Pursuit

The boom of the explosion startled the entire Kusagakure. A large number of ninja rushed to the scene because the explosion had occurred at the Grass Ninja administrative building. A kunai that had flown in from nowhere, carrying an Explosive Tag, blew a hole in the roof.

The entire Kusagakure was alarmed. They swiftly sealed off the scene and began investigating the culprit. They kept at it until the latter half of the night before suddenly realizing something: this attack might have merely been a diversion.

Because their important assets—the two Uzumaki blood bags—had vanished at some point.

Although they had never seemed to cherish those two blood bags much before, only after losing them did they realize just how important they were.

Medical ninja were high-end talents in any ninja village. Aside from Konoha, where Tsunade had especially promoted them, no other ninja village had a systematic medical ninja system.

Thus, a large number of Grass Ninja rushed out of the village and began tracking the two missing blood bags.

"Damn it, once we catch them, I'm going to teach those two bitches a proper lesson. They actually dared to run away, I—"

"Shut up, idiot. Didn't you see Jianren's corpse in the room? He was killed head-on by a swordsmanship master. Those two didn't escape on their own; someone took them away. Be careful. Jianren didn't even manage to send out a distress signal. The other side might be a high-level ninja."

Several Grass Ninja discussed the matter as they tracked their targets. Their voices were so loud that Aoba could hear them clearly from several hundred meters away.

This squad happened to have chosen the right direction. Aoba was carrying two people, and in order to conserve chakra, he was not running at full speed. He was not actually moving that fast.

By dawn, Grass Ninja who had guessed the right direction caught up. However, Aoba did not care.

The main reason was that he was not particularly afraid of Kusagakure. Compared to Konoha's diverse array of ninja, these small ninja villages had foundations that were simply too thin. Having a few ninja with secret techniques was already considered an impressive foundation.

As they drew near, Aoba could clearly sense their chakra. The strongest among them was only equivalent to an ordinary civilian Chunin from Konoha.

No matter how little chakra Aoba had, it was still Jonin-level. Moreover, their combat experience was not even in the same league.

Aoba had fought bloody battles against Kumogakure ninja on the border for three years. His experience and tactical skill were concepts entirely beyond those of ninja from small countries that had to rely on great nations to survive.

He even deliberately slowed down and allowed them to catch up.

"There! I see them! Stop!" One of the Grass Ninja even comically shouted for them to stop before charging straight ahead.

Both sides leaped from tree to tree in pursuit. Countless leaves fluttered down.

As the three Grass Ninja passed through the falling leaves, their expressions suddenly changed. Hidden among the drifting leaves were three Explosive Tags.

And for some unknown reason, the moment they passed through, the Explosive Tags seemed to be drawn to them and stuck directly onto their bodies.

The next second, three explosions went off in rapid succession. The three Grass Ninja died cleanly. In fact, all three had been members of the Kusagakure ANBU. Since they had managed to pursue this far, their fundamentals were certainly solid.

But there was nothing to be done about it. Ninja were the sort of fighters with high offense and low defense. Even ninja as strong as Kakashi or Jiraiya could be killed by a single kunai if they let their guard down. Let alone three ordinary Kusagakure ANBU.

After the explosion, Aoba and the others immediately accelerated and vanished from the scene.

This time, he used his Wind-Style Nintaijutsu. His entire body became light and weightless. Rather than stepping on the trunks, he skimmed lightly across the leaves atop the trees.

To the tracking ninja behind them, it appeared that Aoba's trail had suddenly disappeared completely at this point.

In his arms, Karin blinked her large eyes as she looked at Aoba, her gaze full of admiration. She had originally thought there would be a fierce battle. After all, those Grass Ninja had seemed like invincible, powerful figures to her.

Even this big brother in front of her, no matter how formidable he was, should have needed to put in some effort.

Yet those three Grass Ninja, who had been invincible in her daily life, had not even reached Big Brother before they were blown apart without a trace.

Karin was not afraid. On the contrary, she was somewhat excited.

No one could imagine what she and her mother had endured during their days among the Grass Ninja. Deep in her heart, she had fantasized countless times that if she ever gained power, she would kill every Grass Ninja who had bullied her and her mother.

Now, she saw the first glimmer of that power.

Aoba rarely named his techniques. At present, the only one with an official name was his most frequently used Vacuum Flash.

In reality, Vacuum Flash was merely the most basic application of this Nintaijutsu. In actual combat, he could use all sorts of methods to execute the move. Under extreme circumstances, he could even use a hand blade in place of a real sword to perform Vacuum Flash.

It was just that the three pieces of trash from earlier had not even been worthy of making him draw his sword.

Aoba eventually named this ninjutsu, which used the wind to glide, Wind Release: Chasing Wind. It also suited his nickname, the Wind-Chasing Sword.

However, Aoba rarely used this technique in front of others. Information on a ninja's personal skills was extremely important. Just as Orochimaru would trade the Kusanagi Sword for information on Itachi Uchiha.

Aoba did not want his trump cards to become common knowledge. Thus, he only used this technique when traveling alone or after eliminating his pursuers.

After running for a while using Chasing Wind, he returned to the ground and tree trunks to conserve chakra, moving at a steady pace in a particular rhythm.

Kusagakure's pursuit capabilities were far weaker than he had imagined. In fact, it was not until he reached the border of the Land of Grass that the second group of pursuers finally approached their position.

"Prepare yourselves. The second group of pursuers is coming."

Aoba's words made Karin's mother, who was on his back, somewhat worried. But Karin, despite her young age, was not afraid in the slightest. She was even a little excited.

Aoba knew that this little girl would later survive under Orochimaru and even independently manage a base. Aside from being a bit obsessed with looks and infatuated with Sasuke Uchiha, Karin was unquestionably an exceptionally capable person.

That was also why Aoba had specifically gone to Kusagakure to rescue her. Beyond Karin's unique ability to heal injuries, the girl herself was an outstanding talent.

Aoba had many plans for the future. He could not handle every aspect alone and needed sufficiently capable helpers. Karin was one of the people he had chosen.

This time, the Grass Ninja pursuing them were more numerous—six in total. Their objective was also very clear. They ignored the misleading traces Aoba had left behind and pursued them directly.

"The other side should have a Sensory Division. Be careful. This time, we'll have to get serious."

"Mm!" Karin answered firmly from his arms.