Iwamine Yako lived in Kolin City for two months.
These were the most dangerous, tense two months of her life, where she faced the threat of death at every moment.
At first, after being attacked, Iwamine Yako had tried to escape the city, either to return to Sunagakure Village or to sneak out of the Land of Wind and go back to the Land of Water.
But she quickly discovered that there were many official samurai searching for her in Kolin City, and the entrances and exits were crawling with patrols.
Smuggling was even more out of the question.
Smugglers were people who cared only about money, not people. If Iwamine Yako had sought them out, she would have been sold off the same day.
Since escaping was impossible, she thought about trying to call Sunagakure Village for help, or sending a carrier pigeon directly to Kirigakure for rescue.
Soon, Iwamine Yako was glad she hadn't.
Because after asking around, she learned that the cities in the Land of Wind were different from other regions. Ordinary carrier pigeons couldn't fly out of the desert; only specially trained desert falcons from official services could be used.
And phone calls were monitored by the authorities.
At this point, Iwamine Yako understood she was trapped in this huge oasis city.
She couldn't escape, nor could she contact the outside world.
All she could do was to ensure her own safety as much as possible and wait for her friends in Kirigakure to realize something was wrong.
The Land of Wind was vast, with the largest territory in the entire ninja world, but due to its vast desert lands, agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry could not develop at all.
The only things worth mentioning were the minerals and oil buried underground.
The civilians and ninja of the Land of Wind – before the ninja villages were established – spent generations racking their brains to dig up the underground resources.
This led to three technologies:
Puppetry, which was originally created to reduce casualties and increase efficiency during mining;
Wind Release, which made it easier to blow away the surface sand and dust.
Bloodline limits like Magnet Release and Sand Release, which controlled sand and metal, were also developed to facilitate the extraction of underground resources.
Based on puppetry and the application of Chakra threads, the surveillance systems in the major cities of the Land of Wind were extremely sophisticated.
If Iwamine Yako had walked openly on the streets, she would have been discovered by Arima Yukito's subordinates in no time.
She could only hide in the poorest slums at the bottom of Kolin City.
The so-called "slums" were in fact rudimentary dwellings converted from abandoned underground drainage systems, where surveillance was the least common.
Most of the people living here were contract workers from factories, nicknamed "Mice" by the factory owners.
Like mice, they crawled out from underground every dawn and returned underground at dusk, earning meager wages for barely edible food to support their families.
Iwamine Yako became one of the "Mice," working odd jobs in nearby factories while looking for a chance to escape.
But as she searched...
She felt something was wrong.
People living in Kolin City became incredibly depressed without realizing it, as if something was draining the vitality from their hearts.
On one hand, the dreadful work intensity and endless labor left people exhausted.
On the other hand, due to their mastery of puppetry, people were forced to undergo physical modifications by the factories for work, leading to phantom pain and psychological illnesses that also tormented them.
But still, it wasn't right.
Iwamine Yako was an outsider, and unlike the migrant workers who came to Kolin City for work, her heart had a belief strong enough to support her soul.
Even so, she still sensed negative emotions growing within her.
This meant there was another cause.
If she were the "Courtesan," she would definitely see it as none of her business, but...
Iwamine Yako remembered clinking glasses with Linto and hearing him say "Teacher Itohōgen."
She decided to investigate.
She wanted to lift the darkness covering this city... maybe she couldn't lift it all, but even if she could just nudge one corner, or even leave a white mark of her attempt to pry it open.
Then, those who came after could find their way.
It wasn't a pleasant experience.
She got sunburned, injured, resented, attacked, and came close to death several times... but at the same time, a group of people with the same goal gathered around Iwamine Yako.
They included workers, students, and even a blind man.
At this moment, everyone was silently watching the candlelight held high in Iwamine Yako's hand.
"Ten days ago, two of our companions paid with their lives to bring back crucial intelligence," Iwamine Yako's voice was clear and sharp.
"A barrier covering the entire city has been carved beneath Kolin City. Based on the analysis of the barrier's incantations, this is very likely a super-large, illusion-type barrier."
Illusion-type ninjutsu is to use fine Chakra fluctuations to interfere with the opponent's five senses, thereby creating illusions.
If this interference process is subtly adjusted, making people who are already exhausted both physically and mentally by work feel even more negative...
This is simply too easy.
For example, after working overtime for a day and then losing ten games in a row when you wanted to relax with some video games, your negative emotions would definitely explode.
A male member raised his hand and asked, "Boss, do we act today? Isn't it too sudden?"
"I'll explain,"
The blind old man standing on the other side said, "I was the one who sensed it. Just this morning, the barrier's energy fluctuations suddenly increased severalfold.
At this rate, many people who can't take it anymore will choose to commit suicide soon, and even more people, under the influence of negative emotions, will commit violent acts."
Everyone in the room understood.
Acting when they were ready sounded wonderful.
But this city wouldn't wait for them.
The oasis that supported their ancestors had, by their generation, turned into a man-eating den.
"They call us mice."
"But today, tonight."
Iwamine Yako said, "We mice will climb onto the Buddha's candlestick, tip over the oil lamp, and start a great fire, burning down this splendid and false Buddhist hall called 'Kolin'."
The candlelight in her hand flickered slightly with the breathing of over fifty people.
However, no matter how much the candlelight swayed in everyone's eyes, it couldn't shake their resolve.
To avoid surveillance and to conserve their energy, they had rested in the dark underground for a whole day...
It was time to act!
Iwamine Yako looked around and put on a hooded Kabuto.
More than fifty people put on their Kabuto hats, shrouding their faces in shadow.
Under their heavy cloaks, they each held knives and smuggled-in explosive tags.
They were not ninja, at most they were brave ordinary people. The vast majority of their jobs were to cause a disturbance at the edge of the barrier, supporting the elite team led by Iwamine Yako as they stormed to the deepest part.
Of course, they weren't without advantages.
As "Mice," Iwamine Yako and her group were extremely familiar with the complex pipe system beneath Kolin City.
"Move out!"
The more than fifty people started walking, disappearing into the shadows, beginning tonight's "Mouse Operation."
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