Night fell exceptionally early in the Land of Iron.
Just after dusk, the sky had already gone completely dark. Lanterns along both sides of the main city's streets lit up one after another, their dim yellow halos casting swaying shadows across the stone-paved roads. Kurenai Yuhi pulled her dark gray cloak tighter around herself, lowered her hood, and walked slowly along the edge of the southern medicinal herb market.
Two hours had passed since she and Xiao split up.
According to the plan, Hong was responsible for scouting the distribution of forces in the southern district, especially the patrol routes and shift changes of the Maple Clan's samurai. Samui had infiltrated the western district to investigate possible Hidden Cloud ANBU hideouts. Xiao himself was using the cover of night to approach the outskirts of the Shogun's Estate again and confirm the precise location of the "Starry Sky Altar" Mifune had mentioned.
This should have been a relatively safe reconnaissance mission.
But from the moment Hong stepped into the medicinal herb market, she had faintly sensed that something was wrong.
It was too quiet.
At this hour of the evening, merchants should have been packing up their stalls while assistants counted inventory amid a bustle of noise. Yet the entire street was steeped in an unnaturally suppressed silence. The herbalists tidying their stalls moved stiffly, like puppets on strings, and whenever their gazes swept over the street, there was an indescribable wariness in their eyes.
Hong slowed her pace, her fingertips lightly brushing over the inside of her cloak.
Three specially made kunai, twelve Explosive Tags, and the customized shuriken Xiao had stuffed into her hands before leaving, engraved with the Flying Thunder God Formula—those were all the weapons she had. Chakra flowed steadily through her meridians, and the preliminary form