Chapter 974: Stopped in Time

"That's right. Generally speaking, even if the data is moved away, it will not be cleaned so thoroughly that there will be hardly any dust or remaining paper scraps." Shan Zhongfeng analyzed with a frown.

Qu Gen pondered for a moment and said, "Could this be done intentionally by the enemy to mislead our reconnaissance direction?"

Shan Zhongfeng's eyes lit up. "That's possible. Maybe they created this overly clean illusion to cover up the real evacuation route or hide other key clues. We have been focusing on finding the whereabouts of the lost data, but have overlooked the secrets that may be hidden behind this anomaly."

"Then let's change our strategy now." Qu Gen said decisively, "Start with the way this room was cleaned and find out who was responsible for cleaning it. Maybe we can follow the clues to find the mastermind or the whereabouts of the lost data."

Yamanaka Feng nodded in agreement, and the two immediately called other Root ninjas to investigate. After some exploration, they found that the person in charge of cleaning the room was a new handyman. Yamanaka Feng and Qu Gen quickly found the handyman, but when they rushed to the hut where the handyman lived, they found that the house was empty. There was only a piece of paper left in the house with strange symbols drawn on it.

Qu Gen picked up the note and examined it carefully. "This symbol looks like an ancient code. Could this be the real message the thief wants to convey?" Shan Zhongfeng took it and looked at it, and also fell into deep thought. "If so, why would the thief use such a roundabout way? Unless... this is a trap."

At this moment, there was a strange noise outside the house. The two looked at each other and became alert instantly. A group of masked men surrounded the hut, and one of them sneered: "You really took the bait, Konoha ninjas, today is your death." Yamanaka Feng responded calmly: "Humph, it's not that easy to deal with us." After that, the two drew their weapons and prepared to fight. The Root Ninja redeployed the investigation plan and prepared to follow this new line of thought.

The Root Ninjas acted quickly and began to check the list of people who had recently been involved in the cleaning work of this data room. After some twists and turns, they locked on several suspicious people. One of the logistics personnel named Agasa was the most suspicious. He was usually taciturn and few people noticed him. Yamanaka Feng and Qu Gen went to interrogate Agasa in person. When Agasa saw them coming, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes. When asked about the cleaning of the data room, Agasa hesitated and refused to tell the truth. Qu Gen keenly noticed that something was wrong and secretly launched a ninjutsu to test Agasa. It turned out that Agasa was actually subjected to illusion. Yamanaka Feng untied the illusion on Agasa, and Agasa was terrified after waking up and told the truth. It turned out that a mysterious man in black robes controlled him with illusions and ordered him to clean the data room in a specific way. At this moment, there was a strange sound outside, as if the enemy had noticed the abnormality on Agasa's side. Yamanaka Feng and Qu Gen looked at each other and decided to use Agasa as bait to lure out the enemy, and a battle was about to break out.

Yamanaka Fu and Togen took Agasa into the house and set up some simple traps. The mysterious group gradually approached the house, their footsteps were very light but still could not escape the ears of the Root Ninja. The black-robed man in the lead whispered: "If Agasa messes up, he will die miserably."

When the enemy rushed into the house, the trap was triggered and smoke filled the air. Yamanaka Feng took advantage of the smoke and threw several kunai, shooting accurately at the enemy. Qu Gen attacked from the side and rushed directly to the black-robed man in the lead. The black-robed man snorted coldly, dodged Qu Gen's attack by turning sideways, and threw a black flame with his backhand. Qu Gen was startled and quickly jumped back.

"Is this... the Yin Dun Fire?" Shan Zhongfeng shouted. The man in black robe smiled without saying anything, forming seals with his hands, and the mysterious people around him also attacked. Shan Zhongfeng and Qu Gen stood back to back, dealing with attacks from all directions.

Suddenly, Agasa shouted, "Look at the wall!" Shan Zhongfeng and Qu Gen took the time to look, and saw some strange runes appearing on the wall, absorbing the energy in the smoke.

"Oh no, this is a sealing formation!" Qu Gen realized the danger. But it was too late. As the runes flashed, a strong suction force pulled everyone over.

Just as everyone was struggling, the horn of the Konoha ninja support sounded outside. The black-robed man cursed: "Damn it, I'll let you go this time." After saying that, he turned into black smoke and disappeared with his men. Yamanaka Feng and Qu Gen breathed a sigh of relief. Although they did not capture the enemy this time, they also gained something. They knew that the battle over the information was far from over. After Yamanaka Feng and Qu Gen sorted out their thoughts, they returned to the village to report the situation to Tsunade. Tsunade listened to their story and her expression became more and more solemn. "It seems that there are many people involved behind this matter. Those people are so deliberate in snatching the information. They must have ulterior motives." Tsunade rubbed her temples and said. Then, she ordered to increase the village's vigilance and send more ninjas to investigate the origins of the black-robed man and what secrets the information involved. Yamanaka Feng and Qu Gen took the order and left. They knew that the responsibility was heavy. In the following days, Konoha Village was in a state of panic. However, after a few days, nothing unusual happened. Just when everyone thought that the enemy had temporarily ceased its attacks, an unexpected news came. A small village on the border was attacked, and the villagers suffered heavy casualties. The same rune marks as before were left at the scene. Shan Zhongfeng and Qu Gen were sent there to investigate again. After arriving at the village, the oppressive breath of death overwhelmed them. They vowed to find out the real culprit behind the scenes and never let the tragedy happen again. Shan Zhongfeng squatted down and checked the rune marks on the corpse, "Qu Gen, look at this mark, it is more complicated than before. I'm afraid the other party is performing some kind of ritual." Qu Gen frowned, "No matter what ritual it is, it is definitely not a good thing. We must speed up to crack the meaning of these runes."

They searched for clues in the village and finally found an ancient scroll in a dilapidated house with similar runes on it. Just as they were studying the scroll, a group of black-robed people suddenly appeared again. The leader taunted, "Do you think you can stop us? This is all planned, and this village is just the first step."

Shan Zhongfeng shouted angrily: "What exactly do you want to do?" The man in black robe sneered: "You will soon know that Konoha will become a ruin." After that, the two sides started fighting fiercely.

But the black-robed people were numerous and powerful, and Yamanaka Feng and Togen gradually felt exhausted. At the critical moment, several figures flew in from a distance. It turned out that Naruto and others came to support. It turned out that Tsunade was worried that they would be in danger, so she specially arranged for Naruto to come to assist. As soon as Naruto arrived, he turned on the Sage Mode, and the situation changed instantly. Seeing that the black-robed man was in a bad situation, he tried to escape, but was stopped by Yamanaka Feng and Togen, and was eventually subdued. The truth was revealed. They tried to use data and evil rituals to destroy Konoha, but fortunately the conspiracy was stopped in time. Diffuse. Yamanaka Feng and Togen took advantage of the chaos to attack. Togen threw a kunai and stabbed it directly at the black-robed man's face. The black-robed man dodged sideways, but was kicked in the abdomen by Yamanaka Feng. Agasa took the opportunity to hide in the corner and trembled.

In the melee, Shan Zhongfeng found that the skills of this group of people were uneven, as if they were put together temporarily. He shouted to remind Qu Gen, and Qu Gen understood and attacked the weaker opponents. As the enemies fell one by one, the black-robed man was furious and used powerful ninjutsu, and the house was crumbling. At the critical moment, the supporting Konoha ninja arrived. Seeing that the situation was not good, the black-robed man abandoned everyone and fled. Shan Zhongfeng wanted to chase him, but was stopped by Qu Gen, "Take care of the wounded first, he can't run for too long, we can follow the traces he left behind." So they began to treat the wounded and sort out clues, preparing to continue tracking the black-robed man.