There were twelve clues in the training grounds.
Five were genuine.
Four contradicted one another.
Three existed only to waste time.
Sasuke and Itachi entered through different entrances.
Each received a map of the area.
The maps showed only the safety line, three possible casualty locations, and the records box they had to bring back.
Whoever brought the training dummy and the correct records to the finish first would complete the mission.
Obstructing each other was allowed.
Attacks to the head and neck were forbidden.
Genjutsu that the instructors outside the grounds could not dispel was forbidden.
When the red smoke flare went up, all movement had to stop immediately.
The first set of footprints led toward the woods to the east.
Sasuke followed them for ten steps, then stopped.
The tread marks were deep in the dirt, yet the blades of grass beside them had not been crushed.
Someone had made the footprints by walking backward from the direction of the finish.
He marked them as a false clue on his record sheet and wasted no more time.
Almost simultaneously, Itachi noticed something wrong with the blood on a tree trunk to the west.
The color showed that it was real blood.
But it was higher than the training dummy could have reached.
It was a Witness trace Shisui had deliberately left while placing the clues.
Neither of them had found the casualty.
Their first direct encounter took place beneath the old lookout tower.
Itachi held the high ground.
Three wooden shuriken blocked Sasuke's path ahead.
Sasuke took half a step back, threw out a wire to hook the crossbeam, and used its pull to change direction.
He did not rush toward Itachi.
Instead, he snatched the first records box from behind a pillar of the lookout tower.
Inside