He's Hunting Me, So I'll Hunt Him Too

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique"

The small fireballs shot out like missiles, blanketing a Kirigakure Ninja. The enemy hurriedly dodged, but Itachi was already closing in with a kunai, giving him no chance to react.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

A highly compressed wave of air shot from Hyuga Hiroshi's hand and struck the Kirigakure Ninja in the shoulder, spraying blood.

The Kirigakure Ninja hit by the Vacuum Palm was furious. He couldn't believe he'd been injured by a child...

He swung his sword at Hyuga Hiroshi, but the boy refused to back down. Chakra gathered around his fists, quickly forming two lion heads.

"Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!"

The first wave of enemies Naoki and the others faced was quickly defeated. The battle was over in just a few minutes.

Of the sixteen Kirigakure Ninja, thirteen lay dead in the forest shrouded by the morning mist. The other three had fled when they saw things going badly, vanishing into the depths of the woods.

Naoki flicked the blood from his long blade and swept his Sharingan across the surroundings. Only after confirming that no new enemies were approaching did he finally relax a little.

"We can't stay here. Search quickly for essential supplies, then we move! We have to break through the encirclement before the enemy realizes what's happening and push straight into their rear!"

Everyone sprang into action. Uchiha Zongxin pulled a mostly intact ninja gear pouch from a corpse and rummaged through it, finding a few Explosive Tags and soldier pills. He muttered, "These Kirigakure guys are dirt-poor. They barely have any decent ninja tools..."

Uchiha Zongye struggled to scavenge with one arm, his face growing paler from blood loss. Naoki walked over and handed him the bandages he'd found. "Redress the wound. We've still got a tough fight ahead."

"I know." Uchiha Zongye nodded and leaned against a tree. He clenched one end of the bandage between his teeth and used his right hand to wrap it around the wound where his arm had been severed.

"Come on, hurry!"

Naoki took a moment to summon a Ninja Cat and send a message requesting reinforcements to Shisui, who was fighting on the front line. Then he shouted and led everyone in another charge.

At the front lines of the Southern Border Battlefield.

After petting his Ninja Cat and handing it a few bills, Shisui said to a clan member beside him, "Go ask Sarutobi Shinnosuke to come here."

"Okay."

His subordinate hurried off, and Sarutobi Shinnosuke arrived soon after.

"Shisui, what is it?"

Shisui handed him the message from the Ninja Cat. Sarutobi Shinnosuke scanned it quickly, his expression growing increasingly grave.

"They're surrounded? Behind enemy lines?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke frowned. "I knew something was up. The Kirigakure forces opposite us have seemed much weaker these past few days. So they pulled troops back to hunt them down."

"That's right." Shisui nodded. "I need to go rescue them, so I'll need to pull some people away..."

"That won't do." Sarutobi Shinnosuke shook his head. "The Kirigakure forces opposite us have withdrawn some troops, but their main force is still there. If we rashly send troops deep behind enemy lines and the front collapses, the entire Southern Border Battlefield will fall into chaos. If Kirigakure then counterattacks the village, we'll be in serious trouble!"

"Besides..." Sarutobi Shinnosuke hesitated for a moment. "Maybe this is exactly what the enemy wants you to do. Think about it. Is Karatachi Yagura someone to take lightly? Have you considered why he's making such a spectacle of hunting down Uchiha Naoki and the others? Just because they destroyed a shipment of supplies?"

Shisui watched Sarutobi Shinnosuke in silence.

"You're right. From a tactical standpoint, sending troops deep behind enemy lines is risky. But have you considered another question?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke raised an eyebrow.

"Why would Karatachi Yagura rather pull troops from the front than go to all this trouble to hunt down and surround Naoki and the others?"

"Was it really just because they lost a shipment of supplies?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke furrowed his brow.

"Or..." Shisui paused. "Was there something especially important in that shipment? Or did Naoki and the others kill someone they shouldn't have?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke fell into thought.

As the Third Hokage's eldest son, he had grown up surrounded by the workings of the village. He knew that every unusual move on the battlefield had a deeper reason behind it.

"You mean..."

"I don't know." Shisui shook his head. "But Karatachi Yagura wouldn't go to such lengths unless Naoki and the others had done something remarkable."

"If that's true, then we have even more reason to save them!" Shisui added. "If we stand by and do nothing, what will the Uchiha Clan think when word gets back to the village? What will the other clans think? Since when has Konoha been willing to abandon comrades just because they're carrying out a mission behind enemy lines?"

Those words struck Sarutobi Shinnosuke where it hurt.

As the frontline commander, he knew how important morale was. He also knew that relations between Konoha's clans were already delicate. If they abandoned their comrades now, who would be willing to risk their lives for the village in the future?

Still...

Sarutobi Shinnosuke couldn't shake the feeling that sending Shisui and his men deep behind enemy lines was too risky.

"Let me think about it..."

He paced back and forth, weighing the pros and cons.

After a long while, he suddenly looked toward the distant Kirigakure camp and burst into laughter.

"Why make this so complicated?"

"I don't think you need to lose sight of the bigger picture by going deep behind enemy lines. Let's join forces and launch an all-out attack on Kirigakure as soon as possible!"

"What do you mean?" Shisui asked.

"Hmph!" Sarutobi Shinnosuke sneered. "If he's hunting me, then I'll hunt him too. Karatachi Yagura sent people to surround and hunt down Uchiha Naoki. So we'll lead our forces to break through his front line and hunt down his men. We'll root out every last Kirigakure Ninja in the Southern Border—and take him down too!"

Shisui's brow gradually relaxed. After a long pause, he said, "That sounds good to me!"

The morning mist gradually lifted, and sunlight streamed through the gaps in the branches onto the forest floor.

Naoki and the others hadn't gone far. After defeating three successive waves of pursuers, they hadn't continued south as planned. Instead, guided by Hyuga Hiroshi, they had slipped sideways through a gap left by the pursuers and finally taken cover in a secluded mountain hollow.

"Rest for half an hour." Naoki leaned against a rock. The bandage around his abdomen was soaked with blood, so he gritted his teeth and wrapped it again. "After half an hour, we'll keep heading south..."

"Still heading south?" Uchiha Zongxin asked in a low voice, looking confused. "Why don't we take advantage of the gap and run north?"

Naoki explained slowly, "The pursuers to the north are tightening the encirclement, and the enemies to the south are closing in too... If we head north now, we'll walk straight into their trap."

"Then going south won't work either."

Naoki rolled his eyes. "Can't you wait until I finish?"

Uchiha Zongxin curled his lip.

"Fine, fine. Go on."

"First, we'll scout out how many enemies are to the south. If we can break through the encirclement, that means the enemy hasn't caught on yet. Then we can push all the way to the coast. Once we're there, it'll be much easier to hide."