Main World, Rōran.
The desert night was bitterly cold, and windblown sand drifted like ghosts in the moonlight.
Shiya stood on the city wall, eyes closed, sensing everything around him. Ever since learning the Earth Travel Technique, his perception of the earth had grown increasingly keen. He could sense the rock strata hundreds of meters beneath his feet, the flow of underground rivers, and the hostile chakra fluctuations hidden behind the dunes.
"Chief Shiya."
A Sunagakure Chunin hurried up onto the wall and bowed to report.
"We spotted a suspicious group ten li to the east. About twenty people, moving toward Rōran."
"Chakra signatures?"
"A jumble. They don't look like a regular ninja unit. More like... rogue ninja."
Shiya opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them.
Rogue ninja.
The most loathsome hyenas of wartime.
They belonged to no ninja village, had no fixed base, and held no clear allegiance. Wherever opportunities arose, they swarmed. Robbery, kidnapping, assassination, selling intelligence-as long as it paid, they would do anything.
Now, war raged across the Shinobi World, leaving countless civilians displaced. These rogue ninja roamed the borders of nations large and small like sharks scenting blood, waiting for a chance to tear into vulnerable targets.
And Rōran-this oasis that had miraculously remained peaceful amid the flames of war-was a juicy prize in their eyes.
"How many?"
"Twenty-three."
"Strength?"
"The leader is roughly Jonin level. Most of the others are Chunin and Genin."
A cold smile curled Shiya's lips.
"Twenty-three rogue ninja, and they dare set their sights on Rōran?"
"It seems we haven't deterred them enough."
He turned to face the foot of the wall.
"Changya."
"Here!"
Shiya's clansman Shiya Changya stepped out of the shadows, his dark skin gleaming like metal in the moonlight.
"Take ten men and guard the