"Hurry, someone is catching up! For Orochimaru-sama's plan, we must stop that guy!"
The nine Otogakure Ninjas were leaping rapidly through the forest, led by a tall, thin ninja wearing an Otogakure forehead protector.
His squad was specifically deployed on the perimeter of this forest to perform mobile interception missions; any Konoha Ninja attempting to cross this forest to support Sasuke or Gaara was within their interception range.
Just now, a Chakra signal had zipped past the edge of their perimeter at an extremely high speed, so fast that he hadn't even had time to distinguish whether it was a Chunin or a Jonin.
"That person has stopped!"
On the left side of the formation, an Otogakure Ninja who had been closing his eyes and was responsible for reconnaissance suddenly opened his eyes, a trace of confusion on his face.
"Stopped? Why?"
Before the captain could finish his question, the sensory-type Otogakure Ninja's pupils shrunk.
His mouth opened, and the confusion on his face turned into terror.
"His Chakra is moving super fast, my sensing can't keep up!"
"What? Quickly, locate his Chakra!"
"I know. I'm looking..."
Just then, a golden light flashed right in front of the nine of them.
The nine Otogakure Ninjas stopped in their tracks simultaneously, their pupils contracting sharply.
"That is?"
Then the golden light flashed through the nine of them and the consciousness of the nine Otogakure Ninjas was dragged into boundless darkness.
The final image frozen in their eyes was each other's heads sliding off their necks.
Swish!
Naruto's figure appeared on the branch of a tree in the distance.
Behind him, nine corpses fell from mid-air simultaneously, crashing onto the ground, blood soaking the surrounding soil.
After finishing off these small fry, he re-locked Negative Emotions Sensing on the path ahead.
In his sensing, Sasuke and Temari were clashing fiercely. Kankuro and Gaara' were further away, moving at extremely high speeds.
Naruto transformed into a golden stream of light, flashing at high speed between the tree trunks of the forest. In less than a few seconds, he arrived at the edge of the forest where Sasuke and Temari were fighting.
Temari was standing on a tree that had been leveled by a gale, her fan fully unfolded. Her breathing was ragged, her forehead soaked in sweat. Clearly, under the suppression of Sasuke's high-speed taijutsu, she had already expended a large amount of stamina.
Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel Technique!
Temari unleashed a gale from her fan, carrying countless fine wind blades, covering the area in front of her.
Sasuke sidestepped, passing through the gap between two wind blades. A black afterimage dodged left and right in the gale, piercing straight in from the blind spot of Temari's attack.
Chidori appeared in his right hand, the lightning illuminating the entire forest.
Temari's eyes widened. She no longer had time to retract her fan to defend. This strike would hit her squarely in the chest.
But just as the Chidori was about to pierce through Temari's body, a golden light flashed between the two.
The golden radiance caused Sasuke's Sharingan to contract. His Chidori thrust forward but it struck nothing but air.
"Wha..."
Before Sasuke could finish, a wave of numbness surged from the back of his neck.
In the final moment before losing consciousness, his Sharingan vaguely caught a glimpse of a silhouette he found completely unbelievable.
This silhouette was golden, with slit pupils, and the entire body was shrouded in a layer of golden Chakra Cloak he had never seen before.
But the figure was simply too fast, so fast that even his Sharingan could only capture a blurry golden afterimage.
'Sorry Sasuke, you'd better not watch the next version of this battle. I'm afraid it might hurt your pride.'
Naruto reached out to catch the collapsing Sasuke, placing his body against the trunk of a tree nearby.
Then, he glanced at Temari, who had fallen to the ground unconscious. He had knocked her out with a single strike at the same time he stunned Sasuke.
He confirmed that both were in a safe position, then pushed off with his feet, vanishing into the depths of the dense forest.
...
In the woods ahead, Kankuro was sprinting with all his might, carrying the unconscious Gaara on his back. His breathing was somewhat ragged, and sweat trickled down through his face paint, leaving purple streaks on his face.
He could hear the roaring sounds of the battle between Temari and Sasuke behind him. He could distinguish the sound of Temari's Wind Release and the unique chirping of the Chidori.
'Temari should be able to hold on.' Kankuro thought to himself.
Just then, he heard the Wind Release sounds continuing, but the Chidori's chirping suddenly vanished. A few seconds later, the sounds of Wind Release also ceased.
"Temari..."
Kankuro gritted his teeth and accelerated. He had to get Gaara to a safe place, and then...
Whoosh!
At that moment, a golden light rushed toward him from behind.
Kankuro gritted his teeth and spun around, his right hand reaching for the puppet on his back. But before Karasu could be deployed, the golden light had already reached him.
"You go take a nap too." A voice sounded from behind him.
Kankuro remained in the posture of turning to look back, his hand already touching the control threads of the puppet. Then, a hand gripped the back of his neck.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, before Kankuro could even make a noise, his body collapsed to the ground.
The only thought in his mind before losing consciousness was: When did the enemy get behind me?