Once they reached the Underground Palace, it would be his domain. Still, expecting results without offering bait would not work, and providing rewards would also improve credibility. The first level did not need to be excessive, though ownership would remain firmly in his hands.
"Then I will manifest a Kusanagi sword called Heavenly Cluster Cloud Sword," he thought. "Use text to imply all Kusanagi swords follow it as the leader, make it shaped like a one-handed axe, and embed Earth Release: Ultra-Added Weight Rock Technique. It should suit earth-attribute Chakra."
"Since the Sage of Six Paths created tools like the Gold Rope, Red Gourd, Seven Star Sword, and Banana Fan, it is not too much for me to make a God Beating Whip. Embed Vajra Sealing and make it suitable for lightning-attribute Chakra."
He planned three more items tailored for the use of Otsutsuki Yunshi, Yunchuan Hyuga himself, and Shadow, openly strengthening both his true body and his aliases. For Otsutsuki Yunshi, he would create a useless sword that no one else could use, to be unlocked later upon summoning. For Shadow, he would replicate a ghost shadow mask that could summon shadow ninja.
For Yunchuan Hyuga himself, flight was essential, and it had to match his persona. The Winged Teigu from Akame ga Kill fit perfectly. After a moment of thought, he smiled again.
"Add a set of seven blades called the Seven Deadly Sins, corresponding to pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust." That made six special items already, so he added four ordinary Chakra blades to round it out to ten.
A prompt appeared. Spend 10000 Reality Points, confirm manifestation? "…Dropped below ten thousand again," Yunchuan Hyuga twitched his mouth, then confirmed in his mind. "Manifest."
Remaining Reality Points: 8754.
Having inexplicably gained eight thousand points from the old toad and Jiraiya, Yunchuan Hyuga felt no pain spending them. At least three of the items were for his own use anyway. Still, seeing the total fall below ten thousand was uncomfortable.
These ninja tools were not inherently powerful, merely Chakra metal embedded with special Ninjutsu, which kept the cost low. Yet for other ninja, weapons that could carry Chakra attributes, like Asuma's Flying Swallow, were priceless. No one crafted Chakra blades anymore, and even Chakra metal itself was scarce and overpriced on the black market.
For Yunchuan Hyuga, as long as he had enough Reality Points, he could manifest unlimited Chakra metal. Using such items as bait was the most cost-effective choice. The most expensive parts were the construction of the Underground Palace's first level, the Seven Deadly Sins set, and the mask and wings he prepared for himself.
"Yunchuan, let's go."
At this point, Kakashi Hatake had finally selected the personnel and called out to Yunchuan Hyuga before hurrying out of the tent. Yunchuan Hyuga pulled his thoughts back and followed him outside. He felt a quiet sense of anticipation about what returns this expenditure would bring, and what kind of waves it would stir up.
Huff… huff…
In the empty silence and darkness, the sound of the wind felt unusually clear. At this moment, everyone from Kumogakure had entered what the Scroll called the "Abyss."
They had thought the name "Abyss" was just an exaggeration, but once the group stepped inside, they realized the words truly fit this place. Its shape resembled a vast chasm, as if the land itself had been torn apart.
Standing at the edge and looking straight down, all they could see was deep, endless black. Even their lights could not illuminate the interior, as if the darkness swallowed light itself.
Even so, the group, including Yugito Nii, moved inside and gathered Chakra beneath their feet to cling to the rock walls. This was a basic technique that any Ninja could use with ease.
"How far have we gone?" Yugito Nii asked.
She walked at the front of the team, her catlike eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. Behind her, more than a dozen elite Kumogakure Ninja followed closely, their breathing heavy beneath their masks.
The lamps in their hands were the only light in this boundless dark. The dim yellow glow barely lit a few feet ahead, while deeper shadows consumed the edges of the beams.
"Yugito Nii-sama, the depth is almost one thousand meters," a surveying Ninja said quietly.
His voice echoed in the narrow space, carrying a hint of tension. They had been descending this seemingly endless Abyss for a long time.
The air was growing thin, filled with a decayed smell mixed with rust and dust. Above them was a sky already lost in darkness, and on both sides were wet, rough rock walls like the insides of a giant beast.
"Based on the estimate provided by Root and Raikage-sama, we should be close," Yugito Nii replied.
She did not turn back and only gave a small nod. The team continued forward cautiously in the darkness opposite Zetsu's direction.
The slick ground forced them to watch every step. Their vision held nothing but still darkness, guided only by narrow beams of light.
Thinking back to how relaxed they had felt at the entrance, cold sweat now appeared on their backs. They had not known it was this deep, and from this height, even a Ninja would not survive a fall.
At that moment, Yugito Nii's pupils suddenly tightened. She felt the Two-Tails Chakra inside her body stir uneasily.
It was not a warning, but something closer to instinctive fear. A deep, wordless unease crept into her thoughts.
"Stop," Yugito Nii said calmly, raising her hand.
The team froze at once, all lights focusing forward. The beams cut into the darkness, then seemed to hit an invisible wall.
They had reached the deepest point of the Abyss. The sound of pata… pata echoed faintly.
Letting go of the rock wall, the group fell briefly before landing on solid ground. The narrow chasm vanished, replaced by a wide space that was finally bright enough to see.
"T-that is?" a young Kumogakure Ninja blurted out.
The beams of their searchlights stretched forward and outlined a massive shadow that made it hard to breathe. At the end of the Abyss, a huge space had been carved out, and within it lay an enormous Underground Palace.
"Stay alert," Yugito Nii said in a low voice.
Her words broke the silence brought by the Underground Palace. "This should be our target."
She stepped forward first, and the Kumogakure Ninja behind her followed closely, gripping their weapons in silence. The structure of the Underground Palace was impossible to take in at a glance.
The walls ahead seemed endless, stretching into darkness beyond the reach of light. As they drew closer, the surface of the Underground Palace became clearer.
The main body appeared to be made of massive stones of an unrecognizable dark color. Its surface was covered with faintly glowing moss and black, shell-like growths.
The stone was marked by deep erosion from time, rough and ancient, carrying the feeling of a savage era. The first impression was that it had slept here for a time far longer than the history of the Five Great Nations.
Most striking was the enormous gate directly facing them. It stood silent and unmoving at the center of the structure.
"So this is the door Raikage-sama mentioned, the one that eats people?" someone whispered.
Their lights wavered across the massive gate like small, uneasy fireflies. The gate was tightly shut, over a hundred meters tall, its material neither stone nor metal.
It carried a heavy, dark bronze hue. Patches of corrosion and twisted totems covered its surface, their details unclear in the dim light.