The wind in the Thunder Fang Mountains was completely different from the wind in the Land of Fire.
It scraped across the face like knives, carrying a strange stink of sulfur mixed with lightning, making the shrubs on the cliffside howl as if wronged souls were weeping.
Several figures from Dark Crow Squad clung to the shadow of the cliff, almost blending into the surrounding rocks.
Uchiha Arashi knelt on one knee, the mountain wind lifting a corner of his black combat trousers and exposing the taut calf muscles beneath.
The Anbu mask he wore was custom-made; the material over the eyes could conceal his Sharingan and prevent his identity from being exposed.
He closed his eyes and raised his "External Ki Sense" to the maximum.
Its range had now expanded to six hundred meters, and every movement within it flooded into his mind like the tide.
"Valley ahead, three layers of defense."
He lowered his voice and spoke in the Anbu's distinctive, barely audible breathy tone, while his fingers tapped quickly on the ground, drawing a simple terrain map.
"Outer perimeter, twelve chunin on patrol. Their route is spiral, overlapping as they move, but..."
His fingertip marked three spots. "Here, here, and here are blind spots in their field of vision. There's about a three-second gap."
Beside him, a small, slender Anbu member immediately nodded. She was "Black Bee," who had once surrounded Arashi in the Anbu training field. She excelled at sensing, and Arashi's intelligence matched her sensing results perfectly.
"Middle layer, four special jonin guarding the barrier," Arashi continued, his tone flat. "Their chakra fluctuations are very steady. Lightning Release type. Probably not easy to deal with."
"What about the core area?" Captain Dark Crow asked. His voice was like sandpaper scraping over wood, low and hoarse.