Akanishta Heavenly Dao Palace.
A vast lake lay southeast of Hisoten, brimming with water. At a glance, magnificent shades of deep and pale green shimmered across its surface, like a carved piece of jade set into the earth.
A courtyard had been built over the water at the lake's center. It combined the cool precision of industrial design with the warmth and natural grace of classical architecture, creating a subtle harmony upon the lake.
This was Jade Lake on the Ninth Floor of the Heavenly Dao Palace, southeast of the main courtyard, Hisoten. After retiring, Yayoi often came here to nap and fish whenever he had nothing to do, whiling away the hours.
For that reason, the Lakeside Courtyard had a storeroom dedicated to fishing gear.
Today, however, Yayoi arrived at his usual fishing platform without any fishing gear. Instead, he held a ninja blade with a water-blue hilt and a cold, crystalline sheen to its blade.
Holding the blade, Yayoi surveyed the calm, green lake and raised his arm, keeping the weapon naturally level.
The next instant, he infused chakra into the ninja blade. Dense white vapor erupted from it and swiftly spread across the lake.
In just a blink or two, the thick white mist covered a hundred-meter radius, and it was still spreading.
At this rate, it would take only a dozen seconds or so to shroud the entire area for several hundred meters around.
The effect closely resembled Kirigakure's Hidden Mist Technique. Unlike that technique, however, it required neither hand seals nor water-nature chakra. Simply infusing chakra into the blade would naturally produce mist.
Ordinary Wind Release Ninjutsu could not disperse it, either. It obscured sight and reduced visibility to almost nothing, achieving much the same effect as the Hidden Mist Technique.
Then Yayoi drew the