If You Get Away, I'll Eat It!

Inside Mount Tenmoku Base, Rasa had already locked down the deployment of his personnel.

In the mountain forest ahead, half the Sand Ninja were fighting Tsukimi and Orochimaru under Rasa's command, denying them any chance to break away. Twenty-four members of the investigation team guarded the supply passage, sealing its entrances and exits to prevent the enemy from doubling back. Another nine guarded the Archives Room. The last seventeen Ninja stood outside the laboratory at the heart of the base.

The defenses seemed airtight, but everyone in the Sunagakure had overlooked another vital location: the control room.

As the base's central hub, the control room could manage every alarm, barrier, and security system. Yet only two ordinary staff members were stationed there, recording equipment data and monitoring the alarms.

The control room sat at the center of the base, behind layer upon layer of defenses. Rasa had never believed an outsider could reach it, so he had never assigned Ninja to guard it. Even amid the current crisis, it had become the only undefended area in the entire base.

Tsukimi had no intention of letting Rasa's oversight go to waste!

The Shadow Ninja lying in wait inside the base sprang into action. They melted into the shadows of the corridors and slipped forward without a sound. Before long, they had entered the control room.

The two staff members were bent over their screens, checking the data. Absorbed in their work, they knew nothing of the danger closing in behind them.

The Shadow Ninja struck with blinding speed. Two precise chops landed on the pressure points at the backs of their necks. Neither made a sound before dropping stiffly to the floor, unconscious.

With the staff out of the way, the Shadow Ninja approached the main console. They had slipped into