Qianye's goal?

"Wind Style: Rotation Wind Vacuum Blade?"

Looking at the dense swarm of sharp wind blades flying toward them, the three Root Jonin felt their scalps tingle.

This ninjutsu was clearly a combination of Wind Style: Wind Blade, Eight Trigrams: Rotation, and Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm.

It was capable of unleashing a 360-degree, long-range, omnidirectional cutting attack with a massive number of wind blades.

But it had to be said, it was indeed highly effective.

The Earth Spikes and Water Lightning Dragons created by the three Root Jonin were swallowed up by the countless wind blades in an instant.

The remaining wind blades continued to surge toward them.

"Not good!"

"Immediately set up defen—no, it's too fast!"

"Ah!"

The three Root Ninjas tried to perform defensive ninjutsu, but before they could even finish their hand seals, countless wind blades had already sliced into their bodies.

Soon, there were three fewer living Root Ninjas here, and three mangled corpses in their place.

This Shadow Clone was created when the main body didn't have much Chakra left. After practicing ninjutsu multiple times and going through that battle, even though I had a brief moment of meditation to recover Chakra, have I finally reached my limit?

After stopping the attack, Chiba (Shadow Clone) murmured to himself before turning into a puff of smoke with a "Peng" sound and disappearing.

Meanwhile!

Inside a hidden, makeshift cave!

"The first wave of pursuers has already reached the location of the first Shadow Clone?"

Chiba's main body was sitting cross-legged, recovering his Chakra just like his Shadow Clone had been.

At this moment, after receiving the memories and experience transmitted back when the first Shadow Clone dispersed, he lowered his head and fell into deep thought: "My other Shadow Clones are all practicing ninjutsu in different locations in different directions, waiting for the other pursuers."

"For the time being, I shouldn't need to worry about anyone finding me."

"Besides, my recovery speed seems to be even faster than I imagined..."

Chiba carefully sensed his condition; in just this short amount of time, at least one-third of the Chakra he had consumed had already been restored.

The Tenseigan was also ready to be used again.

In fact, if necessary, he could even briefly activate the Tenseigan Chakra Mode once more.

"Theoretically, as long as it isn't someone at the Kage Level, or special Jonin like Kakashi who can use Kamui, or Gai who can open the Gate of Death on sight, the other pursuers can no longer threaten me."

"After a while, once I recover more Chakra, there will be even fewer entities capable of threatening me."

After estimating his current combat strength, Chiba felt much more at ease.

He admitted that directly attacking the Hokage Building this time was somewhat risky, but the power brought by his Tenseigan reduced the danger to a controllable range.

It also confirmed the fact that as long as he continued to fight, he could further awaken the Tenseigan.

Compared to the Scroll of Sealing and those Ninjutsu Scrolls, this was his greatest harvest this time, and the most critical one regarding his future.

"Rest for a while, then continue on the road."

After casting aside the complex thoughts in his mind, Chiba focused his full attention on meditating to recover his Chakra.

About three hours later!

"Found it, it's right here!"

Under the starry night sky with a half moon hanging high, a group of people appeared in the cave where Chiba had been meditating.

"So, he's already gone?"

Hatake Kakashi looked at the empty cave, which had basically no useful traces left behind. There was no look of surprise in his exposed eye, which resembled a dead fish's eye. He continued, "Hyuga Chiba left Shadow Clones at every key position; this destined that it would be impossible for us to approach him without him noticing."

"Unless our speed is faster, it is impossible for us to catch up to him."

"After these three hours, he may have already recovered to his peak state. With just us few, even if we really caught up to him, I'm afraid we wouldn't have the qualifications to stop him, and we might not even be able to retreat unscathed."

A Jonin from the Hyuga Branch Family, sent by the Hyuga Clan to assist Kakashi and the others, gave his own speculation after carefully searching the surroundings with his Byakugan: "From this direction, and the residual Chakra and various traces left behind, Hyuga Chiba should have headed toward the Land of Rivers."

"The Land of Rivers? That's truly troublesome." Nara Shikaku, who had long since been freed from control and arrived here with Kakashi, sighed helplessly before analyzing, "The Land of Rivers is a country located between the Land of Fire, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Wind."

"Within this country, there are a large number of mountains and rivers, which is very suitable for hiding."

"We cannot go in pursuit of Hyuga Chiba with great fanfare, otherwise it might trigger disputes between nations."

"In other words, if Hyuga Chiba hides in the topographically complex Land of Rivers, coupled with his powerful Tenseigan, we basically have no ability to capture him."

Before Kakashi and the others could react, Nara Shikaku quickly thought it over and offered another guess: "Although I have actually only met Hyuga Chiba once, I feel that he is not the type of person who would be content with hiding once he possesses sufficient strength."

"Perhaps even this defection from the village itself was within his original plan."

"After leaving the village, he didn't hesitate much and headed straight for the Land of Rivers."

"But no matter how I think about it, I can't figure out what the Land of Rivers has that would attract him."

"Therefore, if I haven't guessed wrong, his target should be the Land of Wind on the other side of the Land of Rivers!"

"Sunagakure, the One-Tailed Jinchuriki!" Upon hearing this, Kakashi instantly understood what Nara Shikaku meant, and his expression grew a bit more solemn: "Hyuga Chiba's biggest weakness at present is that although the Chakra in his body seems to be far more than that of an average Jonin, it is not enough for him to maintain the Tenseigan Chakra Mode for long."

"Once he obtains a Tailed Beast, that weakness could potentially be overcome."

"He would also truly become an 'invincible' existence!"

Akimichi Choza, who had been silent until now, asked with a hint of confusion, "Then how would Hyuga Chiba utilize the One-Tail Shukaku to grant himself an endless supply of Chakra?"

"Could it be that he intends to become the One-Tailed Jinchuriki himself?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out," Nara Shikaku nodded. "Don't forget, his Tenseigan is capable of controlling others, and the Scroll of Sealing he stole contains the Eight Trigrams Seal."

"If he wishes, it is indeed possible for him to break the seal on Shukaku from its current Jinchuriki and reseal it within his own body, thereby becoming the new One-Tailed Jinchuriki."

"Or perhaps, his Tenseigan possesses some other special ability that we are unaware of."

"But all of this hinges on whether he truly has such intentions, and whether he can breach the various defensive measures of Sunagakure..."