"Crash... boom!"
The thunderous sound of enormous trees toppling and crashing rumbled from behind him, startling birds into chirping cries as they streaked past beneath the massive canopy overhead.
"Tap!"
With a soft landing, an Iwagakure Ninja stopped on a thick branch in one part of the abnormally vast primeval forest, half-crouched as he halted his advance.
There?
Was that Konoha's reinforcements? After stopping, he glanced toward the source of the sound and quickly recognized it as the direction from which he had come. Then he looked at the girl tucked against his waist, and a thought that made his heart race slightly flashed through his mind.
At that glance, the girl's hands and cheeks hung limp, her long hair cascading down to conceal her face.
But the Iwagakure shinobi could be certain that she was still unconscious.
Sure enough, that man had never sincerely intended to trade with them. He had merely been using them. If the Third Tsuchikage had not never trusted him and secretly made arrangements that forced him to hand over this direct heir of the Hyuga Clan's main house, then not only would they have failed to obtain her, but he himself might have been left here as well.
As he looked at the girl, a pair of scarlet eyes surfaced unbidden in his mind, and his body shuddered abruptly.
He was a veteran ninja who had fought through countless battles. He had seen plenty of Uchiha, including many elites of the Uchiha Clan, but this was the first time he had encountered Sharingan power like that man's. Even without meeting the man's gaze, he could feel the tangible chill and ominousness radiating from it, pressing down so hard that he could barely lift his shoulders.
It was simply terrifying! Though he had been away