Separated

The three advanced southeast in a triangular formation, Sakumo at the point, Mita on the left rear flank, and Tian Shan on the right rear flank.

Viper lay in a pit on the side of a hill, watching the three figures through gaps in the wild grass. He did not follow. That bottle of liquid had already been spilled; its scent had seeped into the soil and vegetation. Sooner or later, Hidden Stone Village's ninja hounds would track the scent here. He climbed out of the pit, changed direction, and headed toward the densest part of Hidden Stone Village's encirclement. He needed to find a place within their ranks where he could blend in.

The thickness of the encirclement exceeded Sakumo's expectations. After they broke through the first blockade, the second had already closed in from the north and west at the same time. Hidden Stone Village's commander was no fool. The moment the encirclement was torn open, he deployed two mobile squads to flank them from both sides, using more manpower to seal the breach again.

"We can't get out," Mita said calmly.

Sakumo saw it too. Ahead lay open ground with no cover. On both sides, Hidden Stone Village's forces were closing in. Behind them was the first blockade he had just broken through; the pursuers he had shaken off had reorganized and were pressing in from the rear.

They were surrounded.

"Tian Shan, stay in the middle. Mita, left flank. I'll take the right."

Hidden Stone Village's first attack came crashing in from the front. Three chunin charged at once, their kunai stabbing toward Sakumo's chest, waist, and throat from three directions. Sakumo's short blade swept an arc before him, knocking all three kunai away at once. His blade had not yet spent its momentum when its tip slashed across the foremost man's wrist. The man dropped to his knees, clutching his severed hand, while those behind him had already filled his place.

Sakumo's blade grew faster and faster. Every swing was fiercer, quicker, and more merciless than the last. The White Fang blade darted through the gray combat uniforms of the Hidden Stone Village ninja. Every draw sent up a spray of blood; every sheathing pinned another life to the ground.

Mita was entangled on the left flank. A Hidden Stone Village special jonin had sealed off his room to maneuver with a chain. Poisoned barbs were tied to its tip, and every arc it cut through the air perfectly blocked Mita's retreat. Mita's kunai struck the chain in a shower of sparks. The web between his right thumb and forefinger split open from the impact, blood running down the kunai's handle.

Sakumo cut across from the right flank, slashing the chain three times in quick succession. The special jonin retreated the instant the chain snapped, but Sakumo's blade was faster than his retreat. The short blade thrust through the broken link, its tip emerging from the man's back.

Mita freed himself from the remains of the chain. His right hand was bleeding, but his left had already pulled hemostatic powder from his ninja tool pouch and sprinkled it over the wound between his thumb and forefinger.

Tian Shan suddenly shouted, "Behind us, to the left!"

Sakumo turned. A Hidden Stone Village jonin had somehow circled behind him, a kunai stabbing down toward the back of his neck. As he turned, Sakumo kicked the jonin's knee with his right foot. The crack of bone breaking was audible even through the combat uniform. The instant the man dropped to his knees, Sakumo's blade had already cut across his throat.

"Move! South!" Sakumo shoved Tian Shan.

The three pushed south. The encirclement there was the weakest, and the terrain was the most complicated: a ravine region carved out by floods, with gullies deep enough to swallow a person.

The earth in the ravines was wet. Their feet sank into it with every step, and when they pulled free, clumps of sticky mud came with them. The three ran unevenly through the gullies, while the footsteps of their pursuers drew closer and closer behind them.

Tian Shan suddenly stumbled. His right foot had stepped into a deep pit concealed beneath silt, and he pitched forward. Sakumo grabbed his collar and hauled him out. Tian Shan's right leg was caked in mud from the knee down, his boot left behind in the pit.

"Forget the boot. Move."

Tian Shan ran through the ravines with one bare foot. Gravel and broken branches stabbed into his sole, blood seeping out and leaving a trail of faint red footprints in the wet mud.

The pursuers caught up with them at the exit of the ravine region.

Sakumo held his short blade horizontally before him. The battle at the ravine exit dragged on for a long time.

Sakumo's blade carved left and right through the gray sea of men, his body weaving between enemy edges. Every dodge brushed past a blade, every strike left a fatal wound at a vital point. The White Fang blade was smeared with blood, which ran down its edge and gathered into drops at the tip, falling one by one into the wet mud.

Mita's right hand could barely hold his kunai anymore. The wound between his thumb and forefinger kept tearing open during the battle, blood soaking the handle until it was slick. He bound the kunai to his palm with bandages and kept cutting. The Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques were useless in this kind of close-quarters melee.

Tian Shan was not idle behind Sakumo. He used medical ninjutsu to treat the nonfatal wounds that would still affect Sakumo and Mita in battle.

Mita was the first to give out. After the final strike with his kunai bound to his hand, his right hand completely lost its strength. The kunai slipped from his grasp and fell into the mud. A Hidden Stone Village chunin lunged at him from the side, thrusting a kunai toward his chest.

Sakumo's blade stabbed through from behind Mita, its tip piercing the chunin's throat before his kunai could strike Mita. In that instant, Sakumo's body was exposed to another Hidden Stone Village ninja's blade. A kunai stabbed into his left shoulder from behind, piercing his combat uniform, his skin, and his muscle. The moment it went in, Sakumo leaned slightly forward and left, clamping the kunai between his muscles to stop it from driving deeper.

He slashed backward, and the man behind him fell.

Mita picked up his kunai from the ground and stood again. His right hand trembled, but he gripped the weapon tightly.

"Captain Sakumo, take Tian Shan and go. I'll cover the rear."

Sakumo did not look at him. "We leave together."

"If we leave together, none of us will get out. If I cover the rear, the two of you still have a chance." Mita's voice was calm. "I'm from the Yamanaka Clan. They won't kill me. They'll take me back to Hidden Stone Village, interrogate me, dig intelligence out of my mouth. But I won't let them get anything. The Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques—their final purpose isn't controlling others. It's controlling ourselves."

Sakumo tilted his head slightly and looked at Mita.

"Go."

Sakumo shifted his short blade from a forward grip to a reverse grip, abandoning defense and attacking with everything he had. He tore open a path through the enemy formation.

"Follow me."

Sakumo charged out. He moved so fast Mita could barely follow him with his eyes. He burst through the front, dragging his blade from the first man's chest to his abdomen, cutting from the second man's collarbone to beneath his ribs, slashing across the third man's throat. He surged through the enemy formation, each strike ripping open another gap and pushing Tian Shan and Mita one step forward.

"Tian Shan, go."

Tian Shan rushed through the opening. Barefoot, he ran across the gravel on the south side of the ravine region. Stones pierced his sole, but he gritted his teeth and made no sound. After running a long way, he looked back. Sakumo was still standing at the gap, Mita behind him. The two stood back to back, sealing the opening and keeping Hidden Stone Village's men from pursuing him.

Tian Shan's eyes reddened, but he did not stop. He knew the only thing he could do now was run. He was a medical ninja. Though he was a special jonin, his combat strength was at best that of a chunin. Staying behind would only hold them back.

After he ran farther, a surge of ninjutsu suddenly erupted behind him. It came so fast that before he could even determine its direction, his body had already been sent flying by a tremendous force.

Tian Shan rolled across the ground several times before stopping. A burst of intense pain flared across his back. He raised his head and saw someone standing on the path he had just taken, dressed in Hidden Stone Village's gray combat uniform. Most of the person's face was covered by a mask, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.

Tian Shan's heart sank. That amount of chakra... a jonin!

He swiftly pulled three test tubes from his ninja tool pouch. They contained smoke agents he had mixed himself. He threw all three out, sprang to his feet, and fled.

Viper let out a derisive snort at the smoke, then used ninjutsu to blow it away. Just as he was about to pursue Tian Shan's retreating figure, he sensed Hidden Stone Village forces approaching. After hesitating for a moment, he vanished.