Uchiha Hara's consciousness attached itself to the crow Avatar, looking down over the sprawling forest and roads below.
The Hidden Leaf Village's barrier only blocked lifeforms with chakra. To this crow, which had never refined even a trace of chakra, it was practically nonexistent.
It spread its wings and soared, easily crossing that invisible boundary.
A crow's flight speed was only average among birds, but thanks to the nourishment of Blood Pills, this crow was far stronger, swifter, and smarter than its kind. Its field of vision was also exceptionally broad.
Moreover, Uchiha Hara had fed it an owl's Blood Pill, granting the crow night vision.
After flying for three hours, it had already crossed several hundred kilometers, leaving several towns far behind.
When it flew over a densely vegetated mountain range, its sharp eyes caught something unusual amid the woods—a crude stronghold built against the mountainside, with figures faintly visible moving about, metal glinting in their hands.
"A bandit stronghold?" Uchiha Hara thought, guiding the crow to silently descend and land on a branch of a large tree outside the stronghold like an ordinary bird, where it observed carefully.
He discovered that the stronghold was filled entirely with able-bodied young men. They shouted, gambled, and polished weapons, with not a single woman, child, or elder in sight.
That ruled out the possibility of ordinary civilians becoming outlaws.
What drew Uchiha Hara's attention even more was that inside the largest wooden house at the center of the stronghold, a scar-faced leader was wiping down and arranging items that were unmistakably kunai and Explosive Tags!
"Rogue ninja?" Uchiha Hara guessed.
Just then, a well-dressed man who looked like a steward sneaked into the leader's room under cover of darkness, led by two bandits.
Seeing this, the crow silently approached and landed