Desperate Escape

Kinkaku and Ginkaku had somehow persuaded the Gate Guard General of the Land of Iron to let them openly search for him here.

"..."

Uchiha Ao felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss beneath their murderous gazes.

At this distance, unless he could open the Last Three Gates of the Eight Inner Gates, he had no chance of breaking through!

Yet with his current physique, even opening the Second Gate was still a distant prospect, let alone the later gates.

With that in mind, he slowed his pace and analyzed the situation before him.

Meanwhile, carried along by the crowd, he continued to draw closer. But Kinkaku and Ginkaku seemed not to notice him at all, still watching in two different directions.

"Strange...

Why haven't they attacked me yet, even though I've come this close?"

He suddenly realized something.

"Could it be... their Tracking Ninjutsu can only sense an approximate area?"

At that thought, he began watching the brothers' lines of sight from the corner of his eye.

Sure enough, one was watching the travelers passing through the checkpoint, while the other gazed farther away, looking for anyone turning back.

Their gazes had unknowingly formed an invisible net. The moment he crossed a certain area, he had already been caught in it!

"..."

Uchiha Ao walked slowly with the crowd and took a deep breath. This discovery finally helped him suppress his fear of death and think clearly.

At my current pace, I'll reach the checkpoint in five minutes at most.

Five minutes...

There was so little he could do.

On the brink of life and death, he grew ever calmer, his thoughts racing.

If I can draw Kinkaku's gaze away before I pass through the checkpoint... then slip through while he's distracted!

Judging by the range of that Secret Technique, they probably won't realize I've passed through until I'm a kilometer away!

I still need a way to draw their attention away, and a way to create a commotion...

Four minutes passed. He was only a dozen meters from the checkpoint.

"This is the best plan I can come up with right now. If it still doesn't work..."

Uchiha Ao fell silent for a moment, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

"Then even if I die, I'll make sure to take a chunk out of them!"

By his reckoning, those people should be here soon...

With that thought, he glanced toward the back of the line.

Boom!

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out in the middle of the queue.

"Wait, stop! There are some Explosive Tags on the ground!"

"What? Where?! Hey, where did the Explosive Tags on me go? Could those on the ground be mine?!"

"Everyone, keep your distance and wait for the samurai to check it out."

The samurai standing at the gate immediately split into two groups and rushed over.

The two men on the high wall, Kinkaku and Ginkaku, exchanged a glance, then sneered.

"That man is getting desperate. Watch the back of the line, and the front, too."

"Got it, brother."

At that very moment, however, three people at the back of the line suddenly turned around and started walking away.

"Brother, three people are heading back. Check one of them for me!"

A glint flashed in Kinkaku's eyes. He first carefully scanned the area in front of the checkpoint. After finding nothing suspicious, he quickly looked at one of the three people.

"Not him!"

The instant he reached his conclusion, he quickly shifted his gaze back toward the checkpoint.

"Those two aren't him either!"

"Something's off... Brother, check the dozens of people before the checkpoint."

Ginkaku seemed to suddenly remember something and hurriedly reminded him.

"Mm."

Kinkaku quickly understood what his younger brother meant. He studied the crowd carefully, then shook his head.

"He's not there..."

By then, the Explosive Tags in the middle of the queue had also been quickly removed. But according to the chatter in the crowd, they had all been fakes, hastily drawn on white paper.

Just as the brothers were beginning to feel uneasy, the sheet covered in Spell Script in Kinkaku's palm suddenly changed.

"He's moving!"

The sheet seemed linked to Kinkaku. He studied it closely, then suddenly cried out:

"He passed through the checkpoint!

He's not moving fast. At our speed, we'll catch up in no time!"

"Too clever for his own good!"

Ginkaku bared his teeth in a vicious grin. "Let's go!"

But before they had gone even a mile—

Rumble...

Two enormous explosions suddenly erupted in different directions, several miles away. At the same time, two immense chakra signatures surged into the air.

Kinkaku froze for a moment, then realized what was happening. He shot forward and roared:

"That man really is a Konoha Ninja! He's calling for help from his comrades in Konoha!

Hurry! If we kill him before his comrades arrive, we still have a chance!"

"Brother, which direction?"

Kinkaku stopped and looked at the sheet in his palm. It was spinning wildly, like a headless fly.

The two enormous chakra signatures were clearly interfering with the Tracking Secret Technique's accuracy.

"Split up and search!"

Kinkaku tossed away the sheet, his face twisted with murderous intent. "Kill any Ninja we encounter along the way!"

In the dense forest several miles away.

"Huff, huff..."

The veins in Uchiha Ao's forehead bulged. His face was flushed as he squeezed every last bit of strength from his body, racing forward.

Several minutes had passed since the explosions.

Relying on the Gate of Opening State of the Eight Inner Gates, he had fled for more than ten miles. Yet his instincts kept warning him of danger, stabbing at his nerves.

And the warning wasn't fading with time. It was only growing more intense!

Pfft...

A wisp of white vapor escaped his body, signaling that the Gate of Opening State had ended.

Uchiha Ao's heart sank.

Whoosh!

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared a short distance ahead of him.

The figure watched him mockingly, like a cat toying with a mouse.

"Finally caught you!"

Uchiha Ao stopped abruptly and stared at the figure nearby, his expression dark.

"...Ginkaku."

Even so, he refused to give up. He swiftly drew a Kunai from his waist and held it before him, while slipping his other hand into his pocket.

It wasn't to look cool. He still had more than a dozen Explosive Tags in there.

If he got killed instantly in the fight, he could still turn himself into a Suicide Bomb Truck and give his opponent a nasty surprise.

"...Good!"

Ginkaku looked at Ao, who neither begged for mercy nor showed any sign of despair. A flicker of appreciation crossed his eyes.

"Since you have some courage, I'll consider leaving your body intact!"

As he spoke, he gripped the Seven Star Sword and slowly approached.

With every step closer, the murderous intent radiating from him grew more intense.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Just then, three streams of fire roared toward Ginkaku from behind, the left, and the right. Like three fire dragons, they blocked off every route of escape.

Rumble...

Blazing flames instantly engulfed him. At that moment, a Ninja with a thick Wooden Staff strapped to his back suddenly appeared beside Uchiha Ao.

"Third Hokage?!"

"What do you mean, Third Hokage?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and retorted. Then, as if sensing something within the flames, he pulled Ao behind him.

"You must be Ao. That fellow Kagami's been going out of his mind looking for you these past two days. Get back. I can sense that man hasn't been hurt much!"

Before Uchiha Ao could react—

Whoosh...

A gust of wind suddenly swept across the area, scattering the raging flames.

At its center stood Ginkaku, red chakra roiling around his body. He slowly hefted the Seven Star Sword, which had been dragging along the ground, onto his shoulder. Then he tilted his head and sneered.

"Where do you think you're going?"