As soon as Goten finished speaking, he vanished before Choji and the newly arrived Shikamaru and the others.
"That guy!"
Shikamaru felt his head starting to throb again.
"After him!"
He had no time to think. He could only force down his exhaustion and give the order to Naruto, Kiba, and Neji beside him.
The group accelerated again, racing through the dense forest for all they were worth.
Neji kept his Byakugan active, the veins on his forehead pulsing even harder from his excessive chakra consumption.
Even so, he could barely catch the blurred figure of Goten flickering in and out of view ahead.
"His speed... increased again!"
Turmoil surged through Neji's heart.
The Byakugan he took such pride in had become a joke before this brat.
"Hey, Byakugan, are you chasing so slowly because you want someone to steal my redheaded wife?"
Goten's voice drifted back from ahead. Though he was over a hundred meters away, it rang clearly in everyone's ears.
Neji's face darkened. He gritted his teeth without replying and could only desperately squeeze more chakra from his body.
Just then, Goten, who was charging at the front, abruptly stopped.
Standing on a thick tree trunk, he raised his head and sniffed like a puppy.
"Huh?"
He scrunched up his adorably dopey little face, looking thoroughly displeased.
"Why's the air here so damp and sticky?"
Goten waved his little hand through the air, his face full of disgust.
"It's like someone hung their dirty underwear here to dry."
"It smells awful. It's messing with my breathing. How annoying!"
Hearing this, Shikamaru and the others following him immediately stopped and took up guarded stances.
Shikamaru readied his Shadow Imitation Technique and lowered his voice.
"Careful, everyone! There's an ambush ahead!"
Almost the instant Shikamaru finished speaking, a cold