At that moment, in the distance revealed by his Byakugan, a unit was retreating from the harbor at Grass Wave Coast toward Konoha's defensive zone at tremendous speed. They moved like the wind, advancing and falling back in disciplined order, with a large force of Kaguya Clan pursuers behind them.
The unit consisted of twelve men, a platoon in strength. All wore Root uniforms and masks, taking turns clearing the way in groups of three while securely shielding the squad at their center as they withdrew.
In that central squad, Aburame Ryūma led the way with an enormous scroll marked "Corpse" on his back. Yamato and Shin followed close behind. Shin carried a small, white-haired child with a vacant expression on his back.
On the surface, the squad's objective was to raid the Kaguya Clan's encampment, infiltrate its Corpse Disposal Squad, and steal the bodies of fallen clansmen who possessed the Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai. The abducted Kaguya Clan child seemed more like someone they had happened to encounter and taken along on a whim.
This was a common Root battlefield tactic: seize bodies and use the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques to extract large amounts of classified intelligence. In the context of the overall battle, it was hardly conspicuous. If anything, it seemed perfectly normal.
Of course, all of this was a smokescreen to conceal their true purpose. Root's operation had naturally been arranged by Hyuga Yu from the very
beginning, and its fundamental objective was to abduct Kimimaro, whose bloodline had reverted to that of his ancestors.
By comparison, the Kaguya Clan corpse samples that appeared to be the mission's primary objective were unimportant. Still, this killed two birds with one stone, easing the laboratory's urgent shortage.
Now, the target was in their hands!
Hyuga Yu withdrew his gaze. His