A few hours later, we were at our destination. We all took a deep breath and moved to leave the cart. Shisui looked at us and said, "Be careful and defend yourselves at all costs." He looked at me directly, and I sighed before nodding to him. He replied with a cheerful tone, "Best of luck in there, I have no doubt you'll do great." With that, we stepped away from the cart and toward the towering stone formations ahead. At the edge of the rock pillar forest, a Sunagakure shinobi stood waiting, posture rigid and eyes sharp. He checked our team medallion and confirmed our number without a word, then stepped aside and allowed us through, the maze of stone pillars looming as we crossed the threshold.
Up close, the stone forest felt different than it had from above. The pillars were rough and scarred, their surfaces chipped and cracked. They had definitely survived more than weather alone. Some leaned slightly, others stood rigid, and a few were split down the middle, leaving narrow gaps just wide enough for a person to slip through.
The space between the pillars was tight in some stretches and unsettlingly open in others, making it hard to tell where cover ended and exposure began. Standing there, surrounded on all sides by stone that blocked the horizon, it was impossible to shake the feeling that this place had seen people fight, bleed, and vanish long before we ever set foot inside it.
The ground was littered with fragments of stone and old debris half-buried in sand, forcing careful footing with every step and making us worry about traps. Faded markings caught my eye in places, shallow cuts and symbols worn almost smooth. They looked old enough to be ignored, and dangerous enough not to be.
It was getting dark by now, and the stone forest already felt ominous as darkness stretched between the pillars, swallowing depth and distance until it became difficult to judge how far anything truly was. Sena glanced at Kaen and nodded once. He responded immediately, activating his Sharingan as the tomoe spun into place before running up the nearest pillar, chakra holding him firmly against the stone as he climbed. From the top, he crouched low and scanned the surrounding area, his gaze moving slowly and deliberately as he took in details neither Sena nor I could hope to notice.
When he came back down, he described what he had seen, the Sharingan giving him clearer information despite the failing light. Sena listened carefully before pulling out her empty map and beginning to sketch. "We should head toward the greener areas," she said calmly. "That usually means water is more abundant there. Once we reach a ravine, we can reassess." She looked up at Kaen. "Did you notice any movement?"
Kaen hesitated before answering. "Hard to say. The pillars are too high, and the fading light makes it difficult. I'd have a clearer read during the day."
Sena tapped her notebook closed. "Once we find a water source, we camp on elevated ground near it."
We all agreed and moved on, growing more cautious with every step. As darkness settled in heavily and gradually, our pace slowed, and the stone forest seemed to press closer around us. Sounds carried strangely, and every shift of sand or scrape of stone felt louder than it should have. We were already beginning to seriously consider setting camp where we were when a sudden, creeping sensation made me stop.
I froze.
Kaen's eyes flared as he scanned the area, kunai in hand, while Sena turned to me at once. "Do you sense anything?" she asked quietly.
I did not know how to answer. My chakra sense was active, spread outward, but it found nothing. No presence, no movement, no disturbance. And yet something was wrong. The feeling was sharp and unmistakable, enough that Sena trusted it without question and drew a kunai of her own.
The night air felt colder against my skin as I strained to see through the darkness. Then I heard it, a faint scraping sound above us, claws dragging briefly against stone. I looked up just in time to see two large yellow eyes reflecting the dim light. A leopard clung to the side of a pillar above us, its body pressed close to the rock, muscles coiled.
Before I could warn the others, it lunged.
"Animal attack!" I shouted as I threw myself aside, claws tearing through the space where I had stood a heartbeat earlier. The leopard hit the ground hard, skidding across sand before its claws dug in and it turned toward us, growling low. It leapt again almost immediately, moving with terrifying speed, moonlight flashing across its claws as it aimed straight for me.
This time, I was ready. I ducked beneath its leap and slashed upward with a kunai as it passed overhead, feeling resistance for a brief instant. Blood sprayed, a few drops splattering across my clothes as the leopard landed behind me and stumbled. It tried to rise, snarling weakly as blood soaked into the sand beneath it, but its legs gave out. Moments later, it collapsed, unmoving.
I exhaled slowly as Sena and Kaen approached with care. Kaen nudged the body with his foot, frowning when it did not react. "I did not expect that," he muttered.
"We should move," Sena said immediately, already scanning the surrounding pillars. "The body will attract more predators."
We wasted no time. Using chakra, we moved quickly between the pillars, sticking to stone and refusing to remain in one place for long. We eventually landed in a wide open area between two massive pillars and paused only long enough to consider whether it could serve as a campsite. That was when nearby shrubs shifted.
Another pair of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness.
Another leopard emerged cautiously, body low and tense as it assessed us. A moment later, movement farther ahead revealed a second. The two growled at each other briefly, more interested in asserting dominance than cooperating, before their attention turned back to us. Whatever rivalry existed between them did not outweigh the opportunity we presented, a larger and easier source of meat than any rival leopard.
"Noa," Sena called as she repositioned.
I was already halfway through the hand signs when both leopards surged forward at once, their instincts signaling danger as they closed the distance with explosive speed. Kaen and Sena split instinctively, each facing one. The animals charged low, claws tearing at the ground as they lunged toward our upper bodies, almost there when I finished the hand seals before slamming both hands into the ground.
"Lightning Release: Arc Net"
A web of crackling lightning spread outward across sand and stone in an instant. One leopard stepped into it and convulsed violently, muscles locking as electricity tore through its body before it crashed to the ground. The other leapt as the lightning caught it, its body jerking midair as its hungry, electrified claws came close to Sena's neck. She evaded the swipe by inches and slashed across its side as it collapsed, bleeding and unable to rise.
Kaen and Sena moved to the injured leopards, their bodies convulsing from the electricity, and ended it quickly with powerful slashes to their necks.
Silence settled over the clearing as we all started to look around, growing increasingly paranoid. Sena sighed softly. "We cannot keep doing this. Eventually, we will get ambushed at a bad angle by a predator. Camping on the ground is a bad idea as well." Kaen glanced around while keeping his kunai ready, dried blood still glinting along the edge under the moonlight as he observed the environment carefully.
Sena scanned the surrounding pillars before speaking again. "Let's camp on top of a large pillar. Those predators can climb, yes, but if it is isolated enough, they will not risk it. And if the surface is wide enough, we can camp on top while one of us stays on guard."
I nodded in agreement. "It seems like our best option." With that decided, we moved out of the clearing immediately, no one lingering or relaxing, eyes constantly tracking the shadows as we searched for a pillar suitable for camping. Every second we delayed felt like an invitation for whatever still hunted this stone forest to use the deepening night as cover and strike again.