Amane, located at the base, was leisurely reading a book. It had been several hours since she was released, but still nothing had happened, allowing her to immerse herself more fully in the sea of books.
"Boss, give me the first volume of icha icha paradise to look at."
Her voice was very small, and her face even carried a hint of redness and anticipation.
She had intentionally spent several hours reading here just for this moment when the shop was about to close and the customers were very sparse.
These clones didn't have the knowledge of the original work or Amane's memories of her past life, but that was all. So of course they understood what the so-called "forbidden" nature of this book meant.
In fact, after this clone was created and saw there was nothing to do at the base, she set her sights on this thing that had piqued her curiosity deep down for a long time.
Even the Main Body was very curious about this book, but she had been closely watched by her teammates after getting money these past two months; now was the perfect time to fulfill this long-awaited wish.
As a side note, there were currently only three volumes of this book. Aside from the first volume, the bookstore didn't have the other two yet, partly because they were newly released and partly because restocking was currently impossible.
"300 Ryo."
The shop owner was a woman who now wore an inscrutable smile, looking like she completely understood.
Since Amane was wearing someone else's face anyway, she took the book and hid in a remote corner to start reading.
This bold move stood in stark contrast to her behavior of waiting until closing time to buy it. The few people who secretly noticed this couldn't help but chuckle, thinking she was definitely a novice.
Opening the first page, Amane's face under the mask turned red.
This descriptive style was completely different from other books! As she continued reading, a pink sense of intoxication gradually welled up in her heart along with the words.
Amane gradually became interested and began reading chapter by chapter, her concentration even exceeding that of the previous book on the History of the Ninja World.
[At its core, it's a romance novel, but the real brilliance of the book isn't there. It's the delicate writing style used to depict a woman's body and mind, and the bathhouse peeping encounter between the male protagonist and the girl feels very real.]
This realism reached such an immersive level that she wondered if these were all the author's personal experiences.
Amane couldn't help but flip specifically to the last page.
[Toad Sage?]
She hadn't heard of him, but if this were real and she ever met him, Amane wouldn't mind throwing a few Adamantine Sealing Chains at him; he was practically an enemy of all women.
Closing the book, the bookstore's bell rang, signaling it was time to close.
Looking at the twilight sky, Amane calculated her plan to sneak back home, since there was no surveillance there now.
Then she would properly continue to "critique" this book.
But after walking just a few steps, Amane couldn't help but turn her head in a certain direction.
[What incredible Chakra. One of them is cold and feels somewhat familiar, while the other's Chakra seems extremely turbulent.]
This was the first time Amane had sensed Chakra of such intensity; for a moment, goosebumps broke out all over her body.
Even just in terms of quantity, it wasn't something she could compare to, especially the person with the turbulent Chakra.
[No way, could this be that Fourth Mizukage Jinchuriki?]
Sensing the distance, they were about forty kilometers away. But this seemingly vast distance provided Amane with no sense of security at all.
Tailed Beast Ball!
Although the clone indeed didn't have any memories of her past life, Amane had discovered over time that as long as she used writing or talking to herself, she could give this information to the clone permanently.
Amane had a guess about the principle; perhaps it was because there was no such thing as Chakra in her past life, which prevented the memories from being shared automatically.
So, for the sake of future convenience and to see if she could exploit this, Amane selectively shared necessary information with the clone.
[The intelligence organization at the base is too terrible. What should I do now?]
If a Tailed Beast Ball really came crashing down, Amane could only watch helplessly as it descended. Then, as she was about to vanish, she would pray that the Main Body's location wasn't affected.
So she had to act before the worst-case scenario arrived!
[But I can't directly tell any Ninja at this base the truth. Unless I take out a Sensing Ninja, use a secret technique to take his face, and disguise my Chakra.]
But this plan was not feasible.
Sensing Ninjas held a very high status; under normal circumstances, even if they were sent out, they wouldn't act alone. There was simply no opportunity right now.
Moreover, after these two months, Amane realized just how powerful her Kagura Minds Eye was.
Without any assistance, she could cover over dozens of kilometers by herself; it was incredibly overpowered.
[Even if I disguise myself as an enemy to lure them over, they probably won't chase past the base. However, if I get close to them and then fire a danger signal flare...]
This was a feasible plan and the one that allowed for the fastest action right now.
No sooner said than done, Amane quickly sprang into action. Anyway, signal flares weren't hard to obtain during this period, and she didn't need to get one from another Ninja.
However, as she began her move, Amane also prayed in her heart, hoping the Great Clam's genjutsu could stall for a bit longer.
Fortunately, it seemed those two massive Chakras hadn't moved yet, likely held back by this defensive measure.
Meanwhile, on a mountainside 45 kilometers away, Uchiha Obito stood motionless with the controlled Fourth Mizukage Yagura, looking down at everything obscured by the mist below.
"They certainly have their methods,"
Obito said, seemingly to himself.
"Indeed. The Great Clam's genjutsu, combined with the dense fog obscuring vision. A few days ago, they took out three Kaguya Clan bases. It looked like they were testing the Great Clam's power, but in reality, they were using it to envelop the base. Now, the entire base's location is impossible to pinpoint. What should we do?"
Zetsu's figure emerged from the ground, waiting for Obito's further instructions.
"Even you can't find it?" Obito expressed disbelief. Zetsu's sensing abilities were absolutely top-tier in the Ninja World; he had never seen a Ninja capable of rivaling them.
"Well~ if you tell us what it feels like to have a bowel movement, I'll tell you right now."
This bizarre question no longer stirred any waves in Obito's heart. He also knew that the reason Zetsu wouldn't tell him straight out was because it had little to do with the "plan."
Was Obito himself still persistent? Obito told himself he didn't care much anymore; even if this operation failed, so be it.
"Forget it, I have my own way."
Saying this, Obito turned to the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, intending to use genjutsu to control him into releasing a Tailed Beast Ball.
Like the Kagura Minds Eye and the Byakugan, the Sharingan could see the flow of Chakra, it just couldn't cover such a large range.
And that was already enough.
A black, ominous sphere began to gather in front of the mouth of the Tailed Beast-transformed Yagura. At this point, Amane didn't even need to run over and fire a danger signal flare.
From the perspective of the people at the base, the massive form of the Three-Tails was already clearly visible.
The next second, the sphere blasted out in the direction it had been charging!
The sound of the explosion carried a blast of wind, washing over the entire base in the blink of an eye. The light of fire, symbolizing destruction, illuminated the twilight that was already turning into night.
Amane, who had just reached the edge of the base, couldn't help but breathe a temporary sigh of relief.
The actual damage to the base was only a strong gust of wind, but in the perception of her Kagura Minds Eye, the Great Clam had disappeared.
Additionally, a complaint arose from her "memory."
[So releasing a Tailed Beast Ball requires full Tailed Beast transformation...]
When she was talking to herself to give her body information, Amane only said that Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki could use the special ability of the Tailed Beast Ball, but she hadn't specified the details.
This had led to a tactical error on the part of the Shadow Clone Amane.
The base's alarm began to blare, and many Kirigakure Ninjas stepped forward to begin evacuating civilians. Looking into the distance through her Kagura Minds Eye, quite a few Ninjas had already started heading toward the location where the Tailed Beast had just appeared.
[A Jonin is leading the team, but the success rate should be quite slim, and...]
In the perception of her Kagura Minds Eye, another large group of Chakra signatures was rushing this way from a different direction.
It's the Kaguya Clan!