Pursuers

They had watched from the evening until dawn the next day. Their patience finally paid off—the fish shop clerk arrived with several men and a cartload of goods. The bearded man climbed onto the wagon and headed out of the village. The three of them stiffened. He had finally come.

The cart traveled along the main road, heading north along the Konoha highway. "They should be heading toward the Hot Spring Country. The cart bears the Hot Spring Country's mark. From there, they could reach the Land of Lightning or the Water Country. These people are all ninja. That young fish ball vendor had hidden himself well—I was completely fooled by him. They're splitting up." As soon as Uchiha En finished speaking, the cart stopped. The bearded man got down with a box strapped to his back. The clerk and the bearded man broke away from the group and headed into the forest.

"This is troublesome. We don't have enough people," Uchiha Retsu said worriedly. "We'll split up too. En, you're good at tracking, so follow the bearded man and leave marks along the way. Retsu and I will ambush the merchant convoy shortly. Better to kill the wrong one than let any escape. Before leaving the village, I left word with the brothers guarding the gate. If we don't return within two hours, they're to find my father, our teacher, or Uncle. We've left the Uchiha Clan's special marks all along the way. As long as we don't lose the fish, this feast is ours!" Uchiha Yo said decisively. "No problem. You two be careful when the time comes—don't get overturned in a ditch. Yo, you're younger than us, but you need to look after Retsu. Sometimes his brain gets waterlogged. I'm going." Without waiting for Retsu to retort, Uchiha En chased after the bearded man.

"Speed up and get ahead of them. There's a stream up ahead. Let me set something up, then we'll wipe them out!" Uchiha Retsu said confidently. The two accelerated and began setting traps about fifteen hundred meters ahead of the merchant convoy. One hid in the water, while the other concealed himself in a tree beside the road.

For some reason, the convoy suddenly picked up speed as well. The small group arrived in a flash. With a bang, an explosive tag blew apart the left wheel of the wagon. The flying shuriken and shattered wheel struck two clerks, who fell on the spot, dead or alive unknown. Then the driver swiftly took a large box from the cart, identical to the earlier one, and fled toward the stream under the protection of two clerks.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" "Uchiha Shuriken Projection!" "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!" Two jutsu struck from the water in rapid succession. Then Uchiha Retsu detonated the traps, while Uchiha Yo used Phoenix Flower Claw Red from the tree. Since the enemy had been on guard, they only killed two clerks. The man carrying the wooden box was at least a chunin by the look of his movements. Before long, the two brothers had him trapped between them.

"We are legitimate merchants from the Hot Spring Country, conducting business in the Land of Fire. As Konoha ninja, why do you not obey the Hokage's regulations and attack a merchant convoy working with Konoha? If you withdraw now, we'll pretend nothing happened and never enter the Land of Fire again. How about it?" "Why don't we obey the Hokage's orders? Because we're Uchiha! You're still pretending at this point? Will you surrender, or shall we brothers send you on your way?" Uchiha Retsu replied with some interest.

Uchiha Yo had no interest in chatting with the other side. The moment Retsu spoke his first word, he began forming hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" "Wind Release: Wind Release!" This was a combined jutsu Uchiha Yo had developed from his memories, followed by "Shuriken Manipulation Technique!"

"Water Release: Water Turbulence!" "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" "Lightning Release: Earth Walk!" The driver on the other side could not be bothered with more nonsense. He secretly laughed to himself. These two brats are clearly green. Ambushing people beside a stream—aren't they afraid their targets might know Water Release? Heh heh.

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!" "Captured successfully! Yo, how did you know he could use Water Release?" Uchiha Retsu asked happily. "Ninja heading toward the Hot Spring Country, even if they split up, wouldn't be from the Wind Country or Earth Country. That means they're either Cloud ninja or Mist ninja. Near water, whether it's Lightning Release or Water Release, both benefit ninja from those two countries. Especially after you revealed that we're Uchiha—the Uchiha Clan mostly uses Fire Release and Lightning Release. If he didn't run into the water, where else would he go? Besides, my attacks had already driven him toward your clone. Good thing you know the Water Prison Technique, or this really would have been troublesome," Uchiha Yo said with relief. "My Water Prison Technique can only be used in water, so don't count on it normally. Anyway, should we kill him directly, or interrogate him first and then kill him?" "No chance. Look." The ninja inside the water prison had already coughed up blood and killed himself. "Finish him off. We need to find En quickly. A secret these people would rather die to protect is probably beyond what we can handle. Your birthday present will have to wait," Uchiha Retsu said with a worried expression. "Judging by the time, that patrolling clansman should have already called for reinforcements. We only need to follow them and provide the tracking direction. If necessary, we'll try to intercept them and stall for time. Let's go. Leave clear marks and support En." Though he said that, Yo's brows remained tightly furrowed as he turned away. They needed to reinforce En quickly.