The attack site on the eastern trade route was even more chaotic than the urgent report had described.
Three cargo wagons had been burned out.
Broken arrows and the caravan's goods lay scattered along the roadside.
One guard had a shoulder injury, while two others had vanished.
Most conspicuous of all was a fan-shaped scorch mark beside the wheel tracks.
The flames had spread outward from the center, and faint traces of chakra still lingered along the edges.
The Chunin responsible for local patrols pointed at the scorch mark as soon as the Cross-Verification Squad arrived.
"That's the Uchiha's Great Fireball."
Uchiha Akito, the youngest member of the squad, stiffened.
"You're making that call based on a scorch mark alone?"
The patrol Chunin sneered.
"Who else but you people would leave marks like these?"
The atmosphere instantly tightened.
Those words were like a needle, striking the Uchiha precisely where they were most sensitive.
Akito nearly activated his Sharingan.
Shisui made no move to stop him. He simply said from the back of the squad, "The first field."
Akito's fingers stopped moving.
The first field was only for what they had seen.
He took a deep breath and crouched in front of the scorch mark.
"Fan-shaped burn pattern. Highest temperature at the center. Residual fire-nature chakra."
He did not write "Great Fireball."
Nor did he write "Uchiha."
The Hyuga Jonin then activated the Byakugan to inspect beneath the ground and along both sides of the road.
The Anbu observer sealed off the scene and logged everyone who had already entered it.
The Nara ninja recorded the accounts of the patrol, the injured guard, and the nearby merchants separately.
Everything proceeded in the order they had practiced during training.
The patrol Chunin urged them several times to give chase.
"If you don't