Early the next morning, sunlight streamed into Toru and the others' lodging.
Toru and the others were already prepared. Maruboshi Kosuke had even slung the iron pot over his back; after all, they would likely be sleeping rough again for the next few days.
Toru adjusted the forehead protector on his brow and formally led the group out.
They headed west, crossing mountains and ridges.
The farther west they traveled, the sparser the vegetation on the mountains became, gradually changing from dense forest into low shrubs.
Along the way, they put on a show of searching everywhere for traces of the Hidden Valley Village missing-nin, asking for directions in villages along the road.
They actually found something. According to a woodcutter, he had once seen two people whose appearances and attire matched those in the intelligence sketches heading west.
That happened to align with Toru's group's direction, so Toru stopped dawdling on the road and continued west.
Still, it made Toru consider one possibility: perhaps Hidden Valley Village did know where those two missing-nin had gone, but simply did not dare search to the west for fear of upsetting Sunagakure's ninja.
But that was fine too. Even if those two missing-nin were on Sunagakure territory, Toru had grounds to eliminate them—and could openly gather intelligence on Sunagakure as well.
They traveled until dusk before Toru gestured for them to stop. "We'll camp nearby tonight and continue tomorrow. Otherwise, if we enter Sunagakure territory on the second day after accepting the mission, our purpose will be far too obvious."
Hayama Shirakumo found that perfectly reasonable and stopped to look for a suitable campsite.
Kosuke took down the iron pot, carrying it in one hand as he said, "Then I'll still be in charge of dinner tonight."
"We happened to buy some