Alternate Space.
Tsunade walked near the front of the group, her gaze constantly sweeping both sides.
The gray-white rocky ground was eerily flat, making almost no sound underfoot. Even their footsteps were swallowed whole by the deathly silence.
She glanced down at her feet, then looked up into the distance.
There was still only that gray haze of chaos, with no discernible boundary between sky and earth.
The group had been walking for nearly two hours.
Kakashi stopped at the rear, took a small scroll from his ninja tools pouch, quickly marked it, and then pressed it against a protruding rock.
A second later, the scroll had vanished.
An extremely subtle mark appeared on the rock instead.
Without close inspection, it was impossible to spot.
Tsunade glanced back from the front of the group, then asked quietly, "Kakashi, how many does that make?"
"Seven."
"One every two kilometers," Kakashi said.
"All right."
The group continued onward.
Sasuke walked at the very front, his Rinnegan slightly narrowed as his gaze swept back and forth across the distant horizon.
His right hand remained at his side, his fingers slightly curled.
It was a posture that left him ready to form hand seals at any moment.
They walked for roughly another half hour.
Tsunade raised her hand, and the group immediately stopped.
"Take five minutes."
Her voice sounded especially clear in the deathly silence. "Sense the surrounding chakra. Everyone else, take a break."
"Yes."
Five ninja from the Sealing Squad quickly spread out, forming a loose defensive perimeter.
Two ninja crouched, formed hand seals, and closed their eyes to sense their surroundings.
The others faced different directions, the sealing talismans in their hands glowing faintly, ready to respond to any sudden developments.
Sasuke walked over to a rock and sat with his back