Under the cover of night, the Black Tide Trading Company Headquarters resembled a black beast crouching on the coast. Its brightly lit windows were its vicious eyes, while unknown dangers lurked in the shadows. Like a silent fish, Ling used Pure Water Release to conceal his presence and chakra fluctuations perfectly. He easily slipped past the patrolling guards and crude warning barriers outside, entering the building through a hidden drainage outlet.
The interior was far more complex than it appeared from outside. Intersecting corridors were filled with a mixture of briny sea air, rusted metal, and... that familiar, nauseating scent of dark purple corrosive energy. His senjutsu perception spread cautiously from him like invisible tendrils, avoiding areas with stronger energy reactions as he prioritized mapping the building's layout, the distribution of guards, and the points where energy flows converged.
Most of the guards were merely ordinary ronin or low-ranking ninja carrying traces of corrosive energy, hardly worth worrying about. But deep within the building, Ling sensed several powerful chakra sources, as conspicuous as beacons in the darkness.
One lay on an upper floor near the center of the building. Its energy was cold and viscous, with intensely corrosive properties, and its strength far surpassed that of any enemy he had encountered before. It was probably their leader, Heize.
Another lay on the lowest level, on the side facing the sea. Its chakra was savage and searing, yet strangely mingled with dark purple fluctuations of the same origin as the corrosive energy, as though venom had been poured into fire. This chakra felt exceedingly dangerous to Ling, brimming with destruction and instability-it most likely belonged to the man called "Thunderstorm."
Ling decided to investigate Thunderstorm first. He moved through the corridors like a shadow. The closer he drew to the lowest