The Weather is Really Good

Naoki did not know that his group had already swayed the situation of the entire Southern Border Battlefield, nor did he know that the schemes of Karatachi Yagura were far deeper than they had imagined...

In the mountain hollow, the half-hour rest period passed in a flash.

"Time to go." Naoki steadied his blade and stood up.

Hyuga Hiroshi activated his Byakugan to carefully observe the surroundings.

"Since the day before yesterday, it seems the Kirigakure ninjas pursuing us have been dwindling. It looks like we might successfully reach the eastern coast and escape with our lives today."

"Are we finally going to make it out?" Uchiha Zongxin let out a long breath, his face showing the relief of one who had survived a catastrophe.

"It's not that simple." Naoki shook his head.

The momentum of Karatachi Yagura's pursuit had been so intense, yet it had suddenly withered; no matter how he thought about it, it felt wrong.

Had they really given up on hunting them down?

Impossible. That was absolutely impossible.

Naoki shook his head to himself.

Uchiha Setsuna spoke up: "No need to dwell on these things. We head straight east; once we reach the coastline, there will be no more problems."

Uchiha Zongye nodded: "Senior Setsuna is right. Rather than obsessing over such trifles, it is more important to hurry on our way."

Touching the White Amulet in his pocket, Naoki's anxious heart calmed slightly.

"Let's go."

The seven of them sped through the dense forest, racing desperately toward the eastern skyline.

Hyuga Hiroshi charged at the very front, his Byakugan activated at all times to guide the team along the safest route.

"Almost there!" Hyuga Hiroshi's voice was hoarse. "Once we cross that mountain ahead, we'll be able to see the coast!"

Naoki gritted his teeth and kept up. The wound on his abdomen had split open again during the intense movement; blood soaked through the bandages and dripped down his clothes, but he couldn't spare the attention. His Sharingan scanned the surroundings with constant vigilance.

Over these past few days, they had encountered countless small-scale pursuits and killed an unknown number of Kirigakure ninjas, but they had also paid a heavy price... Shi's left shoulder had been pierced by a kunai and still couldn't exert force; the site of Uchiha Zongye's severed arm was infected and inflamed, causing a persistent high fever; Uchiha Zongxin and Itachi had nearly exhausted their chakra, relying entirely on willpower to keep going.

Of the seven, only Naoki, Uchiha Setsuna, and Hyuga Hiroshi were in relatively decent condition. Among them, Uchiha Setsuna had intervened many times during their eastward flight; though the sexagenarian still possessed his old flair, his condition had become quite problematic.

As for Naoki, because the wound on his abdomen refused to heal, even with his sturdy physique, the area had begun to swell, and his combat effectiveness had dropped significantly.

As for Hyuga Hiroshi, he was in the best condition of the seven.

It was somewhat strange; despite being only a few years older than Uchiha Zongxin, his state was the complete opposite. After resting for only a short while, he could recover his chakra, and the same went for his stamina—he had never seen him fail to recover...

Therefore, Hyuga Hiroshi, who should have been the one being protected, was currently charging at the very front of the team.

"Cross this mountain, and it's the coast." Hyuga Hiroshi looked back, the veins of his Byakugan bulging at the sides of his eyes. "There are no enemies nearby; we can..."

Before he could finish, Hyuga Hiroshi suddenly let out a sound of surprise.

"There's someone over there!"

Naoki hurried to the top of the mountain and looked into the distance.

On the snow-white beach, it seemed someone was being hunted.

Naoki asked Hyuga Hiroshi, who had caught up: "Are those Kirigakure ninjas?"

Hyuga Hiroshi shook his head; he had seen clearly.

"No, that's Takashi and the others!"

"Takashi?" Naoki didn't react for a moment.

"Hyuga Takashi, my clansman!"

"Uh..." He remembered; it seemed he was a member of the main branch.

Uchiha Zongye, who had caught up, asked: "What's going on? Why would Hyuga Takashi be here?"

Uchiha Zongxin chimed in, "Yeah, why would he be here?"

Hyuga Hiroshi opened his mouth but didn't speak.

"Regardless, it's a good thing for us that people from the village have appeared. Let's follow them!"

With that, Naoki took the lead. Hyuga Hiroshi hesitated for a moment before following closely, and the seven of them ran down the mountain.

Hyuga Takashi blocked Ao's path and said viciously: "You Kirigakure dog, where do you think you're running to?"

"Haha."

Ao looked up and laughed.

Having been hunted the entire way, he had truly lost his temper.

"You lot are truly persistent. You've been biting at my heels this whole way just for this Byakugan, right? I'll give it to you!"

After speaking, Ao gouged out his own eye, crushed it, and threw it at Hyuga Takashi.

Hyuga Takashi thought Ao had crushed the Byakugan and cursed, "Bastard!" But he hadn't expected Ao to be feinting; he suddenly bolted toward the sea.

Grabbing the so-called Byakugan and looking at it closely, Hyuga Takashi cursed: "This isn't a Byakugan! Catch him!"

As he spoke, Hyuga Takashi gathered his five fingers and struck out with a palm.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

The air wave, compressed to its limit, slammed into Ao's back. The latter flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the beach and leaving a shallow crater in the sand.

Ao struggled to get up, but the Hyuga branch family ninjas had already surrounded him.

Hyuga Hiroshi was the first to rush down the hillside toward Hyuga Takashi, with Naoki following closely behind, whispering into Hiroshi's ear.

"Hiroshi, the Byakugan they mentioned—is it yours?"

Hyuga Hiroshi did not answer, but his silence said everything.

On the beach, Hyuga Takashi, confident that the situation was under control, strolled slowly toward Ao.

However, a sudden turn of events occurred; figure after figure emerged from the dense forest, and soon, no fewer than forty or fifty Kirigakure ninjas closed in on Hyuga Takashi and his group.

That was not all; the calm sea suddenly churned, and massive waves began to roll.

Hyuga Takashi knew something was wrong and hurriedly ordered the branch family ninjas to gouge out Ao's eyes, but he did not expect over a dozen water arrows to fly from the sea straight toward them.

Hyuga Takashi's pupils constricted, and he instinctively leaped backward. While he was far enough away to dodge, the branch family ninjas were not; the water arrows instantly pierced through their bodies.

"Ah!"

Screams rang out across the beach as blood splattered, staining the white sand crimson.

Ao seized the opportunity to struggle to his feet, stumbling toward the shoreline.

"Trying to run?"

Hyuga Takashi roared and prepared to give chase, but the next moment, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

The sea surged, the giant waves parted, and a short figure stepped out from the surf.

Karatachi Yagura held a hooked staff, his pale purple pupils looking down at everyone on the beach. His baby face bore a sense of majesty and killing intent entirely inconsistent with his age.

"I've finally found you two groups of little mice."

His gaze swept across the beach, eventually landing on Naoki and the others.

"If I'm not mistaken..." He pointed a finger at Naoki, "You are the ones who attacked the transport ship, aren't you?"

"And you." He pointed at Hyuga Takashi, "You are the group that has been skulking in my rear, slippery as an eel?"

"The weather is truly lovely today." Looking at the sun in the distance, Karatachi Yagura smiled. "Since I've caught you all together, I might as well send you off to the Sanzu River!"