The four of them charged west for less than two hundred meters before the three White Zetsu began backing away. They were not fleeing; they were keeping their distance. They did not want to fight. Kabuto's orders had probably been, "Do not engage. Just drive them away." So when Chisen and the others actually charged at them, the White Zetsu retreated instead.
Neji saw this through his Byakugan, and the corner of his mouth rose involuntarily.
"They're retreating."
"After them," Chisen said.
All four picked up speed again. Guy's green jumpsuit looked like a streak of flowing fluorescence in the sunlight as he pulled away from the figures behind him. He was the fastest of the four, by far, but he did not charge ahead at full speed. He held himself back, staying behind Chisen and to his right, ready to support him at any moment. This was an instinct honed through countless battles-never break away from the team, never charge alone, unless you were the bait.
The three White Zetsu retreated quickly, so quickly that they maintained an almost constant distance from Chisen's group-six hundred meters. Whether Chisen and the others sped up or slowed down, those six hundred meters never changed. It was as though an invisible rope bound the two sides together, exactly six hundred meters long. Pull, and it tightened. Ease off, and it slackened.
Chisen suddenly stopped.
Everyone stopped with him.
"We're done chasing them," Chisen said.
"Why?" Tenten asked, panting.
"Because they're deliberately leading us around. Their retreat isn't random. They're heading in one fixed direction-northeast. They want to lead us northeast. Kabuto might have something waiting in that part of the map. Maybe his real ambush site, maybe a trap, maybe a minefield. Whatever it is, I don't want to find out."
He