Ready for a Fight

A breeze stirred the branches on Mount Tenmoku, raising a soft rustle. The mountain seemed as peaceful as ever, but deep inside it, the experiment had reached its final stage.

Lord Orochimaru stood quietly to one side, his golden slit pupils sweeping the surrounding woods. Chakra lay ready within him as he silently kept watch.

Tsukimi sat cross-legged beneath a tree and took a deep breath. His hands flew through Hand Seals, and the shadows at his feet began to flow and gather. Four pitch-black Ninja figures slowly emerged.

"Split up."

With a shift of his will, Tsukimi issued precise orders.

"One of you take the lead. Head for the Archives Room and find every file, record, and report related to the Living Puppet experiment. The other three, spread out. Scout the base, and record its passageways, Rasa's troop positions, and every guard post."

The four Shadowkhans vanished at once, dissolving back into shadow. They merged with the darkness in the cracks along the mountain floor, slipped past several Sand Ninja patrols, and entered Mount Tenmoku Base without a sound.

The base was still bustling. Everyone had been ordered to evacuate as soon as the experiment ended, so most of the Sand Ninjas were focused on moving sealed supplies. No one noticed the uninvited guests in the shadows.

Tsukimi wasn't worried about getting in. In the current Shinobi World, no one could sense the Shadowkhan. His main concern was Rasa. There was no telling what backup plan that scheming bastard had prepared.

Once inside, the four Shadowkhans followed their assignments. One broke away and headed down a deeper passage in search of the Archives Room. The other three spread out through the laboratories, storerooms, and corridors, recording the base's layout and the positions of its personnel.

Before long, the Shadowkhan leading the search found its destination.

A heavy stone door stood shut, with two Sand Ninjas on guard outside. Though both looked tense, their attention was mostly on the teams moving supplies. Neither noticed the shadow in the corridor.

The Shadowkhan dissolved into darkness, slid along the shadow at the foot of the wall, and slipped through the gap beneath the door into the Archives Room.

Rows of metal shelves stood neatly arranged inside the vast room. They were packed with carefully sealed Scrolls, holding all the core secrets of the Living Puppet experiment.

Tsukimi perked up and immediately took over the Shadowkhan's vision. He moved closer, scanning the labels to locate the crucial documents.

The instant the Shadowkhan's fingertips touched a shelf, a sensor mounted on it triggered!

BZZZ!!!

Tsukimi's heart sank. Damn it. He hadn't expected Rasa to have a trap waiting here! The outer guards and the barrier around the mountain hadn't been enough for him. He had even rigged the shelves in the Archives Room with alarms.

The next second, a red alert erupted throughout the base. Harsh crimson lights flashed wildly, and the urgent alarm echoed through the caverns. The orderly bustle dissolved into an uproar.

"The internal barrier shows an anomaly! The alarm was triggered in the Archives Room!"

The shouted report carried through the base. Soon, hurried footsteps sounded from a distant passage, accompanied by the crisp ring of weapons being drawn. Through the Shadowkhan's eyes, Tsukimi saw a large force of Sand Ninjas rushing toward the room.

The Shadowkhan had been exposed, leaving no chance to act for now. But Tsukimi wasn't giving up.

He didn't dismiss it. Instead, he immediately ordered it to dissolve back into shadow and remain in the Archives Room.

He then shifted all his attention to the other three Shadowkhans. They remained hidden in the base's shadows, unaffected by the commotion, and continued to relay live images from inside.

The alarm changed the flow of activity in the base. On Rasa's orders, the Ninjas packing and moving supplies stopped at once, dropped what they were carrying, and rushed to their assigned positions to form a defensive cordon.

Through the three Shadowkhans, Tsukimi saw Rasa's deployment clearly: guard the laboratory's core, search the Archives Room, and seal off the entire mountain. The orders went out smoothly, and all three operations advanced at once. Sunagakure was one of the Five Great Nations for a reason. Its Ninjas showed every sign of elite training.

The Shadowkhan's weakness also became clear. Tsukimi used his own Chakra to activate the Tara Mask, which then used Shadow Energy to summon the Shadowkhan. That meant they weren't constructs made of Chakra.

The advantage was that ordinary Sensory Ninjutsu couldn't detect them. The Shadowkhan had no Chakra, which was precisely why the Ninja Tribe had slipped inside so easily.

But by the same token, the Shadowkhan couldn't sense Chakra either. They could only capture what their eyes saw. They could count enemies, identify their positions, and track their movements, but they couldn't gauge the strength of an enemy's Chakra or tell how powerful they were.

For now, Tsukimi could only study the Sand Ninjas' positions and behavior through the images he received, then make a rough estimate of their combat strength.

"About three Jonin leading the force at the Archives Room. Two at the laboratory. The rest have gone outside with Rasa..."

He sorted through the intelligence, committing the enemy's deployment, defensive priorities, and encirclement routes to memory.

Once he was sure he had everything important, Tsukimi cut off the shared vision. The four Shadowkhans would remain hidden and wait for an opening.

Only then did he slowly open his eyes. The languor in them had vanished, replaced by a fierce readiness for battle.

The alarm carried faintly through the thick rock to the cliffside. Lord Orochimaru, who had watched the whole time, smiled and spoke in his hoarse voice.

"You triggered the alarm? It seems Rasa is more cautious than we thought."

Tsukimi rose and stretched, smiling too.

"There was no way around the contact alarm inside the Archives Room. Our presence has been exposed. Rasa has already assigned his forces: search the interior, defend the core at all costs, and seal off the mountain from outside."

"All of Mount Tenmoku is locked down now."

He turned to Lord Orochimaru, his tone casual. "The infiltration failed. We'll have to face them head-on."

Lord Orochimaru rubbed the cuff of his sleeve with his right hand. Excitement gleamed in his golden slit pupils.

After lying low for so long, he could barely contain his hunger for Rasa's Living Puppet experiment. He was desperate to see it for himself. A head-on battle suited him just fine.

"No matter." Lord Orochimaru stepped forward, Chakra stirring faintly within him. "This is a good chance to test the strength of our Kazekage candidate."

"Don't die here, Tsukimi!"

"Don't worry, Lord Orochimaru."

I've prepared a surprise for Rasa inside Mount Tenmoku Base. I hope he likes the gift when the time comes.