Encountering Baki's Squad

While Uchiha Shisui and the others were enjoying the hot springs, Sunagakure was in a state of near-total chaos, a panic that only began to subside once Elder Chiyo convened a meeting of the jonin.

Inside the Kazekage Building, over a dozen people sat around a stone table. Chiyo and Ebizo sat at the head with their hands clasped, the atmosphere in the room heavy and oppressive.

"Elder Chiyo, has the Third Kazekage truly gone missing?"

"Indeed! Could the Third Kazekage have been assassinated?"

"Elder Chiyo! We must see the living or recover the dead; even if we have to scour the entire ninja world, we must find the Third Kazekage!"

Some of the lower-ranking Sunagakure ninja, unable to bear the stifling tension, spoke up one after another.

"You are right. The Third Kazekage may indeed be missing. Now, mobilize every ninja in the village—spare no cost to find the Third Kazekage!"

Chiyo was naturally furious as well, clenching her fists as she spoke.

After the meeting concluded, Chiyo intended to speak with her grandson, Sasori, before heading out to search for the Third Kazekage.

Chiyo pushed open the door to a dim, small room where the limbs of puppets were scattered across the floor. The only two puppets left intact were those of Sasori's parents.

"Sasori!?"

Chiyo searched the entire room and then dispatched people to scour every corner of the village, but the only things they found were two chunin at the village gates, killed by puppets.

Upon seeing the corpses, Chiyo realized her grandson had become a missing-nin. After painfully issuing a warrant for his arrest, she led a team toward the Land of Rain to search for the Third Kazekage.

As for the Land of Rivers, the search was led by the elite Sunagakure jonin, Baki.

Such large-scale movements by Sunagakure could not be hidden from the spies of other villages; a Ninja Hawk quietly flew out of Sunagakure, heading straight for the Land of Lightning.

In a forest within the Land of Rivers, Uchiha Shisui and two Anbu were carefully searching for any clues that might have been left behind. They were already very close to the border of the Land of Wind, so the three of them dared not make any significant noise.

"Captain! I've found something over here!" The Anbu wearing a bird mask beckoned to Uchiha Shisui.

Seeing this, Uchiha Shisui leaped to the side of the Anbu.

"This was a stronghold left behind by the Sunagakure ninja."

Uchiha Shisui analyzed the situation based on the scattered fire pits and perimeter markers.

Just as the two Anbu pulled out scrolls to record the findings, not far from Uchiha Shisui and his team, Baki led a twenty-man squad moving at full speed toward their position. The commotion caused by their high-speed movement through the branches naturally startled the birds nesting in the trees.

The sound of the flock taking flight caught Uchiha Shisui's attention. He looked up at the sky and noticed that the birds from all directions were flying in the exact same path.

"There is an enemy force of at least ten people approaching! Leave a shadow clone, we are retreating."

After Uchiha Shisui performed the hand seals to leave a shadow clone, he used the Body Flicker Technique and retreated backward.

"Captain?" The two Anbu were confused; their records were only half-finished, and if they retreated now, they would have to start all over again.

"Forget it. The Sunagakure ninja have clearly withdrawn; how could they possibly still be here? Once we finish this record, our mission will be complete."

"Understood."

The two watched Uchiha Shisui run off without paying much mind, continuing to busy themselves with recording coordinates and the layout of the perimeter markers left by the Sunagakure ninja.

Uchiha Shisui, having run a distance away, turned back to look behind him and realized the two had not followed.

"Two idiots!"

Uchiha Shisui cursed under his breath and continued his retreat in a different direction.

At this moment, Baki and two chunin had already quietly reached the site where the others were stationed.

"Konoha ninja? The Third Kazekage must have been assassinated or captured by Konoha!"

Baki speculated to himself.

After a brief arrangement with his teammates, the Sunagakure ninja effectively surrounded the two Anbu.

"Something feels wrong!" The Anbu in the bird mask scanned his surroundings; his intuition told him they were in great danger.

"Is that so? Let me see. Ninja Art: Sensing Technique."

The Anbu ninja beside him placed his fingers on the grass and spoke.

Just as the two were sensing their surroundings, dozens of shuriken suddenly surged from all sides.

"Retreat! It's an ambush!" The Anbu in the bird mask pulled his companion and leaped backward, barely dodging the shuriken that would have otherwise turned them into pincushions.

"Interesting! How about this then! Wind Style: Great Tornado Technique!"

Baki quickly performed the Tiger-Snake-Monkey-Tiger hand seals and exhaled a tornado filled with sand and dust from his mouth.

"You go first! I'll hold them off—get the intelligence about the Sunagakure invasion of the Land of Rivers back!"

The Anbu in the bird mask pushed his companion away and quickly formed hand seals: "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

An earthen wall rose rapidly, blocking the sand tornado, but after only a moment, the wall began to crumble.

"Right! I'm going for reinforcements! You must hold on!"

Seeing his companion retreat, the Anbu in the bird mask drew the ninja blade from his back, attempting to stall for time through close-quarters combat.

"Naive!"

Baki approached the Anbu wearing the bird mask empty-handed, provoking him.

"Don't underestimate Konoha ninjas!"

Seeing his opponent act so arrogantly, daring to stand before him without a weapon, the bird-masked Anbu immediately felt his chance had arrived.

The bird-masked Anbu leveled his ninja blade and slashed forward with lightning speed. Baki's lips curled upward as a wind blade condensed in his hand.

"Die!"

The Anbu ninja roared, his blade whistling toward Baki's neck like a bolt of lightning.

Baki naturally wouldn't stand there like a wooden stake to be hacked down; he raised the wind blade formed by his chakra and blocked the seemingly fierce strike.

"Is this all you've got? It's only natural I could block that, but my Wind Blade is something you cannot withstand!"

Baki smiled faintly. Ignoring the sharpness of the ninja blade, he gripped the edge tightly with one hand while rapidly condensing a wind blade in the other, then slashed toward the bird-masked Anbu ninja.

Accompanied by a scream, the battle was declared over.

Just as Baki was wiping the blood from his hands, four Sunagakure ninjas walked over, dragging another Anbu corpse.

"Captain Baki, everything has been taken care of."

Baki nodded slightly and then gathered everyone to clear out the camp.

High in the canopy, the Shadow Clone of Uchiha Shisui had witnessed everything. As the Shadow Clone automatically dissipated, Uchiha Shisui, currently in Yugakure in the Land of Rivers, received the intelligence transmitted back.

Uchiha Shisui's expression was grave as he organized and categorized the gathered intelligence one by one, his eyes focused, missing no detail.

Once the intelligence was organized, he knelt on one knee and rapidly formed hand seals. Chakra surged from his palms, and with a low shout, "Summoning Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke erupted with a boom.

As the smoke gradually cleared, a nimble Ninja Hawk appeared before him. Its feathers were jet-black and glossy, and its eyes were sharp and alert, exuding a sense of intelligence and vigilance.

Shisui carefully picked up the organized intelligence and tied it securely to the Ninja Hawk's leg with a thin cord.

Afterward, he gently stroked the Ninja Hawk's neck and whispered, "I'm counting on you. You must bring this intelligence back to Konoha safely."

The Ninja Hawk seemed to understand his words; it flapped its wings twice and let out a crisp cry.

Shisui straightened up and waved his hand. The Ninja Hawk took flight, carving a black arc through the air as it soared toward Konoha.