The three of them ran at full speed until they were far away from the abandoned factory district. Only after confirming there were no pursuers behind them did they dare slow down slightly and hide behind a dense thicket to catch their breath.
"Phew... phew... There were so many of them!" Naruto braced his hands on his knees, gulping for air, his face still showing lingering fear and anger. "And they captured so many people!"
Kakashi's expression was grave as his Sharingan vigilantly swept over the path they had come from. "The scale of that altar and the organization of those black-robed people far exceeded our expectations. This is no minor operation. We need to send this intelligence back immediately."
He quickly formed hand seals and summoned Pakkun.
"Kakashi? What's so urgent?" Pakkun appeared with a yawn.
"Emergency intelligence." Kakashi stuffed a scroll containing a brief record of what they had seen underground—key words such as Ghost-Face High Priest, Crow, That Lord, and the descent ritual—into the pouch around Pakkun's neck. "Take it back to the village immediately and hand it to Lord Hokage personally! Top priority!"
Pakkun sniffed the air, and his dog face turned serious. "Understood. I can smell blood and lingering unpleasant energy. Looks like you ran into serious trouble." He instantly vanished in a puff of white smoke.
"We need to get back to the outpost as quickly as possible too!" Kakashi stood up. "The outpost may not be safe either. They need to prepare to evacuate or hold their ground until reinforcements arrive!"
``` [Ding! Reconnaissance mission complete. Successfully acquired key intelligence: location of the cult organization's base, high-ranking code names (Ghost-Face High Priest, Crow), ritual-related intelligence (divine blood, descent), and the suspected existence of That Lord behind it all. Overall evaluation: S. Reward issued: