Pursuit

Kakashi kept the enemies behind him at a distance. He had tried hiding along the way, but they found him quickly every time.

Watching the enemies charge straight toward his hiding place, Kakashi confirmed that their tracking party included a ninja with long-range sensory abilities.

After that, he abandoned any hope of luck and focused solely on escaping.

As the altitude continued to rise, the surrounding environment became increasingly unfavorable for Kakashi. There were virtually no trees or other cover left in sight, only uneven stretches of small ice fields.

There were five pursuers in total, and none had fallen behind despite maintaining such intense pursuit. They were most likely all Jonin-level ninja.

Although his strength had soared this year, Kakashi did not believe he could take down five Jonin opponents at once in a conventional fight.

Having already disposed of Shimura Ran's head along the way, Kakashi summoned a ninja snake and prepared to tell Orochimaru about his intended route.

Unexpectedly, the ninja snake had barely been summoned before it spat out a scroll.

He scanned the information on the scroll as he continued moving.

There was a map on it, along with a single sentence beside it.

"The target is in the Land of Fields." That was Orochimaru's message.

Not long after leaving Konoha, Kakashi had sensed that something was wrong. He had sent Orochimaru a message through a ninja snake.

Orochimaru replied that he was currently away on a mission and could not get free immediately. He would finish his mission as soon as possible and come support Kakashi.

After seeing Orochimaru's reply, Kakashi was almost certain that there was something wrong with this operation.

First, Hatake Sakumo had been sent to carry out a mission in the Land of Wind. Then Minato, Team 7's leader, had been transferred to a mission in the Land of Water.

Even Orochimaru was tied up by a long-term mission. Every person Kakashi could ask for help was unable to come.

Racing forward, Kakashi examined the map, bit his index finger, and drew a slightly curved line across it.

The starting point was the northeastern part of Frost Country, where he currently was. The destination was the daimyo's residence in the Land of Fields.

He swiftly put away the scroll, stuffed it into the ninja snake's mouth, and released the summoning. Then he pushed his speed to the limit once more.

He should thank Minato for his guidance over the past half year. Kakashi had mastered the Body Flicker Technique well, greatly increasing his movement speed. Otherwise, he would have been caught long ago.

But his recent actions had allowed the enemies behind him to close in considerably.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Shuriken!"

Among the five pursuers, Sashō at the front was the first to enter attack range. Without hesitation, he paused and unleashed the ninjutsu.

The seasoned Sashō aimed at Kakashi's expected landing point, launching a predictive attack.

Kakashi, still in midair, had no choice but to forcefully twist his body from the waist and change his landing point.

Carried by inertia, Kakashi's movements slowed considerably after landing.

He had finally been caught.

At this distance, there was no point in running any farther. The enemies could strike him with ninjutsu at any moment, and by then he would have consumed even more stamina, leaving him with even less ability to fight back.

He stood where he was and waited for his opponents, regulating the ragged breathing caused by his sprint.

Time was critical. Seizing the moment when the others were about to land, Kakashi scattered a volley of shuriken.

He had not expected to wound anyone. Avoiding the fastest Sashō, Kakashi charged toward the enemies landing farther behind.

Sashō dodged the shuriken, and Kakashi slipped past him in the crossing movement.

He held a blade in his right hand and two smoke bombs in his left.

Once he approached the four enemies, he silently threw the smoke bombs.

"Bang! Bang!" A cloud of dense purple smoke rose up.

Kakashi, who had been carefully observing the four men's reactions, fixed his eyes on the first one to react.

Ninja with sensory abilities usually had the sharpest reaction speeds among those of the same rank.

"It's you!" Among the four, he spotted a young man named Kanai, with shoulder-length blond hair and the white uniform of a Hidden Cloud Village Jonin. His face was covered in scars, making him look particularly vicious.

The instant the smoke enveloped them, all four held their breath.

Their first reaction upon losing sight was to remain calm. Moving carelessly could easily put them in even greater danger.

Within the smoke, Kakashi pinpointed Kanai's position and slashed at him.

"Clang!" Kanai reacted quickly, blocking Kakashi's attack with the kunai in his hand.

Using the air for leverage, Kakashi spun before he hit the ground and slashed again.

But unlike before, this strike had been silently infused with Senjutsu energy.

Because the smoke bomb had obscured his vision, Kanai could only rely on his senses as he fought Kakashi. He immediately noticed the "chakra" attached to his opponent's weapon.

Reacting swiftly, he immediately coated his own kunai with Lightning Release chakra.

But the short blade in Kakashi's hand was already made of better material than a kunai, and it was further empowered by his high-quality Senjutsu energy. The sharpness of that slash far exceeded Kanai's expectations.

"Ding!"

The kunai snapped upon contact and failed to protect Kanai.

Kakashi's short blade gave the solid sensation of a sharp edge cutting into flesh.

The gushing blood even splattered onto him.

He withdrew his blade and rapidly retreated.

"Aah!" Kanai let out a scream.

The moment Kakashi left the smoke bomb's range, he discovered that Sashō's attack had already arrived.

"Lightning Release: Earth Walk!"

With a flicker, he evaded the path of Earth Walk.

Still in midair, Kakashi formed hand seals.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

The ice fields surrounding him weakened the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique somewhat, but its advantage was its broader area of attack.

The other three enemies, having escaped the smoke bomb's effects, were blocked by the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique and could not attack immediately.

He landed steadily and opened up a little distance from the enemies.

Kanai was seriously injured, but the pursuing Hidden Cloud Village ninja believed victory was already assured, so they were in no hurry.

"Ming, stop Kanai's bleeding first," Sashō ordered a Hidden Cloud Village ninja beside Kanai.

Ming walked over and glanced at the slash across Kanai's body, running from his left shoulder to his right ribs. Green chakra appeared in his palm and covered the wound as he tried to stop the bleeding.

"Kid, once we catch you, I'm going to cut off both your arms!!"

Kanai spoke through gritted teeth to Kakashi. The scars on his face looked even more ferocious, like wriggling worms.

Kakashi pursed his lips but did not respond.

"Captain! Something's wrong with this wound! I can't stop the bleeding!" Ming discovered the problem after treating him for a while.

His medical ninjutsu was not particularly specialized, but he had never encountered problems when stopping bleeding or healing wounds before.

Yet now, he found that continuously channeling chakra into Kanai's wound had no effect whatsoever.

"There's something strange in that kid's chakra. It's too sharp. It feels like his short blade is even sharper than chakra metal."

It was not that ordinary weapons could not be infused with chakra, but the cost-effectiveness was extremely low. If ten parts of chakra were applied, less than half that benefit might be transmitted into an ordinary weapon.

Chakra metal, on the other hand, could achieve nearly the full effect of those ten parts. That was why chakra metal was so expensive.

Frowning, Sashō stepped forward to inspect Kanai's wound as well. He discovered what seemed to be a thin layer of something around it, preventing Ming's chakra from getting close.

"You take Kanai aside and treat him first. The three of us can handle this kid." With no immediate solution, Sashō reluctantly accepted that they would be down two men.