"Lord Kiyomei, one hundred and thirty meters ahead to the left-several Explosive Tags!"
The Chunin from the Hyuga Branch Family detected numerous traps as he sprinted.
Jing Xiu and Black Wolf had spent some time setting these traps. That experience had allowed Jing Xiu to perfectly control the fusion of natural chakra with the Explosive Tags.
"Brat! Your traps haven't done a thing. They're about to catch up!"
Black Wolf's tone brimmed with schadenfreude.
Over their month of traveling together, Black Wolf had suffered far too many setbacks at Jing Xiu's hands. Whenever an opportunity arose, he was determined to even the score.
Jing Xiu remained silent and kept running, as though Black Wolf beside him did not exist.
"Every single time! You're going to drive me mad!"
Black Wolf was helpless, too. Whenever he found an opportunity to mock Jing Xiu, Jing Xiu always treated him like thin air.
"If you really have that much time on your hands, why not go kill that Hyuga Jōnin?"
Jing Xiu's flat tone provoked Black Wolf again, leaving him fuming. "Is that how you speak to an Uchiha elder?"
Jing Xiu fell silent again, as though there truly was no one beside him. He seemed to hear nothing but the gale roaring nearby.
Black Wolf gave Jing Xiu a worried glance, then his Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared again. "Brat! Don't think you can seize this chance to escape. These eyes of mine will be watching you!"
His figure abruptly vanished. As Hyuga Kiyomei continued his relentless pursuit, he realized that one of his targets was missing-the most important one, at that.
Although Jing Xiu had a special identity, he posed no threat to Hyuga Kiyomei's life in this life-or-death situation. Uchiha Black Wolf, however, did.
"Keep chasing that brat. Capture him if you can. If you can't, kill him on the spot!"
He issued the order to the two Hyuga Chunin behind him, his eyes already catching a fleeting trace of Black Wolf.
He stopped where he was instead of following that trace to continue pursuing Uchiha Black Wolf.
A few minutes later, Fūma Sasaki caught up to Hyuga Kiyomei. "Kiyomei, lad, why have you stopped chasing them?"
Hyuga Kiyomei looked at Fūma Sasaki solemnly. "I must ask for your help, Lord Sasaki. My strength simply isn't enough to deal with that Uchiha."
"After all, an Uchiha is far too difficult to handle one-on-one."
As he spoke, he bent into a ninety-degree bow. His disheveled, long black hair covered his eyes and hid his face.
Fūma Sasaki wore a proud expression. Watching the arrogant Hyuga prodigy bow and flatter him filled him with indescribable delight.
Unfortunately, in his excitement, he failed to see that the Byakugan hidden beneath that messy hair had already turned cold and merciless, brimming with murderous intent. "Of course I can help. But how will your Hyuga Clan compensate our Fuma Clan for its losses?"
Hyuga Kiyomei spoke sincerely. "The Fuma Clan and the Hyuga Clan have been friends for generations. How could mere material wealth damage a century of friendship between our clans?"
Fūma Sasaki was somewhat displeased by Hyuga Kiyomei's words, but what came next left him overjoyed.
Hyuga Kiyomei continued, "For the sake of our century-long friendship, and to make up for the Fuma Clan's losses, I, Hyuga Kiyomei, will petition my clan to compensate the Fuma Clan at twice the value of its losses."
"We can even pursue further cooperation with the Fuma Clan on several projects, including surveying Gale Gorge and deep-sea development!"
"Please lend me your full strength, Lord Sasaki. Help me overcome this crisis and eliminate Uchiha Black Wolf. Only then can I gain a greater voice at the clan council!"
Fūma Sasaki pondered for a while. "As long as you swear on the Hyuga Clan's honor, I will help you slay Uchiha Black Wolf!"
Hyuga Kiyomei did not hesitate. "With the Sage of Six Paths as my witness, I, Hyuga Kiyomei, solemnly make this pledge to Lord Fūma Sasaki in the name of the Hyuga Clan."
"As long as we slay Uchiha Black Wolf and return to our clans, I will do everything in my power to bring about closer cooperation between our clans!"
Fūma Sasaki was shrewd with age. Had Hyuga Kiyomei made extravagant claims and unhesitatingly guaranteed that he could secure their cooperation, he would instead have doubted him.
Although Hyuga Kiyomei was outstanding among the younger generation, he was not, after all, the head of the Hyuga Clan.
Promising to do his utmost to bring it about made Hyuga Kiyomei seem all the more sincere.
"Very good! Kiyomei, lad, lead the way!"
Hyuga Kiyomei sincerely thanked Fūma Sasaki once more, then led the way in pursuit of Uchiha Black Wolf.
After fleeing into Gale Gorge, Jing Xiu casually tossed several Explosive Tags infused with natural chakra behind him.
Carried by the tremendous winds of Gale Gorge, the Explosive Tags flew even faster than Shuriken thrown by Madara Uchiha.
Boom! Boom!
The nearly simultaneous explosions failed to affect the two Hyuga Chunin.
But the flashes of the explosions blocked their vision, and in that instant, Jing Xiu vanished from their sight.
"Looks like I'll need to make some smoke bombs in the next town. Using Explosive Tags to interfere with the Byakugan every time is far too wasteful."
Hiding in the cave from before, Jing Xiu activated the traps he had prepared, then closed his eyes and regulated his breathing to recover his strength.
Although his Taijutsu was no worse than that of an ordinary Chunin, he was still only a young child. The prolonged running had already exhausted him.
No matter how powerful the strength he could borrow through Spirit Summoning and Dispatching was, he still needed his body to wield it.
"You take the left. I'll check the right. This isn't my first time in Gale Gorge. That child must be hiding in a cave somewhere."
Using certain methods from the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art, Jing Xiu modified two Explosive Tags to absorb natural chakra and combine it with the fire style chakra inside them, then slowly release it to form a barrier that interfered with the Byakugan's probing.
The two Hyuga Chunin searched Gale Gorge for a long time, expending considerable stamina and chakra before finally arriving outside the cave where Jing Xiu was hiding.
"This is the only cave within several miles that we haven't searched! Strange. It's clearly the closest cave to the gorge's entrance, so why did we overlook it?"
The other Hyuga Chunin offered a well-meaning warning. "That brat couldn't have found a cave on his own. That Uchiha Jōnin must have discovered this one."
"In other words, they rested here briefly. There may be traps inside."
The two proceeded cautiously. As one used the Body Flicker Technique to rush into the cave, the other struck around him with Gentle Fist to defend against any possible ambush.
But when they entered the cave, all they saw was Jing Xiu sitting quietly cross-legged, seemingly completely unaware of their arrival.
The Hyuga Chunin who entered first was drawn to Jing Xiu, his entire attention focused on him. As long as I kill him, Lord Kiyomei will surely reward me generously!
At that thought, he prepared to step forward and finish Jing Xiu off.
The other Hyuga Chunin, who was protecting him, went pale. Through his Byakugan, he could clearly see seven or eight masses of concentrated chakra.
On closer inspection, they were unmistakably Explosive Tags.
"I've been waiting for you for ages. You really are slow! Looks like Hyuga Chunin aren't much after all. You're only from the Branch Family, after all!"