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Chapter 60 — Hidden Sky Ninja Fortress
The next morning.
Alex woke again to Konan's gentle touch on the soft bed.
[Good morning, Konan.]
He floated up awkwardly. White threads of paper extended across his surface, helping Konan dress while he drank in the familiar, endlessly beautiful sight.
[Seems like someone's outside.]
"Kameda." Konan opened her arms to make it easier for Alex to move. "He's been waiting almost an hour."
[He probably has something to report.]
Alex inwardly admired the man's thoughtfulness.
A moment later Konan finished her morning routine and opened the door.
Kameda bowed immediately. "Lady Konan!"
"What is it?"
Konan nodded and stepped forward, Kameda trailing three paces behind with a worried look.
"I'm sorry to disturb you so early," he said hesitantly, "but the Sky Ninja Fortress has a problem and I can't decide what to do. I must ask your orders."
Konan said nothing and kept walking.
Kameda's voice came from behind, tense: "The fortress has reached the land boundary — ahead is the Land of Grass. But the sky over land is clear and cloudless. Our huge Sky Ninja Fortress would be impossible to hide if we continue. We'd be exposed."
Alex considered the issue. He had expected this problem, but not so soon.
The Sky Ninja Fortress could only fly beneath the troposphere's cloud layer. Above that, low pressure and thin air become a danger; UV radiation also spikes and normal humans can't endure it.
Without cloud cover, the fortress would be the most conspicuous thing in the sky for miles around.
At this stage, exposure was unacceptable. The Five Great Shinobi Villages might have few flying shinobi, but they could still find ways to detect or scout a floating fortress. Alex didn't want the Five Great Villages watching them; he wanted to work in the shadows.
Konan walked out onto the deck and looked toward the nearby coastline. The Sky Ninja Fortress rested inside a bank of mist over the sea, invisible from below, but the land's sky ahead was completely clear.
The sun hung high, perfectly visible — a bright, cloudless morning.
Konan thought for a moment. She wouldn't change yesterday's plan; they would still head for the Land of Grass' capital. But the fortress would need a way to hide itself soon.
She had a temporary solution in mind.
Konan pressed her hands together and blew a great cloud of mist upward. White fog swirled, expanded, and rushed westward in all directions. Eventually the entire Sky Ninja Fortress lay wrapped within it.
Water Release: Mist Concealment.
Alex had thought of the same stopgap. Whether it would hold remained to be seen.
Konan ordered Kameda, "Lower the fortress and check how well the mist conceals us."
"Yes!" Kameda answered loudly, heart pounding. This was the first time he'd seen Konan use such a technique. He had expected a normal Mist Concealment to cover a hundred meters at most — but the fortress was over a thousand meters long, and the fog now fully hid it.
He realized the magnitude of Konan's chakra and strength anew. Her power was terrifying.
Kameda swallowed his excitement and radioed orders to the operations hall. "Lower altitude immediately!"
A low vibration ran through the ship as the Sky Ninja Fortress began to descend, slipping down out of the clouds.
The morning sea breeze lifted Kameda's new black robe with red clouds — the Akatsuki-style cloak he had rushed to make the night before to show his new status. The other crewmembers would have to wait until supplies were purchased to change.
Inside the operations room, the original Sky Ninja crew couldn't see outside because of the fog. They monitored the altimeter and reported altitude updates.
"Stop!" Konan called. The fortress had now left the cloud layer and scattered the mist around itself — the paper clones outside confirmed the change and relayed the information.
Konan spread her wings and flew through the fog to survey the outside.
Below, an oval mass of white mist hovered above the sea, a thousand meters across. The fortress was invisible inside.
Alex floated to the fog's edge and watched as thin wisps leaked out and dissipated.
[Konan, how long do you think this large Mist Concealment will hold?]
Konan hovered beside him. "Less than an hour if I don't keep pouring chakra into it. If I keep reinforcing it with water-nature chakra, I can maintain it for at least a day."
A day... Alex nodded. [That's probably enough. Then have Honoka and the dozen or so original fortress shinobi who know Mist Concealment take turns reinforcing it.]
Still — a cloudbank in an otherwise clear sky looked suspicious. A skilled mist user observing closely could notice something off.
Alex shook his head. For now, mist concealment was the best they had. They should fly as high as possible to make the odd cloud seem smaller from the ground.
[Sweep a circle around it. If nothing's wrong, hide inside like this.]
Konan agreed and with Alex circled the white fog at speed. The mist wrapped perfectly around the Sky Ninja Fortress with no leaks. Both were satisfied.
They re-entered the fog and landed on the deck.
Kameda hurried forward. "Lady Konan, the concealment looks perfect."
This was Konan's technique — it had to be flawless.
"It's fine," Konan said calmly. "I'll keep feeding the fog so it lasts a day. If it thins later, you must refill it."
She looked at Kameda and Honoka who had just learned the situation.
"Yes!" Kameda blurted out. "I don't know Mist Concealment myself, but there are plenty in the operations hall who do. I'll set up schedules so they rotate. If any patch gets thin, they'll replenish it immediately."
Honoka jumped at the chance. "Lady Konan, I'm fairly practiced with Mist Concealment. I can help."
She finally had a way to contribute after days on the fortress.
"Good." Konan nodded. "Proceed to the Land of Grass' capital."
Alex stared toward the Land of Grass. There was something interesting there — something that might prove useful later.