A group of four unremarkable black-haired men moved carefully through the forest, examining every detail. Suddenly, each sensed something and jumped aside.
"Who are you, intruders?!" an angry voice boomed.
Each man warily scanned around, but the voice seemed to come from everywhere.
"I am Hidetaka Sazuhiro, captain of Team Eighty-Seven from the Hidden Leaf Village—and you?" the Root Anbu recon team leader said, trying to contact other teams for backup, but all comms were jammed.
"This is Nakayama Family territory, and I ask you intruders to leave peacefully. We're peaceful and break no laws, but we won't let outsiders invade our home," Kenshin said authoritatively, projecting his voice from all directions.
"Fine, let us leave, and we won't bother you," the leader said, deciding not to clash with an unknown foe. In his long life, he'd seen much, but this was a first. He'd assessed the trap's danger—they couldn't escape easily. Before Kenshin spoke, they'd tried multiple times to leave but always looped back.
"No tricks—I'd rather not kill a Root shinobi team and feud with your bosses. Understand, Yamada Norio?"
Hearing his real name, Norio broke into cold sweat. For the first time in ages, he was scared and respectfully replied in a trembling voice, "Y-yes, sir, I understand. Sorry to disturb you!"
"You're free. Next time Konoha wants to talk, send an official rep. We're not enemies and would welcome cooperation with the Hidden Leaf Village," Kenshin said somewhat more amiably, deactivating the formation, letting the Root team exit without issue and vanish into the forest depths.
"But how did they bypass primary detection formations?" Kasumi asked in surprise, perched on a tall tree's crown.
"It's their attire—covered in concealment fuinjutsu. Likely anti-sensor shinobi, but it worked on ours too. I studied their fuin structure a bit, so formations will be upgraded soon," Kenshin said seriously, still tracking the Root shinobi.
"What are they doing now?" Kasumi asked. She was furious at outsiders disrupting their peaceful life and wanted them gone fast.
"All three groups merged and seem to be deciding next moves," Kenshin replied, maintaining focus.
"If they attack, none leave alive. Under Patriarch's Aura, I could handle them solo!" Ichiro declared, earning a disapproving look from his father.
"Don't get cocky. Root shinobi are pros—I wouldn't be surprised if these three teams could take several Jonin. We could handle them easily, but wiping three Root teams would draw massive attention that could cost us our lives."
"You're right, Father, sorry..." Ichiro said guiltily. Even Kenshin's sons' resilient psyches struggled against base worldly vices like pride. Kenshin had to ground cocky sons occasionally.
Kenshin said nothing, focusing on the Root shinobi. Minutes later, they retreated—no order to eliminate Nakayama Family. They'd located the mercenaries' approximate base and learned they were very strong.
Seeing the intruders leave, Kenshin relaxed slightly and watched via two crows and a falcon for another half hour until they exited the forest. Only then did he breathe freely.
"Intruders gone, but time's short. Ichiro, you and your group guard me tonight. Fifteenth's group relieves you morning. Hurry the move," Kenshin ordered.
"You've barely slept the last few days anyway!" Kasumi declared. She hated her beloved man exhausting himself so.
"Nothing serious, if we hold out – I'll have plenty of time to rest. – Kenshin replied with a smile, and stroked his third wife's head. She was wearing a smooth hood with small protruding "ears," and he could barely hold back a smile as he stroked her.
At that moment, he wanted a daughter more strongly than ever before. And although his wives showered him with tenderness and affection one way or another, he knew that a daughter's love for her father would be an incomparable experience, and at that moment he decided to resolve this issue at any cost.
Kasumi looked at how affectionately Kenshin was stroking her with slight surprise, and how tender his smile adorned his face at that moment. She had never seen him so gentle before, so she didn't even try to interrupt this state, enjoying his caress.
"Ahem… Let's go, Kasumi, we have things to do. – Kenshin said a little embarrassedly, and flew to Block B4 with his wife, where there was a lot of work."
"How interesting… What exactly happened in this forest that made these principle-less Root puppets retreat in horror?.. – Hyuga Hideo muttered in surprise."
Initially, he wanted to explore this forest, where, according to available information, the Nakayama Family base was located; however, even his very strong Byakugan was working with significant distortions, not giving him full information.
An hour earlier, when Hideo was about to go deeper and examine this strange place more thoroughly, he noticed one group of Root ANBU shinobi, and over time, the other two. He had no doubt that they were Root shinobi, because only they carried so many fuinjutsu seals blocking any scanning.
If not for his highly developed and strong Byakugan, Hideo wouldn't have even been able to spot them at a distance of a kilometer. But thanks to being one of the strongest shinobi of the branch family of the clan, spotting a few hiding Chunin was no trouble at all.
Seeing the Root seeker swarms, he decided to simply observe. When they fell into the "trap," Hideo's surprise knew no bounds. Inside a small section of the forest, absolute chaos was unfolding. Everything was so distorted that he rubbed his eyes several times.
Before his eyes, four Root shinobi were behaving like idiots, rushing first in one direction, then another, running in circles. The only thing that came to his mind was the strongest genjutsu, but he knew how strong the psyche of any Root shinobi was, so his desire to venture into territory with such powerful genjutsu diminished many times over.
When all the seekers safely retreated and reunited with their allies, then discussed something and left the forest, Hideo was deep in thought. He didn't know what had happened inside or how dangerous the area was, so he decided to return to Konoha and observe what the Hidden Leaf Village would do regarding the Nakayama Family.