Bang!
White smoke dispersed, and Inuzuka Kuri and Hisamaru "separated."
Inuzuka Kuri went limp and fell to his knees before Yubi.
Hisamaru also collapsed to the side, blood pouring from the spot where the throwing knife had struck him earlier.
He had already been forcing himself to keep going as he performed the ninja art with Inuzuka Kuri.
The ninja dog still struggled to get up and attack Yubi again... but even standing was beyond him.
From the moment Yubi revealed himself until he killed Inuzuka Kuri, their exchange might have seemed like a back-and-forth battle, but in fact... less than two minutes had passed.
"You were strong."
Yubi slowly withdrew his bloodstained arm from Inuzuka Kuri's body. Watching the man's unfocused pupils and gradually closing eyelids, he spoke softly.
The man's commitment to carrying out his mission and his conviction... had been incredibly strong.
As a member of the supply squad, he knew all too well how important those supplies were, so... even when fighting broke out, he had kept doing everything he could without abandoning them.
He had carried that bundle on his back the whole time...
No matter how much stamina he had, being weighed down by such a heavy load would inevitably affect his performance in battle.
To put it plainly, as a Konoha ninja, this member of the Inuzuka Clan... had been doing his utmost to fulfill his mission.
He also understood the village's current situation and had willingly risked his life to protect the supplies and minimize their loss. In other people's eyes, that was a decidedly poor trade.
Without the bundle holding him back, the man might have displayed even greater fighting strength.
But Yubi remained confident... that he could have killed him.
The "strength" he had praised... was not this Inuzuka Clan member's abilities, but his will!
He was an opponent worthy of respect.
In the Shinobi World, everyone fought for their own side. There was no right or wrong... only different allegiances.
They were all doing it for their villages.
Root before, and now this member of the Inuzuka Clan... had both shown Yubi the will of Konoha's ninja.
By comparison, although Sunagakure was also outstanding in this regard, it fell a little short.
Whoosh!
Yubi flicked his hand.
A throwing knife plunged straight into the nearby ninja dog's skull, ending his life painlessly.
Then he swiftly set off after the trio who had fled earlier.
When he found his targets, he discovered that the battle here had long since ended too.
He had not been the only one lying in ambush. Sasori had been there too.
The moment those three retreated, Sasori had followed them.
And he had killed them.
Judging by the scene, Sasori had not had much trouble either. There were few obvious signs of a struggle.
"Clean this up... don't leave any traces... and wait for the next people from Konoha." Arai appeared and gave his orders.
An important supply squad suddenly losing contact and failing to hand over its supplies on schedule was bound to arouse suspicion.
The following day, Konoha quickly reassigned several people from the front lines to investigate along the route and search for the six missing ninja.
But strangely... those sent out afterward also never returned, and no word came from them.
At this time, the battlefield commander overseeing the village's clash with Iwagakure was none other than Orochimaru.
Of the Konoha Sannin, one could no longer fight, while another had gone off under the pretext of traveling, whereabouts unknown... leaving only Orochimaru, who was trying to bring this Shinobi World War to an earlier close for Konoha in its final stages.
If he stopped working too... Konoha really would be in danger.
There was no way the village could let him leave the battlefield.
Although the village's "golden generation" was now rising, they were still relatively "green," after all, and had yet to mature fully... they could not truly hold their own yet.
Under these circumstances, Orochimaru had to step forward as one of their strongest fighters.
As soon as Orochimaru received the intelligence, he understood that this supply route... had been exposed.
An enemy had cut off their supplies.
But the situation on the battlefield was also rather urgent... he had no spare energy to deal with such a "minor matter." He could only send word to the village explaining the situation and leave the investigation to others.
They could abandon the route... but they had to determine the enemy's identity.
Ideally, they would also find out what other confidential information about Konoha this group or force possessed, and whether they had any further plans targeting Konoha...
Unbeknownst to them, on the other side.
After killing the ninja sent from Konoha's front lines to investigate, Arai had withdrawn with Yubi and Sasori.
It was not difficult to tell from the enemy's actions that they had realized the three were there.
To avoid stronger reinforcements being dispatched, the three naturally followed the plan and left early.
They could essentially be certain that their operation had forced Konoha to abandon this supply route and spend more time and effort finding a new transport route through the Land of Grass.
"Konoha might come after us. We'll take a shortcut into the Land of Rain."
The three raced along the way.
Arai spoke.
"All right."
Yubi replied.
Until they were fully back inside the Land of Wind, they had to remain vigilant at all times.
The mission could not be considered complete until the very second they turned it in.
He had barely finished speaking when suddenly... all three sensed something at once, as though an unseen pair of eyes had already "fixed" on them.
It left them feeling as though they were naked.
They had been exposed...
"So soon?!"
Arai looked startled, his gaze abruptly turning cold. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately said, "They're here!"
Konoha's people had found them!
Among their pursuers was someone with exceptionally powerful chakra perception... who could lock onto them from a great distance.
The three had been especially cautious throughout their retreat.
No one else had spotted them either.
At a time like this, the only people who could notice and detect them directly were the Konoha ninja searching for them.
That also meant that despite their efforts to erase their tracks, their pursuers could still find clues and pinpoint their location!
So fast!
Yubi thought.
The three of them had already been extremely efficient and had moved away from that route at tremendous speed... yet Konoha's people had still caught up.
Their response was this fast... which means Konoha had already issued orders when we killed the original squad of six. The people we killed afterward were a temporary investigation squad sent from the front lines... not from Konoha or another Konoha outpost. If these pursuers were also sent from Konoha's front lines, there would definitely be a time lag between us... in other words, after those six disappeared, Konoha's higher-ups didn't hesitate or question it at all. They didn't even wait for a follow-up report from the front before immediately determining that we were here... their judgment was extremely accurate!
They have a certain ability to understand and analyze unexpected battlefield developments, no matter how large or small... which also indirectly confirms that Konoha as a whole has an extremely rich store of war experience and contingency plans. They've long since honed their solutions and responses into something almost instinctive.
That makes sense... without that kind of capability, Konoha would have collapsed long ago under the other four great ninja villages' attacks, fighting one against four.
Yubi felt the pressure as these thoughts ran through his mind.
This time, no matter whom Konoha had sent, they would certainly be formidable enemies for the three of them!
They were in danger!
"Faster."
Arai urged them on, his tone grave.
His thinking was simple: run at full speed and try to shake off their pursuers.