Ronglin wiped away the traces and fell into thought, which Minato, not far from him, noticed immediately.
"More or less."
Minato's voice interrupted Ronglin's thoughts. Ronglin stood up, dusted off his hands, and smiled.
"A little. The enemy's footprints are rather messy. I suspect not all of them headed for the coast. According to the intelligence, Kirigakure's ships stationed by the sea weren't nearly enough to carry that many people away."
"That's true."
Minato stared at the ground in thought. Before long, he caught on to something and looked at Ronglin in astonishment, having guessed why Ronglin had erased some of the traces.
"Lord Hokage, you mean the enemy..."
As Minato spoke, he slowly spread his arms apart to either side. Ronglin smiled, nodded, and made a shushing gesture.
The traces on the ground had clearly been tampered with deliberately. If the enemy had simply left, there would not have been such chaotic tracks. But since they were there, it meant only one group had headed directly for the coast, while quite a few others had split off from the main force. Those people could only have gone in two directions.
They certainly could not have gone backward, since the forces of the Four Great Ninja Villages were gradually closing in. They could only have headed left and right.
That was why Ronglin had erased some of the traces. This way, aside from him and Minato, no one would know that a large number of enemies had split off in both directions, preparing to enter the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.
Ay, Ōnoki, don't blame me. After all, the ones watching the show never mind making it bigger!
Without a doubt, Ronglin was setting up the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth. Once a large