Interception

"Besides, we're close to Konoha's main camp. Even if we really intercept him, he can still get help from the other Konoha ninja in a short time."

"Therefore, turning back is safer for the Hyuga Main Family!"

Qi Shuang explained everything to the three of them in a clear and logical manner.

"Captain Ao, what do you think?" Mei Terumi looked toward the team leader, who had remained silent on the other side.

Ao thought for a moment, then immediately made his decision. "Listen to him. We'll turn back and search!"

"But what if that person isn't in this direction?" Zabuza pointed toward the location of Konoha's main camp.

Mei Terumi immediately turned an inquiring gaze in the same direction.

They didn't want to do something completely meaningless.

Ao sighed, beckoned to his three subordinates, and signaled that they should set out. As they hurried along, he explained, "Just as Qi Shuang said, there are already plenty of Mist ninja intercepting and searching in the direction of the Uchiha camp."

"That direction isn't lacking a team like ours. On the contrary, searching in the opposite direction is a blind spot for most people."

"This side needs us more to eliminate the possibility that the Hyuga Main Family escaped in this direction!"

"Even if we don't find him, eliminating the possibility that he fled this way isn't meaningless!"

Afterward, the four of them expanded their search area and searched in the direction closer to Konoha's main camp.

"Come over here!"

Before long, Zabuza made a discovery.

"What did you find?" Mei Terumi was the first to arrive and immediately asked.

"There's fresh blood here!" Zabuza pointed at a smear of crimson near the base of a large tree.

There were no signs of a fight nearby, which meant that someone had left it behind while passing through and stopping to rest.

Moreover, judging from the other traces left behind, the person who had shed the blood had been alone, not part of a group.

Ao reached out and dipped a finger into it. After examining it carefully, he said softly, "The blood hasn't dried. Someone was here just now!"

"You three, search the area quickly and find his tracks!"

Although he didn't know whether the person who had left the blood was a Mist companion or a Konoha ninja, he decided to find them first and worry about the rest afterward.

Besides, since they were hunting the Hyuga Main Family, most of the Hidden Mist forces were traveling in groups. Thus, he was more inclined to believe that the traces had been left by the fleeing Hyuga Main Family.

"There's a footprint here!"

A short while later, Qi Shuang made a new discovery about five meters from the bloodstain.

"There's one here too!"

Using the footprint he had found as the center, Mei Terumi quickly found another set of tracks.

Following the footprints and the occasional bloodstains, the four of them immediately continued their pursuit.

In less than three minutes, they had tracked a suspicious figure through the dense forest.

The person seemed to have noticed their pursuit long ago, but because he wasn't moving quickly, he couldn't shake them off no matter how hard he tried.

Before long, Qi Shuang and the others cornered him beneath a large tree.

"Where do you think you're going, Your Excellency of the Hyuga clan?" Ao asked mockingly as he looked at the panting middle-aged man beneath the tree.

Although the man was covered in wounds and looked extremely disheveled, Ao could still recognize that weathered face. It matched the image of the Hyuga Main Family in the photograph very closely.

Combined with Qi Shuang's earlier analysis, he guessed that this man was very likely the target of their mission—the current head of the Hyuga Main Family!

Seeing that he was surrounded by the four of them and had no hope of escape, the gray-haired middle-aged man let out a long breath. It seemed he had abandoned the last trace of hope in his heart as he slowly said, "I didn't expect that after shaking off so many idiots, I'd still be caught by you Mist people!"

"Looks like not everyone from the Hidden Mist is an idiot!"

As he spoke, he gave a self-mocking laugh, effectively acknowledging his identity.

"Qi Shuang, send the signal!"

Ao stared intently at the middle-aged man before him and issued an order to his subordinate. Then he gave the other two a meaningful glance.

"Take him down!"

Before his words had even faded, the three of them lunged together at the Hyuga Main Family beneath the tree.

Qi Shuang quickly pulled a small rocket launcher from his ninja equipment pouch.

Ao had earlier distributed signal flares to the three of them and warned them that they could only use them after discovering the Hyuga Main Family's trail.

Now was the time to use it.

He quickly moved to a spot where the leaves were sparse, aimed it at the sky, and yanked down the fuse.

Whoosh!

Accompanied by a shrill whistle, a bright flare pierced through the leaves and suddenly exploded in the sky, forming an extremely conspicuous red smoke signal.

At the very moment Qi Shuang launched his signal, another flare rose into the canopy behind the Hyuga Main Family. After struggling to break through the layers of branches and leaves, it finally blossomed in the sky.

A yellow smoke signal followed.

"Something's happening!"

A Mist ninja spotted the signal in the sky and immediately rushed toward its launch point.

The Konoha ninja noticed the signal as well.

Moreover, because the Hyuga Main Family had chosen to turn back and hide, by the time Qi Shuang and the others found him, they were already very close to Konoha's main camp.

As a result, quite a few Konoha ninja gradually rushed toward the signal's launch point to investigate.

"At a time like this, you're still such a handful!" Ao smiled pleasantly at the middle-aged man before him while coldly slashing at him with his Kunai.

"Alas!"

The Hyuga Main Family let out a soft sigh, casually deflected Ao's Kunai, and then suddenly raised his head. "The older a person gets, the more afraid of death they become!"

"If there's a chance to stay alive, of course I want to try!"

Before his words had even ended, he had already charged toward the little girl on the other side.

Zabuza seized the opportunity and instantly closed in. Raising his short blade, he aimed at the man's nape and slashed.

Just as he was brimming with confidence and thought he had landed a fatal blow, the Hyuga Main Family, who had his back to him, suddenly twisted his left hand around and caught the blade precisely between his index and middle fingers.

"Didn't your teacher ever tell you that a sneak attack is meaningless against the Byakugan?"

A mocking voice rang out. Zabuza saw the man release his blade, then suddenly begin to spin.

Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation

A pale-blue sphere of light instantly appeared in his vision. The next moment, a force of rapid rotation struck him, sending him flying.

Lava Style: Lava Monster Technique

On the other side, because Zabuza had briefly held up his opponent, Mei Terumi took the opportunity to complete her technique. She immediately spat out a mass of milky-white mucus and sent it toward the pale-blue sphere of light.

However, the result was not what she had expected.

The pale-blue sphere of light resembled a spinning top. Relying on its powerful centrifugal force, it instantly flung away the milky-white mucus covering it.

For a moment, the mucus splattered everywhere, striking the surrounding tree trunks with sharp crackling sounds. It forced Ao and the others to keep their distance and dodge far away.

Several trees were even eaten through at the trunks by the corrosive power of the excessive amount of Lava Style Mucus clinging to them!