Lotus Blooming! Book 2

Chapter 16 -- Orochimaru's Base

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Yamato pressed his ear to the ground, listening closely for any sign of life. After a while, he stood back up. "I can barely sense the presence of anyone at all. I think we can safely assume there aren't very many of the enemy in there. But that doesn't mean you can let your guard down. Remember, one of them if Orochimaru, and presumably, Sai is with them now. Follow me, followed by Sakura, then Naruto, and then Ren."

"We smashing our way in?" I question.

Yamato shook his head. "We'll infiltrate from underground, using my Earth Style Jutsu. We'll start by drilling a shaft right here. When we've gone deep enough, we'll level off and tunnel our way little by little towards the entrance by those standing rocks."

I hummed firmly and tightened my gloves. "Then let's get started." I say.

Yamato weaved a few signs before slapping his palm against the ground. A wide hole opened up. "When I give the signal, you'll follow one by one by the order given."

We approached the hole and gazed inwards. Captain Yamato gave a sharp whistle. "All right guys, this is it!" Sakura said.

"Let's do it!" Naruto snapped. I gestured to the hole after Sakura dropped in and gazed around before leaping in after Naruto.

Yamato stopped at a solid wall and pressed his palm against it. "As I feared. We're surrounded by a wall of rock."

Naruto scoffed. "What of it? I can take that thing down with one blast from my rasengan!"

"You moron, they'll know we're here if go blasting the wall down!" I exclaim. "It has to be done quietly."

"What are we gonna do?" Naruto asked.

Yamato touched the wall for a moment before speaking. "Here. The more solid the rock, the less force needed to apply to a small crack." His finger dug within the rock, and forced it open, until a perfect square opening appeared. "There, you see? Now, we all have to be very careful to limit our use of chakra this point forward. We don't want to Orochimaru sensing our presence. Let's go."

Yamato slid in, followed by Sakura, then Naruto, then me. "A successful infiltration so far."

"First, we have to find Sai." Yamato ordered. He closed his eyes for a moment before sighing. "He's this way." The acoustics in this place, it was insane. Every step echoed loudly, and when Yamato spoke ever so quietly, I could hear it as if he were speaking above his inside voice. Yamato slowly pried open the door to where he knew Sai was in, and peered in. "I had a hunch we'd find you here." We all slowly stepped into the room. Sai stood at the desk, holding a small black book.

Sai just turned to us with that fake smile. "I'd expect no less the Hokage's Anbu Black Ops." I just glared at him. "I take it that fake corpse didn't fool you then?"

Naruto growled and grasped onto Naruto's shirt in anger. "Spill it jerk! Why would you betray your own teammates?!"

"If I were you, I'd take care not to much commotion. Things could turn quite ugly." Sai retorted.

Naruto growled again. "I'm gonna kick your--"

"Naruto," I warned him. I reached into my pouch and pulled out the book that Sai had dropped. "Here... You left this behind." I snap at him.

He slowly took it. "Thank you."

"You were under orders from Danzo, isn't that right? We know Danzo and Orochimaru have teamed up. And we know that they're planning something big. You were chosen to be Danzo and Orochimaru's go between. So, spit it out; What are they planning?" I snarl.