Chapter 177
The dimly lit corridor was silent, with no wind, no sound—only the flickering glow of torches illuminating about twenty meters ahead and behind. Beyond that, it was complete darkness.
Haruto Saito hadn't originally planned to bring Tsunade along. But Minato Namikaze had let it slip—mentioning the possibility of the legendary Meiji Treasure. Now that Tsunade knew, there was no way she would let this go. If he had tried to leave her behind, she would have made a scene, and no one could stop her.
After walking less than a hundred meters, they arrived at a four-way intersection. They could continue forward or take staircases descending to the left or right.
"Three paths," Tsunade frowned, scanning each direction, but there was no obvious sign of which way to go.
"Let me divine it for you," Haruto smirked, making an exaggerated gesture of counting on his fingers. Then he tilted his head slightly and declared, "We go right!"
Of course, he already knew which way to go. The signal in his mind pointed him toward the rightmost path—it was the strongest there.
Meanwhile, outside the tunnel, more than two hundred ninjas had gathered around the massive excavation site. Haino Shaku stood firmly at the tunnel entrance, acting as a human barrier. He had been hired for this mission to oversee the excavation, and as long as he was officially under contract, he was bound to follow orders—whether the employer was a samurai, a ninja, or even a mere merchant.
Had this not been a mission, if he had just been asked to help out, he could have ignored Haruto Saito's authority. But since this was a paid assignment, he was obligated to follow instructions.
"It's been a long time... why haven't they come out yet?" Inuzuka Ken muttered as he stood next to Haino Shaku, his brow furrowed.
"Nearly an hour now," Haino Shaku said, glancing at the moon in the sky.
"Could something have happened?"