Pursuit

Kakashi stopped Yamato, who was about to go find Kabuto Yakushi and the others, and said in a deep voice, "I think we should go and meet up with Yu first. He's been gone for so long and hasn't returned yet, so something must have happened to the Three-Tails. Besides, Orochimaru's subordinates took Yukimaru away, also heading to the Three-Tails' location, so we shouldn't miss it."

Yamato pondered for a moment, then said, "Kakashi-senpai, how about this? We split into two teams, one to find Yukimaru and the other to find the Three-Tails, and then we'll meet up again, okay?"

Kakashi looked around at everyone and said, "That works too. How about this, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and I will go find Uzumaki Hane, and the rest of you will go with you to find Yukimaru. Shino will be in charge of communication between us."

Everyone agreed that this arrangement was fine, and so the group split into two teams and left in two different directions.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, along with Hinata, Kiba, and Shino, finally arrived at the seaside after a long journey.

Roar, roar, roar! The continuous roars immediately told the group that Uzumaki Hane was fighting the Three-Tails.

With a deafening roar, massive waves surged toward the shore, like a giant wall stretching across the sky, crushing down upon the crowd.

"Everyone be careful." Kakashi's lazy expression had vanished, replaced by a serious look as he called out to Hinata, Kiba, and Shino.

Hinata, Kiba, Shino also looked on with serious expressions as they watched the towering waves crashing down, soon engulfing the shore. The four of them drifted with the current, but fortunately, they were prepared and quickly climbed back onto the surface.

In the distance, roars continued to echo, clearly indicating that the battle between Uzumaki Hane and the Three-Tails was raging. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino looked at Kakashi and said, "Kakashi-sensei?" It seemed they didn't know what to do next, since they couldn't possibly intervene in such a battle.

"You guys stay on the beach, I'll go check it out." Kakashi, worried about the three's safety, said to them. After saying that, he stepped directly into the sea and headed towards the direction from which the roar came.

After a while, as the roar grew louder, Kakashi finally saw the two figures fighting on the sea. The Three-Tails' enormous body roamed the sea, and any casual attack could stir up towering waves. Compared to the Three-Tails' enormous body, Uzumaki Hane's size seemed like that of an ant, yet it suppressed the Three-Tails -Three-Tails, which could only let out frustrated roars.

Uzumaki Hane's expression turned serious as he appeared above the Three-Tails. His hands quickly transformed into lava, and he unleashed a powerful "Great Eruption" at the Three-Tails below. A gigantic Rock Fist shot into the sky, engulfing the Three-Tails 'Three-Tails body and slamming it into the seabed. The explosion created countless waves that turned into a torrential downpour.

Uzumaki Hane stood on the sea surface for a long time, but the Three-Tails did not surface. Uzumaki Hane murmured, "Did it escape again?"

"Yu, are you alright?" Kakashi's voice came from behind.

Upon hearing this, Uzumaki Hane turned around and saw Kakashi running quickly towards him, stepping on the sea surface.

Uzumaki Hane smiled and said, "Kakashi-sensei, I'm fine. What brings you here?"

Kakashi approached Uzumaki Hane and said in a deep voice, "Yukimaru was stolen by Kabuto Yakushi."

"What?" Uzumaki Hane was somewhat surprised. With so many people on their side, they'd still been taken Kabuto Yakushi. Uzumaki Hane asked Kakashi, "So, what's the situation now?"

Kakashi said, "We split into two teams. One team went to find Kabuto Yakushi, and I came to find you. How's the situation on your end?"

Uzumaki Hane's expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "When we arrived just now, we found that it was Tobi from the Akatsuki fighting the Three-Tails."

"What? They've come too?" Kakashi said, somewhat surprised.

"That's right," Uzumaki Hane continued, "We fought for a while, Tobi suddenly disappeared. We don't know where he went."

"You're worried that the other side is still hiding nearby, waiting for you and the Three-Tails to both be severely injured," Kakashi understood and immediately said.

"Yes, I do have those concerns." Uzumaki Hane pondered for a moment and said, "But now the Three-Tails is gone, and the other side hasn't shown up either. Obviously, something urgent has suddenly come up for them?"

"Could there be something more important than capturing Tailed Beast?" Kakashi said, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said seriously, "Could it be that they've captured another Tailed Beast and are preparing to seal it away?"

Uzumaki Hane said, "That's right, so our most important task now is to find Tobi and destroy their seal on the Tailed Beast."

"Okay, let's hurry over there," Kakashi said in a deep voice.

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Meanwhile, Yamato, along with Sakura, Naruto, and Sai, chased after Kabuto Yakushi. As they pursued, a torrential downpour began, making it impossible to continue the chase. Yamato found a nearby cave and took the three of them inside to shelter from the rain.

Inside the cave, Naruto Earth Flow anxiously, clearly worried about Yukimaru's safety, but unable to give chase for the time being.

"Naruto, are you annoying me?" Sakura couldn't stand it anymore. She went up to Naruto and slammed her right hand down on his head. Bang! A big bump appeared on Naruto 'Naruto head.

"Ouch!" Naruto clutched his head, crouched down, and said, "Sakura, what are you doing?"

"Alright, Naruto," Yamato said, "I know you're worried about Yukimaru's safety, but their goal is to use Yukimaru to capture the Three-Tails -Three-Tails, so they won't harm Yukimaru until they've captured it."

"That's right, Yamato-sensei is right, so you don't need to worry." Sakura looked at Naruto and said gently.

After the commotion, Naruto calmed down a bit, scratched the back of his head, and said, "Sakura, Yamato-sensei, I'm fine now." After saying that, he found a place to sit down, and the four of them leaned against the wall to rest for a while. However, none of them seemed to notice that a bat was hanging upside down on the cave ceiling, quietly observing them.

After a long while, the rain outside gradually subsided, and the bats detached themselves from the cave ceiling and flew out.

After the bat left, Yamato and Sai opened their eyes and watched it disappear from sight.

"Yamato-sensei, it's gone." At that moment, Sakura opened her eyes and said to Yamato.

Yamato stood up and said, "Sakura, wake Naruto, we're getting ready to leave."

"Yes, Yamato-sensei." Sakura punched Naruto on the head and called out, "Naruto, wake up!"

"Ah..." Naruto was caught off guard, clutching his throbbing head, and stammered, "Sakura, what are you doing?"

"We're about to leave," Sakura said, looking at Naruto speechlessly.

"Are we leaving now?" Naruto immediately stood up and asked excitedly.

"That's right, let's start from here," Yamato said in a deep voice, leading the three of them out of the cave to continue their pursuit of Kabuto Yakushi.