In the shadows of the border forest, Hyuga Xiao leaned against a dead ancient tree, his fingertips lightly tapping the metal casing of an encrypted communicator.
Kurenai Yuhi crouched beside him, holding an improvised map drawn in charcoal—a record of the reconnaissance she had just conducted within three kilometers of the Root Base perimeter under the cover of genjutsu.
"The patrols rotate every fifteen minutes, and there are three layers of barriers around the perimeter." Hong kept her voice low, pointing to several markings on the map. "The first is a standard sensory barrier. The second records chakra fluctuations. The third... I suspect it is a triggered alarm."
Xiao's gaze settled on the base's structural diagram.
It was a building half-buried underground. From the outside, it looked like the entrance to an abandoned mine, but the Tenseigan's penetrating vision had already pierced the earth and revealed the labyrinthine passageways and laboratories below.
Samui's chakra signature was on the third underground level, in the eastern section.
"A frontal assault would be unwise," Xiao said, his voice devoid of emotion. "The Root Base's defense system is the product of decades of Danzo's work. Even if I can temporarily suppress the Caged Bird Seal now, a direct confrontation would alert the entire Leaf Village."
He paused, his fingertip tracing an arc across the map.
"But Danzo made a mistake."
Hong looked up.
"He built the base beside the ruins of the Uchiha Clan Grounds." The corner of Xiao's mouth curved ever so slightly. "Was it for convenient access to materials? Or to monitor that cursed land? Whatever the reason, it gave us an opening."
Hong followed his gaze to the edge of the map.
A stretch of ruins was outlined there in dashed lines, less than eight hundred meters in a straight line