Exposed Along the Way

Seeing the eight lookouts standing expressionlessly before him, Kamizuki gave a slight nod, satisfied that his control was still quite impressive.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, Kamizuki extended his right hand toward them. A force of attraction emanated from his palm, drawing the chakra from the eight lookouts' bodies into his hand.

In just a moment, all eight streams of pale blue chakra had flowed into Kamizuki's right palm.

As the last trace of pale blue chakra entered his hand, all eight lookouts standing before him collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Kamizuki had done this to absorb their chakra and, through it, obtain their memories and uncover useful information.

But for some reason, he hadn't gained any information from the chakra he absorbed. He couldn't figure out why.

Glancing at the bodies, Kamizuki shook his head and put the baffling matter out of his mind. He formed Hand Seals, murmured, "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld," and pressed his right hand against the ground.

The moment his palm touched the earth, ripples spread across the ground around the eight bodies. In an instant, the rippling earth turned into a swamp that swallowed them up.

Once all eight bodies had been completely swallowed, the swamp-like ground instantly returned to its original appearance.

Afterward, Kamizuki surveyed the surroundings again. Only when he was sure nothing was amiss did he quietly leave the cave and make his way toward the mysterious people's settlement.

As soon as he slipped out of the cave, Kamizuki found a hill with higher ground and looked down at the small village in the valley.

Under the Tenseigan's gaze, everything in the village was revealed to him. Inside a wooden house that was slightly larger and more luxurious than the others, Kamizuki spotted a figure with a vast amount of chakra. He estimated that only someone with at least the strength of an early-stage Kage Level shinobi could possess that much chakra.

In front of the wooden house stood three guards wearing animal masks. The chakra of the one in the middle suggested that he was a mid-level Jonin, while the figures of the two masked guards on either side suggested that they were women. One seemed to be an early-stage Jonin, while the other was at the peak of Chunin.

Kamizuki used the Tenseigan to scan the village, hoping to find the missing Genma, Mangetsu, and Mai. But even after searching the entire place, he couldn't find anywhere that looked like a holding cell or a place where people could be hidden.

Watching this familiar setup, Kamizuki couldn't help thinking of the games he'd played in his previous life on Earth. It was just like those games: he'd have to defeat the bosses before he could clear the level.

Kamizuki decided to deal with the three mini-bosses in front of the wooden house using the same method he'd just used on the lookouts.

He put the plan into action, turning his gaze toward the moon again. Just as before, a strand of energy connected to it. The moon bounced it back toward the valley, where it split into three strands and shot toward the trio in front of the wooden house.

But this time, the result wasn't the same. Kamizuki's power of control didn't work. He wondered in confusion, Why isn't my control working on these three?

Just then, the three animal-masked figures in front of the wooden house seemed to sense something. All three raised their heads and looked toward the small hill where Kamizuki was hiding.

Kamizuki was still trying to work out why his attempt at control had failed when, to his surprise, they noticed him.

As soon as the three masked figures sensed where Kamizuki was, the person inside the wooden house with the vast amount of chakra sensed him too. A black figure inside the house waved toward the three people outside.

The three masked figures flashed into motion and rushed toward Kamizuki.

Kamizuki saw three figures racing in his direction. In moments, they reached the hill where he was hiding.

They dashed up to a spot a hundred meters in front of him and stopped. They didn't follow the usual clichéd routine: no arrogant opening speech, nor any other gestures.

The masked man who looked like a mid-level Jonin pulled out several senbon from who knew where and hurled them at Kamizuki.

As the three masked figures approached Kamizuki, inside the wooden house, a man who looked to be in his twenties or thirties...

The man was kneeling in the wooden house. Two naked young women lay in front of him, both unconscious.

Using the blood flowing from his finger, he was inscribing unknown Cursed Seals onto the naked bodies of the two unconscious young women.

Only after he had covered both women's naked bodies with the unknown Cursed Seals did the man finally stop.