Now was not the time to dwell on that. The urgent task was to catch the group from Konoha. Kari led a group of ninja toward the Land of Fire at full speed, no longer sparing any consideration for the slower ninja.
Soon, Kari and a dozen or so Jonin were the first to reach the place where Ye Feng and the others had teleported earlier. But the moment they landed, one Jonin stepped on an Explosive Tag buried in the ground, setting off a chain of explosions. Fortunately, they were all experienced Jonin, and most left the blast zone immediately. Even so, one was killed, and another lost both legs.
Once the explosions ended, Kari looked at the casualties with a pang of anguish. Both were Jonin from Iwagakure. They had lost two fighters before the battle had even begun.
But Kari had no time to grieve. He immediately left one person behind to care for the wounded and wait for the ninja following them, while the others continued the pursuit with him.
An hour later, Ye Feng's divine sense detected a group of people. He immediately strengthened it and "saw" Kari leading a dozen or so ninja in rapid pursuit. Presumably, more ninja were behind them, but they were slower than Kari's group and had fallen behind.
Ye Feng explained the situation to Orochimaru. The pursuers were still far away, so Orochimaru and the others could keep running for a while longer. The only ones still capable of fighting Jonin were Orochimaru, Ye Feng, Minato Namikaze, and two other Jonin. Minato Namikaze had already used up most of his chakra with the earlier Flying Thunder God Technique and could not fight for long.
When the enemy was only two kilometers away, Orochimaru ordered the two Jonin, "You two,