In a dark alley, which no one with common sense would normally enter and which mothers warned their children never to approach, located in the slums of the capital of the land of fire, was the entrance to a tavern.
This tavern didn't attract much attention, as it was only visited by some drunks from the slums looking for cheap alcohol.
But sometimes, some hooded people would arrive at this tavern, exchange a few words with the man behind the bar before he would lead them to the 'bathroom'.
It was several minutes later, no more than half an hour, when these hooded people came out of the 'bathroom' they left the tavern immediately and usually never returned.
Of course, if they want to commission another 'job', they'll be back.
Kozue knew this after reading the memoirs of the four Root ninjas she had captured, and now she was outside this tavern with Robin, who was also hooded.
From her position, Kozue could tell that this tavern was not ordinary because of the seals protecting it.
These seals not only protect the tavern against infiltration and attacks using earth jutsus, but also against prying eyes.
For the first time, Kozue's Observation Haki was blocked, preventing her from learning the secrets inside this Root base.
As a skill that uses spiritual energy, Kozue could assume that her Observation Haki was blocked because these seals were made to also block the vision of the Byakugan and other sensor ninjas.
Shrugging his shoulders, Kozue entered the tavern and Robin followed him.
Upon entering the tavern, the outer seals no longer blocked his Observation Haki, and he was able to determine exactly how many ninjas Root had at this base.
11
According to what he had reviewed in the memories of the Root ninjas he captured, 6 of these ninjas normally worked in the bar when they were not working on the administrative part of the assassination contracts that Root received or other tasks they received from the higher ranks of the organization.
Meanwhile, the other 5 are a team of ninjas waiting for any mission that may be assigned to them.
Kozue knew that there were 4 teams at this base, so 2 of them must have gone out on a mission if he counted the team that had gone after him.
And since there were no more customers in the tavern at the moment, they could continue with their mission directly.
Kozue and Robin did not immediately approach the bartender.
First they sat at a table near the entrance and conversed with each other through mental magic and corroborated what they had felt through Observation Haki.
Quickly formulating a plan, Kozue stood up and headed towards the bartender while Robin communicated with the trio waiting near the alley through her Devil Fruit.
While they waited hidden under hoods, the 3 fallen angels had mouths and ears formed by Robin in their cloaks, so they easily received their tasks.
While Kozue managed to get the bartender to direct him to the 'bathroom', the 3 fallen angels entered the bar and sat at another table away from Robin.
In a secret room of the tavern, Kozue encountered a man wearing a mask that protected his identity.
This mask was also special, as it also had seals that prevented Kozue's Observation Haki from 'seeing' her face.
"Who is the target?" the man asked casually.
After a year working at this base, the man had already become accustomed to the same routine and received the envelope that Kozue took from her cloak without suspecting anything.
One year at this base had lessened his caution, but he had still received years of training from Root and was more confident in being able to sense any attack coming and react accordingly.
But he didn't react this time.
All the man could feel was a suffocating pressure in his mind, and he couldn't move.
And the next instant, he lost consciousness when his head was hit by Kozue.
And the man wasn't the only one.
At the front of the tavern, the barman was cleaning some glasses while discreetly keeping an eye on the 4 people waiting at the tables.
Apart from the woman who came with the previous client, whose gender could be guessed from the curves that her cape could not hide, the other 3 women had not moved for a long time and the man suspected that it was the first time they had done something like this.
Many chicken out at the last minute, and it wouldn't surprise him if those 3 women suddenly left the tavern without hiring his organization's services.
But as he was lost in his thoughts, a gust of wind alerted him that there was something behind him and he tried to dodge any object or person that might suddenly attack him.
Unfortunately for the man, a complete upper limb had formed behind him and he could do nothing to prevent his head from being punched and losing consciousness.
And when the man fell, Robin, Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt immediately got up and ran to the back of the tavern at great speed.
The four girls immediately found Kozue in a hallway and together they headed to the underground base of the tavern.
Since she already knew everything necessary through the memories of the Root ninjas captured hours earlier, the group headed towards the only entrance to the underground base and Kozue quickly opened the seals to allow them entry.
"Robin"
When they went down to the underground base, Robin stayed behind while she waited attentively.
And when they encountered a Root ninja, Kozue immediately called her and she acted swiftly.
These Root ninjas were surprised by the sudden arrival of these intruders.
And before they could scream to warn their companions, several arms and hands formed on their bodies to cover their mouths and restrain their limbs.
That way, they couldn't scream, do Ninjutsu, or escape.
With Robin's help, taking these Root ninjas by surprise made it easy to defeat them and take control of the base.
Kozue quickly grabbed the one who was the leader of the base and immediately took him out of the tavern before teleporting to his base under his tent and immediately searching his memory.
Robin and the other girls came behind him shortly after, carrying the remaining Root ninjas and several bags of money.
Since she hadn't yet tested using magic to search the memories of these Root ninjas and verify that their cursed seals wouldn't activate, Kozue didn't want to take any chances and brought the Root ninja to her dimensional shop to check his memories.
With the confirmation that the tavern's seals did not impede or contain traps against spatial movements, Kozue immediately returned to the tavern by teleporting and took control of the seals by following the steps in the mind of the base leader.
With the base's seals under his control, Kozue was able to leave a few disguised shadow clones in the tavern to wait for the two missing teams while he returned to his base beneath his tent and quietly began reviewing the memories of all the captured Root ninjas.
If the two missing Root teams returned, Kozue would be immediately alerted to go and capture them.
And if he was busy, the shadow clones would keep them occupied until he returned.
Several minutes later, Kozue and the 4 girls left their tent again and headed this time to a Root base located a few kilometers from the fire capital.
This base was in the memory of the Root leader in the tavern and he had the knowledge to enter without attracting attention as a possible spy.
Unfortunately for Kozue, this information wasn't very useful because there was a sensor ninja from the Yamanaka clan at this base.
Although he could buy special seals at his dimensional shop to hide the presence of the 4 girls behind him, this ninja would immediately discover when Kozue starts to attack, so attempting a surprise attack would not be very useful and would waste points unnecessarily.
Therefore, Kozue decided on a frontal attack.
"Lightning Release: A cut that divides the world"
Muttering softly, Kozue stood outside this Root base hidden in a mountain as she prepared to draw her sword.
The Yamanaka clan ninja inside the base could sense the unknown presence outside the base.
!!!!!
But before he could give the signal, the world lost its color and the mountain was split in two.