Ration Ball? Secret Medicine?

Grassland, interior.

Looks like he hadn't noticed...

Hirohiko, who had been sprinting all the way, glanced back at the outline of the primeval forest, already beginning to fade into the distance. Then he slowly turned forward and looked at the grassland stretching endlessly ahead, his brow furrowing slightly.

It looked like things had gone smoothly. The tactic had worked!

He had never expected such a tactic to fool his opponent. It seemed the stronger the opponent, the harder they were to deceive. Before, he had simply lacked confidence.

Still, whether he was easy to fool or not, once he searched the primeval forest and found no trace of him, he would definitely realize something was wrong. He would almost certainly figure out that Hirohiko had escaped across the grassland and would likely give chase soon. At his speed, the primeval forest might only hold him back for a few minutes...

Hirohiko felt no joy at having deceived his opponent with a simple tactical maneuver. He understood his situation, his disadvantage, and what he was doing now.

More than that, he understood exactly what kind of opponent he was facing.

And the terrain here wasn't suited for hiding either. There was no landform ahead that would make hiding easy. What came next might be a dead end for him.

But...

As that thought crossed his mind, Hirohiko could not help glancing at the figure on his shoulder, its entire body covered in Rock Skin. The unease in his heart hardened once more into resolve.

But Chiba and Yukina would be safe.

As long as I'm the only one facing a dead end, that's enough!

Yes! That's enough! Our side's mission had probably already failed unless something unexpected happened. As for the Kannabi Bridge mission, it could only depend on Kakashi, Senior