey went smoothly; this was a route I'd run countless times, so there was no chance of anything going wrong.