The footsteps coming from the passage were clearly calm and gentle, yet they carried an inexplicable sense of resolve, making Moryo and Shinnō turn toward the entrance.
Meanwhile, Mifune, whom Haku had rescued, was filled with confusion.
He had expected reinforcements, but he never would have imagined that the person who saved him from Moryo's tentacles would be the Akatsuki Organization's "C"!
Then, forcing himself to stay conscious, he turned to look at the distant passage entrance, intensely curious about who the owner of those footsteps was.
Who was steadily walking, step by step, into this mountain belly that was like hell?
Before long, the owner of the footsteps appeared in everyone's sight.
She was an Akatsuki Organization member just like "C," wearing a mask and a hooded Red Cloud outfit. However, the mask on her face was not one of the familiar cat, fox, snake, or eagle designs. Instead, it was a hideous monster baring its fangs!
"A monster mask? Who is she?"
Even more questions surged through Mifune's mind.
It was not only Mifune. Moryo and Shinnō were also completely bewildered, because they had never heard of an Akatsuki Organization member whose mask bore a monster design.
What made Moryo and Shinnō feel even more uneasy was that the monster depicted on the other party's mask looked remarkably similar to Moryo in his complete form!
Moryo immediately snapped furiously, "You came here to die too?"
"Hmph!"
Haku snorted coldly, then exhaled softly. Water Breathing began operating at full power, and Chakra coated the long sword in his hand.
The long sword that could easily sever Moryo's tentacles was not the one Haku usually used. It was the Grass Cutter Sword that Orochimaru had previously lost when the village seized it!
Because Shinji had considered that Haku, who had