In the blink of an eye.
Two days had passed.
After carefully inventorying and sealing all of the compensation supplies that the Hidden Sand Village had provided to Konoha, Yagyu and his group of six set out on the journey back to the Hidden Leaf Village.
This time, accompanying them were Gaara and his two siblings, who were carrying out the escort mission alongside them.
A group of nine people was certainly a conspicuous target.
However, with Yagyu's strength, Gaara's power as a Jinchūriki, and the abilities of the others, this was already a force capable of moving freely throughout the ninja world.
Even if one of the Akatsuki's Kage-level teams were to encounter Yagyu and his companions, they would not come away without suffering.
Amid the uneven sound of footsteps, an overwhelming sense of pressure filled the air.
The nine-person team advanced steadily.
Yagyu walked alone at the front, clearing the way. The other eight protected Choji, who was carrying several large scrolls on his back in the center of the formation.
Anyone observing carefully would quickly notice that Yagyu was not actually participating in the task of guarding the supplies carried by Choji. Instead, he seemed more like a one-man squad operating independently of the main group.
Because they were transporting a large amount of supplies and because the team itself was quite large, Yagyu did not rush their journey after leaving the Hidden Sand Village.
Instead, he led the group at a normal pace, traveling from the Land of Wind into the Land of Rivers and then making their way toward the Land of Fire as efficiently as possible.
On a forest path in the Land of Rivers, Yagyu led the team forward on foot toward Konoha in the Land of Fire.
"Something's not right. We've come all this way without any incidents. Could it be that Lady Tsunade and I guessed wrong?"
Walking at the very front, Yagyu felt a faint sense of doubt in his heart.
"If that's really the case, then what exactly was that old schemer Danzo planning?"
Could it be that something unexpected had come up at the last minute, leaving him with no choice but to abandon this highly rewarding mission?
If that were true then Yagyu would feel genuinely embarrassed.
After all, who would have thought that the old schemer wouldn't stir up trouble?
That was Danzo, after all. No matter how deviously one imagined his intentions, Yagyu felt it would be perfectly reasonable.
And now, all of a sudden, the so-called "Shadow Hokage" Danzo wasn't causing any trouble at all.
That, instead, felt abnormal.
Just as Yagyu's thoughts were wandering, while the others behind him maintained a serious and vigilant posture.
Suddenly, from the forests on both sides of the path, a storm of kunai and shuriken came raining down toward Yagyu and his team.
"Hmm? Speak of the devil…"
Yagyu's eyes sharpened slightly as he looked at the incoming attack,
"Let's see who's daring enough to come after me."
Bending his legs, his figure flashed and vanished from his original position.
Behind him Shikamaru Nara and the others, along with Gaara and his siblings, also swiftly leapt away from the attack zone.
Whoosh.
In an instant, Yagyu appeared atop a tree, his gaze sweeping across the forest below with cold precision.
Leaves rustled.
Shadows shifted.
Figures began to emerge one after another from the darkness between the trees.
Each of them wore identical uniforms their presence silent, disciplined, and eerily uniform.
Anbu… no.
Root.
Yagyu's lips curved slightly, a faint, dangerous smile forming.
"So it really is you…"
His voice was calm, but carried a sharp edge:
Danzo Shimura.
At the same time behind him, Gaara raised his hand slightly.
Sand began to gather and swirl around the group, forming a defensive barrier almost instantly.
Temari snapped open her fan, her expression tense, while Kankuro subtly adjusted his puppet threads.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.
"Troublesome… this isn't just a random ambush."
Yagyu didn't respond.
He simply stood on the branch, looking down at the encroaching Root operatives as if he had already seen through everything.
Then he stepped forward.
A faint crackle of lightning flickered across his body.
"Since you've come all this way…"
Yagyu's voice dropped, calm yet filled with killing intent,
"Don't even think about leaving alive."
Yagyu reached into his ninja pouch with both hands.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
In the very next instant a storm of shuriken was hurled into the air.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The moment the shuriken left his hand Yagyu had already completed his hand seals.
Bang bang bang.
Amid bursts of white smoke the shuriken in midair multiplied instantly, turning into a swarm like locusts as they shot toward the forests on both sides of the road.
Clang clang clang.
The sharp sound of metal collisions rang out from behind the trees.
"Ugh!"
"Ah!"
"!"
At the same time a string of screams echoed, along with the sound of shuriken embedding themselves deep into tree trunks.
Branches and leaves were severed in large numbers, falling heavily to the ground.
"Looks like it's not just one or two people…"
After the shuriken barrage Yagyu had no intention of stopping. His right hand gripped the hilt of his blade as he spoke in a low voice,
"The attack isn't over yet."
Clang!
The crisp cry of a blade leaving its sheath rang out.
With a casual swing, Yagyu slashed twice toward the forests on both sides.
A bright, resonant hum followed.
The two massive wind-infused slashes stretched nearly a hundred meters,
then exploded into countless smaller blades of cutting air, scattering chaotically into the forest.
Boom!
Like a sweeping annihilation, every tree on both sides was cut clean through at the trunk, collapsing in waves.
In an instant the dense forest was cleared into a wide-open field of vision.
"Argh!"
As the trees crashed down several ninja wearing Otogakure headbands were revealed beneath the wreckage many crushed, many dead.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
At that moment more than twenty ninja burst out from all directions surrounding Yagyu and the eight-member squad behind him.
"Orochimaru, huh?"
Seeing the appearance of these sound ninja Yagyu's lips curled into a disdainful smile.
"So the old schemer is working with him after all…"
At this point how could Yagyu not understand?
Yes.
Danzo Shimura hadn't directly tried to trip him up.
But the moment Yagyu left the village his information had already been sold to Orochimaru.
In fact…it was very likely that from the very instant he stepped out of Konoha his movements had already been completely exposed.
Otherwise, how could Otogakure under Orochimaru have set up an ambush here so easily and even successfully catch him in it?
Of course as for the fact that he had been openly leading his team from the Land of Wind into the Land of Rivers and back toward the Land of Fire acting as if he wanted to be targeted that was something Yagyu would never admit.
If something went wrong it definitely wasn't his fault it had to be the enemy's.
With that mindset a lot of things became much easier to accept.
"Don't tell me Orochimaru thinks these people are enough to deal with me?"
Looking at the Sound ninja surrounding them without attacking,
Yagyu spoke with a faint smile,
"Where's the one in charge? Come out and let me see."
As he spoke his powerful sensory ability quietly spread outward.
In just an instant he detected five presences hidden in the still-standing parts of the forest far stronger than the ones in front of him.
One of them had already reached the level of a jōnin.
"The Sound Four… plus one more?"
Yagyu immediately identified them in his mind.
"That jōnin-level chakra… must be Kimimaro."
Seeing that none of them had any intention of showing themselves,
Yagyu lost interest in waiting.
"Not coming out? Fine."
His gaze swept across the surrounding Sound ninja as he spoke calmly,
"I'll deal with you all in an instant… then they can crawl out themselves."
Whoosh.
The moment his voice fell his chakra blade lifted.
Crackle.
Lightning chakra surged violently across his body.
In the blink of an eye, Yagyu transformed into streaks of lightning flashing through every position occupied by the surrounding enemies.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
After three seconds, Yagyu's figure reappeared behind the outermost Sound ninja.
With his back to everyone he slowly sheathed his blade.
Click.
Silence.
Then.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
One after another every Sound ninja froze…before collapsing to the ground.
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