Pursuit

"If those two Konoha ninja were just phantoms created by the Clone Technique, then could the one fighting Kitsuchi be a phantom as well?" the Iwagakure Anbu ninja wondered, stunned.

Without a moment's hesitation, the Anbu ninja vanished and reappeared, appearing beside Kitsuchi and Minato Namikaze in the next second.

Seeing the Anbu ninja suddenly appear, Kitsuchi couldn't help but ask happily, "Have those two little brats been taken care of?"

The Anbu ninja dared not report false information and quickly said, "Lord Kitsuchi, those two brats were merely phantoms created by the Clone Technique."

What?

Upon hearing the Anbu ninja's report, Kitsuchi's face turned pale with shock. In just a moment, this surprise transformed into anger and resentment at having been played for a fool.

Immediately, Kitsuchi stopped his struggle with "Minato Namikaze." The "Minato Namikaze," who had been aggressively attacking just a moment before, turned into a wisp of yellow smoke the moment he collided with Kitsuchi.

"Hmph, it really was a clone." Kitsuchi widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the spot where "Minato Namikaze" had vanished, then punched the ground, instantly smashing a fist-sized crater into the earth.

"These three brats actually kept me in the dark for a full half-hour," Kitsuchi said indignantly.

"Lord Kitsuchi..."

"You, lead a squad of Anbu immediately to pursue those three Konoha ninja. As for the report..." Kitsuchi issued an order, "leave that to me."

"Yes."

In a wild forest outside Iwagakure.

Three men with ugly faces, dressed as commoners, came to a halt.

One of the men, who was carrying a ninja dog, turned around to scan the surroundings. Finding no one nearby, he finally spoke, "Phew~ we finally escaped."

"Can we dispel the Transformation Technique now?" the man asked.

"Don't let your guard down; the Iwa-nin could catch up at any moment," another man whispered a reminder.

"Tch~"

Without a doubt, these three men dressed as commoners were none other than Uchiha Matsuri, Minato Namikaze, and Kiba Inuzuka, who had just used the Clone Technique to escape Iwagakure.

"Minato, my clone was discovered. How about yours?" Uchiha Matsuri suddenly asked Minato Namikaze.

"Mine was too," Kiba Inuzuka added.

"Mine hasn't been yet, but since your clones have both been discovered, I imagine mine is about the same," Minato Namikaze said.

"Tricking Kitsuchi for nearly half an hour with a clone is already quite good," Uchiha Matsuri laughed. "Besides, we've already escaped Iwagakure. It won't be so easy for them to find us in the ravine-filled Land of Earth."

Needless to say, Uchiha Matsuri could already imagine the look of rage on Kitsuchi's face once he realized he had been toyed with by clones for half an hour.

"The most urgent thing now is to find Master Jiraiya," Uchiha Matsuri said.

"Yeah," Minato Namikaze nodded.

After the three of them escaped, the most dangerous situation now involved Jiraiya, who was completely unaware and still waiting for them outside the village. If the Iwagakure pursuit team discovered Jiraiya outside the village, it would be a disaster.

Ten minutes later.

A village town outside Iwagakure.

Jiraiya rubbed the large bump on his head and grumbled indignantly, "It was just a little peek, so why did they have to chase me for three whole streets? Honestly."

Looking at the position of the sun in the sky, Jiraiya muttered to himself in confusion, "That's not right. It's been two hours already; why haven't those little brats returned? They didn't go and stir up more trouble, did they?"

As he spoke, Jiraiya suddenly saw four Iwa-nin running toward him from the street in the distance.

Seeing the four ninja running in his direction, Jiraiya didn't think their target was him. However, to avoid trouble, he honestly turned his back to face the wall, pretending that nothing was amiss.

However, a few seconds later, the four Iwa-nin suddenly surrounded Jiraiya.

"Hey, hey, why are you ninja surrounding me?" Jiraiya said with dissatisfaction.

"Jiraiya?" The four Iwa-nin exclaimed in surprise upon seeing him.

The four Iwagakure Anbu ninja had been ordered by Kitsuchi to pursue Uchiha Matsuri and the other two troublemakers. But the targets had been running for over twenty minutes, and their direction was uncertain, which had the four Iwa-nin quite worried.

Coincidentally, the four of them had sensed a very powerful chakra in the southeast of Iwagakure and rushed over, never expecting it to be Jiraiya, one of the "Sannin."

"Uh..."

Seeing the surprised expressions on the four Iwa-nin's faces, Jiraiya's mouth twitched.

What the hell? They didn't even know my identity beforehand, yet they surrounded me without a word. Can someone tell me what is going on??!!

"Captain, our target is those three brats. What should we do about this Jiraiya who suddenly appeared?" one Iwa-nin asked with a frown.

"Hmph, I don't care who he is; let's capture him first," the Iwa-nin captain snorted coldly. "Besides, he and those three brats are all Konoha ninja. He might even be the commander of this infiltration mission."

Hearing the captain's order, the other three Iwagakure Anbu ninja didn't ask further and suddenly launched an attack on Jiraiya.

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison!"

Dozens of stone pillars made of rock rose from the ground, surrounding Jiraiya.

"It seems this fight is unavoidable," Jiraiya shook his head helplessly.

Immediately, Jiraiya held oil refined from his chakra in his mouth and simultaneously unleashed a Fire Release:

"Fire Release: Great Flame Bomb!"

A massive torrent of flame erupted from Jiraiya's mouth, instantly shattering the surrounding stone pillars.

How unlucky, having to kill people near Iwagakure. I just hope that old geezer Ōnoki doesn't suddenly pop up, Jiraiya thought to himself.

Tsuchikage's office.

The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, stood with his hands behind his back, gazing out the window, when suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

"Father," Kitsuchi said, bowing.

"Ah, it's you, Kitsuchi. Tell me what's going on!" Ōnoki said bluntly.

After listening to Kitsuchi's report, Ōnoki of Both Scales slammed his fist onto the desk. "Konoha ninja..."

"Father, should we send a few more squads of Iwagakure Anbu to pursue them?" Kitsuchi asked.

"No need," Ōnoki said, his expression cold and stern. "Kitsuchi, send someone to Konoha immediately. I want to see how that old man, the Hokage, intends to respond."

"Yes."

In a patch of bushes by the roadside.

Uchiha Matsuri and his two companions hid in the brush, watching the battle between Jiraiya and the Iwagakure Anbu.

In the distance, Jiraiya had already eliminated two Iwagakure Anbu and was currently engaged with the remaining two.

"Matsuri, should we go out and help Master Jiraiya?" Minato Namikaze asked from the side.

"There is no need," Uchiha Matsuri replied softly.