Neji's gaze pierced the branches and leaves of the bushes, locking onto two figures concealed within.
Naruto and Sasuke immediately dropped their playful expressions, shifting into combat readiness almost simultaneously.
Naruto's hand was already on the kunai pouch at his waist.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan at once.
Three tomoe rotated slowly as he followed Neji's gaze, watching warily.
"Two people are hiding in the bushes."
Neji lowered his voice a little.
"They're wearing prisoners' clothes, and there are traces of Seal Talismans left on them."
"We're not far from the Underground Prison. They're probably escaped prisoners."
In the bushes, Rasa's and Baki's hearts sank at the same time.
They knew they had been exposed.
"Trouble."
Rasa cursed under his breath, quickly weighing their current situation.
He turned to Baki and said,
"Use ninjutsu for cover. Don't hurt them. Just find an opportunity to retreat."
"They're only a few genin. It shouldn't be hard for us to escape together."
Baki nodded.
The two formed hand seals almost simultaneously.
Chakra gathered at their fingertips.
The light of Wind Release and Magnet Release suddenly flared in the night.
Rasa's gold dust surged out like a tide, with Baki's wind blades following close behind, carrying fragments of gold dust as they swept toward the three boys like a golden storm.
However, just before the gold dust and wind blades struck their targets-
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin!"
Neji's hands suddenly spun, and an invisible chakra barrier spread around him.
The rapidly rotating chakra instantly formed an impenetrable circular shield, deflecting every last one of Rasa's and Baki's attacks.
Gold dust scattered in all directions, and the wind blades were torn apart and dissipated. Their attacks vanished like stones dropped into the sea, inflicting no damage at all.
Rasa's pupils contracted slightly.
He had thought