He Pursued and Killed Me, and I Pursued and Killed

Phoenix Sage Fire Technique

Small fireballs shot out like missiles, blanketing a Kirigakure ninja. The latter scrambled to dodge, but Itachi followed up instantly, closing the distance with a kunai and leaving the opponent no room to react.

Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm

A highly compressed air wave shot from Hyuga Hiroshi's hand, striking the Kirigakure ninja's shoulder and sending blood spraying into the air.

The Kirigakure ninja hit by the Vacuum Palm was incensed; he couldn't believe he had been wounded by such a mere child.

He swung his blade at Hyuga Hiroshi, who did not back down, gathering chakra into his fists until two lion heads quickly formed.

Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists

The first wave of enemies faced by Naoki and his team was quickly crushed, the battle ending in just a few short minutes.

Of the sixteen Kirigakure ninja, thirteen corpses lay scattered across the mist-shrouded forest floor; only three had sensed the turn of events and fled, vanishing into the depths of the dense woods.

Naoki shook the blood from his long blade, his Sharingan scanning the surroundings to confirm no new enemies had appeared, and only then did he let out a faint sigh of relief.

"We cannot stay here. Scavenge for basic supplies and pull out! We must break through the encirclement before the enemy reacts and push deep into their rear!"

The group moved quickly. Uchiha Zongxin tore a relatively intact ninja pouch from a corpse, rummaging through it to find a few explosive tags and military ration pills, muttering, "These Kirigakure guys are dirt poor; they don't even have any decent ninja tools..."

Uchiha Zongye scavenged with difficulty using his one arm, his face growing paler from blood loss. Naoki walked over and handed him the bandages he had found: "Re-bandage it. There are still hard fights ahead."

"I know." Uchiha Zongye nodded, leaning against a tree. He bit one end of the bandage and used his right hand and teeth in coordination to re-wrap the wound on his severed arm.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Naoki took a moment to summon a ninja cat to send a distress signal to Shisui, who was fighting on the front lines, before shouting and leading the group in a counter-charge.

Southern Border Battlefield front line.

After petting his ninja cat and handing it a few banknotes, Shisui said to a clansman beside him: "Go and invite Sarutobi Shinnosuke here."

"Understood."

The subordinate hurried away, and soon, Sarutobi Shinnosuke arrived.

"Shisui, is something the matter?"

Shisui handed the message from the ninja cat to Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who scanned it quickly, his expression turning grave.

"They are surrounded? Behind enemy lines?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke frowned. "I was wondering why the Kirigakure army facing us had seemed so much weaker these past few days. So they were pulled back to hunt them down."

"That is the case." Shisui nodded. "I must go save them, so I need to pull some manpower..."

"That won't do." Sarutobi Shinnosuke shook his head. "Although the Kirigakure army facing us has had some personnel pulled away, their main force remains. If we rashly pull troops to go deep behind enemy lines and the front line collapses, the entire situation on the Southern Border Battlefield will rot. If Kirigakure then counter-attacks the village, it will be a disaster!"

"Besides..." Sarutobi Shinnosuke hesitated for a moment, "The enemy might be hoping you do exactly that. Think about it: is Karatachi Yagura someone easy to deal with? You should also consider why he would go to such lengths to hunt down Naoki and his team—was it really just because a batch of supplies was destroyed?"

Shisui looked at Sarutobi Shinnosuke in silence.

"You are right. From a tactical perspective, pulling troops to go deep behind enemy lines is indeed risky, but have you considered another question?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke raised an eyebrow.

"Why would Karatachi Yagura rather pull troops from the front line than go to such great lengths to hunt down and encircle Naoki and the others?

Was it really just because of the loss of a batch of supplies?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke's brows locked together.

"Or is it..." Shisui paused, "that there was something particularly important in those supplies? Or perhaps, Naoki and the others killed someone they shouldn't have?"

These words sent Sarutobi Shinnosuke into deep thought.

As the eldest son of the Third Hokage, he had been influenced since childhood and knew well that every abnormal move on the battlefield had a profound reason behind it.

"You mean..."

"I don't know." Shisui shook his head. "But to make Karatachi Yagura go to such lengths, Naoki and the others must have done something extraordinary."

"If that is true, then we should save them even more!" Shisui added. "If we leave them to their fate and word gets back to the village, what will the Uchiha clan think? What will the other clans think? Since when has Konoha started to easily abandon comrades who go deep behind enemy lines to execute missions?"

This statement struck at the heart of Sarutobi Shinnosuke's concerns.

As a front-line commander, he knew the importance of morale, and he knew even better that the relationships between the various clans in Konoha were already delicate. If they stood by and watched them die this time, who would be willing to risk their lives for the village in the future?

However...

Sarutobi Shinnosuke still felt that letting Shisui pull forces to go deep behind enemy lines was too risky.

"Let me think..."

He paced back and forth, constantly analyzing the pros and cons.

After thinking for a long time, he suddenly looked toward the distant Kirigakure camp and laughed out loud.

"Why go to such trouble!"

"I don't think you need to put the cart before the horse and go deep behind enemy lines. Let's join forces and launch a general offensive against Kirigakure as soon as possible!"

"What do you mean?" Shisui asked.

"Hmph!" Sarutobi Shinnosuke sneered. "He hunts them, so I will hunt him. Since Karatachi Yagura sent people to encircle and hunt down Naoki and his team, we will lead our army to break through his front line and hunt down his subordinates. We will pull the Kirigakure forces in the south out by the roots and take him down along with them!"

Shisui's brow gradually smoothed, and after a long while, he said: "I think that will work!"

The morning mist gradually dispersed, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the foliage, dappling the forest floor.

Naoki and his group had not traveled far. After crushing three successive waves of pursuers, they did not continue their breakout to the south as expected. Instead, under the guidance of Hyuga Hiroshi, they cut laterally through the gaps left by the enemy and finally went to ground in a hidden mountain hollow.

"Rest for an hour." Naoki leaned against a rock, the bandages on his abdomen already soaked through with blood. He gritted his teeth and began to re-bandage the wound. "After an hour, we continue south..."

"Still heading south?" Uchiha Zongxin lowered his voice, his face full of confusion. "Why don't we take advantage of the gap and run north?"

Naoki said slowly, "The pursuers to the north are tightening their encirclement, and the enemies to the south are also closing in on this position... If we head north now, we'll walk straight into their pocket."

"But heading south won't work either."

Rolling his eyes, Naoki retorted, "Can't you let me finish what I'm saying!"

Uchiha Zongxin curled his lip.

"Fine, fine, you speak, you speak."

"We will first probe the number of enemies to the south. If we can break through the encirclement, it means the enemy hasn't reacted yet, and we can make a dash for the coastline in one breath. It will be much easier to hide once we reach there."