The Pursuit

Bai shed tears. "Issui-kun, did he just leave like that? Did he Earth Flow alone in the end?"

Issui shook his head and said, "For Orochimaru, who raised him from childhood, for his most important mission, for the freedom that God (Orochimaru) granted him—the only freedom a human could possess—he, almost having nothing left, as compensation for what he considered his uselessness, abandoned his physical body and went to meet Sasuke in spirit form, stepping onto his final stage... Ultimately, he couldn't escape the tragic outcome. Even so, his spirit will live on forever. Even knowing the opponent is evil, one cannot overcome loneliness. Although he fought for the evil Orochimaru, from another perspective, he, like Naruto and all of us, fought for the people most important to him. His sacrifice will forever keep his noble spirit in our hearts."

As Issui finished speaking, a Little Haku on the ground had its petals blown away by the wind. He was gone; the person who had always been searching for and protecting his sense of existence was gone...

Shizune also came over at this moment. She had already dealt with the fat man, so it seems she does have some strength. She must have learned a lot from being by Tsunade's side all this time.

"Have you finished fighting too? This flame isn't ordinary; it gives me a chill." Shizune's eyes narrowed as she looked at the black flames on the ground. What was this thing? The temperature was so high; it felt like there was nothing it couldn't burn.

"Yes, this is Amaterasu Flame. Simply put, it's a flame that comes from inside the sun. Once a target is engulfed by the black flame, it won't disappear until the target is completely burned. And even if it doesn't burn the target and there's no fuel, it will continue to burn for seven days and seven nights without going out," Issui said calmly.

"Someone's here, is it... Naruto?" Haku said.

"Ah, Sister Shizune, Sister Haku, what are you doing here?"

Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba Inuka, Neji, Choji Akamaru in front of Issui and the others. It was Naruto who spoke.

"We ran into Orochimaru's men. I don't know what they took, but they left three to hold us off while the other two took that strange barrel and left," Shizune replied.

"That's great! With three Jonin helping us, we should be able to complete the mission. Besides, three of them have already been eliminated, so there's nothing to worry about for the rest," Shikamaru said happily.

"A mission? What mission?" Shizune asked.

"Sasuke has been lured away by Orochimaru's subordinates, we're here to bring him back!" Naruto shouted.

"What Sasuke defected?" Shizune asked in surprise.

"That's why the Lord Hokage sent us to bring Sasuke back. Sasuke must have been seduced by Orochimaru. Now is not the time to talk. Let's hurry and catch up with Sasuke and their teacher," Shikamaru said.

"Alright, Shiro, go and take that woman you knocked unconscious back to the Fifth Lord Hokage. She's Orochimaru's subordinate and has a lot of information. Shizune, me, and Shikamaru, you two go after Sasuke," Issui said.

"Okay, I'll go now."

Haku walked to Tayuya's side, picked her up, and disappeared from the spot using the Body Flicker Technique.

"Alright, let's go, let's get to them as fast as we can." Issui led the way and ran forward quickly.

"Oh no, they've caught up! Kimimaro has been defeated! What do we do?" Sakon said, frowning.

"Don't set any more traps, let's escape quickly. Use Cursed Seal Level 1, we'll be fine once we're outside the Land of Fire's borders," Kidomaru said.

"That's the only way. I didn't expect such a big change in this mission. That kid is really something," Sakon said helplessly.

"Hmm, did you speed it up?" Shizune asked, frowning.

"Watch out for the multiple traps under your feet. They've already sensed our presence and no longer have the leisure to set traps. Once we get past these traps, we 'Issui hurry on our way and eliminate all the traps in front of us."

"Sasuke hasn't arrived yet? Ah... Didn't I already send Kimimaro? A bunch of useless trash, ah..." Orochimaru groaned in pain inside the Sassoon.

"They've probably encountered some formidable enemy, like that Issui Kanna," Kabuto said, adjusting his glasses outside the bathroom.

"Hmph, miscalculation. We should have sent Crimson Guren instead," Orochimaru said ominously.

"Oh, that first candidate vessel? But I don't think we need to worry too much. Sasuke has already fallen into darkness. He will overcome all obstacles and come to your side on his own, won't he, Lord Orochimaru? You actually thought of this a long time ago, didn't you?"

"Kabuto, you're such an unlovable guy! Ugh... ugh..."

"Lord Orochimaru, are you alright...?"

"Ugh... that wretched old man, even in death he has to suffer like this..."

"Lord Orochimaru, your body is about to give out. If you don't reincarnate soon..."

"Ah... Sasuke..."

"I think you know that even if Sasuke comes here, it won't be in time. If you don't reincarnate soon, you will die. Are you willing to accept that? If you're willing, you can even use my body."

"..."

"I understand. I'll go prepare a vessel for your reincarnation right away..."

Looking at the gradually darkening sky, Issui thought, "Sakon and Kidomaru are really fast runners! We've been chasing them for almost an entire afternoon. Actually, if Issui were traveling alone, he could definitely catch up, but Naruto and the others can't keep up." The biggest reason was that he believed Sasuke was truly not suited to stay in Konoha. Orochimaru was an expert in nurturing talent; with his guidance, Sasuke would have experienced explosive growth. Staying in Konoha, he simply wouldn't have reached that level.

"Let's all take a break. Although we are much stronger than them, fighting at night is not a good time. The enemy will be on guard." Shizune gestured for everyone to stop.

It wasn't that she wanted to stop, but that she had to. After all, their physical strength was almost exhausted. If they didn't eat something to replenish their energy, most of them would probably lose the strength to fight as soon as they reached their battle positions.

"No, if we don't chase after them now, Sasuke will be taken away by Orochimaru."

Naruto panicked. "I promised Sakura I would bring Sasuke back, and Sasuke is my comrade. He must have been seduced and deceived by Orochimaru."

"Naruto, you have great stamina, but the rest of the team are different. If they fight like this, they won't even be able to unleash one-tenth of their fighting power," Issui said.

You're superhuman, but Shikamaru and the others can't take it anymore. I don't know what's gotten into Sakon and Kidomaru, they're rushing like crazy.

Shikamaru said with a wry smile, "Indeed, right now only you, Issui, Shizune-senpai have plenty of energy. The others are already exhausted. Shizune-senpai and Issui just went through a battle and need to recover. Orochimaru's subordinates are not easy to deal with either. Shizune-senpai's Chakra is almost depleted, and while Issui has some Chakra left, the mental energy depleted in battle cannot be replenished. I see that neither of you are in very good spirits. You must have done some physically demanding missions when you fought the Sound Ninja and then gone through another battle. It's already quite impressive that you can continue to follow us in pursuing the enemy. If it were ordinary Chunin or Genin, they probably wouldn't be able to reach your level."

"Your analysis is excellent. No wonder you were the first ninja Chunin your generation to be promoted to Chunin. If your Chakra reserves keep up, you'll probably become Jonin soon. You're right. Let's imagine that the only ones still capable of pursuing us are me, Naruto, and Shizune. When we catch up with the enemy, the remaining two enemies will fight me and Shizune. Shizune's Chakra won't be enough to sustain her, so she can only delay the enemy at most. I might have a fierce battle with the enemy, and Sasuke will take the opportunity to escape. Then, Naruto, you can go after them, and that should be enough to complete the mission. However, if Orochimaru sends other subordinates to hinder us, our situation will be quite unfavorable. I'll be fine, but Shizune might be seriously injured, and Naruto, you might be captured by the enemy. Even if I have the ability to save you, I can't be in two places at once; I can only save one at most."

Issui said slowly, adding that the rest was just nonsense. If they chased after them now, Issui could easily eliminate the enemy and bring Sasuke back. But the key point was that Issui didn't want to bring Sasuke back.

"All right..."

Naruto's eyes darkened. "Sasuke, wait a little longer, I'll be right there."

"Don't worry, Sasuke isn't stupid enough to be easily fooled by Orochimaru," Issui said, patting Naruto on the shoulder.

"Yes, and we're not the kind of people who abandon their comrades. We'll definitely help you get him back," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, I don't really like that guy, but we're from the same village, right, Akamaru?"

"Woof..."

"I also believe you can definitely Sasuke back," Neji said, looking at Naruto with obvious confidence in him.

"Um!"

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he nodded. "Yes, I have so many comrades helping me."

Shizune observed the boys' expressions and realized that Naruto was quite popular among them; everyone was starting to like Naruto. If that was the case, perhaps it was what Lady Tsunade had hoped for.

"Here, these are rice balls made by Hinata. None of you brought anything to eat, right? Share them with everyone."

Issui took out several rice balls from his backpack and handed them to Naruto one by one.

"Snort."

Kiba couldn't stand Issui. How could he treat Hinata as family so early? It was outrageous! He never expected Hinata to be so easily deceived. He himself had some affection for Hinata. Sigh, he decided to let it go. Judging from Hinata's behavior, he had long since fallen deeply in love with this bastard.

Neji, but ultimately accepted Issui's kindness. He knew that this person wasn't so bad after all; his background wasn't much worse than his own, and even after his entire village was wiped out, he was able to withstand the blow and become stronger.