Except for Guren and Yukimaru, the five people instantly disappeared from the spot.
Guren revealed an interested expression.
She wanted to know who exactly had been following her.
Logically speaking, her movements were very concealed, and her base had already been destroyed.
There shouldn't be any pursuers.
And yet, a group of pursuers had now appeared.
She was naturally a bit curious.
"Yukimaru, you stay here. I'm going out for a while."
Guren crouched down and said patiently to Yukimaru.
"Mm."
Yukimaru nodded, a faint smile on his face as he looked directly into Guren's eyes.
Guren was slightly startled by his gaze.
She couldn't quite understand this child.
But it didn't matter.
Completing the mission entrusted by Orochimaru was the top priority.
She arrived at a cliff and took out a crystal ball.
As she performed the technique, images soon appeared on the crystal ball.
The people in the image were clearly Rinji and the others.
In the image, Rinji and the others were rapidly heading in a certain direction.
"The numbers are off."
While rushing, Rinji frowned slightly. "One is missing."
"Who cares if there's one more or one less."
Nurari said nonchalantly. "Isn't it enough to just eliminate them all?"
"I don't mind."
Kiho shrugged.
In this team, his role was just to provide cover; his actual combat strength wasn't high.
It was precisely because of his special ability that Rinji had chosen him to survive the free-for-all.
And his special technique could completely eliminate scent.
He was also the culprit that prevented Kiba and Akamaru from continuing to track by scent.
"This place should be about right."
Rinji stopped and looked around at the surrounding environment. "Let's engage them here."
"Plenty of trees and complex terrain, perfect for an ambush."
Kiho nodded.
"Gozu, we'll leave the most troublesome enemy to you."
Rinji looked at Gozu and said. "You have the strongest strength among us. You won't disappoint Guren-sama, right?"
Gozu just glanced at him and didn't speak.
"I'll take your silence as agreement."
Rinji smiled, then looked at the others. "Kiho and Kigiri, you two watch for the right moment to completely obscure their vision and smell. Then Nurari, the task of eliminating them is up to you."
"No problem."
Nurari, whose body was strange and resembled a human-shaped water droplet, nodded silently.
Among the five, Nurari's appearance was the most bizarre.
And his ability was also related to water.
He could extend parts of his body and also turn himself into a puddle of water.
"Get ready, the enemy will be here soon."
As soon as Rinji finished speaking, he directly hid behind a tree with a swish.
The others also found places to hide.
"How annoying."
Kiba said resentfully. "If I could still smell the scent, we wouldn't be so on the defensive!"
Unable to smell, his tracking function was completely gone.
And Shino's tracking couldn't be reported in real time; he needed the Kikaichu to return to his body to bring back the intelligence.
Moreover, Shino was now in a hidden state, not with them, so naturally he couldn't pass intelligence to them.
All they could rely on now was Hinata's Byakugan.
But the range Hinata's Byakugan could see was limited...
"Wait!"
Hinata suddenly shouted. "Found the enemy!"
"At this distance..."
Takumi frowned. "Are they charging at us?"
"No, they're hiding, seemingly planning to launch an ambush."
Hinata shook her head.
"It seems they don't know we have a Byakugan user on our side."
Kiba immediately perked up. "Otherwise, they definitely wouldn't hide so casually."
"Regardless, we need to be cautious and vigilant."
Takumi said in a deep voice. "The enemy might have set traps."
He didn't care about these few small fries himself.
But with Kiba's strength, facing these guys would still be very difficult.
Mainly because these guys' Ninjutsu were quite a counter to Kiba.
Blocking both smell and vision instantly deprived Kiba of his most relied-upon sensory organs.
"I know."
Kiba straightened his expression.
"Currently, no traps have been found."
Hinata quickly scanned the area around the enemy and didn't find any trigger type traps.
Takumi walked at the front, maintaining their previous speed.
If the enemy had a Sensor-type Shinobi, they would get false intelligence.
That is, they would think they hadn't been exposed yet.
"Hinata, report their positions and distance."
Takumi said softly.
"All in the southeast direction, a total of four people."
Hinata immediately replied. "All hiding behind trees."
"Four?"
Takumi frowned slightly.
He thought there should be more than four.
'Did I remember wrong?'
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
Deal with these few small fries as soon as possible, then find Guren and take control of that kid named Yukimaru.
At least before Obito.
Otherwise, once Kabuto used Yukimaru to summon the Three-Tails, things would get troublesome.
He didn't want to directly confront Obito.
At least not now.
He didn't have absolute certainty to defeat Obito yet.
Both sides were on alert.
Waiting for the other to reach the optimal distance.
Takumi's side had Hinata reporting positions.
And Rinji's side had Rinji's bats confirming Takumi and the others' positions.
"Five hundred meters... four hundred meters..."
Hinata reported the distance in a low voice.
Takumi and Kiba's expressions became serious.
If they could unexpectedly reduce the enemy's numbers, the subsequent battle would undoubtedly be much simpler.
In fact, if it were just Takumi alone, he would directly charge in and be done with it.
Anyway, with these guys' strength, there was no way they could hurt Takumi.
Takumi was being so cautious purely out of concern that Hinata might get hurt.
Of course, it would be best if Kiba also came through unharmed.
However, just as their attention was focused on the enemies hiding behind the trees,
A burly figure suddenly erupted from the ground beneath Takumi's feet and grabbed Takumi, taking him far away.
"It's bad!"
Hinata's expression changed. She hadn't noticed the enemy hidden underground.
This was a huge mistake.
Kiba and Hinata immediately stopped in their tracks.
Rinji and the others, seeing that Gozu had successfully taken away one person, immediately came out from behind the trees where they were hiding.
Since the enemy couldn't advance anymore, an ambush was also impossible.
"Kiho, Kigiri, now."
Rinji looked at the two young kids not far away and revealed an excited smile.
At the same time, he also saw the forehead protectors on Kiba and Hinata.
"Konoha's Shinobi?"
He muttered quietly, his vision gradually blocked by the mist released by Kigiri.
"Mist?"
Kiba's expression changed, and he immediately covered his face with his hand, to prevent the mist from being poisonous or having a dizzying effect.
Hinata did the same.
"Wait!"
Kiba suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "The scent is completely gone? My sense of smell is gone?"
Akamaru also barked anxiously twice.
Now, the situation was completely unfavorable for Kiba.
"Nurari, it's up to you."
Rinji immediately sent out their fighter.
Nurari rushed out quickly.
He seemed completely unaffected by the mist's obscuration, accurately charging towards Kiba.
His right hand suddenly whipped out, like a whip, fiercely towards Kiba.
"Watch out!"
Hinata pushed Kiba aside, narrowly dodging Nurari's attack.