Rest and Recuperation

Several kunai sliced through the thick smoke from the smoke bomb and vanished from Fugaku's sight. Screams rang out. When the smoke cleared, only a few corpses remained.

The brief fight had given Fugaku a much clearer sense of his companions' abilities.

Mitarashi Akira was skilled in both Fire Release and Earth Release, and he was capable in close combat as well. He was the strongest of the three.

Yamashiro Kiyokawa had little killing power in a head-on fight. His Crow Summoning Technique was best suited to reconnaissance and harassment, making him relatively weak in a direct clash between jonin.

The Hayate Clan's Konoha Style Swordsmanship had been passed down from the Second Hokage. In Fugaku's eyes, Moonlight Shuichi focused too much on tricky sword techniques and neglected his own speed and strength.

Otherwise, he could have killed the Stone shinobi he had just faced with a single stroke.

The same would be true of Gekko Hayate in the future. He, too, would focus on tricky moves while neglecting strength and speed. Otherwise, even if he could not kill Baki, he could at least have fought him to a draw.

"Make sure every Stone shinobi is dead," Fugaku said. "Hyuga Ning, keep watch. The enemy could appear at any moment."

In that simple encounter, Fugaku had shown his own strength and the power of the Sharingan. He had also shown his teammates why he, rather than one of the other four, was captain of the Elite Squad.

In the world of ninja, sheer strength was sometimes more useful than schemes.

The five spread across the battlefield and checked every Stone shinobi corpse.

Mitarashi Akira used Earth Release to bury the bodies, and the group quickly withdrew.

The Stone shinobi who had escaped could summon a large force of reinforcements at any time. Whether they pressed forward, doubled back, or entered the Land of Rain, they might run into pursuers.

The encounter forced Fugaku to reassess the reconnaissance methods of the various nations. The danger had risen by more than a single level.

"Retreat toward the Land of Grass," Fugaku said after a moment's thought. "We'll find the nearest town to resupply and rest."

The five figures vanished. Before long, another group appeared where the fighting had taken place: Stone shinobi reinforcements. Leading them was the shinobi who had briefly clashed with Fugaku.

"Spread out and look for any trace of where the enemy went," said one of the Stone shinobi leading the reinforcements. "If they've sent members of both the Hyuga and Uchiha, along with several jonin, this may be an elite squad assembled by Konoha."

"Captain, someone used Earth Release to bury the battlefield," said a Stone shinobi after carefully examining the site. "We won't be able to judge their strength or techniques from the signs of battle and the wounds."

"Ozawa, what do you think?" the Stone shinobi captain asked. "You're the only one who exchanged blows with them and came away unscathed."

Ozawa gave a rueful smile. "I wouldn't call it an exchange. I only blocked one of his kunai. All five of them should be around jonin level, and they have Konoha's two major kekkei genkai: the Sharingan and the Byakugan. Shi Yan lasted only one exchange against the Uchiha shinobi before taking a blade to the heart. His genjutsu must be very powerful."

The Stone shinobi captain nodded thoughtfully. "A Konoha elite squad wouldn't appear here just to pick a fight. They must have an important mission."

The captain took out a map and spread it on the ground, studying it closely. The shinobi who had been searching for tracks gathered around.

"Captain, they most likely retreated into the Land of Grass," one Stone shinobi said. "Should we pursue them?"

"No," the captain said. "We can't afford complications right now. Crossing over could easily alarm the Land of Grass and set Kusagakure speculating, disrupting the village's plans."

The Stone shinobi captain studied the map again. He had a persistent feeling that the squad was carrying out a secret mission. Looking at how close they had been to the border, he realized they were probably there to investigate Stone shinobi activity in the Land of Rain or gather intelligence.

"Koike, send word to headquarters. An elite squad of Konoha shinobi has appeared nearby. They're powerful. If anyone encounters them, advise them to hold a defensive position and wait for support."

"Yes, Captain."

It never occurred to the captain that the five Konoha shinobi might infiltrate Iwagakure to carry out an assassination. The village was remote and had little contact with the outside world, making it extremely difficult to slip in.

Nor did he consider that they might enter the capital to assassinate an important official. News that Iwagakure was about to send more troops to the Land of Rain had circulated only within the village. Nothing had been finalized, so it could not be spread freely.

Inside the Land of Grass, Fugaku and the others stopped in a forest not far from a town.

"Use the Transformation Technique and blend into town to resupply," Fugaku said. "We'll get a good night's rest here. Once we enter the Land of Earth tomorrow, another chance to rest properly may be hard to come by."

A puff of smoke passed through the forest, and five plainly dressed civilians emerged and headed toward the town ahead.

The town was small but bustling. Many of its residents had fled the Land of Rain and were trying to make a living there.

With such a mixed population, spies from various nations were plentiful too. An unremarkable old beggar by the roadside might well be an agent sent by a major nation to gather useful intelligence.

"Don't give away any sign that you're ninja. Act like ordinary people," Fugaku said.

Fugaku and the others ate at a restaurant, then went straight to an inn to rest. Entering the Land of Earth at full strength would give them better odds whether they had to fight or retreat.

Besides, in a town like this, no one would readily expose their Transformation Technique even if they saw through it, so long as the group's true identities remained hidden.

No one knew which nation had sent the people they might expose on a secret mission. They could even turn out to be shinobi from their own country.

As for the shinobi of the Land of Grass, they were eager to avoid trouble. Four nations were at war, and every one of them was larger than the Land of Grass.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, the group left their rooms and headed out of town.

Hyuga Ning walked beside Fugaku. "Someone's following us. They don't seem strong, though. They look like wandering ninja."

"Sounds like some thugs have marked us as targets," Fugaku said. "Pick up the pace and get into the forest. We'll deal with them there."

The five ran ahead at an unhurried pace, no faster than ordinary people. In case anyone else was watching from the shadows, Fugaku did not tell the team to drop their transformations.

A voice rang out among the wandering ninja. "Trying to run? Hurry up and cut them off!"

"Boss, they're gone."

"Search the forest! We finally found some easy marks. Don't let them get away."

Beneath the forest canopy, several wandering ninja searched for the five, darting about without any plan. Hidden in a tree, Fugaku watched them below.

"Any suspicious targets?" Fugaku asked.

Hyuga Ning answered, "No. The small animals nearby are all ordinary, and none are moving strangely."

"Now."

Several shuriken appeared in Fugaku's hand. He hurled them, and they flew along unpredictable paths. The wandering ninja never noticed them before they were killed.

Their screams alerted the others, but the Elite Squad gave them no time to escape.

Screams rang out one after another, then stopped abruptly.

Several messages appeared in Fugaku Uchiha's mind.

Killed one genin. Gained a trace of pupil power.

To Fugaku, these wandering ninja were not even as capable as an experienced genin. They were little more than ordinary people who had learned to refine chakra, and even among wandering ninja, they ranked at the bottom.

"Bury them. We're heading to the Land of Earth."