Desperate Struggle

Murata Masasuke and Karatachi Yagura quickly erupted into a fierce battle.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi, however, showed no signs of stopping his tactical retreat.

"Yatsuhashi..."

Anko Mitarashi skidded to a halt on the water's surface, kicking up a spray of mist.

"That is a mission from the village; we cannot just walk away like this..."

Her chest heaved violently, yet her eyes remained exceptionally resolute.

"As ninjas, we must possess the resolve that is expected of us. Even if we die, that scroll cannot be lost."

Although they had been sent by the village on this suicide mission, Anko Mitarashi still placed the village above all else in her heart.

In the world of Naruto, this mindset of Anko Mitarashi was not rare; it could even be called the mainstream.

The mission is above everything, and the village is above the individual—this is the creed that countless ninjas have upheld with their blood and lives.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi could fully understand her.

"Who said the scroll was lost?"

Yatsuhashi suddenly spoke, reaching into his robes to pull out a blood-stained scroll.

"This..."

Anko Mitarashi's pupils contracted sharply.

"What I threw to Murata Masasuke earlier was a ninja tool scroll that Uchiha Shisui gave me as compensation."

Yatsuhashi weighed the intelligence scroll in his hand, a flicker of heartache crossing his face. "That thing was packed with good stuff, worth a full million ryo..."

Anko stood frozen in place, speechless for a moment.

This genin with such weak chakra had displayed a level of reaction and composure in a desperate situation that far exceeded her, a disciple of the Sannin.

"Let's go." Yatsuhashi took the lead. "As long as we make it back to Thousand Port City, we'll be safe."

The two stopped wasting words and immediately pushed their speed to the limit.

The battle at the distant lake gradually subsided.

On the surface of the lake, the corpses of Murata Masasuke and the three Root jonin were slowly burning, eventually reduced to piles of black ash.

This was a secret technique that Konoha ninjas would initiate themselves when they were near death or about to be captured during a mission.

It triggered a special flame within the body, igniting the user to turn them into ash and prevent any intelligence from being leaked.

Karatachi Yagura stood upon the water.

He toyed with the scroll he had found near the corpse of "Murata Masasuke."

With a slight exertion of force from his palm, he easily broke the seal on the exterior of the scroll.

Hundreds of kunai and shuriken tumbled into the lake.

There was an array of dazzling ninja tools, but not a single shred of information regarding the Tailed Beast.

This was not the sealing scroll that contained the records of the Three-Tails, but an ordinary scroll used to store a pile of ninja tools.

He had not expected to be toyed with by that cunning genin once again.

Fortunately, this was their home turf, Kirigakure.

"Water Style: Water Domain Sensing!"

Invisible chakra rippled out from him as the center, and within a radius of several kilometers, every moving object began to feed back into his consciousness in a blurred form.

Soon, the two figures who were rapidly fleeing the lake area and moving toward the southwest were precisely locked onto by him.

"Found you."

Killing intent flared in Karatachi Yagura's pale purple pupils.

"This time, there will be no more accidents."

He moved, accompanied by several Kirigakure ninjas.

They pursued swiftly in that direction.

As the two fled toward Thousand Port City, the terrain beneath their feet gradually shifted from lakes and swamps to rugged coastal hills.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi and Anko Mitarashi dared not pause for even a second.

Both of them pushed their speed to the absolute limit.

Although Anko Mitarashi was only a Chunin, as the direct disciple of the Sannin Orochimaru, her anti-tracking techniques far surpassed those of an ordinary Jonin.

The various traps set with explosive tags and the misdirection of shadow clones

played a massive role at this moment.

While these were not enough to kill the pursuers, they effectively delayed and disrupted the enemy's rhythm.

Furthermore, Anko Mitarashi constantly changed their route along the way.

While using the environment to mask their tracks, she also intentionally left subtle traces pointing in the wrong direction.

This incredibly rich practical experience also allowed Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who was by her side, to benefit greatly.

The two became increasingly in sync during their flight for survival.

After days of sprinting, the distant sea level gradually appeared, and the blurred outline of Thousand Port City was already faintly visible on the horizon.

However, at that very moment, several sharp whistling sounds came from their flank.

"Boom! Boom, boom, boom!"

Several kunai tied with explosive tags shot into the path ahead of them, then detonated with a roar.

The violent explosion instantly blocked their way forward.

The Kirigakure ninjas from behind had also caught up to them.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Several ferocious purple-scaled snakes surged wildly from Anko Mitarashi's sleeves, hissing as they lunged at the Kirigakure ninjas blocking their path, creating significant chaos on the scene in an instant.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi exchanged a glance with her, "Anko, split up according to the plan!"

The next second, the two figures separated and dashed off in completely different directions.

"You go after that Chunin, leave the rest to me..."

Karatachi Yagura's gaze locked onto Uchiha Yatsuhashi in the other direction.

"This time, I want to see what other tricks you have up your sleeve."

His figure flickered, disappearing from the spot as if teleporting.

When he reappeared, he had already closed in on Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who was darting rapidly between the reefs.

"Water Style: Water Gun Bullet!"

A high-pressure water sphere, carrying a shrill whistling sound, shot toward Uchiha Yatsuhashi's back.

Every hair on Uchiha Yatsuhashi's body stood on end, shrouded in the shadow of death.

Relying almost entirely on his body's instinct, he lunged violently to the side!

"Boom!"

The water sphere grazed his shoulder and struck a reef in front of him, shattering the hard rock into pieces instantly.

Although Uchiha Yatsuhashi dodged the fatal blow, the shockwave of the explosion and the flying debris still sent him flying.

He slammed onto the damp sand, his vision swimming with darkness.

Just as he tried to struggle to his feet, he felt a wave of intense dizziness and exhaustion.

This was the aftermath of continuous high-intensity flight and the frequent opening of the Eight Inner Gates along the way, all of which had pushed his body to its absolute limit.

Karatachi Yagura walked out of the lingering water mist, unhurried.

"Not running anymore?"

He asked calmly, as if merely stating a fact.

In the distance, the sounds of various ninjutsu clashing could be heard faintly.

Anko Mitarashi was likely locked in a bitter struggle as well.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi looked up at Karatachi Yagura, who loomed over him from above, and his expression shifted.

He knew that he was by no means a match for this brat standing before him.

Fortunately, however, he had already handed the scroll containing vital intelligence on Three-Tails Isobu to Anko Mitarashi.

Between the two of them, her chances of escaping were surely higher.

Looking at it now, that was indeed the case.

The fact that Karatachi Yagura had come to pursue him personally proved as much.

As long as Anko Mitarashi could return to Konoha with the scroll, then this mission could be considered a success.

His parents back in the village would not be implicated by his actions.

This was the true reason he had entrusted the scroll to Anko Mitarashi.

In this world, the safety of his family was more important than his own life.

"You have given me too many surprises along this journey, but it seems you have nowhere left to run."

Karatachi Yagura began to weave hand seals. "Then let this be the end, Genin."

Uchiha Yatsuhashi did not reply; he slowly rose from the ground.

Secretly, however, Uchiha Yatsuhashi's hand reached toward another scroll tucked inside his robes.

At this point, he had no choice but to make a desperate final stand.