73: High-end hunters often appear in the form of prey

Dawn at Guiku Gorge brought no birdsong, only the mournful whispers carried by the morning breeze.

A Konoha Ninja on patrol, yawning, kicked away a stone in his path. When he saw the scene ahead, he froze, as if under a paralysis jutsu.

His companion behind him, not paying attention, bumped into him, complaining, “Hey, what are you doing…?”

Before he finished speaking, he too followed his companion’s gaze. The kunai in his hand clattered to the ground, rolling into the dust.

On the open ground a dozen meters in front of the defensive line, a row of “statues” stood neatly, like some eerie exhibition.

Each one was lifelike, their faces contorted, muscles bulging, forever solidifying the ultimate fear and pain of their final moments.

The one at the forefront, with arms spread and menacing bone spikes, was none other than Kidōmaru, Orochimaru’s renowned Cursed Seal Ninja.

“It’s…it’s Sunagakure’s ‘Ghost Lotus’…” A Ninja’s teeth chattered, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

Fear, like a plague, spread wildly through Konoha’s frontline camp.

Inside Orochimaru’s underground laboratory, he “enjoyed” this morning drama through the last vestiges of the Cursed Seal’s connection.

Far from being angry, a morbid flush spread across his pale face, and his body trembled slightly from extreme excitement.

“Heh heh…heh heh heh…what a perfect body! To solidify life and despair into eternity! This has already touched upon the Roots of immortality!”

He extended his long tongue, slowly licking the corners of his mouth, his narrow, golden vertical pupils filled with obsession and fanaticism.

“Tang Yan-kun, you truly are my kind. Only you can understand the ultimate pursuit I seek!”

He suddenly turned, spreading his arms to the empty laboratory, as if embracing an invisible lover, his voice hoarse and excited.

“Kikyo Mountain…yes, Kikyo Mountain will be the stage for our next formal meeting.

I will prepare the grandest welcoming ceremony for you, my most perfect vessel, my only confidant…”

..........

Duanfeng Pass, command tent.

Unlike Konoha’s gloom, the atmosphere here was visibly relaxed.

“Kumogakure’s elite troops launched a surprise attack on the Land of Fire border? Excellent!” Zi Luo slammed his fist on the table, making the pieces on the sand table jump. “Now those Konoha brats will be in a bind. We can finally catch our breath!”

Qian’s fingers traced across the sand table, but his brows furrowed slightly: “Konoha being forced into a two-front war is indeed beneficial for us. We can take this opportunity to recuperate and consolidate our defenses.”

Tang Yan had remained silent, quietly observing the arrow on the sand table representing Kumogakure.

He raised a finger and lightly tapped the table, producing a crisp knocking sound.

“Recuperate?”

The tent instantly fell silent. All eyes focused on him.

“Why wait for others to finish fighting before deciding our fate?” Tang Yan’s fingertip traced from the mark representing Duanfeng Pass all the way to the heartland of the Land of Fire. “This is precisely a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity to break the stalemate.”

Qian’s pupils constricted slightly: “You want to…”

“I want to go see.” Tang Yan’s tone was calm, but his words made everyone present gasp. “To see the true quality of the Ninja World’s renowned ‘Yellow Flash’ and Kumogakure’s ‘AB Combo’.”

Zi Luo’s eyes immediately lit up, his honest face filled with excitement. The earlier relaxation vanished, replaced by a readiness for battle: “Go fight? I like it! Count me in!”

“Not fighting.” Tang Yan glanced at him. “It’s observing, it’s hunting.”

He needed firsthand data, to personally assess the top combat power of this world.

The All Things Creation Box’s deductions could not be based solely on vague intelligence.

“Sato.”

“Here!” The steady Sato immediately stepped forward.

“You will take command while I am away.” Tang Yan issued the order. “There is only one command: defend only, do not attack, shrink the defensive line, and show weakness to the enemy.”

“Show weakness?” Sato was somewhat puzzled.

“Understood!” Sato asked no further questions, executing the order unconditionally.

Tang Yan looked at Qian and Zi Luo: “You two, come with me. Prepare yourselves; we depart in half an hour.”

The night was as dark as ink.

A giant owl puppet, Owl · Stealth, with a four-meter wingspan, carried the three, gliding like a ghost through the night sky, silently passing over Sunagakure’s defensive line and stealthily heading towards the heartland of the Land of Fire.

The high-altitude air was somewhat cold. Zi Luo Shrink his neck, lowering his voice: “I say, are we just going to fly over so brazenly? This thing is quite large. What if Konoha’s scouts mistake it for a big bird and shoot us down with a kunai?”

Qian was still sensing the surrounding Chakra flow with closed eyes. Hearing this, he didn’t even open them: “Owl · Stealth’s steel feathers have bionic sound-dampening patterns and can reflect moonlight. Unless a Hyuga’s Byakugan gets close, it’s very difficult to detect. Instead of worrying about that, you should control your own Chakra; don’t be like a searchlight.”

Tang Yan sat cross-legged at the very front, his eyes slightly closed, as if in meditation.

But his mind, through the unique method of Xuantian Skill, merged with the surrounding natural energy of the world.

Just then, he keenly detected an extremely faint, discordant flow.

It was not wind, nor was it a Chakra fluctuation.

It was a sense of being spied upon, like a persistent, elusive presence.

The opponent’s stealth technique was extremely high, even deceiving Owl · Stealth’s wide-area detection and Qian’s Wind Release perception.

Interesting.

He calmly controlled Owl · Stealth to slightly adjust its direction, descending towards a complex stalactite forest below.

“Let’s find a place to rest up ahead.”

Owl · Stealth folded its wings, silently landing at the entrance of a large stalactite cave.

Zi Luo jumped off the puppet’s back, stretching his somewhat stiff limbs, rubbing his hands and complaining: “Damn it, the wind is so strong up high, I’m freezing. Tang Yan, are we really not going to light a fire to warm up?”

Qian remained vigilant, his sharp gaze sweeping over every dark corner, ignoring Zi Luo’s complaints.

Tang Yan didn’t answer, only raised a hand in a shushing gesture, his eyes signaling them to guard the cave entrance.

He walked alone into the bottomless darkness.

The cave was cold and damp, water dripping from the stalactites, making crisp plinking sounds that echoed in the empty cavern. Zi Luo watched Tang Yan’s disappearing back and whispered to Qian: “So mysterious, what trick is he pulling now?”

Qian glanced at him and said coldly: “Shut up, do your job.”

Tang Yan went several tens of meters deeper into the cave, stopping at a fork in the path.

This was a confluence of air currents and a visual blind spot, a perfect ambush location.

He extended his hands, fingers long and slender.

As his thoughts moved, the air behind him subtly twisted, and a humanoid puppet appeared out of thin air—it was Apothecary - Diligence.

Its jet-black hair, realistic enough to deceive, eerily and slowly came undone and floated in the windless cave.

Tang Yan lightly flicked his fingers, as if plucking invisible strings.

Strands of “shadowless silk,” tougher than spider silk and more transparent than air, were drawn from Apothecary - Diligence’s hair. Under the exquisite technique of Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, the threads were guided and fixed by him between stalactites, rock formations, and crevices in the cave walls.

The entire process made not a single sound, and an invisible net of death instantly enveloped the entire fork in the path.

Having completed all this, he then snapped his fingers gently at the thick rock wall beside him.

Armor · Fortification’s figure emerged, then immediately performed Earth Release: Hidden in Stone Technique. Its entire body seemed to merge into water, silently flowing into the cave wall, completely disappearing without leaving a trace of Chakra.

The stage for trapping a turtle in a jar was set.

A moment later, a dark shadow slipped into the cave.

His movements were extremely light, his footsteps falling on the gravel-strewn ground without making any sound.

He was like a tanuki accustomed to darkness, perfectly avoiding all obstacles, completely unaware of the danger deep within the cave.

Just as he stepped into the fork in the path, the center of the trap.

Tang Yan’s voice came from the shadows behind him, as calm as if stating an unimportant fact.

“Followed me for so long, aren’t you tired?”

The dark shadow’s entire body instantly tensed to the extreme, his body’s instinct making him want to retreat without thinking.

But he was too late.

From all directions, countless invisible threads suddenly tightened!

The dark shadow’s reaction was incredibly fast. His body twisted at an impossible angle, and the short knife in his hand flashed, severing several threads aimed at his neck and heart in a flash of lightning.

But he was fast, and Armor · Fortification, hidden in the rock wall, was even faster!

A fist made of rock burst out of the ground beneath his feet without warning, slamming solidly into his lower abdomen!

“Pfft!”

The dark shadow spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with internal organ fragments. His body was thrown into the air by the immense force, colliding directly with the densest net of threads above his head.

“Pfft! Pfft!”

The sounds of blades entering flesh rang out consecutively, clear enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

The dark shadow fell heavily to the ground, with over a dozen deep, bone-exposing wounds on his limbs and torso. Blood instantly stained the rocks beneath him.

He struggled to raise his head, looking at Tang Yan who emerged from the shadows, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

Tang Yan’s gaze fell on the patterned animal mask on his face. After inspecting it, he found the gruesome “Tongue Sealing Curse” at the base of his tongue.

“A Root member?”

A hint of defiance flashed in the Root Ninja’s eyes, and he suddenly moved to bite down on the poison sac hidden in his teeth.

Tang Yan’s movements were faster than his thoughts.

He took a step, activating the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, instantly closing the distance to the opponent.

The Root Ninja only felt a blur before his eyes, and an irresistible force gripped his lower jaw. With a crisp “crack,” his mandible was directly crushed, making him unable to even close his teeth.

Tang Yan’s other hand rested on his forehead.

Deep in his pupils, a deep purple electric flash flickered and vanished.

Purple Demon Eyes, mental assault!

The Root Ninja’s proud, meticulously honed willpower was easily torn apart like paper in the face of this brutal mental force.

Countless chaotic, fragmented images flooded Tang Yan’s mind.

A dark, damp underground base, countless pale experimental subjects suspended in nutrient fluid, and a cold face wrapped in bandages, with only one eye visible.

Danzo!

In those memory fragments, Tang Yan saw detailed intelligence about himself, and Danzo’s assessment report on the “petrification” ability.

“This jutsu…is far more valuable than the Sharingan. It is the ultimate weapon for achieving permanent peace for Konoha and must be seized for in-depth research.”

Tang Yan slowly withdrew his hand, the purple light in his eyes receding.

The Root Ninja had completely become an idiot, drooling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes empty and unfocused.

A puppet emanating a deathly aura, the Underworld King, silently appeared behind him, its cold metal hand pressing down on his head.

Silent petrification played out again.

After dealing with this new “artwork,” Tang Yan walked back to the cave entrance. Zi Luo was idly skipping stones on the water. Seeing him emerge, he immediately approached: “Solved? Who was it?”

Tang Yan didn’t answer, only looked up at the distant sky, where lightning flashed and thunder roared.

There, a top-tier storm of the Ninja World was brewing.

A habitual curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“The more people at the poker table, the more interesting it is, isn’t it?”