The signs of the ninja tool shops lining the camp's alley hung crooked, and moss covered the corners of the walls. Hinata and her two teammates stepped along the stone-paved path, their footsteps swallowed by the dense foliage.
Several figures followed behind them like phantoms, their chakra fluctuations erratic but vicious—
They clearly weren't Konoha ninja. They seemed more like a mixed scouting squad from Otogakure and Iwagakure. Even with their presence deliberately suppressed, they couldn't escape Hinata's active Tenseigan perception.
"To the left, at ten o'clock, three Iwagakure ninja. Their chakra is dense; they're probably Earth Release users.
"To the right, at two o'clock, two from Otogakure. Their chakra has a sinister quality from bodily modifications, and they're hiding poisoned needles."
Hinata kept walking, her voice barely above a whisper. Azure light swirled in her eyes as her Tenseigan revealed every position and movement of their pursuers.
"There's a patch of vines thirty meters ahead. Shino, get your kikaichū ready. Kiba, circle behind them with Akamaru."
Shino nodded silently. Dark kikaichū crept out of his sleeves, slipped down his trouser legs into the ground, and scurried through the soil, leaving chakra trails almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
"Heh, I was just about to lose patience." Kiba patted Akamaru's neck. Akamaru immediately crouched low, his nose twitching rapidly as he memorized the pursuers' scents. Using the shadows along the wall, the pair quietly fell back and circled toward a side path.
They had barely entered the patch of vines when a roar erupted behind them: "Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
Three ocher walls rose from the ground, completely sealing off the trio's retreat.
An Iwagakure ninja shouted in a rough voice, "Hyuga Hinata, surrender and come with us! Who's going to investigate a few deaths in the