Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 41: The Chamber of Horrors

TW: For a warned audience

When the young shinobis arrived in the perimeter, they stopped. There, Shikamaru was about to give the instructions and he felt his heart racing once again. He was so close; soon, he would get the long-awaited answers to this whole mystery ... at least, part of it. His entire body was shaking. The demarcated area extended for several kilometres in the form of a circle and by taking advantage of the individualities of the others, Shikamaru shared with his team the procedure to follow.

Keeping in mind the possibility of a potential ambush, aware of the risk to which he was exposed, the leader would team up with Sai who would fly over the land to have an aerial view. Although this did not please Shikamaru, he had no choice. As for the other two, they would work alone.

Thanks to his Byakugan, Neji would scout in depth, examining the slightest ground, the slightest hill, the slightest waterfall, the slightest mountain... As for Shino, he would take care of patrolling more on the surface unlike the member of the Bunke; his swarms of insects were able to quickly search the territory by infiltrating all the possible tiny cracks there were. Beginning the exploration in the centre, they would gradually widen the circle as they advanced, certain they had searched the surroundings with appalling accuracy. After each thoroughly inspected area, they would meet to share Intel before continuing and so on.

They nodded and dispersed so as not to waste a single second. Sai used his Super Beast Imitating Drawing technique and summoned an inky hawk to climb on it with Shikamaru. While the other two patrolled on foot, they flew over the territory scrupulously, returning several times to the same places at different altitudes so as not to miss anything. In doing so, the leader took notes to mark the areas inspected by their care, then he would do the same with those of Neji and Shino when they met again.

However, after only about thirty minutes, Sai noticed insects coming towards them. They guessed that the bug handler had found something. From then on, heart palpitations won over Shikamaru. The two shinobis landed on the ground and running, they followed the invertebrates. Along the way, they came across Neji who joined them. The trio quickly arrived there, where Shino was waiting for them.

Shino put a finger to his mouth before speaking in a whisper. "I found the place and it's only a few metres ahead of us."

The young shinobis exchanged a look, a cold sweat beading on their foreheads. Neji used his Byakugan and inspected the surroundings to make sure they were alone. However, the latter seemed puzzled. It made the others anxious; they waited with anguish for his answer while holding their breath.

"No one. The way is clear," he whispered, ceasing the use of his eyes.

"Be careful," Shikamaru warned in a low voice. "These guys are able to appear out of nowhere and attack you in your blind spot before you even sense their presence."

They nodded and they advanced cautiously; at that, they erased their presence. On their guard, on the lookout for a trap or an enemy waiting for the right moment to emerge from the void, they approached in the thickets, following the taciturn orders of Shikamaru who led the march. A few steps and what they saw silenced them. They understood the confusion of their brother-in-arms when he had inspected the surroundings with his dōjutsu.

In this space bathed in dimness created by the thick foliage of the surrounding trees, there was, against a rock facade, a soot-stained and cracked entrance that looked as if it was about to crumble at any moment. Many stones were scattered around the opening in question, implying that it must have been hidden by a clever natural camouflage, probably with seals since there were pieces of parchment consumed by fire. Moreover, the greenery had been engulfed in flames; the grass having suffered the ravages gave way to an earthy soil and virgin of floral life. At first glance, whether it had started to rain shortly after, or the fire had extinguished itself.