Escaping the solitary confinement block turned out to be far easier than Sakura had expected. Slipping past the guards and quietly hypnotising the few who weren't already dozing off at their posts had been a positively effortless affair, all things considered.
After all, most of the guards were ordinary humans.
There was little sense in Kusagakure paying extravagant salaries to employ shinobi as prison wardens, not when the prisoners they kept watch over had been stripped of their capacity to infuse chakra. The stronger and more experienced a shinobi was, the more instinctive it became to mould chakra in response to even the merest of stimuli— and, inevitably, the more swiftly their strength deserted them the moment their cursed seals were triggered.
So long as the Celestial Prison Jutsu existed, escape was impossible. The castle's walls weren't meant to confine the inmates; they merely marked how far one could stray away from Lord Mui, the prison's master who lived at the top of the castle, before bursting into flames…
Well, that was probably just an exaggeration. Judging by the fields she had seen around the castle, the prisoners had to be let out to cultivate them, so the Celestial Prison Jutsu's effective range probably covered the entire island. The walls were merely for show, or perhaps to keep out the icy wind sweeping in from the lake.
"So, you were telling the truth," Kazan said, raising an eyebrow as Sakura joined him on the ramparts at the very edge of the prison complex. "I was told the Celestial Prison Jutsu was meant to seal an inmate's chakra."
"A girl's got to have a few secrets," Sakura said, winking. "Well, shall we go? This way~"
Sakura breathed in deeply, savouring the scent of the salt lake as its waves broke against the rocks below. The moon was smiling thinly again tonight, spilling its pale light across the courtyard. A new moon would've been preferable, but the darkness was deep enough for her to move about without being spotted at once by the guards.
"Not so fast," Kazan said, catching Sakura by the arm as she bent her knees. "No jumping about. The roofs are booby-trapped; I almost fell in a pitfall trap earlier. We'll have to reach our destination by travelling along the ground."
Now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense. Most of the guards were ordinary humans, who couldn't, even to save their lives, jump more than forty centimetres into the air, especially in full gear. They had no reason to go leaping from rooftop to rooftop— which meant the only ones doing so would be intruders… or escapees.
"Transformation Jutsu!"
With a few quick hand signs, Sakura and Kazan took on the forms of green-uniformed guards, pulling their helmets low over their eyes. Sakura stifled a groan as the cursed seal flared to life, the purple bands of its jutsu formulae across her chest lightening towards red and tightening around her ribs. With their disguises complete, they jumped down from the ramparts and began walking along the courtyard, nodding at the patrolmen they came across.
"The guards patrol in pairs, from what I've seen," Kazan remarked. "With two of us, there's one less reason for anyone to doubt our cover."
It seemed her new companion was a specialist in infiltration. Where Sakura would survey a new area for high ground, cover, and places to hide, Kazan's eye for detail would notice things she would have completely disregarded.
Sakura thought it might be a good idea to learn a bit from him.
"The Transformation Jutsu I know uses the dog, boar and ram seals," Sakura whispered as they walked. "I couldn't help but notice yours is a bit different."
It was a pity that activating and maintaining the Sharingan was so costly, or she'd have copied his technique on the spot. Though she didn't have a talent for chakra sensing, the man's countenance was completely different. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn the man in front of her was just a regular person.
"I was raised in Shangri-la," Kazan replied.
When Sakura gave him a blank look, he only smiled. "If you don't know, you don't know," he said quietly. "If you're curious, I'll teach you my Transformation Jutsu you once I've saved my son. Like I told you— I never forget a debt."
From that point on, there was no more small talk. They passed Sakura's old quarters— the so-called Garden of Lilies, where the female inmates were kept— and moved on into the main castle keep. That was where the male prisoners slept, and where most of the facilities lay: the guards' quarters, the armoury, and the master's office on the top floor.
But as they circled the intricately carved statue of the angel striking down a woman in the atrium, a voice rang out behind them.
"You two, over there."
Sakura and Kazan froze. The steady clack of boots on marble echoed closer, and they turned at once. Sakura snapped into a salute— the prison master was approaching— and to his credit, Kazan mirrored her a heartbeat later.
"There shouldn't be any patrols in this area at this hour," Lord Mui said, frowning slightly. "What are the two of you doing here?"
He looked at them, his gaze lingering uncomfortably long on Sakura's Transformed figure before moving to Kazan.
"I-I apologise, sir," Kazan said stiffly, affecting the nervousness of an inept guard. "Our assigned area was changed, so we must've made a mistake— missed the notice, or something…"
Lord Mui waved him off. "That's quite all right. So long as it doesn't happen again," he said lightly. "In fact, it's rather convenient. As it happens, I was just in need of a bit of help… follow me."
All sorts of alarm bells went off in Sakura's head.
Judging from the direction he'd come, he'd clearly been heading towards the men's holding cells— yet, by his own admission, there weren't supposed to be any guards in this part of the castle at this specific time of the night. He wouldn't have found any there, and yet, he was satisfied with having found them…?
Something wasn't right.
The prison master had told them he needed help with something— probably something secret, if he'd arranged for this central part of the castle to be deserted in the early hours of the morning. He clearly didn't want the guards witnessing whatever he was about to do, and it was something only a prisoner could assist him with…
But what in the world could that be…?