With an agreement to cooperate reached and Kisame Hoshigaki identified as their target, there was no time to waste. Well aware of the stakes, Mei Terumi personally signed a special authorization allowing Ling, under Zabuza's "escort," to consult all classified files in Kirigakure concerning Kisame Hoshigaki, recent unusual incidents, and the northwestern waters.
Inside the Secret Archives on the first basement level of the Mizukage Building, the lights were dim, and the air smelled of old paper and faint traces of insect-repelling herbs. Ling and Zabuza sat across from each other, thick scrolls piled before them. Aogiri occasionally brought in newly compiled reports analyzing the wreckage of the Seabed Base, but these mostly offered preliminary interpretations of the dark runes and energy-conversion technology. They provided little direct help in tracking down the "Sacred Lord" or Kisame.
Ling read at astonishing speed, his powerful mental faculties allowing him to remember almost everything at a glance. He rapidly sifted through the information, sharing the useful portions with Tobirama in his mind for analysis.
[The last confirmed sighting of Kisame near the Land of Water was three months ago, near the Sea Serpent Islands on the edge of the northwestern waters. He vanished without a trace after that.] Tobirama sorted through the information. [And over the past two months, there have indeed been multiple reports of merchant ships and fishing boats mysteriously disappearing in those waters. Only a few traces of battle remained at the sites, along with... unusual fluctuations resembling the residue left after Samehada absorbs chakra.]
"The Sea Serpent Islands... rumors of ghost ships..." Ling tapped a file describing a merchant ship's disappearance. "These incidents seem to cluster around an area called the Sea of Lost Paths. Thick fog blankets it year-round, and its magnetic fields are chaotic. Conventional navigation can