At the foot of the mountain, Taiichi and the other two concealed themselves atop a large tree. The dense foliage effectively sheltered their figures, and a hundred meters away lay a winding trail.
This small mountain was not tall; its highest peak was barely under six hundred meters, and its area spanned only three or four kilometers in radius. Though not lofty, it possessed the unique characteristic of the Land of Fire—namely, an abundance of trees.
Thick, dense trees blanketed the entire mountain peak. Looking up at the mountain from the foot, one could barely see any trace of human habitation.
Before coming, Taiichi and the two others had circled the small mountain once and discovered that, aside from the trail before them, there were no other paths capable of accommodating large numbers of personnel and supplies entering or exiting.
The three gathered to discuss for a while and ultimately decided to slowly search upward along the trail together to see if they might find anything.
The plan settled, the three carefully concealed their figures and proceeded along the path in two groups.
Here, Taiichi explored the left side of the road alone. Judging from the tracks along the way, no one had walked up this trail for over ten days, and the jungle on the left bore not a single trace of human activity. This couldn't help but make Taiichi harbor a few doubts about this trip up the mountain.
The trio's searching speed was not fast, but in barely half an hour they reached the end of the trail.
That was a mountain stronghold, but it was clearly already abandoned. Taiichi gave a silent signal to Yohei and Saori not far away.
Subsequently, the three scattered and explored toward the interior of the stronghold.
Taiichi found a corner,