The Pursuit

"Rasengan!" Two Naruto appeared in front of the two ninjas, shouting as they pressed the Rasengan onto their stomachs. The two ninjas stared in astonishment at the Rasengan, not having time to react. In the next instant, they were sent flying like rag dolls, crashing heavily into a large tree ten meters away. Bang! The tree shook violently, scattering countless fallen leaves that covered the two ninjas.

Naruto approached Yukimaru and carefully checked him over. He was relieved to find that Yukimaru was only unconscious and otherwise unharmed.

Naruto looked at the others; Sakura and Kabuto Yakushi had vanished, leaving only a long, chaotic path leading deep into the forest, clearly a result of their fierce battle.

On the other side, the battle between Sai and Rinji was relatively simple. Both of them commanded their animal armies to fight, but Sai seemed to have a slight advantage. Rinji's bats were dwindling and looked like they were about to collapse.

On the other side, the battle between Yamato and Guren was the most intense. Under the powerful Ninjutsu of both sides, the ground and trees seemed to be made of paper and broke apart one after another, unable to stop the two of them at all, leaving behind only a mess of land.

After thinking for a moment, Naruto decided to help Sai deal with his opponent first. Without hesitation, Naruto's figure disappeared from the spot and appeared behind Rinji in the next instant, his right foot spinning as he lifted Rinji with all his might.

Rinji seemed to have anticipated Naruto's motives. The moment Naruto attacked, a sly smile crept across his face. Sai saw this in an instant and, Sai, cried out, "Naruto, watch out!"

But it was too late. Rinji quickly turned around, grabbed Naruto's foot, and threw him violently, slamming him heavily into Sai's animal army. Bang bang bang! To avoid hurting Naruto, Sai turned a large number of animals into ink, soaking the earth.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Sai, worried about Naruto, quickly stepped forward and helped Naruto up.

Rinji seemed to have anticipated this scene, and commanded all the bats to swarm forward, surrounding Naruto and Sai. Naruto and Sai were instantly surrounded by the bats and found it difficult to escape.

Rinji revealed a smug smile, walked up to Yukimaru, picked him up in one Yukimaru motion, let out a long howl, and left with Yukimaru without looking back.

Guren Rinji's whistle, and seeing Rinji carry away Yukimaru, Guren prepared to retreat. She swiftly Hand Seals, unleashing countless crystal Shuriken, instantly filling the surroundings with a shimmering light and sealing off all of Yamato's movements. At the same time, Guren leaped onto a tree trunk and quickly fled in the direction Rinji had gone.

Bang! Naruto and Sai destroyed all the bats surrounding them, and then Rinji, carrying Yukimaru, turned a corner and disappeared into the deep forest.

"Oh no, Yukimaru..." Naruto exclaimed, and tried to chase after him.

At that moment, Sai calmly stopped Naruto and said, "Naruto, wait a minute, it's too dangerous to chase after them rashly."

"But..." Naruto shouted impulsively.

"That's right, Naruto." Yamato, having dealt with all the crystal Shuriken, walked over and began to persuade Naruto, "Let's go meet up with Sakura first, then we'll catch up. Don't worry, they can't get away."

Upon hearing Sakura, Naruto stopped what he was doing and called out, "That's right, Sakura!" Then, he quickly ran towards Sakura's direction.

Yamato shook his head Yamato chuckled, then followed Sai in pursuit. Before long, they encountered Sakura, who had arrived. Sakura looked a little disheveled, but seemed to be alright.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Naruto was still a little worried, so he quickened his pace and went to meet her.

Sakura shook her head, looked at Yamato, and said, "Yamato-sensei, Kabuto Yakushi escaped."

Hearing this, Naruto chimed in from the side, "Sakura, Sakura, I've taken care of my ninja." As he spoke, Naruto revealed a smug expression.

Sakura completely ignored Naruto and continued, "Yamato-sensei, do you think we should chase after them?"

Seeing that Sakura was ignoring him, Naruto interjected, "Yamato-sensei, let's hurry and catch up with them."

"Hmm..." Yamato said, "Let's chase after them, don't let them get away. Sakura, Naruto, Sai, let's go."

"Oh..." Naruto responded excitedly, and the four of them immediately left their spot and gave chase.

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Half a day later, Yamato, along with Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, moved swiftly among the tree branches, but they still couldn't catch up with their opponent.

Every time they were about to catch up, Rinji's bats would spot them, and Rinji would immediately move to another location, always ending up missing. If Yamato hadn't tampered with Yukimaru, they would have lost him long ago.

"Yamato-sensei, have you found them?" Naruto asked anxiously.

Yamato shook his head and said, "Not yet. They're moving very fast; it will take some time before we catch up with them."

Suddenly, several figures appeared ahead.

"Watch out, someone's there." Yamato reacted immediately and said in a deep voice.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, and then several figures appeared from among the branches. It was Kakashi, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba.

After exchanging the secret code, Naruto excitedly rushed forward. "Kakashi-sensei, are you all alright? How's the situation over there?" Before Kakashi could answer, Naruto looked around, not seeing Uzumaki Hane, and asked again, "Where's Yu? Why haven't I seen him?"

Kakashi, seeing Naruto and his group of four, regained his lazy expression and said in a low voice, "It's nothing. Yu went after that Tobi we encountered last time. Looks like you guys failed; you ran into Orochimaru's men on the way."

"Hmm..." Yamato approached Kakashi and asked, "Kakashi-senpai, you encountered them. How did things go?"

Kakashi waved his hand and said, "We underestimated their strength. We were careless for a moment and they escaped."

"Oh, is that so? It's the same here," Yamato said seriously.

Kakashi continued, "Fortunately, I injured Guren. Guren escaped here with Yukimaru. It seems you didn't encounter them."

"No," Yamato said, "We haven't encountered them along the way."

"Yamato, have you encountered anything unusual along the way?" Kakashi pressed.

Yamato shook his head and said, "No, but I can sense that Yukimaru is not far ahead. It seems you've been misled, Kakashi-senpai."

"Hmm, it seems so. But she's seriously injured and shouldn't have gone far. Alright, let's not delay, let's chase after her," Kakashi said in a deep voice.

Then, the group followed Yamato and chased after Yukimaru.