An Inch of Gold

24

"Oh, great, more underground," Boruto complains. "Because we didn't get enough of that before!"

Even knowing what they're getting into, it's hard to argue with Boruto's dismay at wandering into yet another subterranean lair. Sarada isn't sure about her teammates, but she's half-expecting a horde of curse marked monsters to come rushing out at them like what happened in the lab.

None materialise, though, and the only thing that overtakes them is unnatural silence.

"Well, come on," Konohamaru says. "The world won't save itself, hey."

Despite not having walked more than a few paces inside the hideaway, the glowing dawn light doesn't reach inside. Konohamaru is forced to break out a glow stick—his last one, it appears.

A long hallway stretches in front of them, columns lining the single path ahead. Glints of red shine out at her from the walls, words carved in that strange way that only she can see and whispering secrets to her that she has no time to stay behind to study.

She wonders if her father knows about this place.

The ground declines with every step they take, bringing them deeper into the...she isn't sure exactly what to call it.

Boruto appears to be of the same mind. "I feel like I'm walking through a tomb."

His eyes dart into every patch of shadow, and in the light cast by the glowstick, his face is ashen. Sarada can't help understand that. Her own eyes are sharp, aware of every minute shift in the air, but it's still nerve-wracking. Somehow, even though there aren't any twisting passages or hints of the mazelike fortress favoured by Orochimaru, she feels even more unsafe here.

And not just because at any moment a crazed experiment might realise they're here and jump out at them.

The air is warmer here, which is strange, and tastes oddly metallic. Not the metal of blood, though, but of steel and...something else. Sarada thinks it might be electricity, but she's never been close enough to a burst of lightning to know for sure.

Konohamaru suddenly stops, causing Boruto to walk right in him.

"Hey!"

"Quiet," their sensei orders, frowning in concentration. Sarada notices beads of sweat on his forehead, and knows that the poison in his system is beginning to make a resurgence. She knows better than to bring it up to him, but it doesn't make her stomach twist any less. "I think I...no, that's definitely..."

He picks up his pace, plodding ahead with intent.

"Hey! What the hell!" Boruto hisses, hurrying to catch up. He shoots a questioning look back to Sarada, who can only shrug, mystified.

"Just keep sharp," is the only reply that they get. It's the only thing that he does say for the next ten minutes, until they arrive in a towering, domed room.

No, room doesn't really do it justice. More like an amphitheater...

The walls stretch upwards, curving into one another to form a giant dome overhead. It looks as if someone hollowed out the actual mountain they have wandered into. A spindly, rickety staircase juts out of the walls, leading to the top in a spiral. Crude scaffoldings have been built upon these, like makeshift storeys and grated slats form crude floors that obscure the upper levels somewhat. Still, Sarada can make out iron doors or panels lining the cave walls through the gaps in the metal.

There is an all-too familiar banging sound coming from behind these, almost obscured by the whir of machinery and sparking of stripped wires. The smell of burning rubber and rust mixes with the dank underground air, as well as the faint lightning smell of the crude electric lighting that has been set up along the entire stairway.