"Those pursuers are fast!"
Uzumaki Kuming raced through the woods, casually popping a Military Ration Pill into his mouth and swallowing it. Ever since he'd encountered Sunagakure ninja outside Turbulent Town and killed more than a dozen of them, the Sunagakure forces had pursued him like madmen. This was already the third day.
Over the past few days, Uzumaki Kuming hadn't slept for more than two hours at a time. He'd only managed brief, intermittent rests, and whenever his pursuers found his hiding place, he'd wake to another fight.
However, Sunagakure didn't seem to have any way to track his location, so they'd resorted to the dumbest method: searching the area in groups of five or six. As a result, the enemies Kuming ran into were usually small, scattered groups. Sometimes he could kill them with ease and continue fleeing toward Konoha.
Other times, he ran into a powerful squad, and dealing with them took time.
At that moment, another squad appeared within the range of Uzumaki Kuming's sensory field, rushing toward him.
Kuming was bare-chested, and the trousers he wore were tattered, exposing his muscular calves. His shoes had long since vanished, his body was smeared with blood and grime, and his hair was matted into several clumps. He looked like a vagrant.
There were no real wounds on Kuming's body; he simply looked exhausted, as though he hadn't slept enough. His wretched state was the result of being held up by a squad of fearless ninja a few days earlier. The six of them had kept him occupied for nearly an hour, allowing Karura to surround him with a large force of ninja.
Fortunately, Rasa and Chiyo hadn't arrived in time back then. Otherwise, Kuming would probably have had to retreat to Mount Myoboku to lie low. If