Still, he had not come away empty-handed.
Before the Black-Robed Man died, he had pointed Keita Otake in a direction.
As he lay dying, his eyes had turned toward a particular direction.
Keita intended to head that way and see what he could find.
Before that, however, he returned to the village and left a letter.
Then, under cover of night, he set out in the direction the Black-Robed Man had looked before dying.
An entire night passed, but he found nothing.
He was not discouraged. The Land of Fire was enormous, and finding a hidden base was never going to be easy.
He had already prepared himself for a lengthy campaign. Whatever happened, he was determined to wipe out that mysterious organization!
Just as dawn broke and he was about to take a rest,
he made a new discovery!
Another Black-Robed Man was leading a group of people somewhere.
An idea struck him, and he fell in behind the group.
With his keen eyes, he naturally noticed that all these villagers had been hypnotized.
Hypnotized civilians, with a Black-Robed Man leading them.
There was no mistake. He had found his target!
He followed the group to a cave.
This Black-Robed Man was extremely cautious, frequently checking whether anyone was following him.
Fortunately, his pursuer was Keita Otake. Anyone else would have been discovered.
But when it came time to enter the cave, Keita encountered a problem.
From outside, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary cave entrance.
However, a short distance inside the entrance stood a barrier.
This barrier could identify those who entered, and it would sound an alarm if an unauthorized intruder came through.
Keita Otake glanced at the sun, which had fully risen, and estimated that it was past nine.
He had not eaten breakfast