Four days had passed since Fuguki and his squad departed from Kirigakure main base. The air in the dense forests that shrouded their path was heavy.
Yukina slowed her steps, her breathing becoming faint and controlled as her awareness expanded outward like ripples across still water. Invisible threads of perception stretched far beyond her physical body, weaving through the dense forest as she and her team ventured deeper toward Kumogakure's main base.
The world around her shifted.
Every movement, every fluctuation of chakra, every disturbance in the air—nothing escaped her grasp.
Her sensory ability reached its current peak, forming a vast, unseen domain. At the same time, her hidden sense—subtle, instinctive, and far more dangerous—slipped beneath the surface of that perception, probing for what ordinary sensing couldn't detect. Whether it was traps, life force, or positions everything was clear within her domain.
Yukina's eyes narrowed briefly, a flicker of sharp awareness passing through her gaze—like a blade catching light. Then, just as quickly, her lips curved into a confident smirk.
Without slowing her pace, Yukina pressed forward.
Behind her, Fuguki and the others said nothing. They trusted her senses; they are well aware how skilled Yukina is as a sensor. Still, the deeper they ventured toward Kumogakure's main base, the heavier the atmosphere became.
__________
Not far away from Yukina and the others
"BBBBBZZZZZZZ!"
A lone beetle buzzed through the still air, its wings humming softly as it drifted toward the shinobi of the Aburame clan. Without a word, he lifted his index finger—calm, precise, as if guided by instinct rather than motion. The insect slowed, as though recognizing its master, before gently settling atop his finger.
The shinobi's expression remained unreadable behind his dark glasses, but the faint ripple beneath his cloak hinted at the countless kikaichū responding to his will. In the quiet moment, man and insect stood in perfect harmony—silent, controlled, and bound by an unseen connection.
The Aburame shinobi lowered his hand as the beetle vanished back into the folds of his cloak, his expression calm and unreadable. Without a word wasted, he turned his head slightly toward his comrade.
His hidden eyes shifted behind his dark glasses, settling on the Hyuga.
"Use our Byakugan," he said quietly, voice steady and precise. "Expand your vision. There are a group of Kirigakure shinobi not far away."
The Hyuga's gaze sharpened instantly upon hearing this. Veins bulged around his temples as his dojutsu activated, the world around him unfolding in complete clarity.
"Byakugan!"
"A five-man squad of Kirigakure shinobi moving swiftly toward the eastern edge of the Land of Fire's border."
"At the vanguard of their formation stood a young kunoichi, her chakra surging with a heavy, oppressive density—clearly the caliber of an elite jonin."
"Trailing just behind her were two shinobi of similar age; their chakra signatures were sharp, controlled, and well-honed, each one possessing reserves firmly within the high chunin tier."
"The remaining two… one of them is Fuguki Suikazan. His chakra reserves are monstrous—truly at Kage level."
The Hyuga took a deep breath to calm himself down before continuing.
"And the last shinobi of their squad is Hoshigaki clan shinobi. His chakra is dense and heavy… an elite jonin-class reserve."
The Hyuga shinobi continued to track Yukina and the others, his Byakugan blazing as their figures moved with swift, precise steps through the terrain. Their chakra signatures flickered like steady flames against his enhanced vision.
Then, suddenly, his expression tightened.
Beneath the branching veins of his activated dōjutsu, his eyes widened ever so slightly as Yukina's presence snapped into sharper focus within his vision. For a brief moment, his concentration faltered—her appearance fully registering in his mind as recognition struck. She matched the identity described in the recent reports they had received.
"I can't believe it… this is the black-haired kunoichi Shinosuke-san reported about—the one who crippled your younger brother, Shibi."
"BBBBBZZZZZZZ!"
The beetles surged into motion as Shibi's chakra erupted from him in a chaotic wave, turbulent and uncontrolled, filling the air with a suffocating pressure that sent the swarm spiraling outward in response.
"Troublesome…" a Konoha chunin sighed under his breath, not far from Shibi, his eyes narrowing as he felt the sudden surge of rage erupt from him.
"Calm down, Shibi," a middle-aged Uchiha jōnin said coldly.
His gaze was razor-sharp, unmoving—yet behind it, his Sharingan spun violently, tomoe blurring with restrained intent as he locked onto Shibi like a predator.
Shibi drew in a slow, steady breath, forcing the storm of his emotions back under control. The tension in his shoulders eased, just slightly.
"…Sorry," he said at last, his voice lower now, stripped of its earlier edge. His gaze dropped for a brief moment before he looked back to his team. "I let my emotions get the better of me."
The Uchiha gave a slight, measured nod. His Sharingan dimmed just enough to settle into a controlled gaze before he turned his attention to the Nara clan subordinate beside him.
"Shikaku," he said, voice low but urgent, "we need an ambush strategy. We don't know what those Kirigakure bastards are planning, but we can't let them move as they please."
His eyes hardened as he continued, the killing intent barely restrained.
"If we can take out Fuguki, we'll deal Kirigakure a heavy blow—one they won't recover from easily."
Shikaku let out a long, weary sigh as the words reached him, slowly shaking his head.
"That won't work, Kesuke-san," his voice was sharp, urgency tightening his tone, which is quite uncommon for those who knows Shikaku personally. "Denji already confirmed it—Faguki has Kage-level chakra reserves, and two of his subordinates had elite jonin chakra reserve."
His gaze hardened as he glanced toward the distant treeline. "We're outmatched. If we ambushed them now, we'll all die."
All of them got quite upon hearing this the air around them was very tense as they all looked at each other in the eyes.
Kesuke clicked his tongue in frustration, but even through the irritation he knew Shikaku's judgment wasn't something to ignore.
"Tch… fine," he muttered under his breath.
Without wasting another second, he reached into his pouch and pulled out an empty scroll. His fingers moved fast, almost aggressively, as he spread it open across his palm.
Ink flowed onto the paper in sharp, controlled strokes—each line packed with urgency as he began writing on ir.
Once he finished scribbling the last line, he brought his hand to his mouth and bit down hard on his thumb, blood welling up instantly. Without hesitation, he slammed his palm forward and began weaving hand seals in rapid succession..
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"PUFF!"
Kesuke slammed his palm against the ground, and in a burst of white smoke a small black kitten appeared before him. Without hesitation, he handed it the scroll and spoke in a low, commanding tone.
"Biko, head straight to our main base at full speed and deliver this scroll personally to Minato-san. Do not stop for anything. Understood?"
The small black kitten gave a firm nod. Without hesitation, it swallowed the scroll whole. In a puff of white smoke, its form dissolved, vanishing from the spot as if it had never been there.
Kesuke's gaze swept across his team, the tension in the air heavy, his expression hardened, and then he spoke in a low, steady voice.
"Now… we need to delay them until our backup arrives," he said, his voice low and tense, eyes narrowing with resolve as chakra subtly churned around him.
Shikaku gave a slow, firm nod. The usual lazy edge in his eyes was gone, replaced by a sharp, calculating focus. He looked over his teammates seriously, every trace of hesitation erased as his mind locked onto the situation.
"I have a strategy… but if we even slip up once while executing it, we're all as good as dead," he said, his voice low and heavy, the weight of the words hanging in the air like a death sentence.
Kesuke and the others nodded in silent agreement, their expressions hardening as they turned their attention to Shikaku. The usual hesitation was gone—only resolve remained in their eyes, sharp and unwavering like blades drawn in preparation for battle.
"This is how we are going stall them until our backup arrive, memorize your tasks perfectly every stage of this ."
________
With Yukina
Yukina and her team moved swiftly through the forest canopy, leaping from branch to branch with practiced precision, their silhouettes flickering between the trees like ghosts.
Then, without warning, Yukina lifted her arm sharply.
A silent signal.
Instantly, the team responded—halting mid-motion, chakra steadying as they concealed their presence, eyes scanning the forest ahead with heightened caution.
In that very instant, the air itself seemed to tremble—then came the sharp whistle of death.
A relentless volley of kunai and shuriken tore through the canopy, slicing through leaves and branches as they hurtled straight toward them with lethal precision.
"SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!"
Fuguki's hands blurred as he tore through a rapid sequence of hand seals, his expression turning savage. In the next instant, he inhaled sharply—then unleashed a roaring torrent from his mouth, a towering pillar of water surging forward like a raging dragon.
"Water Release: Water Wall Jutsu."
"WHOOSH!"
Fuguki's Water Release surged outward in a roaring torrent, the churning wall of water effortlessly swallowing the incoming storm of kunai and shuriken. Steel vanished beneath the crushing current, deflected and drowned before they could reach him and his team.
But in the very next heartbeat—
A flicker.
Then—
"BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!"
The submerged weapons ignited all at once.
Explosive tags flared to life within the water itself, detonating in rapid succession. The river-like jutsu convulsed violently as blasts erupted from within, sending shockwaves tearing through the liquid barrier and spraying mist and debris in every direction.
"FWOOSH!"
"BBBBBZZZZZZZ!"
Without warning, chaos erupted from all sides.
From the right, a massive fireball roared forward, devouring the air in its path as heat waves distorted the surroundings. At the same instant, the shadows of the trees twisted unnaturally—stretching, writhing—before surging toward them from the left like living tendrils. And from the rear, a dark swarm of beetles advanced in a relentless wave, their buzzing growing louder with each passing second.
They were completely surrounded.
Yukina's eyes sharpened into thin slits, her expression turning grave in an instant—yet beneath that calm exterior, her gaze burned fiercely, alive with a dangerous thrill that flickered like wildfire in the dark.
'No choice I will be wasting a lot of chakra but in order to take them out without any casualties I need to use that clone jutsu.'
Yukina's hesitation vanished in an instant, her resolve sharpening like a drawn blade. With a swift motion, her hands snapped together, fingers interlocking into a precise cross seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu.."
"PUFF!"
With a sharp exhale, a dense cloud of white smoke burst outward—and from within it, three perfect copies of Yukina emerged, their presence snapping into existence like mirrored reflections.
Without wasting a heartbeat, the clones vanished in flickers of speed— using Shunshin—their forms blurring as they dispersed. In the next instant, they reappeared in flawless coordination, taking positions at the rear, right, and left—forming a tight, lethal perimeter around the battlefield.
Yukina's lips curved faintly, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
Each clone's hands blurred into motion, weaving entirely different sequences of seals, fingers snapping and crossing with sharp precision as chakra flared around them in distinct currents.
"Water Release Water Wall Jutsu."
"Wind Release Great Shimmering Gust."
"Water Release Thousands Needles of Death."
"FWOOSH!"
"WHOOSH!"
"SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!, SWISH!"
One of Yukina's clones expelled a roaring pillar of water from her mouth—it surged forward and twisted mid-air, expanding into a towering, churning wall that crashed into place just as the blazing fireball came hurtling in from the right, swallowing the flames in a violent hiss of steam.
"PSSHTT!"
A thick veil of steam erupted across the battlefield the moment Yukina's clone met the fireball head-on. The explosive clash hissed violently, swallowing sight and sound as searing heat was instantly devoured by surging water.
Within seconds, the entire area vanished behind a boiling white fog.
Yukina's rear clone drew in a sharp breath, then exhaled violently—releasing a vicious gust of wind from its mouth that tore through the battlefield. The raging current scattered the charging beetles, hurling them off course and clearing the pressure from the rear flank.
At the same time, the last clone took a step forward, its cheeks swelling as it focused chakra. In an instant, it unleashed a barrage of countless water senbon from its mouth—fine, needle-like projectiles shimmering in the air as they rained down with deadly precision toward the left side where Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi were hidden.
Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi's eyes widened the moment they saw the countless water senbon streaking through the air like a lethal rainstorm.
"Move!" Shikaku barked.
In an instant, all three threw themselves sideways, rolling across the ground just as the needle-like projectiles tore through the space they had occupied a heartbeat before. The senbon slammed into the earth and nearby trees with rapid tck-tck-tck impacts, leaving behind a deadly field of shimmering water needles.
Yukina's lips curled into a faint, knowing smirk after she succeeded in flushing out Shikaku and teammates of their hiding spots.
"…Found you," she murmured under her breath, her gaze sharpening with predatory calm.
Not far away, she could already picture them moving—carefully, reluctantly, forced into the open.
Even without seeing them, she knew exactly where they stood.
And that alone made her smile widen.
She unsheathed her katana in one smooth arc.
"Illusory step."
"SWISH!"
Yukina's figure blurred and vanished in an instant, leaving behind four flickering afterimages that lingered like fading echoes—before she reappeared directly in front of Shikaku, as if space itself had been cut and rewritten in a heartbeat.
Her katana lingered in the air for a split second, the blade catching a cold glint of light as she shifted her stance. Then, without hesitation, she drove her weight through her hips and unleashed a clean, horizontal arc.
The slash tore through the air with a sharp whistle—too fast for the eye to follow properly.
It was a single, decisive motion meant to end it all.
Straight for Shikaku's neck.
'Damn it, I am dead, she got me.'
At that instant, Yukina's eyes snapped wide open.
A flash of movement—too fast for perception, too sudden for warning.
Out of nowhere, a blond, spiky-haired young man teleported directly in front of her, as if space itself had been torn open and stitched back together in his wake.
He fixed his cold gaze on Yukina, his piercing blue eyes unblinking as if measuring her heart.
Without a word, his right palm turned upward—steady, controlled.
A sphere of chakra began to form above it.
Blue and luminous, it spun violently, distorting the air around it with raw pressure as it condensed tighter and tighter, the whirling energy screaming with contained power at an almost impossible speed.
Without even a fraction of hesitation, he drove the swirling chakra sphere straight into Yukina's midsection with ruthless precision.
The compressed energy detonated on impact, rippling violently through the air as her body was forced backward, the force of the blow distorting the ground beneath her feet. The surrounding wind screamed under the pressure of the release, dust and debris exploding outward in a widening circle.
"RASENGAN!"
"AAGGGGHHHHH!"
"BOOM!"
Fuguki and the others' eyes snapped wide as Yukina's body was sent flying with brutal force, skidding through the air before crashing back across the battlefield.
For a split second, silence hung heavy.
Then Fuguki's gaze locked onto the figure that had appeared.
Spiky blonde hair.
A calm, unwavering stance.
Those piercing blue eyes.
His expression darkened as recognition flashed across his face.
"It's you," Fuguki muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes with cold intensity.
"Minato Namikaza Konoha's Yellow Flash this is bad."
________