"Received!"
The air in the Land of Hot Water was always humid and warm, but the outskirts of the Valley of Hell presented an entirely different scene.
The wind here was dry and scorching, scraping across their faces like coarse sandpaper. The air carried a rusty stench, and breathing it into their lungs made their throats burn.
The ground beneath their feet was an ominous dark red. Jagged, bizarre rocks resembled the twisted remains of some enormous beast. In the hot springs scattered around them, what churned was not clear water, but thick red liquid like blood, bubbling away and giving off nauseating heat.
"This place... hasn't changed at all." Kana held her brother Nowaki's hand and spoke softly, her voice trembling despite her efforts to suppress it. This place was the nightmare of their childhood. Every stone and every smell was branded with fear.
Neji Hyuga said nothing. He stood atop a towering boulder, the veins around his eyes bulging faintly.
"Byakugan!"
His vision instantly pierced through the space before him and stretched deep into the Valley of Hell. The next second, Neji's heart sank sharply.
In his field of vision, the entire Valley of Hell resembled a carefully woven spider web. Countless chakra threads invisible to the naked eye crisscrossed the area, forming a deadly trap zone. At several critical nodes, vague figures lay in wait, blending into the rocks and shadows like the most patient predators. The defenses here were far higher than he had imagined, even surpassing the alert level of some of Konoha's important facilities.
This was not a naturally perilous place at all, but an impregnable living prison.
"We escaped from over there back then." Nowaki pointed to an inconspicuous corner of the rock wall, shrouded in shadow and seemingly no different from