Doesn't Look Like Acting

Fifteen minutes later, Toru tucked the scarecrow into his coat pocket, stood up, and said, "Fifteen minutes are up. The client has recovered his stamina; we move out now."

Kurenai stood up immediately in coordination. Toru then glanced at Asuma. Asuma met Toru's gaze for a moment, then finally braced his hands against his legs and sprang up from the ground.

Toru nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good, we can move out."

The group stepped forward and walked into the forest.

The moment they stepped into the forest, Toru signaled for the other two to slow down and said, "I sense danger in the forest. Form a pin-shaped formation immediately to protect the client."

In an escort mission, the client's life was paramount.

The group huddled together. Toru, as the head of the pin, took the lead, with the scarecrow—the client Sakamoto Ichiro—right behind him.

Beside Sakamoto Ichiro were the other two ninjas, Yuhi Kurenai and Asuma. The three of them tightly surrounded Sakamoto Ichiro in the center.

Sakamoto Ichiro walked forward in the middle of their formation, leaving no openings. This allowed them to ensure his safety while maintaining a rapid pace.

Just then, a kunai suddenly flew from the canopy ahead, aimed precisely at the empty space surrounded by the three of them.

Theoretically, that was where the client stood. If the kunai had truly struck the center of the trio, it would have meant the client had already been hit.

Because they did not know if the kunai was coated in poison, a hit could potentially be fatal.

Nara Shikaku could easily jump out and declare the escort mission a failure. Because the kunai might have been heavily poisoned, the three did not dare to be the least bit careless.

Asuma pulled out two strange weapons that looked like brass knuckles. These were gifts he had received when he officially became a ninja—short blades crafted by someone the Third Hokage had commissioned, using Chakra Metal and a hard alloy.

Chakra Metal was extremely expensive; the Third Hokage's personal wealth only allowed for a small amount to be mixed in. However, that was already enough. This weapon could absorb the wielder's chakra and manifest the characteristics of that chakra's nature, which was of great benefit in ninja combat.

Asuma lunged forward and threw a punch, clanging the kunai away. He then sprinted into the forest, heading toward the spot where the kunai had been launched.

Asuma's strength was considerable, enough to rank in the top three of his class.

His speed was high, and his power was outstanding. He leaped up and instantly reached the canopy where the kunai had been fired.

Infusing chakra into his short blade, he threw a punch. The force of the blow, accompanied by the cold, biting light of the chakra blade, tore away the obscuring canopy in one strike.

In an instant, leaves danced and drifted across the ground, yet Nara Shikaku was nowhere to be seen. Only a crude launching device was exposed.

Asuma was somewhat surprised, but he still smashed the launching device with a punch. He jumped down and said to Toru, "The teacher isn't up there."

Toru had known this outcome all along and said, "It's fine. Stay alert and resume the formation."

Asuma nodded and returned to his position.

This forest was only a little over 200 meters long. Crossing these 200 meters was easy, even with a dead weight in tow.

But the problem was that they now knew Nara Shikaku had set up traps like this throughout the forest.

Furthermore, they didn't know when Nara Shikaku himself would appear, so the three moved even more cautiously, at nearly the pace of an ordinary person taking a stroll.

The three walked forward step by step, extremely vigilant.

Along the way, they indeed encountered several more similar traps, all of which were neutralized by the three one by one.

These small tricks along the way made Asuma lower his guard slightly.

The three had already covered half the distance, and they would surely be out soon.

But just as Asuma thought this, Shikaku caught him off guard.

This time, a kunai flew over. Asuma rushed forward without a second thought, preparing to knock it away with his chakra blade.

He hadn't expected that this kunai was dragging an explosive tag behind it, and it had already been ignited.

Asuma only saw the explosive tag when he was halfway through his charge, but it was already too late to change his move.

As Asuma charged toward the kunai, the kunai also flew rapidly toward Asuma.

With both parties rushing toward each other, they would make contact in an instant.

There was simply no time to change his movement.

Asuma could only steel himself and prepare to punch the kunai away, trying to knock it as far as possible before it exploded.

But the risk was high, as the explosive tag could detonate the moment they made contact.

However, there was no other choice.

Just then, a kunai streaked past Asuma, overtaking him and striking the explosive tag kunai in front.

The two kunai collided, changing their trajectory and causing the explosive-laden kunai to fly to the side, embedding itself in a tree next to Asuma.

With a loud boom, the tree was snapped in half by the explosive tag. The wood chips and dust kicked up by the blast, accompanied by the shockwave, knocked Asuma to the ground, leaving him looking very disheveled.

It was Toru who had thrown that kunai, saving Asuma's life.

He had long since perceived the explosive kunai with his Six Eyes. Nara Shikaku is truly bold, he thought to himself. Isn't he afraid of blowing up the Hokage's son? But perhaps he observed my move of knocking away the trap mechanism earlier and figured I could save Asuma. Still, this speaks volumes of his nerve.

Nara Shikaku emerged from the shadows of the jungle and said to the group, "Hand over the client, and I might spare your lives."

Toru replied, "Absolutely not. Not betraying a client is the bottom line for us Konoha ninjas."

Nara Shikaku put on a very convincing, ferocious expression, the scar on his face even twitching twice as he said viciously, "Then don't blame me for being ruthless."

Shikaku raised his hand and threw a flurry of shuriken, covering the directions of Asuma, Toru, Kurenai, and the client all at once.

Asuma rolled on the ground, barely dodging the attack.

Toru blocked the shuriken aimed at himself, as well as those flying toward Kurenai and the client, while saying to Kurenai, "Kurenai, take care of yourself and the client."

Toru then pulled two shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and threw them at Nara Shikaku.

Shikaku dodged to the side, but Toru had actually tied translucent, wire-like threads to the shuriken, manipulating them to pursue Shikaku.

Seeing that they were hard to dodge, Shikaku had no choice but to pull out a kunai and strike the two shuriken down.

"Shuriken Manipulation Technique! Are you from the Uchiha clan?" Shikaku exclaimed.

Toru responded, "Knowing that I'm an Uchiha, do you still dare to make a move?"

Shikaku laughed out loud and said, "An Uchiha brat is worth quite a lot at the Bounty Station!"

To this, Toru's assessment was, "It doesn't look like acting; I suggest a thorough investigation."