"Inoyama-san, what could this be? Why did the Yamanaka clan's sensory techniques suddenly stop working in this cave?" Shikaku asked, starting to boil again over such a "fortunate" coincidence.
As soon as they arrived, Inoyama began scanning everything with Yamanaka clan techniques, but after a few minutes, he surprisingly noticed it was impossible.
"I don't know, Shikaku-san. For some incredible reason, my scanning techniques don't work here. Or rather, they do, but only up to yesterday evening. Earlier information seems erased... I've only seen this at a Bijuu battle site, or rather the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha. After its poisonous chakra, scanning was impossible too..."
"I see... Well, from what we have—this neatly cleared rubble. Some boulders have marks from a very thick rope rubbing against the stones. So Kasumi was rescued... But by whom? Who has the ability to hide all traces like this? And why would any of them need an unremarkable Nara Clan Kunoichi?" Shikaku pondered. He was quite smart, so he noticed many non-obvious details that even Kenshin hadn't thought to destroy.
Kenshin knew such an important figure would definitely be searched for, so he carefully concealed the traces. He set up an interference formation over the entire nearby area. Even their boots left no prints. All footprints and stray clothing threads were meticulously removed. But even so, he hadn't considered the small rubbed and rough rope marks on the large boulders, which the Nara clan head immediately spotted.
Shikaku shifted his gaze to one of his subordinates and ordered, "Bring in people and have them search the entire area within a ten-kilometer radius for traces. Report all news to me personally."
"Yes!" the Jonin said and immediately set off to carry out the order.
"Inoyama-san, thank you for your help. I won't forget this," Shikaku said, unable to even fake a smile.
"No trouble, Shikaku-san. Our brother clans must help each other to withstand the cycle of intrigues and even grow stronger," Inoyama said with a smile.
After exchanging pleasantries with Inoyama, they were both near the forest. Shikaku formed several seals and vanished before the astonished Inoyama's eyes, merging with the shadow.
Inoyama had heard of this technique but was seeing it for the first time. One of the strongest techniques in the Nara clan's arsenal—the so-called "Shadow Walking Technique," with monstrous versatility. The user could merge with any shadow and travel through shadows, unnoticed by all around. Most offensive, defensive, and sensory techniques had no effect on shadows, so theoretically, one could even survive the terrifying "Tailed Beast Bomb" this way. This technique largely guaranteed that even a Kage would struggle to kill the best of the Nara clan shinobi.
From what Inoyama knew, the Nara Clan currently had only two shinobi who could use this technique: the current Nara clan head and the great elder—Shikaku's father, also known as the "Shadow Dragon." These two were the clan's pillars, providing a solid foundation and protecting it from any misfortunes.
Sighing to himself, Inoyama leaped onto a tree and raced toward Konoha, mentally cursing the cunning Shikaku, who had surely covered 150-200 kilometers by now and would be in his office in ten minutes. The less fortunate Yamanaka clan member had at least an hour's run to his home village. Without the many restrictions, Inoyama could have reached it in 15-20 minutes, but strong shinobi were forbidden from moving at such high speeds—at least for safety reasons. A "modest" speed of 300-350 kilometers per hour could be adapted to the ground and trees.
An experienced shinobi could easily dissipate the impulse from such speed, preventing trees from exploding and the ground underfoot from caving in and cracking. But 500 kilometers per hour, accessible to all decently strong Jonin, required immense control, and most shinobi—even Elite Jonin level—couldn't move that fast without consequences. Trees shredded to splinters threatened their fragile eyes, and feet sank knee-deep into loose soil, so for safety, no one traveled at such extreme speeds.
After Kasumi finished her Coffee, Kenshin decided not to pressure her and tried to cheer her up a bit, first giving her a tour of his house. The dejected and upset girl noticeably perked up—she loved learning new things, especially when this "new" seemed to come from another world.
Just as he was showing the curious girl the heated Swimming pool, Kenshin suddenly felt an alarm signal, and his smile instantly vanished from his lips.
"Kasumi, stay here for now. You can put on a swimsuit in that room over there and swim a bit. Of course, only if you want," Kenshin said politely, then headed with quick steps to a relatively secret room whose entrance was from the Gym.
Kasumi mentally cursed this scoundrel for his shamelessness and promised herself she'd never let him see her in a swimsuit. But nonetheless, she approached the pool's edge, leaned down, touched the water, and was surprised that it was indeed warm.
Even the Nara Clan couldn't afford such a structure. This world had durable metals and pipe-forging methods, but constantly heating pool water would consume massive amounts of firewood or coal, and already expensive Fuin were an unaffordable luxury for heating such huge water reservoirs.
While the girl was lost in thought, Kenshin quickly "connected" to the main formation nodes and began reviewing the received data.
"Hm, the search has reached even here... Good thing I thought to thoroughly hide our activity traces. But even so, if Jonin show up, they'll definitely find something. I didn't think Kasumi was that important to Shikaku..." Kenshin pondered, watching the Genin carelessly wandering around. Apparently, these Genin couldn't care less about the mission, and this place raised no suspicions, so it was quickly ignored.