I don't usually accuse people without cause

Two masked shinobi in cloaks hurried toward the Land of Fire.

The Land of Waterfalls was higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast. Far off on the horizon, a green line marked the forests of the Land of Fire.

The destination looked close, but looks were deceiving. It would still take some time to reach it.

The two cloaked shinobi, one tall and one short, reached a cliff and prepared to leap to the next plateau.

The short, thin shinobi suddenly sensed a fluctuation of chakra beneath the cliff.

"Jump!"

Just then, scarlet cracks suddenly spread across the rocks at the cliff's edge.

Boom!

Three figures burst out of the smoke amid the explosion.

Uchiha Ling looked at the two cloaked shinobi's feet. They had suffered only superficial injuries.

They were strong. Even a sneak attack had failed to get them.

The two cloaked shinobi also studied their ambusher.

He wore no shinobi vest, only an ordinary short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with a black cat mask over his face.

He wasn't tall, either. He looked like a genin of around ten.

The short, thin shinobi glanced at the cliff's edge. That had clearly been Explosion Release.

"An Explosion Release Clan genin?" he asked. "We just worked with your clan leader, Explosion Release Hunt. What do you think you're doing?"

Uchiha Ling thought his Explosion Release really did make a perfect smokescreen. Who would imagine that an Uchiha had mastered Explosion Release?

"You said it yourself," Uchiha Ling replied. "You worked with the clan leader. What's that got to do with me?

I can't touch the clan leader, but you think I can't touch you?

You know what I want."

Uchiha Ling had no idea what these two were carrying. He would try bluffing first.

The tall shinobi drew