Worried that spying with his Byakugan would alert the sleeping Kaguya, Urashiki decided to sneak inside and search.
He hid behind the courtyard wall, turned slightly, and watched out of the corner of his eye. A blond man wearing black boots and white gloves was crouched in the field, pulling weeds.
Urashiki thought, According to Toneri's intel, that blond hedgehog is Minato Namikaze, the servant who does Kaguya's odd jobs...
Minato pulled out the last weed and placed it in his bamboo basket, then stood and wiped away his sweat. A satisfied smile spread across his fair face. "All right~ It's about time to make dinner for Kushina and Mother Kaguya..."
With that, he lifted the basket of weeds and headed toward the backyard.
Whoosh!
Seeing his chance, Urashiki slipped into the courtyard and entered the palace through an open window.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Rhythmic footsteps sounded from the stairway. He hid in the shadows and held his breath.
A group of expressionless puppets dressed in exquisite kimonos came down the stairs, carrying trays.
Urashiki narrowed his eyes. "Tenseigan puppets..."
Kaguya had never been in the habit of using puppets, but with little else to occupy her over the years, she had come up with all sorts of new tricks.
The strength of Tenseigan puppets lay in the unique behavior patterns and a degree of logical thinking they could be given.
As long as their caster had not completely lost consciousness, the puppets would remain active-even while the caster was deep asleep!
Toneri's intel had mentioned none of this, so the sudden encounter caught Urashiki off guard. Fortunately, after coming downstairs, the puppets turned toward the other end of the corridor without noticing him.
Once the puppets vanished into the dark corridor, Urashiki climbed the stairs to the palace's second