In the forest outside Konoha, Danzo's black robe looked like a moving, ominous shadow within the narrow, deep secret passage. The light from his single eye was sharp as a falcon's gaze as it swept over the rough stone walls on either side, carrying an urgent sense that not a moment could be wasted.
The two Root ninja behind him were like lifeless puppets. Their footsteps were as light as cats crossing fresh snow, their masks concealing every expression. Only their nearly inaudible breaths, deliberately suppressed to the extreme, proved that they were living beings rather than ghosts.
"Move faster." Danzo's voice rang out again, low and cold. Every word landed like shards of ice wrapped in frost, stirring faint echoes through the silent passage. "Hiruzen's ANBU are not fools. The time left to us is measured in seconds. Before they catch a scent, everything here must 'disappear.'"
His orders were iron law. The three figures abruptly accelerated, becoming three blurry afterimages that vanished into the deeper darkness of the passage as though swallowed by some giant beast.
Yet they had failed to notice that, at the very instant they disappeared, a shadow denser and quieter than the deepest night flowed out from the darkness in the corner like spilled mercury.
Neji's entire body was covered in an exceedingly faint membrane of chakra, one that nearly blended into the air itself.
He was circulating the Breath Concealment Art with all his strength.
At that moment, even his heartbeat had been temporarily suppressed to the lowest limit by his powerful chakra. His breathing had become the faintest stream of air, and his entire body seemed to have become part of the environment.
Between his fingers, he held a talisman about the size of his palm, cool and flexible to the touch.