Striding Out

The Forest of Death was swept by a cold, grim wind. The tall tree canopies blocked most of the sunlight, and the giant trees stood one after another. Without some unique skill, tracking an enemy in this environment would be incredibly difficult.

However, for Inuzuka Hana, this wasn't difficult at all. She ran swiftly with her ninja dog. But even with her full speed, she was still quite a distance from the person who dared to cross the barrier.

She couldn't help but wonder internally: the person she was struggling to catch even while running on all fours using the Mimicry Ninjutsu, could she even defeat them if she caught up, being just a Chunin?

Immediately after, she heard a loud explosion. Birds living in the forest scattered, followed by dust, leaves, and wood chips flying up.

Inuzuka Hana's heart tightened. She couldn't withstand that kind of destructive power.

"Woof woof..." her ninja dog barked.

"What? You're saying that person's scent stopped? Are they getting closer to us?"

"Woof."

After communicating with her ninja dog, Inuzuka Hana felt a strange sensation. Her ninja dog told her that the scent of the person who had crossed the barrier and run this far had not only stopped but was also growing stronger.

This intensification wasn't a sign of them approaching, but rather a diffusion from a central point outwards, indiscriminately.

Mustering her courage, she cautiously moved forward to investigate and saw the location of the explosion.

"This is bad, we've been tricked!"

At the explosion site were only remnants of wood and metal, along with several Scrolls emitting chakra. They seemed to be the power source for the entire device, but there was no sign of anyone.

The scent of Hyuga Hinata, whom they were tracking, came from a light purple coat. It had been blown by the explosion onto a tree branch, its hem already starting to burn.

"Let's go. We'll report back to Lord Hokage. The enemy didn't leave from here," she said.

Inuzuka Hana wasn't the only one pursuing this device; the Anbu were also involved. They were a bit slower, but their handling of the scene was more professional. A few minutes after Inuzuka Hana returned to the Hokage Building, they brought the wreckage of the device back.

"Where is Jonin Might Guy? Did he chase the real enemy? Should we go reinforce him?" After settling her exhausted ninja dog, Inuzuka Hana ran back to the Hokage Building again. Her main job was patrolling near the barrier, and now that something had happened, she had to be proactive.

"The place where the barrier was breached isn't just the initial three; more and more areas are being broken through, and they're all using these strange devices," said a ninja holding Senbon in his mouth.

"You should get some rest. Once we determine where the enemy escaped from, we might have to depart together," another Chunin said, patting Inuzuka Hana's shoulder with a grin.

Even though the Uchiha Clan was gone, Konohagakure could still field many ninja in a short period. Combined with the Hyuga Clan, who were almost all deployed, they would have enough personnel even if twice the number of unknown objects broke through the barrier.

In reality, Uchiha Jie had left the village along with the first wave of flying objects he had created.

"The Inuzuka Clan is really annoying, but they'd never imagine I have such a secret weapon! Hahaha!"

Inside a spacious carriage, Uchiha Jie and Hyuga Hinata sat facing each other.

Hinata had changed into a white robe. Her outer clothing had long been taken to serve as a decoy, and even a bit of her hair had been cut, making her look quite disheveled.

They hadn't left by forcing their way through the barrier; instead, they had openly passed through the gates of Konohagakure. The gates were personally guarded by the newly appointed head of the Security Force, accompanied by a Jonin from the Inuzuka Clan.

Whether you were traveling by carriage or on foot, you had to undergo a strict inspection.

"Stop! Submit to inspection!" A Civilian Chunin, who had just joined the Security Force, and Inuzuka Claw stopped the carriage together.

"Esteemed ninja, why are we suddenly inspecting today?"

The coachman was a familiar face, often traveling between the capital of the Land of Fire and Konohagakure. He reined in the horses, dismounted from the carriage, and lifted the curtain of the passenger compartment, revealing Uchiha Jie sitting inside.

"Where are you going, leaving Konoha?" the Chunin from the new Security Force asked.

"I'm going to the capital of the Land of Fire to purchase some building materials to renovate my house in Konoha," Uchiha Jie said, handing over his clearance document.

The Chunin nodded. The document was genuine. Although it was signed by the former head of the Security Force, who belonged to the Uchiha Clan, and not the current head, most villagers in Konoha currently held similar clearance documents.

"Kuromaru, go!"

After checking the document, they had to proceed with the ninja dog inspection. Inuzuka Claw's one-eyed dog, which was as tall as a grown man, circled the carriage with bared teeth before letting out a low growl.

Uchiha Jie frowned. In such a short time, he could only use strong perfume to completely mask Hyuga Hinata's scent, but for the ninja dog, the smell was too pungent.

"Why are you wearing so much perfume, you big man?" Inuzuka Claw took out a bottle of potion from his pocket, carefully washing his ninja dog's nose while signaling the other ninja to be on guard behind him.

"Uh, I actually sell perfume..." Uchiha Jie pretended to be relaxed, pulling out a few small, crystal-clear glass bottles and shrugging.

The Chunin leaned closer, picked up a small glass bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a sniff. It was indeed perfume, not too strong, with a faint floral scent.

This was high-quality perfume.

"Then tell us, how is perfume made?" he asked rigorously, and Inuzuka Hana nodded in agreement.

"Er, this is kind of a trade secret. I can't go into too much detail, of course, but the general steps are like this."

"Whatever scent you want, you need to prepare essential oils of that scent. For example, the mint scent I'm wearing now requires fresh mint leaves to be steeped in alcohol for a few days to extract the fragrance."

"Then you need to filter out all impurities to obtain precious essential oils, and finally, mix them with alcohol in the appropriate ratio."

"It sounds simple enough," Inuzuka Claw said. "You're not trying to fool us, are you?"

"Ninja lords, how could I dare? While it sounds simple, to create a popular perfume, you need a very suitable formula. If the scent is too strong, it's no good; if it's too weak, it's useless."

Uchiha Jie didn't know anything about perfume formulation; he could only concoct simple poisons. However, the Chunin nearby wasn't paying much attention and was being lenient, making this hurdle much easier to pass.

"Oh, Sister Claw, it's his trade secret, we shouldn't pry too much. Besides, you're keeping Kuromaru so close, and its nose is getting more and more uncomfortable."

The Chunin first asked Inuzuka Claw to take Kuromaru aside, then leaned closer to the carriage, peered inside briefly, and called over a Hyuga ninja with a forehead protector. He had the ninja meticulously inspect the carriage with his Byakugan before declaring it clear.