Palace

After testing it out, Natsume's Transformation Technique was clearly a success.

As he made his way toward the inner city's [Royal Palace], Natsume encountered quite a few members of the royal house.

Yet none of them saw through his disguise.

They even greeted "Natsume" with great respect and warmth.

Or rather, they were greeting "Otsutsuki Yushi," whom Natsume was impersonating.

It turned out—

Otsutsuki Yushi was actually the son of Prince Otsutsuki Yufu!

That prince was a high-ranking royal with real power, far more important than those idle royal family members.

Thus, within the [Main Family Royal House], Otsutsuki Yushi could be considered a noble heir.

Naturally, he received no shortage of goodwill from the other royals.

And that made things much more convenient for Natsume.

Using Otsutsuki Yushi's identity to move through the [Inner City] was like a fish in water; practically no one would stop him.

He could even enter the [Royal Palace] directly, making it easier for Natsume to approach that [Thousand-Lead Stone Fragment].

Very soon, taking advantage of his status, Natsume infiltrated that majestic and magnificent [Royal Palace].

The entire [Royal Palace] was enormous. In terms of area alone, it was at least five or six times the size of Konoha.

Yet there were not many people inside.

After roughly sensing the area, he estimated there were only around a thousand people.

And that included a large number of servants and attendants.

It was clear that the direct descendants of the Otsutsuki Main Family Royal House were not particularly numerous.

They had likely chosen the elite route.

Though it might also have been related to the great war five thousand years ago; supposedly, most of the royal family members had perished in that battle...

As for Natsume right now, what worried him most was running