Morning of the 421st day.
Team Three, which had left home just yesterday, continued advancing toward the outskirts of the Land of Fire to carry out a mission to eliminate a Chunin-rank Rogue Shinobi.
"Why do these bastards love to shit all over everything and then flee to the ends of the earth!" Twelfth grumbled discontentedly, addressing his older brother first and foremost, who also happened to be the team commander.
"Father says it's all because of their unbridled hatred. They can't contain their filthy vices and cowardly flee, fearing righteous retribution," Eighth replied. As sons of the same mother, Eighth and Twelfth had much in common, including Sharingan. And though Eighth had already awakened two tomoe, his younger brother's notes on developing this Dojutsu were still useful to him.
"Father is very wise, but still too soft. Mother believes we should destroy all criminals without the slightest mercy, and only then can this world be saved," Twenty-Fifth interjected, quoting Kasumi. He adored his genius mother madly and tried to emulate her in everything.
"Be that as it may, we and our beloved mothers can only give advice. The final word is always Father's, even if he decides to cooperate with such people—we'll obey any decision he makes," Sixteenth said measuredly. He was the only one present without exceptional abilities, being the son of Natsumi, but that hadn't stopped him from becoming a solid Chunin, which couldn't help but please Kenshin.
"Everyone, prepare! The target is close," Twenty-Sixth said in a serious tone, peering into the distance with Byakugan.
Everyone immediately focused and fell silent. As commander, Eighth ordered them to spread out, then stealthily headed toward one of the houses in a nearby village.
The five houses standing not far from each other could only be called a farmstead, not a village, and yet Twenty-Sixth's Byakugan, combined with Kenshin's formations, detected a total of twenty people across the five houses.
It was no trouble at all for Eighth to slip into the backyard of one house and yank out a twelve-year-old boy. He was badly frightened but answered all questions and reported that the wanted Chunin had occupied one of the houses and taken several young women as concubines.
After the interrogation, they put him into a deep sleep, outlined an action plan, and began preparing the surrounding terrain for battle. Eighth considered simply blowing up the house with one of their dozens of bombs but decided against it, as the blast would kill all the villagers.
Once preparations were complete, Eighth activated the latest disguise formation that Kenshin had finally integrated into the exo-suits of all four teams, and the boy himself dashed nimbly to the house—Eighth in disguise.
After chaotic knocking, the door finally opened, and a unshaven man peeked out—Eighth immediately recognized the target. Sakamoto Hide.
"Lost all fear, have you?! What do you want?!" the "master of the house" growled irritably.
"P-please, sir! There's... In the forest... A wounded kunoichi... Needs help!" the boy panted out breathlessly.
"What?! Kunoichi? What kunoichi?! Speak!" the Chunin demanded, instantly sobering up and shaking the boy by the collar.
"Sh-she's unconscious... Asked to bring help..." the boy replied under the shaking, and only then did Hide calm down a bit. His eyes lit up with a brilliant idea, and patting the kid on the shoulder, he smiled and ordered: "Of course she needs help—lead the way!"
Eighth barely restrained his true emotions and clumsily ran ahead, severely limiting his speed to pretend to be a exhausted teenager.
In the five minutes of walking, Hide had time to mull over the situation and couldn't help suspecting foul play. His instincts told him the boy might have been sent as bait, so in one motion he was beside him, reaching out to grab his shoulder for a thorough interrogation. But the extremely slow-moving boy suddenly evaded the grab, spun around, and slashed Hide across the gut with a kunai.
Hide was utterly unprepared for such a turn and could only cover his stomach with his hand. Eighth's strike tore his arm to the bone, and in blind panic, Hide bolted in terror for his life.
But the other members of Team Three had no intention of letting him escape. Two fireballs instantly hurtled toward the panic-stricken Hide, and only at the last moment did he manage to raise a rock barrier.
"Doton: Iwadeppo no Jutsu!" Hide roared, spitting a Chakra clump that materialized into several dozen fist-sized stones.
"Rotation Technique!" Twenty-Sixth exclaimed, spinning and effortlessly deflecting all the flying stones.
Seeing a Hyuga clan member had come for him, Hide was genuinely terrified and even more determined to flee. He knew full well the training level of clan shinobi and had zero desire to tangle with them. So, taking a deep breath and forming a dozen seals, he growled on the edge of control: "Doton: Chidokaku!"
Five seconds had passed since the battle began, and the less experienced members of Team Three hadn't managed to stop the enemy from activating the formidable technique. The ground beneath their feet shook, deep pits forming everywhere along with massive spikes.
The technique's effects weren't overly deadly, but Team Three's members completely lost their mobility and speed, forced to dodge rising spikes repeatedly and avoid collapsing pits.
Eighth was the only one who could move without much issue. As the strongest on his team, while moving he distributed Chakra over a wider area, forcefully suppressing any landscape changes underfoot. But even he couldn't reach the enemy faster than the man burrowed underground.
"Don't lose him! He's underground," Eighth thought to Twenty-Sixth. The latter immediately focused underground and spotted the rapidly retreating figure.
After fleeing about a kilometer underground, Hide surfaced and continued his escape on the surface. He knew full well that with a Hyuga on his tail, hiding underground wouldn't work.
Eighth doggedly followed, but even his speed wasn't enough to cut off the enemy's retreat. The others matched their pace and trailed behind. In half an hour of nonstop pursuit, Team Three managed to catch the enemy off-guard several times, and Hide took one serious wound to the back—only thanks to that did the chase continue.
"We're already at the Land of Fire border—maybe we should stop?" Twenty-Fifth suggested mentally.
"A bit more and he'll be exhausted. We can't fail this mission. We'll stop only if he flees into the Land of Rain," Eighth replied. He clearly remembered the strict order never, under any circumstances, to approach the Land of Rain, let alone their main village.
To their relief, Hide had no intention of fleeing into the Land of Rain. Even on the brink of life and death, he'd prefer anything over that devilish land. His path led to the Land of Grass, where alone he had a chance of salvation from his relentless pursuers.