Finding Asuma

Soon, led by Kakashi and Shikamaru, the joint investigation team began combing the area where Asuma's squad had last been in contact.

Yet after a full day and night, everyone was beginning to look tired and restless.

"Hey, Shikamaru! We've searched this place three times already! We haven't even found a weird bug! Where could Teacher Asuma and the others be?"

Naruto irritably raked a hand through his blond hair and kicked a small stone by the roadside.

The stone struck the trunk of a distant tree with a crack, bounced a few times, then rolled into the bushes around its roots.

"Idiot Naruto! Keep it down! You're disturbing Teacher Kakashi and Shikamaru while they're trying to think!" Sakura punched Naruto on the head out of habit.

"Ow! Sakura!"

But just as Naruto crouched down, clutching his head, his gaze happened to sweep across the base of the tree the stone had struck.

There seemed to be some unnatural scratches there, barely concealed beneath freshly applied moss and dirt.

"Huh? What's that?" Forgetting his pain, Naruto walked over curiously.

Hearing Naruto's muttering, Shikamaru, who had been rubbing his temples as he thought, instinctively glanced over. That single glance seemed to freeze the blood in his veins!

"Wait! Naruto! Don't move!"

Shikamaru shouted and dashed over, crouching at the roots and carefully brushing aside the moss and loose dirt used as camouflage.

An extremely discreet, abstract symbol had been carved into the rough bark with something sharp.

It was a circle crossed by a crooked line, with several seemingly random dots beside it, arranged in a distinctive pattern.

Ino, Choji, Kakashi, and the others quickly gathered around.

"What is this...?" Ino asked in confusion.

Shikamaru's pupils contracted slightly, and his breathing quickened.

He knew this symbol all too well! An image