Surrounded, A Trap?

Shisui finished speaking and vanished from the spot immediately.

Ryosuke and Miyuki leaped onto two adjacent large trees, using the branches to conceal their figures.

Sanhe had originally intended to mock the two of them, but seeing this, he had no choice but to jump into a tree as well.

Three hours passed in a flash, and the sun was now directly above the forest.

Even up in the trees, it was incredibly stifling.

Ryosuke was eating his bento in the tree when he suddenly sensed movement behind him.

"Ryosuke-kun, it's me." Miyuki's voice drifted over.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding the west side?"

Ryosuke asked, puzzled.

"Don't you feel like this forest is far too quiet? There isn't even a single bird chirping."

Miyuki whispered.

Ryosuke immediately grasped what she meant.

Moreover, Miyuki was a sensory-type ninja; without Ryosuke using Pesquisa, his perception of the environment was inferior to hers.

He activated the skill at once.

Sure enough, on the outskirts of the forest, there were over a dozen faint figures slowly closing in on them in a web-like formation.

"Enemies."

Ryosuke stood up immediately.

"What? Are there really enemies? Why didn't I sense them?"

Miyuki was startled.

"It seems these guys have taken specific precautions against the Sharingan. If I didn't have other methods, I wouldn't have discovered them either. Quickly, notify Sanhe."

Ryosuke said rapidly.

Miyuki nodded; she knew well that Ryosuke would never joke about such matters.

A low, whistling sound echoed through the woods.

Sanhe's figure appeared beside them shortly after.

"What's wrong?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Sanhe-kun, you weren't sleeping, were you?" Miyuki said, speechless.

"Ah, I just haven't rested well these past two days, and since there was no situation, I just took a break. Is something the matter?" He asked, scratching his head in slight embarrassment.

"Ryosuke-kun discovered enemies; they are surrounding us," Miyuki said.

"Enemies? No way. Could it be reinforcements?" Sanhe activated his Sharingan and looked around.

But he discovered nothing.

"Would reinforcements sneak up on us silently? Don't forget, we are still within the borders of the Land of Fire." Ryosuke glared at him.

"But how come I didn't find anything?" Sanhe asked, completely bewildered.

"The enemy has methods to counter the Sharingan's detection abilities. If I'm not mistaken, our location has been leaked."

Ryosuke said with a grave expression.

At this, both Sanhe and Miyuki lost their composure.

If Ryosuke's words before were just a guess, the current situation was likely confirming that suspicion.

Could it be that they had truly become sacrifices for the peace between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning?

Sanhe still found it hard to accept.

"That can't be. Why would the Hokage betray us? I don't believe it. You must have seen wrong; those have to be Konoha reinforcements. Don't let your imaginations run wild."

Sanhe shook his head and said.

"Then let's test it."

As Miyuki spoke, she began to form hand seals.

But her movements were stopped by Ryosuke.

"Ryosuke-kun?"

Miyuki looked at Ryosuke in confusion.

"You want to use the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique? That consumes too much chakra. Let me handle it instead: Ninja Art: Thousand-Fold Illusion."

Ryosuke's hand seals were lightning-fast, and in an instant, countless shadows of Ryosuke appeared all around.

Without the Sharingan, Miyuki and Sanhe would have been unable to distinguish these shadows from actual shadow clones.

The shadows began to fly off in every direction.

The three of them activated their Sharingan, tracking the movements of the shadows.

However, apart from Ryosuke, the other two had no idea where the enemy was specifically located.

"See? I told you Ryosuke was mistaken; there aren't any enemies at all."

Seeing that his shadow remained unattacked, Sanhe immediately began to laugh.

But soon, an explosion erupted in the distance, followed by several flashes of lightning.

That was the effect of the Cloud Ninja's signature Lightning Style ninjutsu.

The smile on Sanhe's face instantly stiffened.

"We've been discovered! It was an illusion! They're still in the woods—find them, quickly!"

An exasperated voice drifted over from afar.

Ryosuke dispelled his ninjutsu.

Sanhe's face turned pale.

"Did someone really betray us? Are we just sacrifices for the village?"

"Sanhe, what we need to do now is survive and get out of here. Don't think about it so much."

Miyuki reminded him.

"Right, we should hold our ground here. As long as Shisui returns in time, we'll be saved."

Sanhe suddenly thought of something and spoke up immediately.

But Ryosuke shook his head.

"The enemy only started moving hours after Shisui left, which means they were well-prepared. The worst-case scenario is that Shisui is being held up by the Cloud Ninja, so this time, we have to rely on ourselves."

"There are twelve enemies, and judging by their strength, they are all at the Chunin level. They must be the Cloud Ninja's Anbu. Everyone, prepare to break through."

After saying this, Ryosuke took out his ninja tool pouch and handed several scrolls to Sanhe.

"This is?"

"These are shuriken and kunai. Aren't you skilled with the Shadow Shuriken? I'll leave suppressing the enemy to you," Ryosuke said calmly.

"Th-thanks," Sanhe said, feeling a bit awkward.

Next, Ryosuke handed a pouch of Military Ration Pills to Miyuki.

"Miyuki, your ninjutsu consumes a lot of chakra. Take these. If you encounter danger, come to me; I will protect you."

Ryosuke said to Miyuki.

"Thank you, Ryosuke. If it weren't for you this time, I'm afraid we would have already been captured by the Cloud Ninja."

Miyuki took the bag and said with a smile.

"No need to thank me. I don't want to die here and become a sacrifice for others, either."

"Now, let's begin. It's time to let the enemy witness the power of the Uchiha."

The three of them stood up together.

Shisui approached his target rapidly using the Body Flicker Technique.

The journey that should have taken half a day was covered in a mere three hours.

But the cost of doing so was that over half of his chakra was depleted.

I feel a sense of unease. They should be fine, right? I'm worrying too much. Even if something happened, with Ryosuke there, it shouldn't be a problem.

Shisui comforted himself, then activated his Sharingan to scan the internal structure of the Safe House before him.

To his surprise, ten Cloud Ninja were gathered inside.

Furthermore, they were resting in a combat formation.

It was as if they knew someone would come here.

Is it really a trap?

At this thought, Shisui already considered retreating.

He was confident he could deal with the enemies here, but it would take a significant amount of time.

That would be of no benefit to his subsequent objectives, so he prepared to return to rendezvous with Team One first, then scout all the target locations.

However, the moment he turned around, he saw ten ninjas standing behind him.

"Since you've come, why not stay a while longer?"