Chapter 30: [Commence Plan]
Sasuke groggily woke up the next day, as he tried his best to come to terms with what he had done yesterday.
Though unlike what he had expected, he didn't feel like vomiting. However, that didn't mean Sasuke was all well and good after taking the lives of 30 people last night- regardless of whether they were good or bad.
'I'm curious... did those men have families or loved ones?
But then again, does that even matter though?
Considering their actions as bandits, such a question isn't something I should consider after killing them...
I guess I should try to get used to this feeling soon?
If not for myself, at least for the sake of protecting the few people I'm close to...'
Sasuke was lost in thought, as he stared at the ceiling of the tent above him- images of his friends from the academy, Guy, Lee, Luna and Kurenai.
With a wry smile on his face, Sasuke rose to his feet as he realised something, "At least there are people here that do care about me..."
He got out of the tent, his mind finally refreshed, and found Luna outside with a few hares by her feet, her tail swaying side to side as she stared at Sasuke.
"Thanks, Luna." Sasuke gave the she-wolf a pat on the head and went on to make some breakfast for both of them.
Normally, as a wolf Luna would be more accustomed to something like raw meat- but a few years ago she got a taste of Sasuke's cooking and found herself addicted to it.
After the duo finished their breakfast, Sasuke sat down cross-legged as he went through the plan one more time in his head as he attempted to sift through any possible loopholes.
'I think everything is fine for now...'
Sasuke thought to himself, somewhat worried about his plan as though it's unlikely to go wrong and even if it does Sasuke has made sure he won't be too affected by the failure. It is after all his first attempt to do something like this.
Sasuke took out a map from his storage scroll and unfurled it onto the ground in front of him and began to look at the three red 'X' marks he had labelled around Kusagakure.
1) Crystal Caves- a vast interconnected network of caves and tunnels. It is well known for containing several rare crystals which are highly sought-after by the affluent, however, its perilous conditions deterred most people from even thinking about entering.
Thus this place is rather deserted most of the year and those who do enter end up either trapped inside by the maze-like structure or dying due to the structural collapse of the tunnels.
2) Whispering Grove Village- this was a location most people wouldn't think of as an obvious place to have a secret hideout. But in Sasuke's eyes, this place alone may be the most likely location to have Madara's secret hideout.
This was because of the remote location of this village and how it is surrounded by dense foliage, giving it a natural camouflage and making it hard to find for most people. But the most important reason would be the people. Yes, people.
This is after all a village and would be a prime location for Madara to occasionally take a few of the villagers or lost travellers to experiment on them.
3) Kusagakure- though unlikely, Sasuke believes that Madara could have made a base underneath Kusagakure. For the same reasons as Whispering Grove Village- the ability to take a few people for experiments.
However, Sasuke, thinks this is unlikely. If there was a Madara base here then his second target for coming to Kusagakure would most likely not have existed in the original series- as they may have been taken away by Madara or Obito for the sake of making use of their special abilities.
'Those are the three main possible locations. I'll send shadow clones over to search the Crystal Caves and have some scout out Kusagakure. I'll head over to Whispering Grove Village myself.'
*Puff*
Smoke appeared around Sasuke as 20 shadow clones suddenly appeared around him. He told most of his clone's instructions to look into those two locations, whilst he left one behind to look after the camp.
Then got up and hopped onto Luna as he prepared to make his way over to his destination.
Soon the boy and wolf found the village, though it would be difficult for most people to find this village- but Sasuke was no ordinary person. His stealth training at Anbu not only taught him to camouflage into his surroundings but he was also taught to recognise camouflage and manoeuvre through densely forested areas as silently as possible.
The pair found themselves a good distance from the village as Sasuke got Luna to stop.
He sat cross-legged on Luna's back, inscribing a series of seals onto his arm which was exposed in his Anbu attire.
As the soul of Sasuke was slowly drawn out of his body, he watched his physical body lie flat on top of Luna. The wolf already knew what was happening, but it didn't she wasn't amused by this situation.
'I have 25 minutes for this, let's hope that suffices.'
Sasuke thought, determination suffusing his ethereal form. This was one of the reasons he hadn't previously trained this soul-strengthening exercise last night- so he could use it now without any sense of fatigue.
He then began to float through the air as he moved closer to the village. As he arrived he looked around, analysing the village.
'Seems normal. But...'
The village seemed normal enough, there were various small homes scattered around with people seemingly still sleeping though that wasn't too much of a surprise as it was early morning.
The lush vegetation surrounding the village and the morning rays of sunlight should have made this place initially look like a paradise. However, Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that something was off there.
Before any notice, movement began to sound from all the houses in the village simultaneously.
As if on cue, the doors of every home swung open, and the villagers left their homes. Yet, their swift exit seemed strangely rehearsed, devoid of the usual morning bustle Sasuke would notice somewhere like Konoha.
Sasuke also noted it did seem incredibly odd that one of them seemed to have eaten breakfast or refreshed themselves after waking up.
'Maybe they're too busy?'
Sasuke thought of the most logical reason for this. Maybe that's the reason they are so eager to begin working in the morning. They probably just want to try and make sure they can harvest enough food later in the year.
After briefly glancing at the villagers, Sasuke's illusory form swiftly began flying around the village looking through each nook and cranny.
After a few minutes of searching he had found some sort of cave beneath the village, 'This is it!'. Sasuke thought, excited by the discovery and carried on searching the cave and found some sort of laboratory with various research papers scattered about it.
It seemed abandoned, with layers of dust coating various pieces of equipment and vials of unknown liquids remaining on the table.
Close to the lab was a series of cells, each of them now vacant of any hosts.
Well. Vacant of any living hosts.
Skeletons and remains were littered in some of the cells whilst others were simply without anything in them.
However, Sasuke still couldn't find any White Zetsu clones here yet.
Wanting to search this location more thoroughly with his physical body, he soon phased through the ground and floated above the village.
As he was about to head off to rejoin his physical body, he noticed a strange detail as he hovered above the village.
'What are they doing?'
The villagers still seemed normal enough, they all had sweat pooling on their bodies as they all worked away at their fields. But the smiles that coated their faces seemed slightly strange, almost... inhuman?
Confused, Sasuke paused and kept watching their figures at work.
By now, 15 minutes had passed since had left his physical body so he still had enough time to spare him to check out this oddity.
As he watched on Sasuke's eyes glowed with a strange light as he stared at the villagers below him.
'How odd...'
The villagers seemed to be working hard, but Sasuke keenly realised that it was less them working and more they were pretending to work. Most of them weren't even tilling the fields properly.
No. Instead, they were just repeatedly striking the same plot of ground with the plough. Simply going through the motions of tilling, with their faces still stuck with that uncanny smile stretched across them.
In an eerie symphony, they repeatedly struck the ground together in a synchronised manner.
As Sasuke kept looking on, he soon also realised the abnormal silence in the village. The villagers were all so close to each other, yet not a word was spoken.
A depressive silence enveloped the village, yet the villagers didn't seem to take note of this and carried on 'working'.
The behaviour of the villagers and the presence of a laboratory below the village made Sasuke think of a ludicrous idea.
'There's no way...?'
Sasuke quickly left the village returning to his physical body. Upon doing this he quickly dispelled all his shadow clones other than the one guarding the camp and jumped off Luna.
"Can you wait for me here, Luna? I just need to check something."
Sasuke spoke to Luna, the wolf though a bit reluctant to not be able to follow understood she wasn't particularly good at stealth and would end up as a liability.
Soon Sasuke recalled his previous clones before summoning another 30 shadow clones, which was the maximum number he could create with his current chakra reserves whilst ensuring they all had enough chakra for combat.
He and shadow clones soon quietly surrounded the village with their Mangekyou activated, making sure to cover up their presence thoroughly.
Sasuke stared intently at the villagers with his Sharingan, taking in every little detail of their movements.
The more he looked the more certain he was that these were more than just simply villagers.
*Whoosh*
Before the 'villagers' realised anything, a pair of crimson red eyes soon appeared in their visions as all their movements ceased and they stood motionlessly.
Sasuke stood in front of one of the villagers and stared into his eyes with his Sharingan as he commanded the villager to, "Remove any disguises you are currently in."
In turn, the villager slowly gave Sasuke a nod as his original appearance began to fade.
What had originally stood before Sasuke was merely a middle-aged man, with a sturdy build and black hair.
But now, in front of Sasuke was a pale white humanoid entity. Its rough skin reminiscent of tree bark and lack of facial features on the right side of its face gave it an uncanny appearance.
Sasuke's breath got caught in his throat as his eyes widened in turn.
"A White Zetsu clone...?"
His words morphed into a whisper as he looked back at the dozens of villagers behind him, frozen in their vacant stares.
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