But just as Sakura and Ino were about to give chase, they stopped short and flicked their wrists, sending shuriken whistling toward the three of them.
The three fixed their eyes on the shuriken and raised their kunai to knock them away. But the instant one kunai struck a shuriken, its wielder realized another shuriken had been hidden beneath it.
He had dodged the first, but there was no time to dodge the second. Startled, he threw his head back, trying to avoid it.
He was too late. One of his companions thrust out a kunai and deflected the shuriken, saving him.
Ino smiled. "You relaxed too soon!" She swept a hand through her Ninja Tool Pouch, pulled out several more shuriken, and sent them whistling toward the three.
While they concentrated on blocking Ino's attack, Sakura joined in. Her kunai kept missing, though, landing in the tree trunks and ground around them.
The three knocked away the last shuriken, looking smug. "Is that all you've got? Do you think this is a game?" One of them glared at the girls. "Now we'll show you what real ninjutsu looks like!"
He began forming hand seals. Ino and Sakura remained unhurried. Then one of the three finally sensed something was wrong. He glanced around and saw that every one of Sakura's stray kunai had an Explosive Tag tied to its handle.
"Get back!" he shouted in panic. But it was too late. With a boom, nearly ten Explosive Tags detonated at once.
Thick smoke engulfed the three. It looked as though no one inside could have survived, but Sakura and Ino did not let down their guard. They kept watching carefully, while Hinata, still poised to strike, had quietly slipped behind the three from Takigakure.
As the smoke began to settle,