Hikaru sprang out from behind the bushes and swore.
"After it!"
The four of them gave chase from different directions. Hikaru was in the lead. His Byakugan gave him a much wider field of vision than the others, and he could see the grayish-white chakra signature darting back and forth deep in the woods. It was incredibly fast, but never ran in a straight line, fleeing blindly like a frightened little animal. Yet its route was strange-it kept circling, circling around Iwami Village, never straying beyond a five-kilometer radius of the village. After chasing it for about ten minutes, Hikaru noticed the pattern and abruptly stopped.
"Stop chasing it," Hikaru said.
The Jonin behind him nearly slammed into him. He forced himself to a halt and asked between heavy breaths, "Why?"
Hikaru turned and looked at his face.
"It's taking us for a walk."
Hikaru led the others out of the woods and back onto the wasteland outside. Withered grass swayed in the wind. The frost had melted, and the drops of water on the grass tips glittered in the sunlight, bead after bead, like a scattering of crushed diamonds. Hikaru crouched, pressed his hand against the ground, and swept the area beneath them with his Byakugan.
The one underground was still there. Forty meters down, utterly motionless. The one aboveground had stopped about a kilometer away, on the northern side of the woods. It wasn't moving either.
Hikaru lifted his hand from the ground, stood, and brushed the dirt off his knees.
"Write a report," Hikaru said. "One unidentified creature suspected to be White Zetsu discovered in the mixed woodland northwest of Iwami Village. Provisional count: one. Another unidentified chakra signature discovered forty meters underground, similar to White Zetsu in size and shape. Provisional count: one. The unidentified creature