Everyone fell silent. Though they were worried about their comrades still in Kumogakure, they knew that putting the mission first was their duty as ANBU.
The dog-masked kunoichi glanced sideways at the vessel in the fox-masked ANBU's hands and said calmly, "Hao Liu, you just went through a battle, and you're a little weak right now. Why don't you let me carry the Two-Tails, so it doesn't hurt you?"
"Well..." The fox-masked ninja, Hao Liu, hesitated briefly. Considering his condition, he reluctantly nodded. "All right, Chengxin. I'll leave the Two-Tails in your care. You're stronger than the rest of us, after all."
With that, he stopped hesitating and tossed the vessel. It spun once in the air before landing securely in the fox-masked ninja Chengxin's hands.
"So this is the Two-Tails?" Chengxin was thrilled. She had never imagined that one day she would hold a tailed beast in her hands.
She recalled a little story she had heard as a child.
Anyone who mastered a tailed beast's power could become invincible. Moreover, that power could even bring the dead back to life.
At that thought, her eyes dimmed slightly. She remembered someone she had never been able to forget. If I could have that power...
No... She shook her head sharply, stopping that thought from taking root, and brought her attention back to reality.
Behind her, the eagle-masked Root operative spat under his breath. When Hao Liu had held the Two-Tails, he could still have found a way to steal it. Now that the strongest among them had it, getting his hands on it would probably be much harder.
They raced onward, but before they had gone far, more than a dozen Kumogakure ninja appeared in a clearing ahead, blocking their path.
"Konoha ANBU, put down the Two-Tails, and I'll