In the Forest

"Eh?"

Hearing that voice, six pairs of eyes from the two squads immediately fell on one of the boys in Ao's squad.

"Why are you all looking at me? I don't have a flower on my face!" Qi Shuang rubbed his nose and instinctively took a step back.

He wasn't used to being stared at so intently by so many people all of a sudden.

"Looks like your squad has gained another promising youngster!" The opposing squad leader smiled at Ao.

Ao waved his hand and responded indifferently, "No matter how promising he is, he's still only a sapling! It'll take a long time for him to grow into a towering tree!"

"And right now, we don't have any extra time to let them grow up safely!"

"As for whether they grow strong against wind and rain or are broken in the storm, that will depend entirely on them!"

As he spoke, he gave the three junior subordinates behind him a deep look.

"Since we don't have any clues about that person anyway, we might as well go over and take a look now. Maybe that kid was right, and the guy has already escaped the camp!"

With that, the opposing Mist ninja squad leader immediately led his people away.

They had already searched a large area here, yet still hadn't found a single clue. Meanwhile, Mist ninjas had sent a distress signal outside Konoha's main camp.

The possibility that the target had already escaped was extremely high.

"Follow them. Let's go take a look too!" Ao called to his three junior subordinates before chasing after the squad ahead.

At the same time, the many Mist ninjas engaged in a chaotic battle with Konoha's shinobi inside Konoha's main camp also noticed the signal.

Those who had already dealt with their opponents, as well as those searching for the target, immediately rushed toward the direction in which the signal flare had been fired.

Those still fighting also tried every possible means to break away from their opponents and prepare to provide support.

After all, their target this time was the Hyuga Main Family, not the annihilation of Konoha's main camp.

Although they had drawn away Konoha's main forces, their raiding force still held no advantage against the troops Konoha had left behind.

The longer this dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was for the Hidden Mist.

Therefore, finding the target as quickly as possible was their foremost task.

Entangling themselves with Konoha's shinobi here would only waste their strength for nothing.

Many Konoha shinobi were traveling the same route as them.

Although they didn't know what the Mist ninjas were trying to do, they knew that whatever their enemy wanted to accomplish, they only needed to work hard to sabotage and obstruct it!

Thus, along the route taken by the many Mist ninjas rushing to provide support, numerous Konoha shinobi moved to intercept them. Quite a few Konoha shinobi even chased after them.

Corpses littered the path, and another chaotic battle broke out.

After quite some time, Ao's squad joined forces with another Mist ninja squad and finally fought their way out of Konoha's main camp with great difficulty.

As they drew closer to the location where the signal flare had been fired, Qi Shuang and the others found more and more corpses and traces of battle along the road.

Some belonged to the Hidden Mist, and others to Konoha. It seemed the two sides had fought an extremely fierce battle here.

"Looks like the Hyuga Main Family really did break through from this direction!" Seeing the bloodstains that had yet to dry on the ground, the other Mist ninja squad leader solemnly spoke to Ao.

Ao glanced back at the many Mist ninjas gradually emerging from Konoha's main camp and sighed. "Perhaps..."

If there had been any trace of the Hyuga Main Family inside Konoha's main camp, the Hidden Mist shinobi would certainly have swarmed over. There was no way so many "idle people" would have come out to investigate.

Therefore, the possibility that the Hyuga Main Family had already escaped Konoha's main camp was extremely high.

In a clearing somewhere in the dense forest, several Konoha shinobi surrounded a white-eyed man in the center as they rested in place.

The man's hair was gray-white, and he looked to be around fifty years old, yet his eyes still shone brightly, showing not the slightest hint of age.

However, the mottled bloodstains covering him had dyed a large portion of his white robes red. Combined with his rapidly heaving chest and the weariness between his brows, they gave him an additional air of fatigue.

If Qi Shuang and the others had been there, they would have recognized at a glance that this elderly man was the current head of the Hyuga Main Family.

A Hyuga clansman activated his Byakugan and surveyed the surroundings. He immediately reported, "My lord, more and more Hidden Mist shinobi are chasing us from behind!"

Hearing this, the surrounding Konoha shinobi all tensed and instinctively tightened their grips on their kunai.

They had already gone through many battles earlier and were extremely exhausted. Even the hand holding the kunai trembled involuntarily.

No matter how much their master encouraged himself inwardly, he couldn't make that useless hand stop shaking.

Glancing at the people who were barely managing to pull themselves together, the Hyuga Main Family's head pretended to remain calm and asked, "How far are we from Konoha's main forces?"

"At our normal pace, it should take about ten minutes for us to rendezvous with them!" the man replied, lowering his head.

"Ten minutes?"

Looking up at the dense canopy overhead, which blocked the sunlight and left only thin strands filtering through, the Hyuga Main Family's head spoke with a complicated tone.

On an ordinary day, ten minutes would be nothing.

But now, after enduring countless bitter battles and fighting their way out of encirclement, they were utterly exhausted. Meeting up with Konoha's main forces within ten minutes had become a distant hope.

Even twenty minutes might not be enough for them to arrive.

Not to mention the mass of life-seeking Hidden Mist shinobi behind them.

Those ten minutes might be the last bit of time left in his life.

There was no chance he could escape!

"You should all leave!"

He weakly waved at the several shinobi around him who had protected him all the way here and said softly, "When they catch up later, I'll stay behind alone. All of you leave!"

"I'm the person they're looking for. As long as they find me, they won't deliberately entangle themselves with you!"

At first, when faced with the Hidden Mist's surprise attack, he hadn't understood what was happening. But after capturing and interrogating several Mist ninjas, he immediately learned that the Hidden Mist had come for him.

Therefore, he knew very well that as long as he stayed behind, the others could live.

Hearing his words, some quietly lowered the kunai in their hands, secretly delighted, while others clenched their teeth, their faces filled with unwillingness.

After a brief silence, one person stepped forward and said solemnly, "My lord, although I'm not a member of your Hyuga Clan, I know that you are the head of the Hyuga Clan!"

"If you die in battle, the blow to the Hyuga Clan will certainly be immense. But if you are captured alive, then..."

He didn't continue, but his meaning was perfectly clear.

Hearing this, a Hyuga clansman cursed him angrily. "You bastard!"

"Enough!"

The Hyuga Main Family's head immediately stopped the clansman, who was about to continue cursing, and said gravely to everyone, "The head of the Hyuga Main Family can only die in battle, never be captured alive!"

He understood perfectly what the Hyuga Main Family, which controlled the lives and deaths of the Branch Family through the Caged Bird, meant to Konoha.

Once he was captured alive, it would mean that the Hyuga Clan could very well be manipulated by a third party through him.

Therefore, neither he, nor the Hyuga Clan, nor Konoha wanted him to be captured alive.

He could only die in battle!