[The Land of Water]
The Raikage's group was gathered around a campfire. They had hunted a bear and were slowly roasting strips of bear meat over the fire.
During this period, they had been chased all over the place and had survived on nothing but soldier pills. They were sick of eating them.
Now that they finally had a chance to light a fire, they naturally wanted to roast something to eat.
Among them, Kaifu was the most exhausted. As a sensory ninja, the more everyone else rested, the less he could relax.
He had to keep checking where the Mist pursuers had reached.
Just then, a familiar wave of perception swept over him.
"The Mist ninja are coming again!"
The familiar sensation made Kaifu jump to his feet.
His shout drew everyone's attention.
They all looked toward the Raikage, waiting for his decision.
"Leave first!"
After a brief moment of thought, the Raikage gave the order.
They still had soldier pills, so skipping a meal wasn't a big deal.
But if the Mist caught up to them, things would get troublesome.
Once the Raikage gave the order, everyone stood up immediately despite their unhappy expressions. They didn't even have time to put out the fire.
They abandoned the half-cooked meat roasting over it and immediately started moving.
As Killer B hurried along, he asked the Raikage, "Bro, the Mist is sticking to us too closely. We can't get anything done like this."
"I've had enough, fool, ya fool, ya fool!"
Killer B was full of resentment. Aside from the initial attack on the daimyo's residence, which had been satisfying, they had spent the rest of the mission being chased around like dogs.
It couldn't have gone much worse.
The Raikage snapped, "Whether you can stand it or not, you have to. The Mist has another powerful expert now. Our first priority is making sure we stay alive."
In truth, the Cloud had originally planned things well.
The Mist didn't have many top-level fighters. Only Yagura really counted as one, and even with his Mirror Clone, there were only two of him.
The Cloud also had two jinchuriki.
Although Darui had only recently become a jinchuriki, his outstanding talent, the new sealing technique, and the cooperation of a Tailed Beast that had already died once meant he could hold off one Yagura without much trouble.
As for the Eight-Tails' jinchuriki, before the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki had suddenly risen to prominence, he had been acknowledged as the strongest jinchuriki in the ninja world.
No matter how you looked at it, the Cloud should have held the advantage.
Even then, they hadn't been completely at ease. Besides assigning specialists for support roles, they had also kept the Raikage on standby at all times.
If anything went wrong, the Raikage would be deployed.
After all, the outside world didn't know that the Cloud's Heavenly Transfer Technique could teleport the Raikage directly to the battlefield.
With a surprise attack, there was even a good chance Yagura Karatachi would die at the Cloud's hands.
Their original plan had been to fire one shot, a Tailed Beast Bomb, and then change locations.
Eventually, they hoped to lure Yagura out alone.
After all, Yagura could fly.
He was much faster than ordinary ninja.
If he became separated from the rest of his forces, the Cloud would seize the chance to kill the Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
If Yagura refused to pursue them alone, the Cloud would simply continue causing havoc throughout the Mist, forcing them to call for reinforcements.
After all, they had a sensory ninja with them.
As long as they kept playing the thief, the Mist could only keep dancing to their tune.
But they hadn't expected the very first step of the plan to go wrong.
Although Darui had tied down his opponent and Killer B had the upper hand, they never imagined the Mist had a hidden master of ultra-high-speed taijutsu.
On top of that, he possessed the extremely rare Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya Clan.
Under those circumstances, the Cloud had no choice but to summon the Raikage ahead of schedule.
If the Raikage hadn't also been an ultra-high-speed taijutsu user, either Darui or Killer B would probably have died there.
The moment Kyokotsu appeared, it was no longer the Cloud holding the Mist back.
Instead, it became the Mist's two Yaguras holding back the Cloud's two jinchuriki.
Although the final battle looked evenly matched, they couldn't forget where they were.
This was the Land of Water, the Mist's home territory.
The Mist could receive reinforcements at any time, while the Cloud was walking a tightrope, unable to afford a single mistake.
That was why they had retreated in such a hurry.
Recently, they had been hiding and constantly changing locations, but the Mist always managed to find them accurately.
Sometimes after one day, sometimes after two.
Whenever the Cloud tried to find an opportunity to cause trouble inside the Land of Wind, the Mist would catch up again.
The closest call came when Kaifu, the sensory ninja, had been so exhausted that he fell asleep while resting.
The Cloud had actually spotted the Mist through binoculars before they arrived.
If everyone in the Cloud force hadn't been elites who could run fast, they would have already been surrounded.
Seeing that Killer B still looked dissatisfied, Kaifu quickly comforted him.
"Lord Killer B, there's no need to worry."
"Although we haven't had the chance to cause trouble for the Mist, we've tied down a large part of their forces."
"The Mist has been on edge this whole time."
"There are fewer than ten of us, but they've sent over fifty people after us."
"And Yagura Karatachi and that Shikotsumyaku user have been chasing us for so many days."
"They must be even more tired than we are."
There was some truth to Kaifu's words.
The Cloud force was powerful.
The Mist had no choice but to keep searching for them without pause to prevent the Cloud from launching Tailed Beast Bombs at Mist cities.
Although each team following Yagura numbered only forty or fifty people, the total number spread across the search area had to be much higher.
But...
Had the Mist really committed that much manpower?
———
[In a Forest in the Land of Water]
"Well? Finished resting?", Yagura Karatachi's Mirror Clone (Rengoku) asked Yagura.
Yagura nodded slightly. He was clearly in good spirits, "No problem. I get time to sleep every day. Chasing them is just exercise."
"Terumi Mei can handle the government affairs."
"What about you? Don't you need to rest?"
Normally, even Shadow Clones accumulated fatigue and consumed chakra.
Even if you had enough chakra, excessive exhaustion would still cause a Shadow Clone to disappear.
But Rengoku's clone seemed completely unaffected, like a perpetual motion machine. For over ten days, he hadn't eaten, drunk, slept, or rested.
Even Yagura found that remarkable.
Rengoku shook his head with a smile, "I didn't get any rest during all those years in your shadow either."
Yagura knew Rengoku was referring to the years when this clone had hidden in his shadow.
He couldn't help but feel surprised.
He hadn't expected Rengoku's clone to be so unusual.
It simply didn't need rest.
Rengoku gave him a look, and Yagura raised his head toward the dozens of Mist ninja approaching from the distance.
"Lord Mizukage! We're the Fourth Pursuit Team."
That's right. The Mist had actually split into four teams that took turns chasing the Cloud. Every team had plenty of time to rest.
Moreover, these Mist ninja weren't particularly strong. Just as Rengoku had said, they were basically there as cheerleaders.
The Cloud simply didn't know that.
They still thought they had tied down a large number of Mist forces.
Looking at the energetic Mist ninja one by one, Yagura nodded in satisfaction.
A smug smile appeared on his face.
"Let's go. We can't let the Cloud have it too easy."
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