Chapter 318: The Homuras

Chapter 318: Chapter 318: The Homuras

A day passed, and night once again descended.

Three figures appeared in a small grove outside Konoha.

All three wore black cloaks trimmed in gold, with flame-patterned masks covering their faces.

Although their outfits looked nearly identical, each of them gave off a completely different impression.

The mysterious figure with a ponytail and a longsword at her waist leaned quietly against a large tree. She seemed calm and composed, with a faint air of laziness about her.

The short-haired mysterious figure wore black gloves and carried a short sword on his back. With his arms folded across his chest, he gave off a crisp, decisive impression, brimming with energy.

The last mysterious figure was smaller in stature. He carried no sword, but his waist was lined with ninja tool pouches. He stood there in complete silence, an inexplicable air of mystery surrounding him.

Needless to say, these three were Hyuga Kagami, controlling his Fire Release clone, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the corners of Kagami’s lips curled upward.

"Homuras, let’s move out!"

Whoosh...

As soon as he finished speaking, Kagami, controlling his Fire Release clone, flickered and vanished from the spot.

Shisui said nothing. He merely gave a slight nod before activating the Body Flicker Technique and disappearing without a sound.

Itachi glanced back in the direction of the village before disappearing with a whoosh as well.

In the blink of an eye, the small grove fell silent once more, as though everything that had just happened had been nothing more than an illusion...

...

Land of Hot Water.

Inside a tent, Shinno was carefully examining a set of blueprints.

The Sky Ninja Village’s greatest treasure, the aerial fortress Ancor Vantian, was currently far from being in perfect condition. During Konoha’s war against the Sky Ninja Village several decades ago, Ancor Vantian had once been shot down.

Thus, Shinno’s most urgent task was to completely restore Ancor Vantian and make it fly once again.

"The weapons system is nearly fully repaired. Now, as long as we restore the power system, Ancor Vantian will be able to take to the skies again!"

Shinno slammed his hand heavily onto the blueprints spread across the table, his face filled with fanatical excitement.

For all these years, he had wandered throughout the shinobi world under the identity of a traveling physician, gathering all manner of resources and technologies for one purpose—to one day restore the glory of the Sky Ninja Village and make it stand proudly in the shinobi world once again.

Suddenly, a Sky Ninja stumbled into Shinno’s tent.

"L-Lord Shinno! Someone is attacking our outer sentry posts! We’ve already lost contact with fourteen of them!"

"What!?"

Shinno was startled.

Although the Sky Ninja weren’t particularly impressive in terms of overall quality, they were still formally trained shinobi. Unless they encountered ninja from one of the major hidden villages, ordinary wandering ninja and bandits were nothing for them to fear.

And the fact that the attacker had managed to take down more than a dozen Sky Ninja outposts in such a short span of time was enough to prove that they were no ordinary opponent.

Just then, another Sky Ninja rushed into Shinno’s tent.

"Lord Shinno! There’s only one attacker, but..."

Shinno hurriedly demanded, "But what!?"

The Sky Ninja replied, "They’re wearing a black cloak and a flame-patterned mask. It seems to be the rumored Homura of Kamigami!"

"Kamigami!?"

Shinno’s expression immediately darkened.

Right now, the people he least wanted to encounter were troublesome figures from Akatsuki or Kamigami. The more he learned about the undercurrents of the shinobi world, the more clearly he understood just what mysterious groups like Akatsuki and Kamigami represented.

According to Akatsuki’s intelligence, nearly every member of Kamigami possessed Kage-level strength.

Homura in particular had already been confirmed to possess the Mangekyo Sharingan, making him a powerful enemy who was absolutely no weaker than Akatsuki’s Uchiha Shinichi.

Grabbing the Sky Ninja by the collar, Shinno demanded, "How many of them are there?"

"J-Just one!"

Shinno’s thoughts raced.

"They’ve targeted me. They must be after Hiruko’s forbidden technique and intelligence on Akatsuki."

Then another thought flashed through his mind.

"No. I absolutely can’t let Kamigami capture me!"

Having made up his mind, Shinno ordered the Sky Ninja, "You stay here and defend this place!"

The two Sky Ninja exchanged glances. With no other choice, they could only steel themselves and nod.

"Yes!"

After giving his orders, Shinno gathered up the blueprints and hurried out of the tent.

Originally, he had planned to wait until all the supplies had been transferred into Ancor Vantian before repairing its power system and getting the aerial fortress back into the sky.

But with the situation suddenly changing, he had no choice but to repair Ancor Vantian’s power system immediately. Before Kamigami’s Homura could break into the core area, he needed to activate Ancor Vantian and relocate the entire aerial fortress.

Moving at full speed, Shinno soon arrived at the entrance to an ancient ruin.

The vine-covered stone structure before him was none other than the Sky Ninja Village’s greatest treasure, the aerial fortress Ancor Vantian.

Of course, the main body of the fortress was buried underground. What could be seen above the surface was merely a small portion of its upper structure.

Just as Shinno was about to enter the fortress, a figure stepped out and blocked his path.

Shinno’s pupils contracted.

"How did you find this place!?"

The one standing in Shinno’s way was none other than Hyuga Kagami, controlling his Fire Release clone.

With one hand resting on the hilt of her longsword and the other brushing across the stonework of the aerial fortress, Kagami smiled.

"What’s the hurry? Where are you trying to go?"

Shinno’s expression shifted several times before he suddenly smiled.

"Whatever you want, I can cooperate. I’ve already left Akatsuki!"

Behind the mask, Kagami smiled.

"As expected, this Shinno really has no principles whatsoever."

He then said, "You should know very well what I want, shouldn’t you?"

Shinno replied, "If I’m not mistaken, what you’re after should be Hiruko’s forbidden technique—the Chimera Technique, right?"

Kagami nodded.

Shinno said, "Please, follow me!"

With that, Shinno walked past Kagami and headed deeper into the aerial fortress.

Kagami thought for a moment, then silently followed him inside.

Kagami had been eyeing the Sky Ninja Village’s aerial fortress for a long time.

If he could seize this place, he would finally have a true base of his own. He could even transform the entire fortress into a massive airborne laboratory.

Because of that, Kagami was in no hurry to make a move.

First, he wanted to confirm the current condition of the aerial fortress.

In the original timeline, this aerial fortress had indeed successfully taken flight, but that wouldn’t happen until more than a decade from now. At present, aside from Shinno, no one could say for certain whether the fortress was actually capable of flying.

Before long, Shinno led Kagami into the interior of the fortress.

Inside the fortress’s main hall, Shinno lightly pressed a spot on one of the stone pillars.

In an instant, a hidden compartment opened within the pillar.

Shinno retrieved a scroll from inside and tossed it toward Kagami.

"This contains the Chimera Technique you’re after. There’s really no need for there to be any conflict between us!"