Encounter

"What exactly happened? Why were we suddenly told to retreat?"

Uchiha Meikyō looked confused as he fled toward the area behind the camp with his two teammates.

"My insects told me that... many ninja are heading this way from over there. Among them... there should be a very powerful being. But the air there is poisonous, so the insects can't get too close. I couldn't gather any more information."

Aburame Nami held out her hand to receive an insect, then turned to Meikyō beside her.

Meikyō nodded heavily.

"Hey, you three. You're Dan's disciples, aren't you?"

Suddenly, a woman's voice rang out.

Three people stood directly in front of them. The speaker was the blonde woman standing in the middle.

Tsunade had heard Dan Katō talk about his three disciples, and he had even shown her a group photo of Kato Squad, so she was able to recognize them.

"You're... Senior Tsunade?"

"Uchiha brat, you know me?"

"Master Dan often mentioned you in front of us, along with Senior Orochimaru and Senior Jiraiya."

"Run, quickly! Hanzo is coming!"

Meikyō turned his head.

At the edge of his vision, a thick layer of purple mist had already blanketed the horizon.

This was Hanzo of the Salamander's deadly poison.

As though recalling something, Meikyō hurriedly pulled three gas masks from the Ninja Tool Pouch at his waist.

They had stripped these from several Amegakure ninja while cleaning up the battlefield after the ambush in the canyon.

Tsunade's eyes immediately lit up.

"Senior Tsunade, I don't know if these will be of any help to you."

"Hanzo's poison doesn't spread just through breathing—it can invade through the skin as well. But with these, at least the poisoning will slow down considerably. When we fight Hanzo later, the interval between drawing out the poison can be longer! That'll be much more favorable for us in battle!"

Tsunade hurriedly took the gas masks and handed them to Jiraiya and Orochimaru beside her.

"Be careful during the fight. Don't let Hanzo break them!"

Orochimaru nodded silently.

Jiraiya gave himself a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry, Tsunade!"

Hanzo's poison was drawing ever closer, nearly reaching the edge of the camp.

"Senior Tsunade, Senior Orochimaru, Senior Jiraiya, we'll be going first!"

Seeing this, Meikyō hurriedly pulled his two companions along. After offering Tsunade a quick apology, they activated the Body Flicker Technique together and sped into the distance.

"Well then... it's up to us now!"

Tsunade fixed her gaze on the purple poison mist in the distance.

Three hours later.

Somewhere in a dense forest in the Land of Rain.

Meikyō felt fortunate that his squad had two companions with exceptional scouting abilities.

With them around, they had truly helped the squad avoid far too many dangers.

"Nami, Ryo, how are things now?"

"Not good."

Inuzuka Ryo shook his head.

"Today's rain is much heavier than it was the past few days! Tetsu Maru's sense of smell and mine have both been seriously affected!"

Water could effectively block out scents.

"What about you, Nami?"

Meikyō shifted his gaze to his other companion.

"The rain is too heavy. It's affecting the insects' flight too, so the range they can detect is very limited."

Aburame Nami said this as she looked at an insect that had been beaten onto the ground by the rain.

"Over the past three hours, we've avoided most of the pursuing Rain Ninja. Based on the distance, we're still about a hundred kilometers from the border garrison point arranged by the village. We've already made it through the most dangerous period. As long as we cover those hundred kilometers, we can meet up with Jonin Inuzuka Gaku and the others at the outpost we previously defended. Then we can wait and see how the battle goes on Senior Tsunade's side."

Meikyō wondered if this was the Battle of the Sannin from the original story.

In the original story, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had fought Hanzo on the Land of Rain Battlefield.

Although the three lost to Hanzo in that battle, Hanzo consequently believed that the Land of Fire still had powerful young people like Tsunade and the others. He believed Konoha would ultimately win, so he spared the three and bestowed upon them the name of the Sannin. Later, he formed an alliance with Konoha, changing the course of the war.

"But what if Senior Tsunade and the others lose?"

Inuzuka Ryo asked with unconcealed concern.

Meikyō paused.

He couldn't exactly say that Hanzo would most likely win this battle, only to spare Tsunade and the others afterward and choose to ally with Konoha, could he?

Even if he said it, Inuzuka Ryo would not believe him.

After giving it some thought, he began to analyze the situation as it normally would unfold.

"If Senior Tsunade and the others are defeated, then there's no doubt the village's forces will temporarily withdraw from the Land of Rain Battlefield. But Master Dan has gone out on a mission, and Advisor Mitokado has probably already withdrawn with some of the ninja as well. By then, they should be able to gather the remaining ninja and defend themselves using several border outposts as their foundation. Hanzo's goal is to protect the Land of Rain itself. After driving Konoha away, he'll definitely turn his attention to Suna and Iwa. After that, it will depend on whether the village decides to send more reinforcements or have us withdraw entirely."

Meikyō analyzed as he gestured with his fingers, then continued:

"But no matter what, what we need to do now is cross this forest as quickly as possible and reach the border outpost before the pursuing Amegakure ninja catch up."

After saying that, Meikyō stood up, brushed the mud from his pants, and called for Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami to continue onward.

The sooner they left, the safer they would be.

"Something's wrong!"

After they had walked for a little over half an hour, the rain weakened, and Inuzuka Ryo suddenly sniffed the air.

"There seem to be... people nearby!"

Once Meikyō and Aburame Nami reacted, they swiftly moved to Inuzuka Ryo's side and formed a defensive formation.

At the same time, not far away.

A short Amegakure ninja wearing a gas mask silently signaled to his two teammates.

They were an elite Amegakure squad tasked with pursuing Konoha Ninja. The team had originally consisted of four Chunin, but although they had successfully killed one Konoha squad during the earlier pursuit, they had lost one of their own as a result.

Fortunately, the squad's most important Sensor Ninja had come to no harm.

That short Amegakure ninja was the team's Sensor Ninja. Based on his perception of the vibrations in the surrounding ground, he had now detected Meikyō and the others.

Inuzuka Ryo and Tetsu Maru continued to follow the scent, sensing the enemy's location.

Meanwhile, Aburame Nami relied on the Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon to rapidly hatch large numbers of insects, preparing for the battle ahead.

This rainy weather was not favorable for her insects. She could only expend a large amount of Chakra in a short period to temporarily breed more insects and compensate for this weakness, then take Ration Pills to recover as much Chakra as possible.