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Qianyu and Miyuki Uzumaki sensed the pursuit team simultaneously.
Ten people. Two dogs.
The real problem was that this tracking unit definitely contained a Hyūga. Qianyu instantly used a Body Flicker, putting distance between himself and Shindai's group.
At the same time, he communicated via the rings.
"Out of those ten, most are trackers," he said. "They want you, and you won't shake them easily. So, Shindai, play with them. Good chance to see if you've improved. Make it loud. Draw out everyone watching Konoha's borders."
"If things go sideways, I've got you covered. Miyuki, Shindai and the others are trustworthy. You can rely on them."
We understand, Shindai's voice replied through the mental link. We'll give these hounds a proper welcome. Miyuki, don't worry. You're one of us now. We protect our own.
Pakura's voice chimed in. "Exactly. As Qianyu said, you can trust us."
Raiga Kurosuki had already drawn Kiba, his twin blades. He bared sharp teeth in a vicious grin. "Anyone who touches my companions gets a funeral. A grand one."
Miyuki was deeply moved. They'd just met, yet these three were risking so much for her.
The Konoha pursuit squad arrived.
They saw four masked figures. All eyes snapped to the Hyūga in their ranks.
The Hyūga, his Byakugan active, stared. His expression shifted to disbelief. "The one on the far left… is Miyuki Uzumaki."
The atmosphere among the ten men solidified.
Miyuki, masked, standing beside three unknowns. Not captured. Willing.
The squad leader, an ANBU captain, stepped forward. "Miyuki Uzumaki. Do you intend to betray Konoha?"
"Betray Konoha?" Miyuki's voice was ice. "Konoha is the one forcing my hand! A village like that… I won't stay."
Raiga snarled, impatient. "Enough talk! People like them only know pretty words. Like our lives are theirs to command. Let's go!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"
Chakra surged through Kiba's blades, condensing into crackling spheres he launched at the pursuers.
The squad scattered.
Two Inuzuka clan members and their ninken used Beast Mimicry, transforming into humanoid shapes.
"Fang Over Fang!"
All four became whirling cyclones of fang and claw, shooting toward Raiga.
"Lightning Burial: Lightning Banquet!"
Raiga plunged both swords into the earth. Jagged, branch-like bolts of blue lightning erupted forward.
The wide-area attack was inescapable. Electricity slammed into the spinning attackers. Their bodies convulsed. The two ninken, forced from their transformed state by the shock, yelped in pain.
"Left!" Miyuki shouted suddenly.
Shindai and Pakura spun. Two Aburame clan shinobi had released massive swarms of kikaichū insects, the dark cloud rushing toward them.
Pakura's brow furrowed in disgust. "Disgusting bugs. Shindai, protect Miyuki. Raiga and I will handle this."
She was moving before the sentence finished, charging the Aburame on the right.
Shindai sighed, mock-exasperated. "My vice-leader doesn't even let me speak before charging in. So much for respect, huh?"
Pakura's hands formed a seal. "Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"
Five blazing orbs of superheated light materialized, orbiting her body.
The kikaichū swarm that reached her… simply dropped. A rain of desiccated husks hit the ground, every drop of moisture inside them instantly vaporized.
Pakura drew a kunai and closed on one Aburame. The Aburame met her blade with his own.
A contemptuous smirk touched Pakura's lips.
"Kaijin, behind you!"
The second Aburame saw it—one of the orbiting fireballs streaking toward his partner's back.
The shinobi named Kaijin twisted away. Too slow. The superheated edge of the orb grazed his left arm.
Instant numbness. Then, searing agony erupted from his shoulder.
He looked. His pupils contracted to pinpricks.
His left arm was withered. Desiccated. A husk.
Pakura sent two of her remaining fireballs shooting toward the two Aburame.
The insect-users regrouped.
"Secret Technique: Insect Summoning!"
They called every insect in the vicinity. The air filled with a buzzing, chittering storm that threw itself at the fireballs, a living blanket of moths to a flame.
A thick carpet of dead insects littered the ground.
The two Aburame retreated, putting distance between themselves and Pakura, opting to control their remaining swarms from afar. It was futile. The two fireballs still circling her turned any insect that came close to instant ash.
Meanwhile, an ANBU specializing in Wind Release joined the recovered Inuzuka duo, engaging Raiga in a fierce dance of blades and lightning. The wind-ninja's affinity gave them a slim advantage, allowing a desperate, circling battle.
The remaining pursuers? Their target was clear: Miyuki.
A Hyūga and four ANBU melted into the surroundings, vanishing from sight.
Miyuki's heart hammered. Since joining Konoha, she'd never seen combat. Her name wasn't even in the official ninja registry. She wasn't, technically, a kunoichi. Facing this raw, direct violence… fear clenched her gut.
Shindai's voice was calm beside her. "Easy, Miyuki. We've got you. And he's watching. He said he'd step in if needed."
Miyuki took a deep breath, forcing calm. "I'll help too," she said, determination firming her voice.
She closed her eyes, activating her sensory ability—the Mind's Eye of Kagura. The world mapped itself in her mind. She reported their positions to Shindai.
Beneath his mask, Shindai's eyes widened. He hadn't pinpointed them all. Yet Miyuki saw their positions with crystal clarity. Her sensory prowess… was on another level.
The first ANBU struck.
"Earth Release: Descending Lid!"
A massive earthen slab dropped from a portal in the air above, crashing down toward Shindai and Miyuki.
Shindai's hands blurred through seals.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
He took a deep breath, then expelled a hyper-condensed, needle-thin jet of water from his mouth. It cut through the air with a high-pitched shriek.
SHING!
The earthen lid split cleanly in two. The halves crashed harmlessly to either side.
For a beat, there was only the sound of falling dirt.
Then, shock rippled through the watching Konoha shinobi.
"…What?" "How… how is that possible?!" "That's… that's the Second Hokage's technique! A high-level water-style jutsu! Why does he know it?!"
That this stranger, this masked intruder, could casually wield a signature creation of Tobirama Senju… it defied belief.
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