Explosion!

At the edge of the forest where it met the grasslands, Dodai, Kuroi, and Saroi raced northwest at top speed, hurtling toward a point somewhere to the north.

"Lord Dodai, is this really all right? Leaving Grandpa Maki alone to hold back Iwa and the Konoha forces hiding in the shadows."

Kuroi glanced at Dodai's back ahead of him, exchanged a look with Saroi, and saw the same intense worry in his eyes. After nodding to each other, he finally could not help but speak. The way he addressed Maki seemed to have gained a touch more intimacy.

"Yeah, and Grandpa Maki said earlier that he needed a sensory ninja. So why did he have Kuroi leave with us in the end? What if Grandpa Maki walks into an ambush because he doesn't have Kuroi's senses? A situation he could have handled might lead to irreversible consequences if he gets ambushed and attacked."

Saroi spoke up as well.

Kuroi... Saroi...

So they were worried about Teacher Maki too. Of course they were. Teacher Maki had taught them as well. Although he had a strange temper at times, hated being called Teacher, and disliked being called "Grandpa" because it made him sound old; although he threw tantrums at the slightest provocation and liked corporal punishment... he truly was a good teacher, in every sense of the word.

No wonder those children called him so affectionately in private! In their eyes, and even in the eyes of children a generation younger than them, that strange teacher must have been an interesting grandpa! "No. If you stayed by Teacher Maki's side, you would only hold him back."

As the thoughts passed through his mind, Dodai pursed his lips and spoke in a calm tone.

No matter what, this intelligence is critical. It could