Orochimaru reached the surface of his secret laboratory and, with a simple jutsu of doton, moved the huge boulder that had closed the entrance a few seconds ago back into place without disturbing any of the surrounding grass.
The summoning snakes slipped out of their sleeves, taking up their battle stations nearby, and then, jumping into the nearest tree, the Hokage's apprentice moved towards Konoha.
Unfortunately, even a mission accomplished with all possible speed, there was no way to stay longer than four days for the experiments, and the Sensei's efforts to raise his reputation required a personal presence.
The serpent sannin quickly disappeared from sight, but neither he nor his creeping creepers detected the slightly deeper shadow a few hundred meters from the entrance that patiently awaited the lab master's departure.
Slipping stealthily closer, and then deeper into the earth, where the lights still continued to burn in the corridors, the shadow slipped past more snakes, traps, both mechanical and fuin, several prison halls, halls of laboratory equipment and primitive personal computers, until she got to the holy of holies of the complex - Sannin's personal office, with a pile of paper reports on experiments, working notes with theories and preliminary plans, and personal diaries on the creation of techniques. In general, everything that was kept as far away from prying eyes as possible by every decent shinobi. And most importantly, there were no summons in the room.
Moving over to the table, the silhouette of a man slowly rose from the shadow he cast from the lamp and running a hand down his chest, pulled out a somewhat bulky camera.
Removing the cap from the lens, the spy leaned over the nearest papers and, with a quick glance at the contents, began rapidly taking photographs of the documents of interest, turning the pages but taking care not to move them from their places.
Orochimaru had been very rich in research, having spent more than a year or so visiting the shadow clone of a cunning Nara, and had taken on many projects that would now be in the wrong hands.
Of course, everything spun should still be sorted out for usefulness, but that would be handled by others.
Finished with his work, the clone put the camera away and slipped into the shadows, leaving no trace of the intrusion behind. After ten minutes of traveling through the shadows, he found himself in a different room, albeit one belonging to a complex of similar orientation.
And the occupants here had almost instantly detected his arrival in the portal room, where it was even possible to do so. The door rattled open and a young man with scarlet hair dressed in a lab coat appeared on the threshold.
- Hey people, the boss's spy is back," he shouted back, barely seeing the dark silhouette.
A moment later, he was joined by two more of the same frame, flashing enthusiasm and a crazed look in his eyes.
- It's about time! How long ago we asked the boss to send a spy! - exclaimed one of them and very quickly appeared next to the shadow clone and held out his hand, - tapes!
When he got what he wanted, he rushed back, and his colleagues followed, though the last one stopped to drop a few words:
- Tell Founder not to bother him for a month," the clone stretched his lips in an overly wide smile, 'we'll keep the science moving,' and disappeared from sight.
Shrugging his shoulders, the silhouette of the shinobi slipped into the shadows and disappeared from sight, he had done his job, and the rest, including the anomalies of the long-lived clones, let the creator deal with.
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