May 9, late at night, a mine on Whirlpool Mountain in the Land of Whirlpools.
Shiotani Masumi, a young female chunin from Kirigakure, carried a bucket of bloody water and poured it over the black crystalline ore before her. As the bloody water splashed onto it, it gradually seeped inside. The ore soon began to crack, its surface dimming as fine, sand-like metal particles fell out from the fissures.
Seeing this, Shiotani hurriedly gathered them up in her hands and placed them into a small pouch.
Meanwhile, the scar-faced chunin Urami Namiizō, who had been slacking off somewhat, idly looked up and spotted another cluster of ore above him.
Already feeling that being sent to "mine" was a waste of his talents, Urami Namiizō immediately jumped onto the ceiling. Chakra adhered to his feet as he hung upside down, bucket of bloody water in hand, preparing to dunk the entire cluster of ore directly into it...
Seeing his younger brother being so lazy, the scar-faced Urami Kiriota could only shake his head helplessly. He did not personally get involved either; to be safe, he kept an eye on the three merchants from the Land of Waves.
Just then...
Urami Kiriota suddenly froze. The surroundings instantly plunged into darkness, while the sound of flying shuriken rang out from a corner of the mine pit, followed by... Urami Namiizō's scream.
"Not good! It's an illusion technique—there are enemies... Release!" Urami Kiriota reacted quickly, using the kunai in his hand to block an attack in the darkness. For an instant, sparks from clashing ninja tools faintly illuminated a youthful face.
But Urami had no time to care whether that face was youthful or not, because before noticing the "face," what caught his attention was... a pair of red eyes!
Urami Kiriota immediately retreated,