Biwa Juzo

After thinking for a moment, Yei suddenly seemed to have remembered something. He looked at Shisui and said, "Shisui, do you still have enough Chakra to use a Shadow Clone?"

Shisui froze, then nodded. "There isn't much left, but I can still use it once."

Yei revealed a meaningful smile. "I have an idea that might let us notify the originals..."

"Hm?" Shisui looked puzzled.

After hearing Yei out, Shisui's eyes widened. "That can work?"

"Let's try it." Yei smiled. He could not guarantee it would work.

"Alright." Shisui did not hesitate. He formed hand seals and used the Shadow Clone, and with a poof, a clone appeared beside him.

"Release!" Shisui formed hand seals and dispelled the clone.

That was right—this had been Yei's sudden idea!

Since a clone transmitted its memories back to the original after being dispelled, then... could the Clone Technique be used as a means of communication?

Yei was not certain either. If a clone created another clone and then dispelled it, could that clone's memories still be sent back to the original...?

Yei had never tested it himself, but logically, it should work. Now they just had to see whether Shisui's original received the message.

At the same time, among the originals who were hurrying along at full speed, Shisui suddenly stopped because several memories had abruptly appeared in his mind...

He looked at Yei with a strange expression. "Senior, it worked!"

"What?" Yei was somewhat confused. He did not understand what Shisui meant.

His clone had not been dispelled, so he did not know about the conversation between the clone and Shisui. He looked at Shisui in confusion.

Shisui immediately explained.

"That can work?" Kakashi and Asuma both looked at Yei, their expressions equally strange. They had never expected the Shadow Clone Technique could be used like that...

"Uh, don't look at me like that. My clone did it!" Yei was speechless as well. He had not expected his clone to think of using such a method to inform them of the situation.

"But that's still you..." Asuma muttered.

"Now that we have a lead, we should hurry over as well. Only Yei and Shisui's clones are over there, so they were right not to act rashly!" Kakashi said, quickening his pace.

Although they were still some distance away, they were no longer far from the place when traveling at full speed.

After traveling for a while longer, another accident occurred not far from the lake...

"Careful, another trap!" This time, Yei, who possessed the Byakugan, was walking at the front. His Byakugan and Observation Haki were both activated as he sensed the surroundings as thoroughly as possible and remained alert, but he still stepped into an Exploding Tag trap...

When Exploding Tags had not been triggered, there was nothing unusual about them. This particular trap had also been disguised, attached to a large tree and blending in with the tree's grain.

Only close inspection would reveal anything suspicious, but Yei and the others were rushing forward and could not account for every detail. Then—

Boom!

The trap was triggered. Hissing flames sounded from the surrounding trees, followed by a sudden explosion. Firelight reflected across the group!

"Careful, Exploding Tags!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Senior, come closer to me! I have a ninjutsu that can withstand the explosion!" Shisui said urgently.

At that critical moment, Kakashi and Asuma chose to trust Shisui as well and moved closer to him!

Rotation! Yei had defensive methods of his own and could withstand it himself, so he directly used Rotation!

Meanwhile, Shisui's eyes rapidly changed, transforming into four-bladed pinwheel-shaped Mangekyo Sharingan!

At his urging, a green skeletal frame suddenly appeared, enveloping Kakashi and Asuma within it!

Boom!

The explosion suddenly erupted. Flames flashed as shockwaves from the blast crashed in from every direction, and black smoke rose into the sky!

Naturally, the people near the lake noticed the commotion from the explosion.

"Damn it, they've already caught up to us. Who are they? Pursuers from the village?" Among the group, a man dressed as a ninja with a Mist forehead protector at his waist looked in that direction, his expression darkening.

The others were also dressed as ninjas, but judging from the slashes across their Mist forehead protectors, they were rogue ninjas from Mist.

Another person looked toward a thin man, who was likely the leader of the group. "Captain, what do we do now?"

The captain looked in the direction of the explosion and said coldly, "What are you panicking for?"

He was a man wearing a rogue ninja forehead protector, with short black hair, sharp teeth, a large cross-shaped scar on his right cheek, bandages wrapped around his ears and neck, and red stripes painted across the lower half of his face.

A massive cleaver was strapped to his back. It was the Executioner's Blade, one of Mist's seven special ninja swords!

This man was none other than Biwa Juzo, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!

He was also one of the people who would later join Akatsuki!

Biwa Juzo had only recently defected from Mist and was being hunted by Mist's forces. He carried the Executioner's Blade, a high-grade bladed weapon of Mist, and Mist could not possibly allow Biwa Juzo to leave with it!

To shake off Mist's pursuit, Biwa Juzo intended to throw the Shinobi World into chaos.

Thus, they had attacked Konoha's Border Outpost, slaughtered everyone inside, and left behind clues pointing toward Mist. They wanted to shift the blame and lure Konoha into dealing with Mist!

The move was truly ruthless. Everyone knew that the situation was stabilizing, but if this small incident caused war to erupt on a large scale again, Mist would have no energy left to deal with them while preparing for war!

However, Mist's people had followed their trail to Konoha's Border Outpost, where they saw that Biwa Juzo and his group had killed Konoha's people and left behind evidence detrimental to Mist.

They realized that Biwa Juzo intended to shift the blame and frame Mist for attacking Konoha's Border Outpost...

After learning this, the people from Mist assigned to hunt Biwa Juzo did not hesitate. They directly cleaned up Konoha's Border Outpost.

That was why Yei and the others had found no traces when they went to investigate the Border Outpost. Everything had already been cleared away!

Biwa Juzo looked toward the explosion and asked one of them, "Kota, can you sense how many people are over there?"

Kota appeared to be a sensory-type ninja. He sensed the area for a moment before speaking. "It seems there are only four people. They probably aren't Suikazan Fuguki and the others pursuing us. They're most likely Konoha ninjas who came to investigate!"

"Konoha? They moved that quickly?" Biwa Juzo murmured. His gaze turned cold as he looked at Kota. "Can you judge their strength?"

Kota sensed again, then shook his head. "They're too far away. I can only sense their numbers—four people. Of the four, only one has a relatively strong Chakra signature, but it seems a little unstable. He was probably hit by our Exploding Tags..."

Upon hearing that, Biwa Juzo sneered. "Is that so? Perfect, we'll deal with them too. Since we're going to make Mist suffer, then... let's make this matter even bigger!"

After a brief discussion, they headed toward Yei and the others under Biwa Juzo's orders!