The moment Kamizuki opened his Tenseigan, whose color was like moonlight, he saw five or six more of the runes by the river, just like the one that had appeared beneath Mai Shiranui's feet.
At the same time, thanks to the Tenseigan's keen insight, he detected a faint fluctuation in nature, moving downstream.
Kamizuki quickly gathered chakra in his palm, picked up one of the runes, and put it in his ninja tool pouch. Then he followed the faint fluctuation, which was about to disappear.
Following the trace of Natural Energy, Kamizuki pursued it for about twenty minutes. At last, the river flowed into a cave, and the faint Natural Energy flowed inside with it.
After thinking it over, Kamizuki realized that the Qiyulong River must have disappeared underground and become an underground river.
He looked around the cave. Aside from the many unusual rocks, he could find nothing else out of the ordinary.
Then Kamizuki extended the Tenseigan's insight into the cave, following the river with his gaze. It was indeed a naturally formed underground river.
His gaze followed the underground river all the way to a point about two thousand meters deep in the cave, where he saw it split into two branches, one flowing left and the other right.
Kamizuki followed the faint trace of the lingering natural fluctuation along the left branch.
He followed this branch for less than a thousand meters before it gradually widened into a vast pool. Once it reached the pool, the faint trace vanished.
Seeing this, Kamizuki extended his gaze into the depths of the pool. But after probing only two or three hundred meters underwater, he could go no farther. It was as if an invisible barrier blocked him.
After trying several times and still failing to see through the invisible barrier, Kamizuki finally gave up.
The barrier in the pool meant Kamizuki had followed the right trail. Places protected by barriers usually concealed either treasure or a conspiracy. This was clearly the latter.
Kamizuki did not rush to look for a way into the cave. Instead, he gathered chakra in his right hand again and took the rune out of his ninja tool pouch.
Kamizuki studied the rune carefully. Judging by the Cursed Seals inscribed on it, they were very similar to those of a jutsu he had once seen in the Scroll of Seals.
He searched his memories and carefully recalled the details of the jutsu.
Cage Jutsu: The user inscribes special Cursed Seals on a rune and generally uses it as a trap, placing it along a route an enemy is sure to take. Once an enemy steps on the inscribed rune, their body is sucked into it and trapped within a very short time.
Only when the user releases the Cursed Seal can the person trapped inside the rune be freed.
Of course, the Cursed Seal on the rune in Kamizuki's hand appeared to be a modified version of the Cage Jutsu.
Comparing the rune in his hand with the Cage Jutsu in his memory, Kamizuki discovered some of the patterns and operating principles behind this modified version.
With the Tenseigan's help, Kamizuki carefully altered the rune.
The chakra that had covered his right hand like a glove slowly gathered at his fingertips, becoming a thin steel needle of chakra.
Under Kamizuki's control, the chakra needle altered some of the Cursed Seals on the rune. Then he drew back the chakra in his hand and gently tapped the modified rune.
At his touch, a faint aura emanated from the rune. As it seeped out, Kamizuki's body disappeared from in front of it.
After Kamizuki vanished, the rune flowed with the waters of the Qiyulong River and into the underground river.
No one knew how long the rune drifted through the underground river before it finally stopped.
For some unknown reason, the rune burst into flames as soon as it stopped. As it burned, black smoke billowed from it.
Once the rune had burned to ash, the black smoke transformed into Kamizuki's body, and he appeared in front of a cave entrance.
When Kamizuki's form fully materialized at the cave entrance, the rune had already turned to ash.
Kamizuki stretched his stiff body, then began to examine his surroundings. He realized he had passed through the barrier and entered the area beyond it.
As Kamizuki looked around the cave, he suddenly heard what sounded like footsteps coming from inside. Whoever was approaching was heading in his direction.
When the footsteps drew closer, Kamizuki reacted. He gathered chakra beneath his feet and ran up the rock wall.
Just as Kamizuki reached the cave ceiling, two people wearing animal masks emerged from the cave entrance.
By the water, they searched for something. After looking for a while without finding what they wanted, a trace of confusion appeared in their eyes.
The two exchanged glances, then began examining their surroundings.
Suddenly, one of them looked up at the steep rock wall. When his gaze reached the cave ceiling...
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