Sage Art: Mirage was not mere visual invisibility, but a more advanced assimilation of energy and presence. Ling's figure merged completely with the cold, dark seawater. Even the slightest chakra fluctuations and disturbances in the current were perfectly mimicked and concealed by senjutsu. Like a natural current along the seabed, he slipped silently past the floating "living corpse" guards with their vacant eyes.
Up close, the condition of these former ninja was even more disturbing. Thick purple chakra conduits that seemed alive coiled around their bodies like puppet strings, their other ends buried deep in the pyramid's base. Their chakra and life force were being continuously drained into the enormous purple-black crystal above, making it pulse faintly like a heart and emit increasingly intense waves of icy menace.
Ling carefully avoided the conduits and focused his senjutsu perception on the pyramid's surface. Its stone was covered in dark runes similar to those in the abandoned courtyard, but these were more complex and complete, forming an enormous barrier that extracted and converted energy. Its core was undoubtedly the crystal at the summit.
[A large energy relay station.] Tobirama's voice carried a cold, analytical edge. [It extracts power from ninja with specific aptitudes, purifies and amplifies it through this crystal, then transmits it somewhere far away. It seems the "Sacred Lord" and his organization have grand ambitions. They need vast quantities of special energy.]
"Can you find an entrance?" Ling asked inwardly, sensing every inch of the pyramid's surface.
[The main entrance is completely sealed by the barrier. Forcing your way through would immediately alert those inside. Look for a node where the energy flow is relatively weak, or... an auxiliary structure such as a drainage outlet.]
Ling's perception spread like spilled mercury, probing meticulously. Finally, in a concealed corner at the