It was still a mystery how the enemy managed to hide their tracks as they had done. However, it didn't matter, because in the end, we had their trail, and that was all we needed.
The trail was faint, but it existed—and that was enough.
Despite how well they had camouflaged themselves, once Mari and Riku had a trail, it didn't take long before they picked up on it again.
Mari grinned, low to the ground with her nose nearly touching the churned-up soil. "Multiple scents. Faint, old, but human. Two of them are Iwa for sure—gunpowder and clay." She snapped her fingers and Riku imdiately took off, weaving through the brush, tail stiff, pausing at intervals to confirm scent markers. "Definitely masked, but not erased. Amateurs."
Kento, silent until now, lifted his hand. A cluster of kikaichū sward down from his sleeve, fanning out in concentric rings. "There's a chakra trail running parallel to the scent markers. Residual and diluted—concealed by a suppression seal, most likely—but not entirely gone."
"They aren't amateurs, they did almost lose us, a lesser team might have struggled, they just got careless, or too relaxed, maybe overconfident." I didn't want to take the enemy too lightly, because they had done well earlier, very well indeed.
The sight of their attacks was clean, nothing to be found, at least not on the surface.
It was only later, much further away, that we started picking up tracks, but the only reason we could connect them with our targets was from the faint scents picked up from beneath the ground.
These people were by no ans amateurs; they were skilled, dangerous, and elite. No, the reason we had a trail to follow was just because we were better, and the enemy didn't keep up their guard.
Moving around with no trail was more than a little difficult, it was ti-consuming, it was taxing, and even resource-intensive.
Most people wouldn't do it all the ti; they would, at most, do it when they thought it was important, and then, once safe, do less. These people were just like that as well.
The locations of their attacks were risky, so they put in the effort, but once they thought they were safe, they put in less effort, and they left small trails.
Still not sothing that was easy to follow, only a team like ours, with both Inuzuka and Abura, could pick up these scents, only with Abura and Byakugan could we follow the chakra.
We advanced through the trees with patient precision, Mari at the front with Riku never straying more than a few paces from her side. She moved on all fours now, claws digging into the dirt, her body low, her movents sowhere between human and beast.
Every so often she'd pause, sniff, scratch the soil, then give a short whistle or hand signal. Riku would respond imdiately, darting ahead to confirm sothing or circling back to correct course. Their bond was seamless.
"They're getting sloppy," Mari muttered under her breath. "Scent's getting stronger."
It was impressive to watch, the two were clearly a step or two above even Koji and Kuro, these two were the real deal, the backbone of the Inuzuka clan, real Elites.
Behind us, Kento trailed in a wide arc, his swarm now fanned out far enough that I could barely see its edge. His kikaichū drifted just above the forest floor, brushing leaves, roots, and old animal dens. They weren't just sniffing out chakra—they were tasting it, comparing minute differences, discarding false positives.
Kento was no less impressive, except that he was far creepier about it with all his little bugs, with my Byakugan I could see them flying around, and it was hard not to feel a shiver run down my spine.
"We are getting close, so keep it down, keep your guard up, if possible, I would like to observe before engaging, but we can't always have that."
At my words, we slowed down, moving more carefully as we tracked our prey.
We moved quietly like ghosts, hopping from one tree to another.
The track only grew stronger the closer we got, until finally, soone entered the range of my Byakugan.
"Four ahead," I whispered as I called the others to a halt. "Roughly two kilotres. Three grouped by a small clearing—resting, talking. One is in a tree, watching the path ahead. He's our sentry."
"Layout?" Mari murmured, eyes never leaving the trail.
"Clearing is shallow, sloped down slightly. There's a ridge behind them—good elevation. Trees are dense enough that they're not watching their flanks. They think they're safe." I paused. "Their chakra flows are relaxed. Unarmored. Likely off guard."
"They're not expecting company," Kento added softly. "Then let's give them a surprise."
Mari turned to , expression serious now. "I'll take the long route and flank wide with Riku. Get upwind and downwind so they don't sll until it's too late."
"Hold your ninken, Inuzuka-san. We aren't about to attack just yet. I'm sure the surprise Abura-san ntioned is a lot smaller than you and Riku." I quickly stopped her before she started her attack.
"Indeed, let scout ahead." Kento confird before a swarm of his Kikaichū flew up ahead.
"We will slowly move in closer, to get in a better position to attack once we have gotten within range and a plan of attack, as well as the proper information we can glean," I said as I started to move us into position.
The kikaichū fanned outward like drifting soot, near-invisible to the untrained eye. They flowed low to the ground, over bark and branches, slipping through the brush without stirring so much as a leaf. I watched their progress through my Byakugan—tiny threads of chakra, spreading like smoke in every direction.
"They've surrounded the clearing," Kento murmured, voice quiet. "My insects are monitoring airflow, chakra signatures, body temperature. One of them is a sensor, but his range is narrow—he hasn't detected them."
"Then we're good," Mari said from her low perch. "Want to flank now?"
I shook my head. "Hold."
From above, I had a clear view. The sentry in the tree was the first priority. He was alert, but inattentive—his head tilted in a lazy rhythm, like soone watching for movent out of habit rather than discipline.
His companions in the clearing were worse. Two lounged near a collapsed tent fra, gear strewn around them. One polished a blade lazily. The other crouched over a pot, stirring sothing that slled like stew.
The fourth was older—scarred, bulky, face hidden under a clay-marked Iwa flak vest. He sat against a log, idly flipping through a notepad while his foot tapped to an unheard rhythm. His chakra was the densest of the four—likely the leader.
Given the state of them, the lax guard, I guessed they had been operating inside the Land of Fire for a while now, long enough to grow comfortable, to grow overconfident.
It wasn't a good look. If they dared be this relaxed, they clearly didn't believe Konoha had anything that could threaten them; that kind of confidence didn't co from their own strength; it ca from sothing else, sothing far worse.
It ca from knowledge, knowing sothing that gave them the confidence, and the only thing that could be, was the state of the war. Only if they truly believed Konoha was about to fall, would they be this confident that Konoha had nothing to spare against them.
Yet, if they believed as such, it ant soone told them that to be true, which ant that was the current thought among the other villages, that Konoha was already done for… that… wasn't good.
Clearly, the war had entered a worse stage than I had thought. I believed it was still all out war between the villages, but if they believed Konoha was on its last legs, that ant they would soon pour everything towards Konoha itself… which would be the most brutal stage of the war.
Dark tis were ahead.
"They're not expecting an attack," I whispered. "We take the sentry first. Silent. Then Mari and Riku co in from the flank. I'll strike the center. Kento, can you handle the sentry?"
Kento nodded once. "I already have my swarm on all of them. I can take out the sentry and harm the rest."
"Good, that will make it easier for us. Mari, take the two, I'm taking the leader, and Kento will soften them for us. On my mark."
All of us grew alert and ready. Muscles and chakra ready to spring into action.
"Mark."
Kento raised two fingers.
The sentry didn't even make a noise.
One second he was perched on his branch, eyes drifting; the next, he stiffened. His throat pulsed once—then a black cloud erupted from his collar. The kikaichū sward silently into his ears, his mouth, every exposed opening. He slumped forward, dead before he hit the ground, his body caught by a net of insects that lowered him gently into the underbrush.
A heartbeat later, chaos blood in the clearing.
The death might have caused minimal disturbance, but these weren't green Genin, but at least Tokubetsu Jōnin, they might not be on guard, but they weren't so lax they missed sothing like that.
Even still, I too was surprised at how easily he had killed that guy. I too could kill soone in an instant, but I would have to be up close, and this was done so cleanly, it was frightening, once more, I had to suppress a shiver from all those bugs.
Still, the surprise only had lag behind for a mont before I shot forward, I was a blur as I instantly moved towards my own target.
He was busy getting rid of the bugs that suddenly attacked him, not enough to kill him, but enough to keep him busy for a mont as I crossed the distance between us.
He looked up just in ti to see coming.
Too slow.
I struck with precision, my palm slamming into his chest, chakra pulsing through his tenketsu in a concentrated burst. His flak vest absorbed so of the impact, but not nearly enough. He staggered, choking on his own breath, hands flailing to form a seal.
Still, I was amazed he wasn't hurt worse. I had expected to at least collapse a lung with that strike, but while hurting, he was far from done, tough bastard.
He had clearly managed to reinforce his body with earth chakra before I hit him, it wasn't a full-on ninjutsu, but it made the difference between life and death.
His next move was smoother than I expected.
Even as he stumbled, he stomped the ground with his heel—Earth chakra flaring beneath the soil. A spike of hardened stone shot up toward my midsection. I twisted, the point grazing my ribs as I kicked off it, flipping backwards to gain space.
He didn't stop. Even winded, he was already weaving hand seals, gritting through the pain. "Doton: Doryūheki!"
A crude wall erupted between us, but I didn't care about that.
I was already above him.
He barely had ti to glance up before I dropped down from the canopy like a falling star, spinning into a downward strike. He crossed his arms to block, but my palm crashed through the guard, blasting his arms wide with raw chakra.
He fell back, rolling. Clay exploded under his feet as he launched himself to the side. A kunai flew from his sleeve—tag-wrapped.
I flicked my wrist, deflecting it with a burst of chakra from my palm. The tag exploded harmlessly mid-air.
"Hyūga… bastard Konoha elites…" he spat, bleeding from his lip.
"You're the one in our woods," I snapped, stepping forward.
He slamd his hands together again. "Earth Release: Mud Maw!"
The ground beneath shifted—a trap zone—half-solid mud opening like a hungry mouth. I vaulted up before it could drag down, and as I twisted in midair, I spotted him charging beneath the arc of my jump, aiming to intercept as I landed.
Clever.
But not enough.
I braced, then expelled chakra from my palms mid-flight—Gentle Step: Air Palm. The burst caught him in the chest before he reached , blowing him back like a ragdoll.
He hit the ridge hard, coughing blood, one hand twitching in a last-ditch attempt to form seals again.
I was on him before he could finish.
Twin strikes—one to the shoulder, one to the gut—disrupted his chakra flow completely. His final jutsu fizzled into a aningless puff. He crumpled, groaning.
This ti, I didn't hold back.
I slamd my palm into his heart—tenketsu sealed, chakra shut down—and watched the light drain from his eyes.
It was over.
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