Doubts (Fifth Update)

The next morning, everyone in the caravan got up early.

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

They traveled at a fast pace all morning. The farther they got from the heart of the Land of Fire, the greater the distance between towns became. To reach the next town before nightfall, the caravan had no choice but to set out at a brisk pace from early morning.

It was nearly noon, and with July's scorching summer heat, everyone in Team 5 was sweltering.

After finding a large tree with thick, leafy branches, the four members of Uchiha Matsuri's team dropped down in its shade.

"It's so hot," Kiba Inuzuka said, utterly exhausted. The Ninja Dog Ono in his arms was panting with its tongue hanging out.

"Just hold on a little longer. We'll reach the forest at the border with the Land of Grass in another day. Then we won't have to travel under the blazing sun," Jiraiya said reassuringly.

"We're going to the Land of Grass? I heard it's pretty chaotic over there," Uchiha Matsuri said suddenly.

"Yeah, sensei. If there's a forest ahead, lots of ninja could be hiding in it," Minato Namikaze asked, unable to hide his concern.

Jiraiya was just about to answer when Kiba Inuzuka cut in. "Don't forget, you have me! I can detect the scent of enemies within a kilometer!"

As he spoke, Kiba Inuzuka kept glancing at Uchiha Matsuri, as though showing off this unique ability of the Inuzuka Clan.

"That's true. With E's help, keeping watch and warning the others will be much easier," Uchiha Matsuri replied honestly. At this point, he didn't even have the energy to bicker with Kiba Inuzuka.

Hearing Uchiha Matsuri praise him so generously, Kiba Inuzuka couldn't help showing off. "Exactly! Matsuri, if you ever get into trouble, don't worry. I'll protect you!"

"..."

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

Good times never lasted. After they finished their boxed lunches, the caravan had to get moving again. But just as Uchiha Matsuri stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes, Kiba Inuzuka suddenly shouted, "Wait!"

"What is it?" Jiraiya and the others asked in surprise.

"There's a chakra about four hundred meters away, heading toward us," Kiba Inuzuka said cautiously.

So a ninja's finally shown up. But anyone brazen enough to rob a caravan in the well-policed Land of Fire must be pretty cocky, Uchiha Matsuri thought.

"Sensei, should we make the first move?" Minato Namikaze asked with a frown.

"Let's hold off and keep moving. We'll see what he does first," Jiraiya warned. "E, keep an eye on that chakra. Report to me right away if anything seems off."

"Okay."

Ten minutes after the caravan set off, all four members of Team 5 were on high alert, but their presumed enemy still hadn't appeared.

"Ten minutes already, and he still hasn't attacked. He's got patience," Uchiha Matsuri said, looking into the distance.

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

"Whether he's passing through or not, we need to stay on guard as long as he's near the caravan," Jiraiya said quietly.

"By the way, it's gotten so much cooler here. I guess it makes sense, since we're getting close to the forest..."

Before Uchiha Matsuri could finish, Kiba Inuzuka interrupted him. "He's closer. That chakra is only forty meters away."

"Forty meters?" Uchiha Matsuri asked, puzzled. Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were just as confused.

"At forty meters, he should be somewhere around us. But why can't we see anything?" Minato Namikaze wondered, even more perplexed as he surveyed the flat, unobstructed fields around them.

Wait.

Something was wrong.

Uchiha Matsuri suddenly realized what it was.

The enemy was only forty meters away, yet none of them could see him. Had he turned invisible, or was he using the Substitution Technique?

After thinking for a few seconds, Uchiha Matsuri's lips suddenly curled into a faint smile. "I see. I understand now."

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

"Jiraiya-sensei, Minato, E, think about it. If the enemy is only forty meters away, but we can't see him, what could be going on?" Uchiha Matsuri asked with a strange grin.

"Could the enemy be a summoning creature, like a frog?" Kiba Inuzuka suggested.

Uchiha Matsuri didn't answer Kiba Inuzuka. Instead, he looked toward Jiraiya, who was smiling at him.

It seems Jiraiya-sensei figured it out a long time ago. He just didn't say anything—probably to give us a chance to work it out ourselves, Uchiha Matsuri thought.

"If it's not a summoning creature, then could it be... a genjutsu?" When Minato Namikaze said the word "genjutsu," he suddenly froze.

Right! It had to be a genjutsu! Why hadn't he thought of that sooner?

Seeing that Minato Namikaze had reached the same conclusion, Uchiha Matsuri nodded. "That's right. It's a genjutsu. In other words, everything we're seeing right now is an illusion."

"No wonder! It's so hot, but I can't feel the heat at all. We must've all been caught in a genjutsu," Kiba Inuzuka said, suddenly understanding. The little Ono in his arms barked twice in agreement.

"But the scenery around us looks completely normal. I can't tell it's a genjutsu at all," Kiba Inuzuka said, scratching his head, still shaken.

"Of course a genjutsu has to look convincing," Minato Namikaze replied.

"What the enemy never expected was that one of us would be from the Inuzuka Clan, able to track someone by scent," Uchiha Matsuri said with a smile. "Now, let's see what you really look like."

With that, Uchiha Matsuri slowly closed his eyes. Two seconds later, he suddenly opened them again. His eyes, once black, had turned bloodred—the Sharingan.

As soon as Uchiha Matsuri activated his Sharingan, the scene before him abruptly changed.

The road in front of him vanished, replaced by a rundown wooden cabin perched on a cliff. A massive tree, so thick that five people could barely encircle it, stood before the cabin, with a bottomless cliff stretching into the distance.

On the distant tree, a man in a white cloak with red hair was watching him.

On a tree forty meters away.

The man was surprised to see Uchiha Matsuri activate his Sharingan.

"I didn't expect there to be someone from the Uchiha Clan," the man said, frowning.

"And although my genjutsu isn't especially powerful, it's not weak, either. I never expected someone with a Two-Tomoe Sharingan to dispel it so easily," the man said with a rueful smile.

At the same time Uchiha Matsuri broke the genjutsu, Jiraiya forcibly dispelled it by increasing his own chakra.