The next morning, when Teizawa opened his eyes, he was still a little dazed.
Everything from the previous night surfaced in his mind like a passing lantern show.
Tch…
Worth remembering.
But there was serious business today, so Teizawa did not continue lingering on thoughts of Karin.
He silently got out of bed and carefully dressed.
Then he tucked the blanket back into place.
He was determined to have both Karin and Hinata at his side.
Karin's constitution was special—the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan.
As for Hinata…
He admitted that, with her, much of it came from an obsession with a "moonlight in his heart."
The eldest daughter of the Hyūga Clan, gentle, obedient, a proper Yamato Nadeshiko.
What man would not want a woman like that?
He walked out of the bedroom.
The dark-gold Kazekage robe settled across his shoulders.
He tightened his belt.
His forehead protector was secured above his brow.
In the mirror, he had once again returned to that arrogant, untouchable appearance.
Today, there was proper work to handle.
By the time Teizawa arrived at the Kazekage Building, Temari and Kankurō were already waiting at the entrance.
Temari stood with her arms crossed, a trace of resentment in her green eyes.
That gaze stabbed at his face like a knife.
Kankurō stood behind her.
He pretended to read the scroll in his hands, not daring to so much as breathe too loudly.
"Let's go."
Teizawa waved a hand, giving Temari no chance to start on him.
Temari bit her lip.
She swallowed the words already at the tip of her tongue and followed behind him.
Kankurō breathed a sigh of relief and quickly caught up.
The team departed from Suna's eastern gate.
They raced northeast.
Teizawa had long since memorized every piece of information about the aerial base.
The Sky Ninja Village was a hidden organization that had quietly rebuilt itself after being destroyed by Konoha.
They possessed flight technology far beyond this era.
Their aerial base—the Angkor Fortress—was a gigantic fortress capable of free flight.
Hidden within it were countless flying puppets and weapons.
He was determined to obtain that thing.
Of course, for now, he was not going to touch that hard bone directly.
According to his memories from his previous life, Shinnō, the remnant of the Sky Ninja Village, should still be hidden deep inside some forest.
He was guarding that fortress while dreaming of restoring the Sky Ninja Village.
Shinnō was the leader of the Sky Ninja Village.
On the surface, he was a wandering doctor who traveled from place to place treating the sick.
In truth, he was an ambitious conspirator.
He knew a forbidden technique called Body Revival.
It strengthened the body at the cellular level, greatly increasing power, speed, and reaction time.
It was even said that he could open the Eighth Gate of the Eight Gates and survive unharmed.
On top of that, he was hiding the Zero-Tails and keeping it imprisoned.
By absorbing people's chakra, he could strengthen himself.
The Zero-Tails' vessel was a girl named Amaru.
She was under Shinnō's control.
"Kazekage-sama…"
Kankurō rode closer and lowered his voice.
"The marked area from the Anbu is up ahead. According to reconnaissance, there are indeed large metal responses in that forest."
"But the exact location still hasn't been found. It seems to be concealed by some kind of optical camouflage."
Teizawa nodded.
"Keep moving. Once we reach the area, I'll find it."
The team moved through the dense forest.
Branches and leaves blotted out the sky, and the light was so dim it felt as if they had entered night.
Their shoes rustled across the thick carpet of fallen leaves.
The Anbu guarded the surroundings.
Their sharp gazes swept over every suspicious shadow.
Teizawa closed his eyes.
His perception spread outward in every direction with him at the center.
Electromagnetic waves extended like invisible tendrils.
They pierced through layer after layer of leaves, sank into the ground, swept past the treetops, and scanned the vast forest.
Metal, water sources, living creatures—one by one, they appeared in his mind.
Suddenly, about three kilometers ahead, he sensed a massive, irregular metal structure.
It lay there, heavy and still.
Like a dormant beast.
"Found it."
Teizawa opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Straight ahead. Three kilometers. Hidden underground, covered by something."
Temari and Kankurō exchanged a glance.
Both saw surprise in the other's eyes.
The reconnaissance teams they had sent had searched this forest for several days and found nothing.
Teizawa had only closed his eyes for a moment, and he had already locked onto the target?
Kankurō swallowed.
In his heart, he could not help feeling the terror of Teizawa's abilities.
The team accelerated, and before long they arrived at the location Teizawa had indicated.
It looked no different from the surrounding forest.
Tall trees, thick fallen leaves, tangled vines.
Several startled squirrels poked their heads out from tree hollows, curiously watching the group of uninvited guests.
Teizawa walked to the center of a relatively open patch of ground.
He crouched and pressed his palm against the earth.
Electromagnetic waves spread out again.
This time, they went deeper and became even more precise.
He "saw" it about twenty meters underground.
A gigantic metal structure lay sleeping there.
Its outer shell was covered in rust and vines.
Many places had already been damaged, but the overall structure remained intact.
More importantly…
He "saw" the nodes of the optical camouflage.
Five metal pillars were arranged underground in the shape of a pentagram.
They were continuously releasing a field that distorted light.
"Kankurō. About thirty meters northeast. Something's buried underground. Dig it out."
Teizawa stood, brushing the dirt from his hands.
Kankurō immediately led several puppeteers over.
Using Earth Release, they dug open the ground in that area.
As expected, a massive metal pillar appeared before everyone.
Dense runes had been carved across the pillar's surface.
They were still giving off a faint glow.
Following Teizawa's instructions, Kankurō found all five pillars one after another and destroyed the runes carved on them.
After the last pillar had been dug out, Teizawa pressed his fingers together.
A surge of electromagnetic force gathered in his hand.
Then it shot out, striking those pillars.
Teizawa understood very clearly that, according to the original plot…
The most important factor in Shinnō making the aerial fortress fly was using the Zero-Tails' energy as its power source.
At the moment, Teizawa did not have the Zero-Tails.
But when it came to power, electromagnetism was almost a thousand times, a hundred times better than the Zero-Tails' chakra.
And what he lacked least was electromagnetic force.
Rumble, rumble…
The next instant, the entire forest began to shake violently.
Fallen leaves flew into the air, birds scattered in alarm, and cracks spread across the ground.
The soil and vegetation covering the fortress slid away in great sheets.
Beneath them, a gray-black metal shell was revealed.
The fortress was rising.
A deafening roar thundered through the forest.
Like the bellow of an ancient beast.
(End of Chapter)
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