Hunting the Immortal Duo!

Ye Chuan carried the unconscious Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii, back to Konoha at full speed.

The spoils he brought back immediately caused an enormous stir among the Konoha High Command.

Outside the hospital's Special Treatment Room, the atmosphere in the corridor was unusually tense.

Yugito Nii had already been taken inside, surrounded by a Powerful Barrier Tsunade had personally set up to stabilize the Tailed Beast.

Before she was taken in, a brief glimmer of clarity had returned to her mismatched eyes. She looked at Ye Chuan and weakly uttered two words:

"Thank... you..."

Ye Chuan stood out in the corridor, watching the treatment room's tightly shut doors with a calm expression.

Beside him, Asuma Sarutobi and Shikamaru Nara, who had hurried over, wore looks of utter shock.

"Hey... Ye Chuan, you..."

With a cigarette between his lips, Asuma looked Ye Chuan up and down, his voice full of disbelief.

"You... really snatched the Two-Tails Jinchūriki back from the Akatsuki?!"

Although he had heard Tsunade mention how strong Ye Chuan was, and that he had killed Zabuza in the Land of Waves, taking a Jinchūriki back from two Akatsuki members was something else entirely!

This was the Akatsuki! A terrifying organization whose every member was at least an S-rank Missing-nin!

"I just got lucky. They seemed to be in a hurry to retreat," Ye Chuan said casually.

"Lucky?" Shikamaru furrowed his brow and began analyzing the situation.

"That means Konoha now has both the Nine-Tails and Two-Tails Jinchūriki..."

"Although the Two-Tails' current condition is unclear, this undoubtedly breaks the balance of Tailed Beasts that the Five Great Shinobi Villages have maintained for so long..."

"What a drag..."

"Balance? Hmph, what's the point of talking about balance now!"

Tsunade snorted as she walked out of the treatment room, cutting off Shikamaru's analysis:

"Those Akatsuki bastards already threw that balance into chaos!"

"If they dare to target the Jinchūriki, they can't blame us for showing no mercy!"

"The most important thing now is figuring out what the Akatsuki wants, and... hunting them down and killing them one by one!"

"Restoring order can wait!"

Ye Chuan looked at Asuma Sarutobi and thought of something else.

Saving Yugito Nii had indeed disrupted the Akatsuki's plan to collect the Tailed Beasts and changed the original plot.

In that case, Hidan and Kakuzu probably wouldn't come to the Land of Fire for bounties afterward, would they?

After all, they had lost their main target, the Two-Tails.

Did that mean... Asuma's death might be avoidable?

Just as he was thinking this, a figure suddenly appeared like a phantom.

An Anbu Ninja abruptly knelt before Tsunade and reported calmly:

"Lord Hokage, the Fire Temple has been attacked. Its head monk, Chiriku, is dead."

"Analysis of the intelligence from the scene indicates that the attackers were two ninja wearing Akatsuki robes."

Ye Chuan's brow furrowed deeply.

He immediately realized that Hidan and Kakuzu were responsible.

Those two lunatics had come to the Land of Fire for a bounty after all!

His earlier idea of changing their itinerary by saving Yugito Nii had clearly been far too naive.

Meanwhile, Asuma froze when he heard "Fire Temple" and "Chiriku."

The cigarette butt between his lips dropped to the floor with a soft tap, and he instinctively clenched the waistcloth bearing the character for "fire" at his waist.

It was the distinctive emblem of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

"Chiriku... he..." Asuma's voice trembled slightly.

"Sensei, did you know Master Chiriku?"

Seeing how distraught Asuma looked, Shikamaru asked quietly.

He knew that his teacher had once been a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

Asuma didn't answer directly. He merely murmured with vacant eyes:

"Chiriku and I... we were like... like you and Choji..."

A single sentence, yet it held a thousand words.

Shikamaru instantly understood how much Chiriku meant to Asuma. He fell silent in understanding and asked no more.

"Lord Hokage!"

Asuma abruptly raised his head and looked at Tsunade:

"Please let me lead a team! To investigate the Fire Temple incident and hunt down Chiriku's killers! I have to avenge him!"

"Approved." Tsunade agreed without hesitation.

"And that's not all. The Akatsuki keeps provoking us. Do they really think Konoha has no one who can fight?!"

"I've decided to deploy all twenty newly formed squads in a full-scale search throughout the Land of Fire! Those two Akatsuki members must not escape!"

"Lord Hokage, I'd also like to request permission to join Asuma-sensei's squad on the pursuit mission."

At that moment, Ye Chuan suddenly spoke.

"Oh?" Tsunade and Asuma both turned to him.

"I've fought those two Akatsuki members."

"I know something about their abilities. If I go along, I might be able to help."

Ye Chuan explained calmly.

Besides his desire for combat experience, there was another, more important reason he had volunteered to go.

He couldn't let Asuma die here-not because of Asuma himself, but because of his Jonin instructor, Kurenai Yuhi.

Although... widows and all that did have their appeal.

But he didn't want to see his teacher suffer the pain of losing the one she loved.

"Good. We couldn't ask for better than having you join us." Asuma immediately nodded his approval.

Although he had never witnessed Ye Chuan's strength firsthand, anyone who could snatch a Jinchūriki back from the Akatsuki was unquestionably strong.

With such a powerful fighter along, their chances of success in the pursuit would increase greatly.

And so it was settled.

Led by Asuma Sarutobi, with Shikamaru Nara, Ye Chuan, and two other experienced Chunin, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, they formed one of the advance squads tasked with hunting the Immortal Duo.

Once the pursuit squad was formed, they immediately began discussing their plan of action.

"Normally, we should head to the Fire Temple first to investigate the scene and gather clues."

Asuma took out a map and pointed to the Fire Temple's location.

"No need to go to all that trouble." Ye Chuan shook his head.

He knew very well that those two, especially Kakuzu, placed enormous value on money.

Chiriku's head was worth thirty million ryo on the black market. After securing it, their next move would inevitably be to cash it in at the nearest underground exchange.

"I'd say there's a very high chance they're currently heading toward the underground bounty exchange closest to the Fire Temple."

"If we go straight there to intercept them, it'll be faster, and our chances of success will be higher."

"An underground exchange?" Asuma frowned.

"Right." Shikamaru immediately understood what Ye Chuan meant and quickly analyzed it.

"Yes, Ye Chuan's deduction makes a lot of sense."

"Those two Akatsuki members just killed Chiriku, so they'll be eager to cash in the bounty. Going to the nearest exchange would be the most efficient choice."

"If we head there at full speed now, we really might be able to cut them off. What a drag..."

"Good! We'll do as Ye Chuan says!" Asuma decided on the spot. "Our target is the underground exchange! Move out!"

The five-man squad wasted no more time. They set off immediately, racing toward their destination!