Are we just going to keep watching like this?
Outside the battle between Shikamaru and his group and Kimimaro, a group of mysterious people wearing animal masks and some Sarutobi clan ninjas lurked in the trees, watching them intently.
Shikamaru's guess was correct; someone had indeed been following them all along.
However, Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka's detection methods were unable to find them. The Root and Anbu's counter-tracking and detection methods were honed against other ninja villages.
Moreover, the Aburame and Inuzuka clan ninjas were also present, and they were very skilled at concealing the parasitic insects' scent.
"This is not our battlefield. Lord Danzo's orders are to track the enemy, gather information on the remnants of the Uchiha clan, and eliminate them on the spot if they appear."
As for these enemies, let these ninjas deal with them themselves.
The Root ninja leading the group had a cold expression, completely unconcerned that his fellow villager was in danger.
"Hmm, we've been waiting for a while now, and no new enemies have appeared. Our reconnaissance hasn't revealed anything either, so we should continue the pursuit."
If we wait any longer, we'll lose contact with the members of the secret service we were tracking.
The ANBU leader nodded in agreement. Their main target today was the remnants of the Uchiha clan, and the lives of a few Konoha chunin and genin were not of concern to them.
"Wait, we can't just leave like this. This enemy keeps talking about Orochimaru, he's definitely one of Orochimaru's men. He's a sinner who caused turmoil in Konoha. If it weren't for his Konoha Crush plan, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses!"
Suddenly, a dissenting voice rang out from the Sarutobi clan's ranks.
The Root leader frowned. "Sarutobi Madara, what do you mean by this!"
Sarutobi Madara, with a righteous and awe-inspiring expression, said, "What I mean is, we can pursue them, but we can't let this Orochimaru lackey go. We must give an explanation to the villagers and clansmen who died because of Orochimaru!"
Madara Sarutobi was actually unwilling to continue the pursuit; he opposed the entire operation.
After Hiruzen Sarutobi became Hokage, the Sarutobi clan's strength increased significantly. He himself possessed genuine Kage-level strength, so naturally, there were no dissenting voices within the Sarutobi clan. Even his desire to pass on the positions of clan head and Hokage to his son was welcomed by the Sarutobi clan members.
However, due to Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions over the years, the clan's strength has been greatly diminished, and over a thousand clan members have died tragically. Now that Hiruzen Sarutobi has lost his position as Hokage, and his own strength has also declined significantly, he no longer has the power to suppress the entire clan.
Recently, various ideas have begun to emerge within the Sarutobi clan. As one of the clan's most powerful members, Madara Sarutobi naturally harbors ambitions to become clan leader. Rescuing and befriending the heirs of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio is his first step in overthrowing Hiruzen Sarutobi's clan dominance!
Madara Sarutobi's will was extremely firm. Even though the leaders of Root and Anbu repeatedly tried to persuade and emphasize the intentions of Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi, he remained unmoved. In the end, Root and Anbu had no choice but to leave first to track down Sasuke Uchiha.
Kimimaro was already very strong, and now, in order not to disappoint Orochimaru's expectations, he forcibly activated his cursed seal, further increasing his power. Although Nara Shikamaru and the others outnumbered him, they were hampered in their fighting.
Their taijutsu attacks were completely ineffective, their ninjutsu attacks were all dodged, and they didn't know genjutsu. Shikamaru and the others were all injured and ended up at a disadvantage.
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a peculiar and terrifying bloodline limit!"
Sarutobi Madara watched the battle with admiration. He planned to wait until the heirs of the Ino-Shika-Cho families were in danger before intervening to save them, preferably when their lives were in imminent danger, so that he could gain the favor of all three families at once.
Are we just going to keep watching like this?
On the outer edge of the battlefield, a Konoha ninja wearing green sunglasses and a blue tight-fitting combat suit looked at Shirakumo Hayama and asked.
They were chasing after Nara Shikamaru and his group, but they didn't show themselves because of the Hokage's orders.
"Yamashiro Aoba, don't worry, these young ninjas are quite strong. Although they look a bit disheveled, they're not in too much danger for now."
Baiyun Yeshan comforted Yamashiro Aoba and then asked, "Did you find anything when you sent someone to explore the surrounding area?"
Yamashiro Aoba regained her composure and calm. "I just used my spirit to summon my crow companions to look around, and I also carefully explored the surroundings myself. There are indeed traces of other people nearby, and quite a few of them."
To conceal myself, I couldn't get any closer. But my crows brought back several insect corpses, and a few crows also transmitted several images, including a large number of Root or Anbu images, and some of them were probably Sarutobi clan ninjas!
They seem to have split up now; the ninjas wearing animal masks bypassed the battlefield and continued their pursuit, while most of the Sarutobi clan members stayed behind.
Despite his calm demeanor, Yamashiro Aoba's feelings were far from simple. When the Hokage needed manpower, both Root and Anbu claimed a shortage, yet here they had silently amassed a large fighting force. The implications of this were quite intriguing.
"Yes, just as the Hokage predicted, this matter is quite complicated."
Shirokumo Hayama's gaze never left Nara Shikamaru and the others. After listening to Yamashiro Aoba's words, he nodded.
"Aoba, you go around the battlefield and continue tracking and investigating Uchiha Sasuke and everyone else you encounter along the way. I'll stay here and continue observing. Once I'm sure these children are safe, I'll continue the pursuit."
Unlike the ruthless Root and Anbu ninjas, Hayama Shirakumo ultimately couldn't ignore the tragic deaths of his fellow village ninjas and tried his best to save Shikamaru and the others' lives.
Huffing and puffing
Shikamaru and the others were breathing heavily, and each of them had several bloody wounds on their bodies.
Ino fared slightly better; since the clan's secret techniques were ineffective, she used ninja tools from the outside and was never approached by enemies.
Nara Shikamaru frowned as he looked at the enemy. The battle had only lasted a minute or two, and everyone had already faced death several times. How could they prolong the fight?
This enemy moved with agility and strength, possessed incredible defense, and was as instinctive as a beast. His bone spikes were incredibly sharp. Facing such an enemy, Shikamaru felt somewhat powerless. It was the first time he realized that his brain wasn't up to the task.
Since none of our attacks have any real effect, the only option is to use a relentless, attrition-style battle to exhaust the enemy's stamina and chakra. Perhaps then we'll have a chance of winning.
Although the enemy looked sickly and on the verge of death, his body remained as strong as an arrow, and he tried to break through their encirclement to catch up with Naruto and the others several times.
"Hey, the people of Konoha look a bit disheveled."
Suddenly, Kankuro's teasing voice came from the outskirts of the battlefield.
"Sunagakure ninja, what are you doing here?!"
Shikamaru caught a glimpse of the newcomer out of the corner of his eye and was immediately startled.
"Don't worry, your Hokage, Lady Tsunade, entrusted us to come and provide support," Gaara explained kindly.
Seeing that there were reinforcements, Baiyun Yeshan breathed a sigh of relief. He got up and bypassed the battlefield to continue the pursuit.
"Let's go, reinforcements have arrived, we can continue the pursuit with peace of mind."
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