After the ensuing chaos subsides, Pelican exhales, regaining focus, "fucking hell, how much of that shit was for us!?"

A small chuckle escapes Hyena, "that sniper's attention ain't on us now, I suppose."

"Good thing we went around... the hell!?" Parrot's ghoulish giggle disturbs Pelican, "um, you alright over there, man?"

Hyena grabs Parrot's shoulders, shaking him, "goddamn it, you've picked a rotten time to start losing your shit again, don't you know; snap out of it!"

Pelican snickers, "there goes that verbal tic you share with your nutty little brother."

"Fuck off, both of you! Yours truly is imagining that sniper's face once those zombies barge in on-" several high-pitch blood-curdling screams reverberate through the air interrupting Parrot. The temperature drops; the air becomes like a thick sludge. The Anbu struggles to move; weight or some unseen force restrains them. The phenomenon wears off after a few seconds due to being somewhat out of range. Parrot's body regains movement; his breath is visible in the cold air, "w-w-what the actual fuck, ya know!" he says, shivering.

Pelican focuses, disrupting his chakra flow, repeating, "release!" without success, "damn, this ain't genjutsu."

Hyena tries standing, but her legs are almost unresponsive, "we may be dealing with an enemy that possesses a bloodline limit." She scouts the middle floors using her binoculars and then confirms the sniper's location, but her attention wavers.

Parrot becomes curious about his sister's concentration on a particular floor, "what do you see?"

"They're frozen in place like we were," Hyena focuses her binoculars, bringing up a peculiar image, "something's moving towards the hoard, dozens of them humanoid in shape."

News of enemy activity unsettles Pelican, "great more Syndi-guerrillas to deal with?"

"No, they're too slow to be enemy shinobi. Those things are grabbing onto the undead and—conflagrating themselves. Ok, whatever they are ain't human."

"If the enemy's found a way to control those things, we've got bigger issues."

"There's movement. The dead are piling on those creatures now; this is getting weird."

"Indubitably, but now's our chance," Parrot resounds, "there's nowhere else that penisless sniper can run! Let's set up an ambush on the upper floor."

Pelican surveys the rooftops before determining a safe area to land. He disarms the explosives and spring-loaded rebar steaks; most are hidden with genjutsu, making his task tedious. Some of the devices Pelican can't help but admire the intricacy and sophistication of, "son-of-a-whore, these devices could've easily taken out a tokubetsu jōnin (Special High Ninja)!" He deactivates a few sealing tags to the best of his ability, thus clearing a safe path for Parrot and Hyena to land, "alright, red-head, you're up."

"Which one?" Hyena teases.

"I'm talking to you, fire-crotch."

Parrot and Hyena look at each other, then back to Pelican, "Which one?" they ask in unison.

Pelican sighs, "whichever one of you can deactivate fūinjutsu without getting us sealed away or blown to kingdom come."

"Already on it, ya racist rectal ranger," Parrot chides, deactivating the final seals.

"Says the xenophobic knob jockey," Pelican retorts.

"Oh, yours truly knows the colon cowboy ain't over there talking, ya know!"

"So what if I am ya drill billy!"

"Fanny bandit!"

"Cock captain!"

"Goo goblin!"

"Man-flute master!"

"Turd burglar!"

"Fuckin' backdoor-butler!"

"Ahem," Hyena interrupts, "I'd like to tear out that sniper's heart and feel it beating in my hands tonight, preferably!"

"Fair enough. Still, we need a way to lure the enemy onto the top floor, you know," Parrot walks to the roof access hatch, then opens it. He gestures for his teammates to follow, "I've got it!"

Pelican crosses his arms, leaning against a wall, "alright, let's hear it, poindexter."

"It's simple. You're our engineer, so locating and disarming traps won't be an issue. Hyena's stronger than us, so you'll take point while she covers you."

Pelican raises his eyebrow, "so where's your part in this?" he quarries.

"I'll have a few sealing tags and fūinjutsu traps ready when you two flush out that sniper; however, this takes time to prepare. Which is why I'll remain here."

"I could use Earth Release and collapse the rooftops onto that cocksucker."

"True, but the surge of chakra may draw whatever else lurks in this hell-hole away from our target and directly to us. Besides, don't you want your five minutes with the bastard that turned your fapp hand into mincemeat?"

Pelican sighs, walking towards the access hatch, "I suppose, but another part of me wants the mother fucker dead. I don't care how anymore."

"If we capture that sniper alive, I'll let you do your thing—you know your weird thing that I don't approve of..." Parrot says, squinting his eyes.

'Tch would've done it anyway,' Pelican's light-blue eye brightens through his mask, "deal, but you nor your sister will interfere with my work this time."

Hyena rolls her eyes, "of all the things we can learn from a civilization vastly different from ours, we appropriate and propagate its worst aspects!"

"Yours truly understands your concerns; yes, it's a shameful act. Yes, it IS frowned upon," Parrot glares at Pelican, "but it's one of those things the ASF tolerates to maintain this fragile alliance until the war's won."

"I don't understand what the big deal is?" Pelican says, "those bastards do it to us on the battlefields. I'm simply returning the favor by teaching them the severest lesson in whom towers above thee, as they say!"

Hyena gasps, "Oh, you mean that—then why the hell are we waiting? Let's fuckin' do this!"

"What's with the change of heart?"

"I, uh… need to make sure the sniper isn't killed too soon by—um… you know, monitoring the gen—I mean vitals," Hyena shrugs.

Pelican isn't buying it, "you could've just said you wanted to wat-"

Hyena Spartan kicks Pelican down the pitch-black access hatch.

Toasty~!

Pelican backflips righting himself midair before sticking a perfect three-point landing pose, "fuckin' short stack," he mutters.

"We'll have the enemy in position faster than you can say: believe it," Hyena gives Parrot a two-finger salute and steps down the hatch, "be ready."

"You were always such a perv, sis," Parrot mumbles, 'I'm many things, but stupid isn't one of them; I saw you wiping the blood flowing from your nostrils!'

Hyena steps away from the moonlight and adjusts her eyes to the darkness. The entire floor is a windowless empty chamber incomplete in its construction; aside from the occasional flash of lightning, stone pillars with torches are the solitary light source.

Pelican communicates to Hyena through sign language, 'proceed with caution.' They survey the area for signs of activity or an ambush, yet there is nothing but silence and crackling torches. After a thorough examination, Pelican concludes it's safe to advance and gives the 'all clear.' Hyena locates an elevator, although chains blockade each door frame corner. Pelican scans the elevator for possible hazards, yet the single abnormality is a sideways metal square with a keyhole in the center. 'light,' Pelican gestures.

Hyena ignites the torches flanking the elevator. High-pitch buzzing draws their attention as small orange orbs of light spiral around a transparent chest. Parrot observes from the access hatch, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head in curiosity. The buzzing ceases; the chest materializes. Pelican and Hyena exchange glances of bewilderment before staring back at the magical treasure chest.

Hyena pulses her chakra in small waves whispering, "release," trying to dispel any potential genjutsu; however, the trunk remains. Pelican shrugs at Hyena, then walks over to the chest. He checks for wire strings or explosives before kicking the chest open and grabbing the key inside. Pelican unlocks the elevator. There's a discrete clank; the chains recede into the frame then the empty elevator shaft opens. They inspect the small space but find nothing unusual. After descending onto the next floors, their proximity to the sniper becomes apparent by how numerous and elaborate the traps are.

Ceaseless unease washes over the Anbu as they cross the threshold into a circular room. The temperature plummets; their hearts pound in the silent void. Hyena's senses are screaming, 'something isn't right with this place!' indentations that resemble feet appear on the rug, 'enemies spotted,' Hyena signals to Pelican. They halt not far from the doorway, 'five total: two, twelve o'clock—three, six o'clock.' Someone or something invisible stands there, not moving or attacking.

Pelican draws his sword, as does Hyena, 'defensive formation,' he gestures. Back-to-back they ready themselves for combat. "Release," Pelican whispers, pulsing his chakra.

The illusion dispels; the deafening silence ceases. The indentations on the rug materialize into grotesque humanoid figures resembling masked emaciated corpses slouching forward with their arms hanging. Hyena and Pelican stand fast, eager to counterattack at the drop of a hat. Pelican anticipates an ambush, but the onslaught never happens. Instead, the creature's glowing red eyes fade as they lower their heads. Low-pitch zombie-like moans reverberate throughout the room in sync with one another in a tone that raises and lowers twice before drawing off and repeating.

After the initial shock of five groaning corpses appearing from thin air, the Anbu gain their bearings. They analyze the situation searching for potential weaknesses or opportunities to strike. Pelican and Hyena question whether or not the masked creatures are an amateur's failed attempt at Earth Release: Shadow Clones than actual living corpses. The ReDeads remain motionless while groaning, seeming defenseless, yet their purpose remains unclear. Hyena's grip tightens around her blade's hilt; she prepares to attack, which affects them. The groaning ceases; the ReDead's eyes glow as their heads rise. Hyena and Pelican brace themselves remaining stationary and vigilant, yet nothing happens.

The ReDead's exposed gums and teeth are visible through the mouth-holes in their reddish-orange wooden masks. Hyena shudders imagining how their faces look. The ReDead's glowing eyes fade; they lower their heads, resuming their zombie-like groans. Pelican hypothesizes these creatures are reactionary to sound or sudden movement, perhaps acting as warders. He tests his hypothesis; Pelican's foot taps the rug. As he expects, a similar occurrence transpires. The ReDead's eyes fade again. Hyena taps her foot and confirms his theory.

'Sound or activity alerts the ReDeads; therefore, a gradual pace is paramount to sneaking past them.' Regardless, the ReDeads outnumber and surround the Anbu, 'starting a fight with the two guarding the doorway is a foregone conclusion, but how will the rest respond?' Pelican wonders. Not taking any chances, he raises his arms slow enough not to draw the ghoulish creature's attention. He points his fingertips at the three in front of him; Pelican's bones emerge from his forearms, 'attack!'

Hyena blitzes the ReDeads, by the doorway in a flash of blinding speed leaving behind an afterimage. Without warning, she appears before them slamming her foot into one of their heads. Pelican unleashes his Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets; the ReDeads stumble back as their arms flail and heads shake from the continuous bone fragment bombardment. While airborne, Hyena uses her momentum to roundhouse kick the adjacent ReDead. After knocking them off-balance, she follows up with a relentless succession of rapid slashes and strikes against their gummy flesh.

Pelican drives his knee into the middle ReDead's sternum in the blink of an eye, launching it into a pillar. He lands between the two ReDeads wielding his sword in a reverse grip—a short bone-hilted blade extends from Pelican's other palm.

"Dance of the Camellia!" Pelican erupts in a whirlwind of afterimages hacking and slicing away at the ReDeads. His subsequent offensive is chaotic and continuous. Pelican's movements are irregular, with each sword thrust changing direction at random angles. Every strike or cut, dark-blue slime squirts from the ReDead's wounds as they groan in pain. Pelican finds how the ReDeads react to injury hilarious until he realizes they're still standing after excessive damage. Hyena's endless assault continues as she takes her frustrations out on the ReDeads. Yet, the creatures absorb every blow, resulting in a repetitive groan or stumble on occasion.

"Fucking die already!" Hyena roars; she enhances her blade with chakra, preparing a final attack, but the ReDead catches Hyena's wrist. Her eyes widen.