This was similar to what had happened earlier, when she injected chakra into the Mirror to turn it into a spatial passage.
The only difference was that it consumed more mental energy. Though the chakra consumption was somewhat lower, it, too, increased exponentially as the Mirror grew larger.
For now, this was as large as she could make it. She might have to wait a while before expanding it again.
Nai Hyuga had no better option than to rest for a bit before continuing. She shook her head and slowly closed her eyes.
Not long after she stopped to recover her mental energy, the Scroll bearing Yui's reply was tossed out of the enormous Mirror Surface. Sensing the movement, Nai Hyuga instantly opened her eyes. Her thoughts paused for a moment before she reached out to catch the Scroll.
Yet once she had the Scroll in hand, she did not read it right away. Instead, her gaze shifted toward a spot a short distance beside her.
That glance made her freeze slightly, alarm rising within her. "Orochimaru?"
"What happened? Orochimaru's gone?"
The spot beside her where Orochimaru had been lying was now completely empty. All that remained was a human-shaped depression in the sand.
Nai Hyuga immediately stood and activated her Byakugan, scanning her surroundings, but she found no trace of Orochimaru. Only the human-shaped hollow remained, as though he had vanished into thin air without a trace.
"Wait, what exactly happened?" She took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. Orochimaru had clearly been here just moments ago. How could he have disappeared now?
What happened while I had my eyes closed, recovering my mental energy? How could I have failed to notice anything unusual?
*That shouldn't be possible. At this distance, I'd notice even a mosquito