Before long, Hayato swiftly subdued Inuzuka Kaku, pinning him to the ground.
He gave a soft snort, a hint of wariness in his eyes. "Your appearance was a reminder. I was too careless before."
As he spoke, Hayato quickly gathered some tough vines from the surrounding area and bound Inuzuka Kaku tightly to a sturdy tree.
To make absolutely sure he couldn't escape, he found a wad of cloth and shoved it roughly into Inuzuka Kaku's mouth.
When he was done, he dusted off his hands and said coldly, "Just stay right here for these last two days."
Hayato thought to himself that the guy probably wouldn't starve to death if he missed a meal or two.
Missing a meal or two shouldn't kill him, Hayato added to himself.
He recalled his earlier oversight: he had completely forgotten to restrict these "prey's" freedom of movement. Once they regained their strength, they could rejoin the brutal trial, which had caused him no small amount of trouble.
After dealing with Inuzuka Kaku, Hayato casually took the two scrolls from him—the two Heaven scrolls.
Then he set out with Jiro for the location Inuzuka Kaku had pointed out.
Watching Jiro trot happily ahead of him, Hayato smiled. "So your name's Jiro. From now on, I'll call you Kojiro. If we're lucky, I'll find you a companion named Musashi and a cat, and then you can form a group and debut as Team Rocket."
About fifteen minutes later, Hayato hid behind a large tree and cautiously watched what was happening ahead.
He counted the people and frowned slightly. "That guy really wasn't being honest. There are eleven people here."
The situation was complicated, so Hayato didn't act rashly. Instead, he sat down where he was and began carefully analyzing the scene.
At that moment,