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?"
"This mountain is unstable, full of underground fissures. Could the passage have collapsed?"
"They've been inside for a long time."
Other ninjas murmured among themselves. The mountain wasn't that large—how could the underground passages be so extensive that it took them this long to navigate?
"We should go in and check," Inuzuka Ken suggested, looking at Haino Shaku for approval.
Haino Shaku hesitated briefly, then nodded. "I'll go with you. Second and third squads, come with us. The rest of you, stay outside. Move out!"
Deep within Meiji Mountain's underground labyrinth, Haruto, Tsunade, and Minato had been walking for over an hour.
"This is an actual maze—so complexly designed," Tsunade mused. "Good thing you can 'divine' the right path, or we'd be hopelessly lost." She cast a side glance at Haruto.
At this moment, Haruto finally understood why the location of the treasure had seemed to shift.
It was because of this labyrinth!
This was not just a single underground chamber—it was a sprawling, multi-leveled maze. Since the treasure was not a single object but an entire hidden vault, the entire maze counted as part of it.
Every path leading to the core of the treasure vault would trigger Haruto's sensory ability.
The reason why his signal had sometimes appeared and then disappeared was because of the excavation. Originally, they had been trying to dig straight down from the mountain's surface. However, due to the unstable structure of the tunnels, their method caused collapses before they could properly open a passage.
In other words, wherever they tried to dig, the tunnel would collapse before they could reach it. When the passage was still intact, Haruto could sense the treasure. But once it collapsed, it was no longer a viable route, and the signal would disappear.
This was why Tsunade's brute-force approach of smashing the rock had been useless. She was too reckless—every time she struck the mountain, she inadvertently caused another tunnel to cave in.
Then the vanguard unit arrived, and since they used a variety of ninjutsu—Fire Release, Earth Release, and other secret techniques—they managed to carve a passage without triggering a collapse.
"We must be about sixty meters underground by now. This maze is huge, and we've been walking for so long..." Tsunade muttered before shooting Haruto a sharp look. "You sure we're going the right way?"
"If you don't believe me, feel free to go back the way we came. With your memory, I'm sure you can retrace your steps," Haruto replied, pointing back.
"You little brat!" Tsunade scowled, glaring at him. She huffed but said nothing more.
The three of them continued forward, soon arriving at another four-way intersection.
"Straight ahead!" Haruto ordered without hesitation and led the way down another descending staircase.
They soon reached an even deeper level of the maze. Before them stretched a long, straight passageway, seemingly endless. The treasure signal had reached peak intensity—it was just ahead!
"Let's go!" Haruto grabbed Minato and took off running. Tsunade followed closely behind.
At the end of the passage stood a massive stone door.
Tsunade, now even more impatient than Haruto, grinned as she saw it. Without a second thought, she charged forward.
Boom!
The stone door shattered into rubble as Tsunade barreled through.
A burst of light flooded out from the chamber beyond, revealing an enormous underground hall.
The hall was massive—nearly a perfect square—with a ceiling towering over ten meters high. The length and width each spanned over a hundred meters.
At the center of the chamber stood a stone pedestal, atop which sat a glowing white stone, roughly the size of a human head. It radiated a soft, warm light.
The hall itself seemed empty at first glance, but that was only because of its sheer size. In reality, it was filled with valuable objects.
To the right of the stone pedestal stood rows of weapon racks, packed with long swords, short blades, kunai, and full sets of armor.
To the left of the pedestal, there were countless large chests stacked together. Each one was locked and covered in a thick layer of dust, their contents unknown.
Behind the pedestal, positioned in neat rows, were lifelike statues of ninjas. Some stood with drawn weapons, others posed mid-hand sign as if about to cast a jutsu. In front of each statue, a stone pillar held a small wooden box.
Directly in front of the pedestal, facing the entrance, lay a chaotic pile of treasures—copper coins, ancient paintings, gold and silver ornaments, small locked chests, crystal artifacts, gem-encrusted daggers, and even… a coffin. Everything was heaped together in disarray.
There was no doubt about it—this was the legendary Meiji Treasure!
This wasn't just a single object, nor a few valuable items. It was an entire armory and treasury combined!
Only a clan with immense resources and power could have built such a vast hidden vault, protected by an intricate underground maze.
The three of them stared, wide-eyed.
Minato was the first to recover, pointing toward the back of the hall. "That's the Meiji Clan's totem!"
He was referring to a massive carving covering an entire stone wall behind the statues. It was a colossal emblem—the symbol of the long-lost Meiji Clan.
"YES! We hit the jackpot!" Tsunade shrieked in excitement and bolted forward.
Haruto also sprang into action, heading straight for the farthest section of the chamber.
Tsunade reached the chests first and ripped the lock off the closest one. As she threw the lid open, her eyes lit up. Inside, gold bars were stacked neatly in rows.
Haruto, however, went straight for one of the statues and grabbed the wooden box resting on the pillar in front of it. Opening it, he swiftly pulled out a scroll.
Unrolling it, he read the first line:
"Forbidden Jutsu: Barrier-Breaking Technique."
A forbidden jutsu scroll!
This was it—this was what he wanted most!
Tsunade might have been obsessed with money, but Haruto knew the true value of the Meiji Clan's lost techniques.