"Hmph, your mouth is still pretty tough."
Akimichi Choji frowned and clenched his fists, about to step forward and teach Kankuro another lesson, but Kawaki Aoba reached out to stop him.
"Choji, don't be rash."
Kawaki Aoba looked at Kankuro, his tone icy. "He's already lost the ability to fight. There's no point in killing him. What matters most now is getting out of here as quickly as possible, before any Sunagakure ninja really come to support them."
Nara Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "That's right. Sunagakure's ninja have always been crafty. Since Kankuro dared to come out alone to intercept us, he must have a backup plan. We need to leave quickly—we can't waste time here."
"But what do we do with Kankuro? And this Sunagakure ninja who's been controlled?"
Yamanaka Ino pointed at the two people on the ground and said hesitantly, "We can't just leave them here, can we? What if they recover and cause us more trouble?"
Kawaki Aoba pondered for a moment before saying, "Ino, use Mind Sensing to temporarily lock their consciousness so they can't transmit any information. Then we'll bind their bodies with Chakra and hide them in the nearby cave. Once we return from completing the mission, we'll hand them over to the village."
"Alright, no problem."
Yamanaka Ino nodded and formed hand seals. Two faint threads of Chakra shot toward Kankuro and the Sunagakure ninja. "Mind Sensing: Consciousness Lock! There. They won't wake up for the time being, and they won't be able to transmit any information."
Akimichi Choji stepped forward voluntarily, hoisted Kankuro onto his shoulder, then picked up the Sunagakure ninja as well. Speaking with some effort, he said, "Come on, I'll carry them to the cave. Follow me. When we were fighting earlier, I saw a hidden cave nearby.