Tap!
Chiba suddenly burst out of the forest, landing on one foot. His forward rush came to an abrupt halt, shifting from extreme speed to extreme stillness in an instant. His figure flashed, and Chiba had already stepped onto the ground, coming to a steady stop.
Whoosh!
Then, as Chiba flashed forward and crouched slightly to halt his steps, a fierce gust suddenly erupted from the primeval forest behind him, carrying countless green leaves. Like a horizontal fountain that had suddenly found an outlet, it burst forth and struck Chiba's back with a series of pfft, pfft, pfft sounds.
Tap!
Then, with the sound of his left foot touching down, Chiba straightened from his slight crouch and came to a complete stop.
I'm here...
He slowly straightened and swept his gaze across the clearing. When he saw the collapsed pile of stones, his brows furrowed slightly.
This was the place where he had originally been lured in by Higure's Earth Clone.
According to Rin, after their minds had gone blank, Hirohiko and Yukina had disappeared, leaving behind only footprints and bloodstains.
Then, they had followed the bloodstains and footprints to rescue them, only to encounter two Iwa ninja. The battle had taken place by that river, just as it had in the original story, except much earlier.
It was clear that the entire incident had originally been meant to unfold according to the original plot, but because Hirohiko and Yukina—two people who had not existed in that original event—were present, Rin's abduction had happened ahead of time.
Because of Yukina's Byakugan, they had moved faster. With Yukina and Hirohiko as two powerful reinforcements, they likely had not proceeded as cautiously as they had in the original story, instead quickening their pace in hopes of completing the mission as soon as