After Pakkun's sacrifice, the remaining dogs, as promised, obediently emerged from their cages. The camp burst into action, a flurry of movement as people quickly harnessed the sled dogs, preparing for departure.
"Look at them go," one of the team members marveled, watching the dogs eagerly take their positions. "It's like they can't wait to set off."
Another nodded in agreement. "Pakkun must have really worked hard. I've never seen them so cooperative."
With the help of the sled dogs, the speed of the rescue team increased significantly, and the people in the camp were full of confidence in the rescue operation.
"We'll find them in no time now," a young rescuer said, his voice brimming with optimism.
Although the exploration team had been out of contact for half a month, the people in the camp believed that the trouble they encountered was likely just a typical natural disaster.
After all, a week-long blizzard had passed, and small avalanches could easily have caused the team to lose contact.
However, only Sandayū stood silently in front of his sled. His mind was elsewhere, replaying the chilling radio transmission from that fateful day.
Those screams... What could have caused such terror? And Yoshiro's last words... What did he mean?
Kakashi noticed the troubled expression on Sandayū's face. He approached quietly, placing a comforting hand on the man's shoulder.
"We'll find answers," Kakashi said softly.
Sandayū nodded, grateful for the support. "Thank you, Kakashi."
As the rescue team of 22 people set off northwest. No one driving the sleds actively guided the dogs; instead, they allowed the sled dogs to follow a strange, foul smell.
The people on the sleds sniffed the air, trying to detect the scent, but it was something beyond the capability of ordinary human senses.
"Can you smell anything?" one team member asked another, sniffing the air curiously.
The other shook his head. "Not a thing. Whatever it is, it must be pretty potent for the dogs to pick up on it from this distance."
Kakashi overheard the conversation. If only we had an Inuzuka clan member with us. Their keen noses might be able to detect what we're dealing with.
After about two hours of travel, the outline of a black mountain range appeared on the horizon.
The sight was breathtaking.
"Would you look at that," breathed one of the rescuers. "I've never seen mountains like those before."
Jagged peaks and sharp cones formed an eerie silhouette against the sky, with the mountain tops piercing into the boiling clouds like colossal pillars. Sunlight, filtered through the turbulent atmosphere, reflected off the rugged peaks in cold, pale light.
The bare and barren black mountaintops looked like an ominous gate, pulling the team's thoughts from the snowy plains toward a far-off, lost place.
For all the rescue team members, it was a once-in-a-lifetime sight, a strange and spectacular black mountain range hidden within the life-restricted zone of the Land of Snow.
But to Kakashi, something felt wrong. His ninja instincts screamed that these mountains harbored something strange.
This feeling... It's just like that time with the Cthulhu statue. That ancient city... Could there be a connection?
On another sled, Nadare squinted as he stared at the distant black mountain. Unlike Kakashi, his thoughts were simpler—he just felt a deep, inexplicable aversion to the mountain, a mental discomfort.
He didn't know why, but he simply hated it.
As the rescue team arrived at the foot of the black mountain range, the sight that greeted them was like a physical blow. The camp had been utterly devastated, ravaged by a week-long blizzard that left almost nothing intact.
"Dear god," someone whispered.
Tents lay in tatters, machinery was twisted and broken, and sled windshields were scattered across the ground like discarded toys. It looked as though a group of giant mountain creatures had attacked and trampled the camp, with only the largest tent barely standing in the center.
The scene left everyone silent, the damage far worse than they had imagined. Sandayū suppressed the pain and grief in his heart and ordered the rescue team to search for any survivors.
"Spread out," he commanded, his voice hoarse. "Search for survivors. Leave no stone unturned."
As the team dispersed, Kakashi began his own search. Among the wreckage of a tent, he found a steel plate that immediately caught his attention. There was a huge dent in the center, frozen solid, that didn't look like something caused by wind or ice.
Nadare, noticing Kakashi's find, approached with a frown. "What do you make of that?" he asked, gesturing to the plate.
Kakashi shook his head slowly. "This wasn't the wind," he said. "Something hit this with immense force. More force than even a high-ranking ninja could muster."
Before they could discuss further, shouts echoed across the camp.
"We've found bodies!"
"Over here!"
The rescue team converged on the location, only to be met with a scene of unimaginable horror. What they found could hardly be called bodies anymore – they were scattered pieces, completely separated from their original forms.
"Oh god," one rescuer choked out before turning away to vomit.
Another stood frozen, his face pale as the snow beneath their feet. "What... what could have done this?"
The remains were strewn across a tent fabric that lay like a macabre picnic blanket on the snow. Heads and limbs were detached from torsos, with barely any flesh left on the bones.
Pale bones were nearly indistinguishable from the thin layer of snow covering them, while the frozen faces on the skulls still bore expressions of absolute terror.
Sandayū, struggling to maintain his composure, forced himself to look at the gruesome scene. "Keep searching," he managed to say. "We need to... we need to find out what happened here."
As the team continued their grim task, reports echoed throughout the camp. Each discovery was more horrifying than the last, with remains so damaged that identification seemed impossible.
"It's like they were... torn apart," one team member said, his voice shaking.
"But what could do something like this?" another responded. "No animal I know of could cause this kind of... destruction."
Meanwhile, Kakashi made his way to the only tent still standing. Scattered on the ground were dissection tools, but the evidence suggested it wasn't humans dissecting a creature – it was the other way around.
A human body had been torn apart, its head hung from a hook on the tent's main beam, much like a skilled butcher processing a lamb.
The flesh and organs had been cut into pieces, with most missing. Only a few chunks of meat remained, surrounded by a strange white substance distinct from the snow.
Kakashi knelt and touched the substance, tasting a bit with his finger. The taste was unmistakable – salt.
This wasn't just an attack. It was a study. And a meal.
Stepping out of the tent, Kakashi saw the team regrouping, their faces ashen and haunted by what they had discovered. As he approached, he knew he had to share his findings.
Whatever did this, it wasn't just killing. It was studying us. Learning about us.
And worst of all... eating us.