For some unknown reason, despite being alone, Pakura's infiltration of the Land of Rain had been incredibly loud. After being surrounded by Hidden Rain ninjas, instead of choosing to retreat, she had fought back with stubborn ferocity.
Her motives remained a mystery. Logically, no matter how powerful a ninja is, they shouldn't exhibit such a high desire for combat while invading a foreign nation; such behavior is usually synonymous with a death wish. And Pakura, while elite, wasn't invincible.
Unless... her mission was to draw as much attention from the Hidden Rain as possible.
Regardless, her intrusion had objectively provided a massive distraction for Squad Hagoromo to slip away.
Along the path, the previously scattered Rain scouting units had converged, rushing toward the epicenter of the battle. Between Pakura's rampage and the Akatsuki's intervention, the border region between Rain and Fire had become a chaotic mess overnight.
But none of that mattered to Hagoromo's squad now. The battlefield was far behind them. No matter how much they strained their eyes or ears, they could no longer perceive the commotion.
Under the cover of fading night a massive, multi-headed canine predator—carried the four ninjas forward at high speed.
The probability of encountering enemy patrols had dropped significantly; the Rain ninjas had shifted from a wide net to a concentrated force, effectively shrinking their control zones. This played right into the hands of the escaping Leaf shinobi.
Still, Hagoromo remained vigilant to avoid running head-first into a decent-sized enemy battalion.
After several hours of a full-speed sprint, the squad had finally moved beyond the core control area of the Hidden Rain. The danger had dwindled to nearly zero.
The Land of Fire was right in front of them.
"As far as the primary reconnaissance mission goes, our squad has completed it successfully," Hagoromo said, patting his chest where the intelligence map was stowed. Even if he lost the paper, most of the data was etched into his memory.
"And the cost was within acceptable limits..."
This remark earned him a massive eye-roll from the "semi-crippled" Asuma, who was currently the primary payer of those "acceptable limits." Kurenai and Aoba, however, nodded in agreement.
Initially, this infiltration was ranked as a B-rank difficulty. Had they slipped in and out without incident, B-rank would have been accurate. But considering the reality—encountering the Fuma clan, then Pakura, and the near-miss with the Akatsuki—the mission had effectively escalated to A-rank.
Completing such a task at the cost of a few broken bones and external bruises was a bargain.
At the very least, Squad Hagoromo's first major operation resulted in zero fatalities.
"As for Pakura's objective... we have no way of knowing now," Hagoromo continued. "In the mission report, we just need to submit the fact that she appeared on the border. We don't guess."
In the world of shinobi, making baseless assumptions in an official report is a cardinal sin. Interpreting Pakura's motives was a job for the higher-ups who held more pieces of the puzzle. Besides, Hagoromo secretly suspected Pakura might have already been finished off by Nagato—if she had been foolish enough to force a fight against the "Pacifists."
As for the encounter with the Akatsuki, Hagoromo knew he could only report the surface details. He couldn't explain how he knew the organization's name or their depth without sounding like a spy himself. 'I just looked at him once and knew his whole life story' wasn't a valid defense in a military debrief.
The atmosphere in the squad had lightened. Hagoromo still had his sensory range active, but the immediate threat seemed gone.
The sky was beginning to brighten, light filtering through the canopy ahead.
"Stay sharp. We'll be clearing the treeline soon. In a few minutes, we'll cross the border and be back in the Land of Fi—"
Hagoromo didn't finish his sentence.
The Split-Hiding Dog beneath them came to a violent, jarring halt, then was slammed sideways into the dirt. A furious, triple-throated roar erupted from its heads!
A gleaming, silver metallic weapon—shaped like a whip yet segmented like an arthropod—had lashed out from the shadows, binding the sprinting summon in a crushing grip. The massive dog was handled as if by a giant hand, seized and then hurled through the air.
The four riders were thrown off. Thanks to his instantaneous reflexes, Hagoromo adjusted his posture in mid-air, tucked, and landed cleanly on his feet. His eyes locked onto the source of the attack.
The others weren't as graceful; they hit the ground hard, with Asuma likely suffering "secondary damage" to his ribs. The enemy's target had been the summon, and the speed of the ambush was so great that even a creature of pure instinct couldn't react in time.
A low, hunched figure emerged slowly from the forest shadows, coming into Hagoromo's view.
In that instant, Hagoromo understood why a ninja like Pakura would leave her front line to come to the Land of Rain.
It was indeed for a mission. And her target—the one she had been chasing—was now standing right in front of him.
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