What Secret Plan Is Being Pulled!

Aoba reacted almost instinctively, yanking Asuma into a roll to evade the attack. A shuriken grazed his back and embedded itself in a wooden pillar, sending splinters flying.

"Hand over the intelligence."

The lead black-robed man spoke in a hoarse voice. The red glow beneath his hood grew ever brighter. "What did you tell that rogue ninja?"

Asuma shielded Aoba behind him, cold sweat already seeping from his palms. "You misunderstand. We're merely merchants buying medicine—"

"Merchants carry Explosive Tags on them?"

The black-robed man suddenly flung out a burning talisman, instantly igniting the Explosive Tag hidden at Aoba's waist.

Amid the firelight, Asuma gritted his teeth and shoved Aoba toward the back door. "Run!"

The explosion shook roof tiles loose in a rattling cascade. Aoba staggered through the wooden door, only to find another black-robed man already waiting in the alley.

The man raised his hands in a seal, and countless vines suddenly burst from the ground.

Aoba flipped through the air. The instant his kunai severed the vines, Asuma charged out of the smoke, his Chakra Blades cutting through the black-robed man's attack. "Go to the ruined temple in the west of the city!"

Aoba sprinted through the maze of alleys, but the footsteps behind him drew ever closer.

As he rounded the third corner, he suddenly slammed into a wall of flesh.

The moment he looked up, he met a pair of bloodshot eyes—a burly man with a face full of brawn. A gourd hung at his waist, marked with Orochimaru's Curse Mark.

"Where do you think you're running, brat?"

The burly man raised his spiked club with a vicious grin, but Aoba suddenly gave him a sly smile. "There's someone behind you."

The man instinctively turned around, and Aoba took the chance to throw a smoke