Undercurrents Converge

The air at the edge of the Forest of Death was thick with the stench of rotting leaves and damp earth.

Lin Feng crouched beneath the roots of a decaying giant tree, lightly pinching up a bit of gray medicinal residue.

The scent matched the sample.

But there was an additional pungent sulfur smell.

He was about to mark the location when an exceedingly faint set of footsteps sounded behind him—not the sound of leaves being crushed, but the friction of grass stems bending beneath chakra-laden footsteps.

"Don't move."

Shisui's voice was low and tense.

Lin Feng did not turn around, maintaining his crouched position.

"I discovered someone was secretly processing materials here three days ago." Shisui's voice drifted from the shadows of the trees, carrying a ninja's caution. "Come with me."

The two swiftly moved beneath a hollow giant tree.

Vines concealed the inside of the tree hollow, leaving it dimly lit.

Shisui's Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly turned in the shadows as he lowered his voice. "Lord Danzo came here three days ago with a figure wrapped in a black robe. That person carried the clammy, slick aura of a snake."

Lin Feng frowned.

He took out a small vial of liquid from his ninja tool pouch and handed it to Shisui.

"A sample of the suppressant Fugaku gave me. The medicinal residue on the ground is highly similar in composition, but it contains an additional catalytic enzyme."

Shisui took it and held it beneath his nose for a sniff.

"What would it do?"

"If a Sharingan wielder is exposed to it over a long period," Lin Feng said softly, every word heavy, "their ocular power will gradually be paralyzed. In the end, they'll be controlled like puppets on strings."

Shisui's fingers tightened slightly.

The air froze for several seconds.

Lin Feng continued, "Combined with the secret meeting you witnessed and Fugaku's warning—Danzo is likely planning to cooperate with some outside organization to create chaos within the Uchiha, then purge the Sharingan wielders in the name of 'suppressing rebellion.'"

"Perhaps even..."

He paused.

"Take their eyes."

Shisui fell silent.

For a long time.

He finally said in a low voice, "Must the 'protect the village' and 'protect the clan' written on the Uchiha Stone Stele truly come into conflict like this?"

Lin Feng did not answer that question.

His gaze swept across the surroundings—there was a bird on a distant tree branch.

It had not moved.

Not for ten minutes.

"Wait." Lin Feng suddenly lowered his voice. "That bird on the third tree over—it's disguised with optical camouflage."

Shisui's pupils contracted slightly.

Without drawing attention to himself, he swept the area with the corner of his eye, and his expression immediately changed.

"At least three Anbu squads are lying in ambush beneath our feet."

The silence in the air became piercing.

Lin Feng's heart suddenly clenched—they believed they were concealed, but they had already been locked onto. The deployment density far exceeded that of a normal patrol. The Anbu were waiting for them to act, waiting for them to step deeper into the trap.

He forcibly suppressed his racing heart.

At that moment, he made a decision.

Lin Feng deliberately knocked over the kunai pouch in his ninja tool bag, creating the sound of clashing metal. At the same time, he used the Body Flicker Technique to seize Shisui's wrist and pull them both into a depression among the tree roots.

"Leave this open ground first," he whispered. "Their chakra sensors may have already locked onto us."

The hollow was narrow and cramped, and the two pressed close against the dirt.

Shisui's Sharingan glowed a dim red in the darkness.

"Since they've set their sights on us, we might as well turn the tables."

Lin Feng looked at him.

Shisui's voice was calm yet resolute. "I know of an abandoned sewage pipe north of Root headquarters. It leads directly beneath the archives. Three nights from now, we'll meet at the entrance to the underground cave on the western side of the Forest of Death. Three crow calls will be the signal."

"I need one day to prepare a technique for breaking the barrier," Lin Feng calculated quickly. "You'll clear the hidden sentries along the way."

He paused.

"But be careful—I suspect our movements have already reached Danzo. This may be a trap."

Shisui did not hesitate.

He pressed his index and middle fingers together and traced a streak of chakra through the air, forming a small beacon before infusing it with his ocular power.

"Three days from now, I'll use this to confirm your identity."

Lin Feng nodded.

But there was still one matter on his mind—the mysterious man in black.

"Shisui," he suddenly asked, "have you considered that the mysterious man in black might be a member of the Akatsuki? Rumors have long circulated throughout the ninja world that they specialize in gathering intelligence on the Sharingan."

Shisui's eyes sharpened.

"If that is true, then we are facing more than just Danzo."

"There are also S-rank rogue ninja involved."

He put away the beacon, his voice so low it was nearly inaudible. "Three days from now, I'll bring every spare trump card related to the Sharingan."

The two looked at each other and nodded.

The operation had begun.

Shisui left first, vanishing into the shadows of the trees with the Body Flicker Technique.

Lin Feng waited five seconds before crawling out of the depression.

He did not return directly to the safe house.

He deliberately took three detours.

Twice, he passed through underground drainage channels. Once, he crossed over the rooftops of residential homes.

He confirmed that at least two groups of pursuers were following him.

His movements had been exposed.

But that was also within his calculations.

He took the opportunity to plant counter-tracking markers at three key locations, leaving himself contingencies for the infiltration operation three days later.

By the time he returned to the safe house, night had fallen.

Lin Feng shut the door and lit a small oil lamp.

He arranged all the intelligence across the table: the medicinal residue sample, the suppressant sample, the Anbu deployment positions marked on the map, the route map of the abandoned sewage pipe, and the intelligence fragments from the Sharingan beacon Shisui had left behind.

Finally, he picked up a charcoal pencil and wrote five words on the paper—

"Drugs + secret meeting = Danzo + Akatsuki?"

He stared at that line for a long time.

Outside the window, an owl swept over the eaves and gave a low call.

Lin Feng blew out the oil lamp.

In the darkness, his eyes gleamed like two shining kunai.

Three days later, he would no longer be the Lin Feng who investigated in secret.

He would personally break into the heart of Root.