Cognition Modification, Causality Convergence

The abandoned relay station's courtyard fell completely silent after all Five Kage had left. Moonlight leaking through gaps in the stone walls cast a small patch of cold white light across the gravel-strewn ground. Wind squeezed through cracks in the surrounding wall, making a faint, whimpering sound. The crude pottery cups on the table remained exactly as they had been when everyone left. The tea in A's cup had gone completely cold, a thin sheen of reflected light floating on its surface, while half a lip print still remained on the rim of Mei Terumi's cup. Cang sat by the table for a long time, until the moonlight shifted off his shoulder and slid down to the base of the stone wall. He lowered his head and studied those cups—the direction their rims faced, the depth of the water marks, the angle at which each had been placed. Every detail passed through his mind.

Then he rose and headed toward Angkor Fortress.

The illumination jutsu in the passageway had been turned down to its lowest setting. Dim yellow light spread evenly along the stone walls, like a corridor at dusk. Cang passed half-open doors, through whose gaps he could see people organizing scrolls, polishing ninja tools, and speaking in low voices. Whenever he passed, those sounds paused briefly before continuing—no one called out to stop him. Zhi Li waited at the laboratory entrance, leaning against the doorframe with a cup of hot tea in her hands. A thin wisp of white steam rose from its surface. When she saw Cang approach, she handed him the cup in a natural motion, as though she had done so many times before.

Cang took it and drank a sip. The tea was just the right temperature—not hot enough to scald his tongue, not