Murata Masasuke and Karatachi Yagura soon broke into fierce combat.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yatsuhashi showed no sign of ending his tactical retreat.
"Yatsuhashi..."
Mitaraishi Anko stopped abruptly on the water, sending up a spray.
"That's the village's mission. We can't just walk away..."
Her chest heaved, but her gaze was unusually resolute.
"As ninjas, we have to be prepared for what's expected of us.
Even if we die, we can't lose that scroll."
Though the village had sent her on this deadly mission,
Mitaraishi Anko still put the village first.
In the world of the Hokage, Anko's way of thinking wasn't unusual,
and could even be called the mainstream view.
The mission above all else, the village above the individual—that was a creed countless ninjas had upheld with their blood and lives.
Uchiha Yatsuhashi could understand her perfectly.
"Who said we lost the scroll?"
Yatsuhashi suddenly spoke. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a bloodstained scroll.
"This..."
Mitaraishi Anko's pupils contracted sharply.
"The one I threw to Murata Masasuke just now was the ninja tool scroll Uchiha Shisui gave me as compensation."
Yatsuhashi weighed the intelligence scroll in his hand, a pained look flashing across his face.
"It was full of good stuff. Worth a whole million ryō..."
Anko stood frozen, at a loss for words.
This Genin, whose chakra was so faint, had shown a level of composure and quick thinking in a desperate situation
that far surpassed that of a disciple of the Sannin like her.
"Let's go." Yatsuhashi took the lead. "As long as we make it back to Thousand Port City, we'll be safe."
They said no more and immediately pushed their speed to the limit.
The battle at the distant lake gradually died down as well.
On the lake's surface, the bodies of the three Root Jonin, including Murata Masasuke, slowly burned
until at last they were reduced to several piles of black ash.
This was a secret technique used by Konoha ninjas when they were near death or captured during a mission.
They deliberately activated it,
causing a special flame to form inside their bodies and ignite.
Their bodies burned to ash, preventing any intelligence from leaking out.
Karatachi Yagura stood on the water.
He toyed with the scroll he had found beside "Murata Masasuke's" body.
With just a slight squeeze of his hand,
he easily broke the seal on the outside of the scroll.
Hundreds of kunai and shuriken spilled into the lake.
The scroll held a dazzling assortment of ninja tools, but not a single scrap of intelligence about the Tailed Beast.
This wasn't the sealed scroll that had contained information about the Three-Tails.
It was an ordinary scroll full of ninja tools.
He hadn't expected to be fooled once again by that cunning Genin.
But fortunately, this was their home turf—the Kirigakure village's domain.
"Water Style: Water Domain Sensing!"
Invisible chakra spread out from him like ripples,
and every moving object within several kilometers began to register dimly in his awareness.
Before long, he had pinpointed the two figures speeding away from the lake toward the southwest.
"I've found you."
Killing intent gleamed in Karatachi Yagura's pale purple eyes.
"This time, there won't be any more surprises."
He sprang into motion, accompanied by several Kirigakure Ninja,
and raced off in pursuit.
As the two fled toward Thousand Port City, the terrain beneath their feet gradually changed from lakes and marshes to rugged coastal hills.
Uchiha Yatsuhashi and Mitaraishi Anko didn't dare stop for even a moment.
Both of them pushed their speed to the limit.
Although Mitaraishi Anko was only a Chunin,
as Orochimaru's personal disciple, her counter-tracking skills far surpassed those of an ordinary Jonin.
The various traps she had set with Explosive Tags and the misdirection created by Shadow Clone Technique
were proving immensely useful.
They weren't enough to kill their pursuers, but they could effectively slow them down and throw off their rhythm.
Along the way, Mitaraishi Anko kept changing routes.
She used the terrain to cover their tracks, while deliberately leaving faint traces that pointed in the wrong direction.
Her wealth of real-world experience also proved invaluable to Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who was running beside her.
The two grew more and more in sync as they fled for their lives.
After several days of nonstop flight,
the distant sea began to emerge, and the hazy outline of Thousand Port City could just be made out on the horizon.
But just then,
several sharp whistles split the air from their flank.
"Boom! Boom-boom-boom!"
Several kunai bound with Explosive Tags shot into the path ahead of them, then detonated with a roar,
and the violent blasts cut off their way forward.
The Kirigakure Ninja behind them had also caught up.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Several monstrous purple-scaled snakes surged wildly from Mitaraishi Anko's sleeves,
hissing as they lunged at the Kirigakure Ninja blocking their way,
and in an instant, they threw the scene into chaos.
Uchiha Yatsuhashi exchanged a glance with her. "Anko, split up as planned!"
The next second, the two darted off in different directions.
"Go after the Chunin. I'll handle the rest..."
Karatachi Yagura fixed his gaze on Uchiha Yatsuhashi, who had taken the other route.
"This time, let's see what tricks you have left."
His figure blurred and vanished as if he had teleported,
and when he appeared again, he was already closing in on Uchiha Yatsuhashi as he darted among the reefs.
"Water Style: Water Gun Bullet!"
A high-pressure ball of water shot toward the back of Uchiha Yatsuhashi's heart with a shrill whistle.
Every hair on Uchiha Yatsuhashi's body stood on end beneath the shadow of death.
He lunged diagonally forward, acting almost entirely on instinct!
"Boom!"
The water ball grazed his shoulder and struck a reef ahead of him,
blasting the hard rock into pieces.
Uchiha Yatsuhashi dodged the fatal blow, but the shock wave and flying fragments still sent him tumbling.
He crashed onto the damp beach, his vision going black in waves.
He tried to struggle back to his feet, but a violent dizziness and weakness swept over him.
It was the aftereffect of fleeing at full tilt for so long and repeatedly opening the Eight Inner Gates along the way—
all of it had pushed his body to its limit.
Karatachi Yagura emerged unhurriedly from the billowing water mist.
"Not running anymore?"
He asked mildly, as though simply stating a fact.
In the distance, the faint sounds of ninjutsu clashing rang out.
Mitaraishi Anko had probably been caught in a tough fight as well.
Uchiha Yatsuhashi looked up at Karatachi Yagura standing over him, his expression changing.
He knew he was no match for this kid in front of him.
But fortunately, he had already given Mitaraishi Anko the scroll containing vital information about Isobu, the Three-Tails.
Of the two of them, she should have had the better chance of escaping.
That was certainly how things seemed now.
The fact that Karatachi Yagura had come after him personally already proved it.
As long as Anko could take the scroll back to Konoha, the mission would count as a success.
And his parents back in the village wouldn't be dragged into this because of him.
That was the real reason he had given the scroll to Anko.
In this world,
his family's safety mattered more than his own life.
"You've surprised me time and again on this journey, but it looks like you've run out of options now."
Karatachi Yagura began forming Hand Seals. "Then this is where it ends, Genin."
Uchiha Yatsuhashi didn't answer. He slowly rose to his feet.
But in secret, Uchiha Yatsuhashi had already reached for another scroll inside his jacket.
At this point, he had no choice but to fight to the death.
Before you continue