Several moments back in time, back to when the four left the village a certain substance entered the domain of the village undetected.
The lieutenant of the Dark Hand that swore to prove himself made his way in but remained in his mud form for the time being simply for the sake of being cautious.
'' I'm in the village now but I can't do anything to expose myself until I at least know where the blade is. If I get detected and found out before I get the chance to do anything then I'm as good as dead. I have to be careful of my decisions moving forward and I have no clue how strong people are here. I have to keep the element of surprise on my side for as long as possible. '' Tagawa was thinking to himself how to go about all of this.
He wanted to check out the area first but he also knew moving around as a sentient pile of mud wasn't going to do him any favors so eventually he did need to turn back even though his clothing would stick out here.
