Something's Happened

Trees rushed past as they crossed a hill. Their destination was close.

A kilometer from their destination, Kakashi was the first to stop.

He gestured for the others to halt, then took a map from his backpack and glanced at it. "It's just ahead. There's an outpost there. My mission is to begin here and investigate within a one-kilometer radius."

"Right. What exactly are we supposed to do?" Yang Xing asked first.

"It's simple: survey the surroundings and check for water sources. Most importantly, look for traces of chakra." Kakashi took several small scrolls from his clothes. "These scrolls can detect fluctuations in chakra. Place one on the ground. If chakra has been released within a 300-meter radius in the past 24 hours, the scroll will change. Make sure you check them. And these small bottles are for collecting water. I'll handle that, so you focus on checking for chakra traces."

"Understood." Yang Xing and the others nodded, each taking a scroll.

"Also, to make things easier..." Once he saw that everyone had put their scrolls away, Kakashi continued, his expression serious. "We'll split up for now. Yang Xing, take the east. Obito, the west. Rin, the south. I'll take the area to the north. We'll meet in half an hour in front of the biggest tree up ahead. Yes, the bare one."

The others nodded again. Without hesitation, they split up at the same time.

They streaked off in four directions, each heading to their assigned area.

Running through the woods, Yang Xing unrolled his scroll and searched carefully, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings.

Minute by minute, time passed. The area was unusually quiet, and Yang Xing started to feel bored. He hadn't seen a single person along the way—not even a bandit. What a dull mission.

No wonder it was only a B-rank mission. It was so easy it was almost nerve-racking.

Though he wasn't very interested, Yang Xing still carried out the survey diligently.

The search was simple, and with nothing out of the ordinary, half an hour passed in no time.

"Nothing unusual. I should head back." He glanced around. There wasn't so much as a rustle of leaves; the silence was downright eerie. Thinking no more of it, Yang Xing headed for the meeting point.

He wasn't particularly fast, and it was obvious he arrived last.

Wait. It looked like someone was missing.

As soon as Yang Xing landed, he noticed that only Kakashi and Obito were there.

When he saw Yang Xing, Kakashi hurried over, brows knitted. "Have you seen Rin?"

"No. What happened? Has Rin still not come back?"

"Yeah. Something's happened. I can't sense Rin's chakra anymore."

"Seriously?" Frowning, Yang Xing looked toward the area to the south. He touched down on a branch with his toes and, without a moment's hesitation, took off.

"Wait, Yang Xing! Don't rush in like that. Let's think through a plan first."

"Hey, you two, wait for me!"

In a patch of tall grass, a group of people stood or leaned, watching the little girl bound like a parcel a short distance away.

"What should we do with this kid?"

"I say we finish her off." A man in a windbreaker slowly raised his hand, his fist clenched. A murderous aura radiated from him.

The man was about to move, but the person leaning against a tree in front stopped him. "Wait. I saw other people with this kid when she came here. Let's catch those three first, then deal with them all at once."

"Fine. This operation is supposed to be secret. We can't let those people from Konoha find out." The man in the windbreaker lowered his hand, frowning in irritation. "But damn it, what are they doing here? And this little girl looks like a Konoha ninja. Do they know we're going to attack from here?"

"Impossible. It's probably just a coincidence. Either way, they're only a few kids."

"True."

Hidden in the grass and watching the group ahead, Yang Xing, Kakashi, and Obito kept perfectly still, their chakra suppressed.

Seeing the group dressed as foreign shinobi, even Yang Xing frowned.

He couldn't tell which country the five belonged to, but their chakra and the sense of danger they gave off made it clear they weren't to be trifled with. But Rin Nohara was tied up by them. Whether they were dangerous or not, he'd have to take them on.

As Yang Xing was thinking, someone moved even faster than he did.

"You bastards, let Rin go!" The first to attack was, of course, the fool Obito. He raised one hand and charged without a second thought, his eyes red with rage and paying no attention to the situation.

"That idiot!" Kakashi gritted his teeth and readied himself to jump in. His eyes stayed fixed on the two shinobi nearby. They looked like the strongest among the group.

"The kid's come right to us, and he's charging in like an idiot. He's asking to die." A Genin stepped into Obito's path and reached out to grab him.

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, Obito was quick on his feet.

He twisted aside, barely avoiding the man's hand, then flew through the air and landed a short distance away. The moment his feet touched the ground, he formed Hand Seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Boom!

The fireball was powerful, and Obito had timed it well. At the very least, the ground for several meters around the five shinobi was scorched, and smoke billowed across the area.

It was proof that Obito was pretty capable.

"You see that? You scum, how dare you bully—wait, what? Why? You—you bastards!" Obito's triumphant expression turned to shock.

Kakashi and Yang Xing, not far away, were taken aback too.

They exchanged a glance, then looked back at the group. "They're from the Land of Earth," they muttered.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

A towering earthen wall rose straight up from the ground, blocking Obito's fireball. Its height and width were astonishing.

"At least Chunin—no, not an ordinary Chunin," Kakashi said through gritted teeth, his voice trembling slightly. "A special Chunin!"

"Kid, now that you've seen our jutsu, we can't just let you go back." Two of the group were clearly special Chunin, while the other three were special Genin. They moved swiftly, like shinobi who had been trained for a long time.

In almost an instant, they found Yang Xing and Kakashi's position and surrounded them.

"Stop hiding. Surrender, and maybe we'll spare you some pain."

"Why are people from the Land of Earth here? This is close to Konoha!" Kakashi gritted his teeth. Faced with two special Chunin and two Genin, sweat beaded on his forehead.

The shinobi from the Land of Earth clearly didn't want to talk. One of them changed his expression and attacked without a word.

Bang!

The long-haired shinobi's punch shattered the ground, sending chunks of stone flying. Yang Xing and Kakashi had to leap aside, and even then, they barely managed to shield their faces with their arms from the stones hurtling toward them.

The impact of the stones against their arms hurt. It was proof that these people were truly powerful.

Their strength alone was tremendous, and more than one of them had it. Yang Xing immediately went on guard.

The shinobi had clearly realized that Kakashi was leading the group, so the two special Chunin went straight for him.