"Team one, watch the area around my house. Pay special attention to any masked Anbu or Root rats."
"Team two, keep an eye on the main road through the clan compound and the key intersections."
"Team three, guard the perimeter of the Maple Forest on the Back Mountain. Warn me immediately if anyone approaches."
"Move out!"
The crows dispersed without a sound, slipping through gaps in the windows and ventilation openings to blend into the night.
Uchiha Makoto patiently waited a little over ten minutes, using their contract link to sense the images the crows shared with him.
Quiet streets, the occasional clan member on patrol, and deathly silence in the direction of the Back Mountain-not even an owl in sight.
"Good." He changed into dark gray casual clothes suited for moving at night, then formed hand seals in front of the mirror. "Transformation Technique!"
After a puff of white smoke, the mirror showed an ordinary-looking boy who would be impossible to pick out in a crowd of Uchiha.
Yeah, this way, even if someone happened to glimpse me from a distance, they wouldn't connect it to Uchiha Makoto.
At midnight, he slipped out of his house like a true shadow, using the buildings' shadows as cover as he silently made his way toward the Back Mountain.
It was an old maple grove. The scenery would probably have been pleasant by day, but at night, all that remained were indistinct trunks and rustling leaves, giving it an eerie feel.
Following the map in his mind, Uchiha Makoto soon found his target.
The third old maple tree, which looked the thickest and had the most weathered, cracked bark.
He crouched down and carefully inspected its roots.
Under the Sharingan's keen sight, some exceedingly faint marks appeared, distinctly different from the tree's