Neji crouched beside the corpses of the Sunagakure investigation team and examined them. In a grave voice, he said, "The bodies' temperatures are already close to the ambient temperature. They have been dead for at least five hours."
Tenten, who was surveying the surroundings, added, "There are traces of ninja tools and ninjutsu in the area. The battlefield should be here."
Rock Lee looked somewhat puzzled. "There aren't many signs of battle here. Does that mean there was a huge gap in strength between the two sides, and the Sunagakure investigation team was wiped out before they could put up much resistance?"
As Neji rose to his feet, he nodded lightly. "Yes. Judging from the footprints nearby, there should have been quite a few enemies—at least a dozen. But it seems only one or two people actually fought. And judging from the wounds on these Sunagakure shinobi, the attacker used a weapon with a large, exceptionally sharp blade."
Guy, who was standing guard nearby, said approvingly, "Your analysis is good."
Neji asked, "Guy-sensei, what should we do next?"
Guy pondered for a moment before saying, "The Sunagakure investigation team has been completely wiped out, so our support mission has failed. However, we still bear the responsibility of investigating this matter. We must find out who the enemy is and what their objective is!"
Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten all nodded together.
None of them wanted their first official mission to be declared a failure because the Sunagakure side had been unexpectedly wiped out.
Before long, Guy's team began tracking the enemy by following the footprints they had left behind.
Whether the other side had simply had no intention of concealing their tracks or were not shinobi at all, Guy's team, with Neji among them, had an exceptionally smooth time following