Death Forest (Part 2)

Deep within the Forest of Death, the light grew increasingly dim, and the vegetation became denser and harder to traverse. Team Sakuya moved like three silent shadows, traveling through the trees at high speed and in total secrecy. Having already successfully seized a pair of Heaven and Earth Scrolls, they were now pushing at full speed toward their destination: Laozi Rock.

Suddenly, Nadeshiko Haku, who was leading at the front of the canopy, stopped abruptly and raised her right hand to signal: "Halt, there is a situation."

Below her, Sakuya and Lian froze instantly, blending perfectly into the shadows of the environment; even their breathing seemed to vanish.

Haku dropped lightly from the tree, her voice lowered to a whisper: "At two o'clock, about one hundred and fifty meters ahead, there are sounds of combat. One side... appears to be Himawari Uzumaki's team."

Sakuya's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. His deep purple eyes gazed in that direction, and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated for a fleeting moment before quickly fading. The scene and the chakra fluctuations in the distance were now clearly imprinted in his mind.

It was indeed Himawari Uzumaki's team. They were locked in a bitter struggle against three genin from Amegakure. The opponents' methods were bizarre and tricky, specializing in various sticky and corrosive Water Release ninjutsu that severely restricted the taijutsu advantages of Himawari's team.

Shikano Nara's Shadow Possession Technique had attempted to bind them several times, only to be cleverly neutralized by the opponents using the terrain and the Substitution Technique; Chiba Akimichi's Partial Multi-Size Technique was difficult to fully deploy in the narrow woods; and as the core of the team, while Himawari possessed exquisite Gentle Fist skills, she found herself constrained by the opponents' long-range harassment and strange attack patterns, forced to focus on shielding her teammates. The situation had reached a stalemate, with them even slightly on the back foot.

"Should we bypass them?" Haku looked at Sakuya, asking for his decision. Their goal was to reach the finish line as quickly as possible; getting involved in unnecessary combat was a poor strategy, especially when the parties involved were acquaintances.

Sakuya watched the battle in the distance in silence. Himawari's face was smudged with dirt, her blue eyes filled with focus and determination. Despite their disadvantage, she did not retreat in the slightest, still striving to find an opening for a counterattack.

Several thoughts flashed through his mind: detouring would take time; intervening could expose their own strength and the scrolls they carried; but...

"Finish it quickly." Sakuya's cold voice broke the silence as he made his decision. "Repel the Amegakure ninja, do not take their scrolls. Then leave immediately."

The order was clear and precise. Haku and Lian understood instantly.

Without any warning, the three figures struck from the shadows of the flank like arrows released from a bow!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Haku was the first to strike! Her hands danced like phantoms, and dozens of precise senbon shot toward the three Amegakure ninja like a torrential downpour! These senbon were not aimed at vital points, but rather sealed off all their movement and hand-seal space, instantly disrupting their attack rhythm!

"Who's there?!" The Amegakure genin were shocked, scrambling to block and dodge.

Almost at the same time! "Mind Transfer Technique!" Kazamatsuri Yamanaka finally seized the moment of their panic and successfully took control of one of the Amegakure ninja! "Partial Multi-Size Technique: Arm!" Chiba Akimichi's massive fist followed, slamming heavily into another Amegakure ninja who had been temporarily pinned by the Shadow Possession Technique!

As for the last Amegakure ninja, just as he barely dodged Haku's senbon, his vision blurred!

Kakashi Sakuya appeared before him like a ghost, his speed reaching its limit! He used no ninjutsu, just a simple, direct side-kick that contained terrifying power!

The Amegakure ninja had no time to react; he felt a massive force slam into his abdomen, sending him flying like a kite with a broken string. He crashed heavily into a tree and slid down, losing consciousness completely.

In just a few seconds, the tide of the battle had turned!

Himawari's team stood stunned, looking at Sakuya and his companions who had suddenly appeared and resolved the battle with thunderous force, their faces filled with astonishment.

"Sakuya-kun? Haku-san? Lian-kun?" Himawari panted, both surprised and delighted.

However, Sakuya did not linger, nor did he even spare them a second glance. After confirming that the three Amegakure ninja were temporarily incapacitated, he turned immediately and gave a low command: "Move."

Haku and Lian followed without hesitation. The three of them vanished back into the shadows of the dense forest as suddenly as they had appeared, without a single wasted movement from start to finish.

They left behind only the bewildered Himawari team and the three unconscious Amegakure genin.

"Th-they..." Chiba's mouth hung open as he stared in the direction where Sakuya and his team had disappeared. "They just left? Didn't they want our scrolls?"

Shikano rubbed his throbbing temples, his lazy tone tinged with realization: "It seems they just lent a hand while they were at it. The way these monsters think is truly different from ours."

Himawari gazed in the direction Sakuya had vanished, clenching her fists. Her eyes were filled with gratitude and a hint of complex emotion. She knew that if Sakuya and his team hadn't appeared in time, they likely would have had to pay a much steeper price to escape.

"We need to hurry!" She pulled her gaze back, her eyes turning firm once more. "We can't let Sakuya-kun and the others'... good intentions go to waste."

On the other side, Team Sakuya continued their high-speed advance.

Haku's voice sounded softly, carrying a hint of subtle inquiry: "Why not take their scrolls? Even if we don't need them, taking them to discard or destroy would reduce the number of competitors." That was the most efficient course of action.

Sakuya kept his eyes forward, his speed not slowing in the slightest, his cold voice dissipating into the wind:

"I don't do unnecessary things."

His reasoning was simple. His only goal was the finish line. Plundering Himawari's scrolls was meaningless and might even attract unwanted attention (especially from the Hokage). Intervening was perhaps only because, in that moment, he saw that familiar, unyielding persistence in those blue eyes, reminding him of the past of a certain dead-last.

That was all.

The team fell back into silence, running forward rapidly like three arrows chasing the sun, cutting through the dark and gloomy forest, moving unswervingly toward the finish line.