Pakura of the Sand (Seeking Collection, Seeking Votes)

According to the Konoha war protocols, such an order did indeed exist.

Yusuke had no way to refute this; this guy really knew how to make things difficult for him.

He instinctively glanced at Inuzuka Go, who scratched his head in embarrassment, at a loss for words.

It was Inuzuka Go who had identified the man, and while Miyazaki Kenta's "power grab" put him in a tough spot, in reality, it had nothing to do with him.

"Inuzuka Go, come with me. The rest of you, pair up."

"Clean up the tracks, and then we move out." Miyazaki Kenta didn't give Yusuke time to react, issuing the order directly.

Yusuke's gaze turned cold. He looked at Miyazaki Kenta, calculating in his mind: There aren't many people here right now. Should I just take this guy out?

Sensing the danger, Hyuga Aya stepped forward and tugged on Yusuke's sleeve, whispering, "Captain, let's just clean up the tracks."

Miyazaki Kenta watched Yusuke's cold expression, his hand resting on the hilt of his ninja sword, drawing it out slightly.

"What? Are you planning to disobey a superior officer's order?"

"Did you not hear my command clearly just now?"

"Or are you planning to kill a fellow Jonin of the village and become a rogue ninja?"

Hyuga Aya pulled on Yusuke's arm again, and Yusuke remained silent as he began to clear away the signs of their encampment.

Inuzuka Go felt even more awkward, caught in a position where he could neither advance nor retreat.

Miyazaki Kenta sheathed his sword and nodded, saying, "At least you know what's good for you."

Once Yusuke's squad had cleared the camp, Miyazaki beckoned the three of them over.

He pulled out a map and gestured across it: "We are currently at this location. You will take this route to the north."

"Inuzuka Go and I will take this route to the northeast. We'll meet up at these Stone Mountain."

"It's fortunate you have an experienced Jonin like me to guide you, otherwise you'd surely be surrounded by the pursuers."

As for how those pursuers had arrived in the first place, he didn't elaborate.

"Alright, let's move." Miyazaki patted Inuzuka Go on the shoulder.

Inuzuka Go felt even more uncomfortable. He had truly hit a streak of bad luck; he had only met this guy a few times, yet now he was being dragged along as a trusted confidant.

He looked at Yusuke, wanting to say something, but Yusuke waved his hand and said, "Be careful on the road. Take this kunai."

Inuzuka Go realized his captain didn't hold it against him and breathed a sigh of relief. "Right."

"Let's go!" Yusuke led Hyuga Aya away quickly, following the designated route.

Watching their retreating figures, a smirk curled on Miyazaki Kenta's lips: "Go, you'll be grateful you got to work with me this time."

Inuzuka Go: Let me say thank you, because of you...

The two of them didn't linger and immediately withdrew as well.

Two and a half hours later, a beautiful figure arrived at the spot with over a dozen ninjas.

She appeared to be twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector.

Her dark green hair was tied up in a bun, with two brown bangs hanging down over her forehead.

Her attire was somewhat revealing, exposing a patch of fair skin on her back.

It was enough to make one think: I really want to try cupping therapy on that.

"Lord Pakura, there are traces of three people here. It must be enemy reinforcements."

"They split into two groups and fled from here."

A ninja interpreted the intelligence relayed by the Ninja Bee.

It was hard to imagine that such a young girl was the captain of this group of Sunagakure ninjas.

The girl named Pakura nodded: "Can you determine who has the intelligence?"

The sensory ninja checked the Ninja Bee again and pointed to the north: "His scent is on this path."

Pakura nodded. Just as she was about to order the pursuit, another dozen or so people arrived from behind.

The aura of this group was even more formidable.

A man with deep cherry-colored hair stepped forward, also appearing to be around twelve or thirteen.

Both were considered elites of this generation in Sunagakure, each aspiring to become the right hand of the Third Kazekage, having competed with each other since their time at the ninja academy.

"Hey, Pakura, which direction did the enemies go?" the man asked coldly.

Pakura frowned and pointed to the northeast: "The enemy has reinforcements. They split into two groups, and one went in this direction. I was just about to pursue them."

"Rasa, you take the northern route. There's another group of enemies there."

Rasa crossed his arms and said, "The squad you brought has less combat power than mine, and your value is even less than mine."

"I will head in this direction." Rasa pointed toward the northeast.

Pakura gritted her teeth: "I was the one who found them first."

Rasa looked on with disdain. "Your squad is inferior to mine, and your value to the village is less than mine as well. This matter is better left to me."

He did not give Pakura a chance to argue, lifting his foot to step forward.

After walking a few paces, he suddenly turned back to look at Pakura. "I think I will take the path to the north after all."

Pakura's eyes brightened, though she said, "Didn't you already make your choice? Why change it so suddenly?"

Rasa snorted inwardly. So naive, and you think you can fight me?

Rasa said, "Fine, then I will head to the northeast."

Having said that, he stopped looking at Pakura's "disappointed" expression and led his squad toward the northeast.

Seeing the other party leave, Pakura could not help but let a smile touch her lips. "Rasa, what do you have to fight me with?"

"Let's go, we are going to retrieve the intelligence."

The sensory ninja could not help but sigh, "Although it was full of twists and turns, Lady Pakura is clearly the superior one."

On the other side, Yusuke and Hyuga Aya were moving rapidly toward Stone Mountain along the planned northern route.

Yusuke remained silent throughout the journey, and it was Hyuga Aya, usually reticent herself, who broke the ice.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

"I don't know why, but I keep feeling that something is wrong," Yusuke said.

He took the intelligence scroll given by Miyazaki Kenta out from his robes.

Because Miyazaki Kenta had been injured, there were some bloodstains on it.

He looked at the bloodstains, and gradually, something clicked.

"There is a problem!"

"A man like Miyazaki Kenta, whenever he encounters danger, would conscript others as subordinates to protect his own safety and complete his mission."

"Those who cherish their lives are usually greedy for merit; how could he have handed over the intelligence scroll so easily?"

"Are you suspecting that this scroll is fake? If so, what is his reason for doing this?" Hyuga Aya asked.

"The reason... the reason..."

The sounds of the two stepping on trees, the chirping of insects, and the calls of birds echoed through the forest.

The two recalled every action Miyazaki Kenta had taken during their rest period.

After a long while, they looked at each other simultaneously.

"Sinking his old clothes in the stream and using a bath to mask his own scent."

"Borrowing Inuzuka Go's new clothes to wear, disrupting his own scent."

"Teaming up with Inuzuka Go, separating his scent from ours."

"And this scroll is the only thing that carries the enemy's scent, so it is nothing more than bait to lure the enemy."

The two supplemented each other's thoughts, both coming to the same realization.

"Perhaps the moment we met, when he came over and tried to hug me, he had already devised this plan."

"In other words, the enemy has a sensory ninja capable of identifying scents."

Yusuke looked around, recalling everything that had frequently appeared in their surroundings since they began their journey.

"It's the Ninja Bee." This time, Hyuga Aya was the first to spot the anomaly.

Her Byakugan locked onto a swarm of bees high above.

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Hyuga Aya condensed chakra into her palm and unleashed a strike into the air toward the swarm above.

A patch of Ninja Bee fell in a rustle, smashed to pieces.

"No need for that, they have already caught up."

In Yusuke's perception, thirteen ninjas had appeared.

Eleven of them had chakra fluctuations reaching the level of a chunin, and two had reached the level of a jonin.