The rainy season of Konoha Year 17 arrived earlier than in previous years. The continuous overcast rain provided an excellent cover for Neji's secret operation. He stood on an ancient fir tree at the edge of the Forest of Death, rain trickling down the rim of his straw hat to pool in small puddles by his feet.
Release!
Neji dispelled his shadow clone, instantly receiving the clone's memories from the past three hours. Second-grade classes remained as boring as ever, with Orochimaru once again leaving Nakajima speechless during ninjutsu theory class, while Jiraiya was punished with cleaning the school grounds for peeking into the girls' bath.
"Four more hours until dark." Neji estimated the time, taking the black compass from his ninja tool pouch. This was the transmigrator detector given to him by the Sage of Six Paths, currently doubling as a compass. The surface of the compass emitted a faint glow, its needle pointing steadily north without abnormal reactions—meaning there were no traces of transmigrators nearby.
"Let's solve the material problem first." Neji put away the compass and vanished into the curtain of rain with a flash.
The rocky shoals were located twenty li northeast of Konoha, a gravel plain formed by the erosion of a tributary of the Valley of the End. The rainy season caused the river to swell, and the originally exposed riverbed was mostly submerged by a turbid, rushing torrent. Neji overlooked the scene from a high vantage point, confirming that no patrol ninja were around before rapidly forming hand seals with both hands.
Earth Release: Rock-Stealing Staff!
Chakra infused into the ground, and a dozen stone pillars burst forth from the earth, forming a temporary dam along the riverbank. The rushing current was forcibly rerouted, exposing a patch of wet pebble beach. Neji jumped