Three Masks Finally Showed Up!

Soon, a bonfire had been built.

Then Roy swiftly took out the spices, seasonings, grill...

"Big bro, we came out here to carry out a mission!"

Itachi, standing off to the side, was once again at his breaking point.

This wasn't his first time carrying out a mission. Every time, he'd chewed on Military Ration Pills until the mission was over.

When he'd just said he was hungry, he'd only been looking for a flimsy excuse.

But after he said that, Roy really was planning to have a barbecue out here in the wild?!

As for Izumi, she didn't have nearly as many thoughts about it.

She caught fish and helped gather firewood.

By comparison, Itachi was the one who seemed like an outsider.

"Itachi, our mission doesn't come with any specific instructions."

"Besides, we don't need to worry about being exposed."

Roy looked up at Itachi, who seemed confused, and spoke softly.

"But... Big bro Roy, aren't we being a little too lax?"

Both Itachi's past experiences and everything he'd learned during missions had taken a serious hit at that moment.

Though he was confused, he still joined in.

Roy was the team leader, so they might as well follow his lead.

The barbecue took nearly two hours from start to finish.

"Itachi, let's keep moving."

After packing up, the three of them set off again.

Once they had disappeared, three masked ninjas appeared at the spot.

"Are these Uchiha ninjas?"

"And one of them is Uchiha Itachi, who used to serve in Anbu?"

Looking at the obvious traces on the ground, the Mandrill Mask ninja in the lead hesitated slightly.

He even began to wonder whether the traces had really been left by them.

"The embers are still warm. They haven't been gone for more than an hour."

"There are signs of a sprint ahead, and all the traces point in this direction."

"Should we keep pursuing them?"

After investigating, the ninja on the other side asked, sounding unsure.

They were the finest pursuit ninjas. No matter how thoroughly someone covered their tracks, they could easily find the right direction.

But now, they were completely stumped.

The traces were so obvious that... it almost felt too easy.

"We'll pursue each of the three suspicious routes for an hour. If we don't find anything, we'll come back to this trail."

After the lead ninja finished speaking, the three of them headed off in separate directions.

It wasn't until late at night that Roy and the others stopped.

"Itachi, have you sensed anyone following us?"

Roy crouched on a huge tree branch and looked at Itachi in puzzlement.

"I haven't found anyone."

"Izumi, did you cover our tracks behind us?"

Itachi also looked at Izumi in confusion.

Izumi froze.

I can barely keep up with you two. And you expect me to cover our tracks, too?

What were you thinking?

"All right. I doubt anyone will catch up with us anytime soon."

"Let's get some rest."

After speaking, Roy leaned against the tree and closed his eyes for a nap.

"Izumi, get some rest first. I'll keep watch."

Itachi spoke softly, then vanished into the canopy.

Izumi nodded and found a spot to rest against.

Four hours later.

"Itachi, go get some rest. I'll take over."

Roy landed where Itachi had been.

"Got it."

Itachi's voice came from the trees, but he didn't appear.

Roy took out a map.

Unlike an ordinary map of the Ninja World, this one showed all the small villages around the Land of Fire.

Roy was keeping an eye on all of them.

They could reach the nearest village by noon the next day.

At full speed, it would only take about an hour.

The nearby villages were all within Konoha's territory.

"These villages should have information about the Satori Organization."

"Given how things are laid out, infiltrating this one will be the easiest!"

Roy picked out a village.

It wasn't the next village along their route, but now he had his next target.

The distant sky grew pale with the first hint of dawn, and the morning chill set in.

"Honestly, why did it take you so long to catch up with us?"

"Are there only three of you?"

Feeling the presence that had appeared, Roy spoke with an exasperated look.

He'd chosen to rest here so they could deal with the tails first.

He just hadn't expected these people to take so long to show up.

Roy hadn't even had Itachi cover their tracks or make any effort to disguise them.

He'd thought the fight would be over last night.

"Uchiha Roy, were you waiting for us?"

The masked ninja in the lead looked puzzled.

They'd thought Uchiha Roy had deliberately left this route as a false trail, but it turned out... these people hadn't even tried to conceal their path.

"Root ninjas, sorry about this."

"You've been following us from behind, and it's been giving me a bit of trouble."

"Would you mind all dying for me?"

As Roy spoke, flames began to surge around him.

"Just as the intel said, this guy has awakened a special Kekkei Genkai."

"Scorch Style?"

The lead ninja's expression grew grave.

An unknown Kekkei Genkai like this was a major problem for them.

Still, they had to take all three of them back this time.

"Only three of you?"

"Come at me together."

"Fire Style..."

Roy had only just spoken when the three of them immediately went on guard.

But the next moment, a volley of Kunai shot straight toward them.

"Wasn't he going to use Fire Style?"

"Clang, clang, clang..."

After deflecting the Kunai, the lead ninja was dumbfounded.

They'd even been ready to start forming Hand Seals.

If they hadn't had plenty of experience in battle, Roy would have caught them off guard.

Had they been even a little slower to react, they would've been hit.

"Itachi, wait a moment."

"I'll keep them occupied first. Be ready to ambush them at any time."

"Shadow Clone!"

"Shadowless Step!"

As Roy began to walk slowly, more and more phantoms appeared around him.

"Be careful of this guy's attacks. He's powerful."

"Take him down with everything we've got first. We know exactly how strong Itachi is."

The lead ninja quickly formed Hand Seals.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

With a surge of chakra, a massive gust of wind rushed straight at Roy.

A huge explosion tore apart all the surrounding trees.

The goal was to disrupt Roy's attack and force anyone hiding nearby to reveal themselves.

"Water Style: Great Swamp!"

"Lightning Style: Lightning Prison!"

The other two masked ninjas immediately unleashed a combined jutsu.

The swamp around them instantly turned into a lightning hell.

Roy was forced to retreat quickly.

All three of them had abundant chakra, and the jutsu they'd unleashed were all A-rank.

Their destructive power was immense.