Doubt (Fifth Watch)

Early the next morning, the members of the caravan rose at the crack of dawn.

After leaving the village, the caravan returned to the road leading toward the Land of Earth.

The caravan spent the entire morning traveling at a rapid pace. As they moved further away from the heart of the Land of Fire, the distance between villages grew, forcing the caravan to march quickly from the morning to reach the next village before nightfall.

As noon approached, coinciding with the sweltering heat of July, the members of Team 5 were all exhausted by the heat.

Finding a large, lush tree, Uchiha Matsuri and the other three sat down in the shade.

"It's so hot," Kiba Inuzuka said, feeling drained. Ono, the ninja hound in his arms, had its tongue lolling out.

"Bear with it a little longer. We'll reach the forest bordering the Land of Grass in one more day, and we won't have to travel under the scorching sun then," Jiraiya said, offering some comfort.

"We're reaching the Land of Grass? I hear it's quite chaotic over there," Uchiha Matsuri said suddenly.

"That's right, Sensei. If there's a forest ahead, it's possible many ninjas are hiding there," Minato Namikaze asked, not without concern.

Just as Jiraiya was about to answer, Kiba Inuzuka cut in: "Don't we have me? I can detect the scent of enemies within a one-kilometer radius in advance!"

As he spoke, Kiba Inuzuka glanced at Uchiha Matsuri from time to time, seemingly showing off this unique ability of the Inuzuka Clan.

"Indeed, if we have Kiba's help, our reconnaissance and early warning will be much easier," Uchiha Matsuri said truthfully. At this moment, Uchiha Matsuri didn't have the energy to bicker with Kiba Inuzuka.

Hearing Uchiha Matsuri's unreserved praise, Kiba Inuzuka couldn't help but get cocky: "Exactly! Matsuri, if you run into danger, don't be afraid—I'll definitely protect you."

"..."

Hearing Kiba Inuzuka bragging again, Uchiha Matsuri, Jiraiya, and Minato Namikaze all chose to remain silent.

Good times are always short-lived; after finishing their bento, the caravan had to get back on the road. However, just as Uchiha Matsuri stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes, Kiba Inuzuka suddenly shouted, "Wait a second."

"What's wrong?" Jiraiya and the others asked in surprise.

"About four hundred meters away, a chakra signature is approaching us," Kiba Inuzuka said cautiously.

A ninja has finally appeared. But to dare rob a caravan in the strictly policed Land of Fire, this ninja is arrogant enough, Uchiha Matsuri thought to himself.

"Sensei, should we take the initiative?" Minato Namikaze asked with a frown.

"Let's not move yet. Keep traveling and see what he does," Jiraiya cautioned. "Kiba, keep a close watch on that chakra's movements. Report to me immediately if there's anything unusual."

"Understood."

Ten minutes after the caravan resumed its march, although all four members of Team 5 were on high alert, the imagined enemy still did not appear.

"It's been ten minutes and there's still no attack. He certainly has patience!" Uchiha Matsuri looked into the distance.

"Perhaps he's just passing through?" Minato Namikaze asked.

"Regardless of whether he's passing through, as long as he's approaching our caravan, we must remain vigilant," Jiraiya whispered.

"Speaking of which, the weather here is much cooler. It really feels like we're almost at the forest..."

Before Uchiha Matsuri could finish, Kiba Inuzuka suddenly interrupted: "He's close. That chakra is only 40 meters away from us now."

"40 meters?" Uchiha Matsuri asked, puzzled. Not just Uchiha Matsuri, but Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were also very confused.

"If it's 40 meters, he should be right around us, but why can't we see anything?" Glancing at the flat, unobstructed fields around them, Minato Namikaze grew even more confused.

Wait a minute.

Something was wrong.

Uchiha Matsuri suddenly realized something.

The enemy was 40 meters away, yet they couldn't see him. Could the enemy be invisible, or had he used a Substitution Technique?

After thinking for a few seconds, Uchiha Matsuri's lips curled up slightly: "So that's it. I understand now."

"Matsuri, what do you understand?" Minato Namikaze asked, confused.

"Jiraiya-sensei, Minato, Kiba, think about it: if the enemy is only forty meters away but we can't see him, what could be the situation?" Uchiha Matsuri said with a strange smile.

"Could it be that the enemy is just a summoning creature like a frog?" Kiba Inuzuka offered another idea.

Without answering Kiba Inuzuka, Uchiha Matsuri looked toward Jiraiya, only to see Jiraiya smiling at him.

It seems Jiraiya-sensei figured it out long ago, Uchiha Matsuri thought to himself. He just hasn't pointed it out; it seems he wants to train us.

"Since it's not a summoning creature, could it be... an illusion?" When he said the word "illusion," Minato Namikaze couldn't help but pause.

That's right, it must be an illusion! Why didn't I think of that just now?

Hearing Minato Namikaze deduce the truth, Uchiha Matsuri nodded: "Exactly, it's an illusion. In other words, everything we are seeing right now is just a hallucination."

"I was wondering why I couldn't feel the heat at all on such a hot day. It turns out we've all been caught in an illusion," Kiba Inuzuka realized, and Ono in his arms barked in agreement.

"But the scenery around us looks so normal. I can't tell it's an illusion at all," Kiba Inuzuka said, scratching his head with lingering fear.

"Since it's an illusion, it naturally has to be made to look realistic," Minato Namikaze replied.

"What the enemy never expected is that we have a ninja from the Inuzuka Clan among us who can lock onto a person's position based on scent," Uchiha Matsuri laughed. "Now, let me see your true face."

After speaking, Uchiha Matsuri slowly closed his eyes. Two seconds later, he suddenly opened them, and his originally black pupils had transformed into the blood-red Sharingan.

As he activated the Sharingan, the scenery before Uchiha Matsuri's eyes was suddenly replaced by a different view.

The main road in front of him had vanished, replaced by a dilapidated wooden shack built on a cliff, a massive tree in front of the shack that would take five people to encircle, and a bottomless abyss in the distance.

High up in a distant tree, a man with red hair wearing a white coat was watching him.

Forty meters away, in the treetops.

Seeing Uchiha Matsuri activate his Sharingan, the man was quite surprised.

"I didn't expect there to be someone from the Uchiha Clan here," the man muttered, his brow furrowing.

"And although my genjutsu isn't exactly top-tier, it shouldn't be weak either. To think it was broken so easily by a two-tomoe Sharingan... I really didn't see that coming," the man said with a self-deprecating laugh.

At the same time that Uchiha Matsuri dispelled the genjutsu, Jiraiya also forced his way out of the illusion by surging his own chakra.