"Hm?"
Kakashi checked again, but he still couldn't sense any of Naruto's chakra inside him.
And what Naruto had just said... Kakashi grew thoughtful.
He had said something about dealing with the samurai being troublesome, but he didn't remember saying he intended to attack them.
And Naruto said he had left his chakra behind when Kakashi first ambushed him?
Perhaps Naruto trusted him, or perhaps he genuinely hadn't been on guard against him. Either way, his words had clearly revealed a great deal.
And all those details seemed to point vaguely toward a certain truth.
But Kakashi quickly pushed the matter out of his mind, almost deliberately trying to forget it.
He stepped forward and hoisted Mifune onto his back, then glanced at the ground.
Mifune's broken sword still stood silently embedded in the earth.
After a moment's thought, Kakashi retrieved the broken sword and left.
Although Kakashi's battle with Mifune had been incredibly dangerous, it had actually ended very quickly.
On his way back, the bodies of those Mifune had killed along the route hadn't even finished bleeding.
Kakashi's destination was straightforward: the location of the Land of Iron's thousand samurai.
"Report, Lord Chūsuke! A small force has been spotted to the northeast. They may be ninja from the Land of Sound."
"The Land of Sound? I've heard their ninja train in unusual offensive techniques. They can attack using sound and excel at fighting larger forces..."
"Have Rikaku... No, I'll lead a unit to wipe them out myself."
"Yes, sir!"
Orders went out in an orderly stream through the Land of Iron's camp.
The units receiving those orders were also moving swiftly.
Just as Kakashi had thought earlier, the Land of Iron truly approached the Shinobi War as a war. Though their force was small, they acted far more