Two days later.
In the Land of Tea, bordering the Land of Fire.
Deep within an uninhabited forest, inside a dark cave.
"Zabuza, why did we have to come all the way here?"
A thick-lipped man with long green hair and two ninja swords on his back asked coldly.
His teeth were extremely sharp, and his face bore burn scars, giving him a fierce and menacing appearance.
His upper body was tightly wrapped in bandages.
"Because this place is outside the influence of the Five Great Nations and remote enough to be a paradise for rogue ninjas…"
A tall, shirtless young man with a face covering calmly wiped his massive Executioner's Blade and replied indifferently,
"I thought Thunder Fang could at least be of some help to me, but what have you done instead?"
"Killing a few Konoha ninjas is one thing, but you've massacred several villages in a row and still won't stop."
"Are you trying to force Konoha to send Anbu after us?"
"I'll repay the debt I owe you…"
Black Hoe Thunder Fang's eyes were dark and gloomy, filled with deep hatred.
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
"But no one can stop my revenge against Konoha."
"I'll kill them one by one and make them accompany Ranmaru in death!"
"Do as you wish. If you want to leave, then leave."
Zabuza was already starting to regret this.
Not long ago, while passing by a cliff, he had found the heavily injured and unconscious Black Hoe Thunder Fang, who had been blasted off the edge.
Seeing that the man was also a rogue ninja from the Mist Village and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he had saved him in hopes of gaining a useful ally.
He had thought he might gain a capable helper, or at least a strong partner, to deal with the Mist Village's pursuit forces while working toward his own ambitions.
But this guy had clearly suffered some major blow.
He was nothing more than a madman driven solely by revenge.
Massacring one village a few days ago wasn't enough.
He had gone on to slaughter two more border villages in the Land of Fire in the past two days.
This was practically inviting Konoha to send Anbu to hunt them down.
It was extremely foolish.
A person whose mind was controlled by hatred was doomed to achieve nothing and would eventually drag him down too.
It would be better to part ways sooner rather than later.
"Zabuza…"
Black Hoe Thunder Fang's gaze was sinister.
His murderous eyes stared straight at Zabuza as he bared his sharp teeth and snarled,
"Don't forget, you promised to help me get revenge on Konoha!"
"Unfortunately, the premise of our agreement was that you would help Lord Zabuza establish a new ninja village!"
A handsome boy around twelve years old said coldly.
"But you've done nothing except slaughter civilians in the Land of Fire and attract the attention of Konoha ninjas!"
As he spoke, several senbon needles appeared in his hand.
He stared at the man warily.
"Hmph…"
Black Hoe Thunder Fang snorted coldly, ignoring the boy's guarded movements.
However, his expression flickered with uncertainty.
"What do you want me to do?"
He also knew that by himself, he couldn't possibly take revenge on a behemoth like Konoha.
At most, he could only kill a few isolated, weak Konoha ninjas from time to time.
Moreover, his vengeful actions had undoubtedly drawn Konoha's attention.
Splitting up with Zabuza at this moment would be extremely unwise.
"First, we recruit some decent rogue ninjas. Then we establish our own ninja village in a country far away from the Five Great Nations…"
"I've already sent the Demon Brothers to gather information!"
...
At this very moment—
On the outskirts of the forest.
Several figures were rapidly approaching.
"Woof! Woof…"
Three large ninken stopped, sniffing the air continuously.
The lead dog, Gray Fang, turned back and barked at his master, Inuzuka Hana.
"Gray Fang says the scent is getting stronger. They should be nearby…"
Inuzuka Hana's expression was serious as she reported to Yuhi Kurenai and the others.
"And there should be five people!"
Although Zabuza, Black Hoe Thunder Fang, and the others had used special methods to mask their scents and block ordinary ninken from tracking them, the Inuzuka clan's ninken had much sharper senses.
They had still managed to follow the faint remaining traces to this location.
This was something Zabuza clearly hadn't anticipated.
"Thanks for your hard work, little Hana!"
Yuhi Kurenai smiled.
She formed a one-handed seal, closed her eyes, and began sensing.
Thanks to the greatly enhanced sensing ability she gained after perfectly acquiring the power of the Red Eye, although she couldn't match Karin's God's Sight, she could still easily detect the targets more than ten kilometers away.
"I've sensed two very strong chakra signatures and one slightly weaker one about ten kilometers ahead…"
"Additionally, two weaker chakra signatures are approaching them."
"They're clearly working together!"
A moment later, Yuhi Kurenai opened her eyes.
Her expression grew solemn as she said to the others,
"There are five enemies in total."
"Preliminary judgment: two Chunin, one elite Chunin…"
"Plus one Jonin and one elite Jonin… possibly even two elite Jonin!"
"It looks like the mission target may have exceeded our expectations."
"Everyone, be careful!"
She hadn't expected that a mission that was supposed to be just chasing down the S-rank rogue ninja Black Hoe Thunder Fang would turn out like this.
The number of enemies far exceeded the intelligence.
If it were any other team, rushing in blindly could lead to serious trouble.
"So besides Black Hoe Thunder Fang, there are other ninjas… possibly even another elite Jonin?"
Inuzuka Hana's face changed slightly.
"The target isn't just Black Hoe Thunder Fang?"
Uzuki Yugao's expression also shifted.
She asked directly,
"Senior Kurenai, should we report back to the Hokage-sama first and request reinforcements?"
"Kurenai…"
Yuhi Kurenai looked toward Anko, seeking her opinion.
"Yeah, let's go for it!"
Anko slammed her fist into her palm, full of confidence.
This was exactly what she wanted.
"I've been itching for this!"
"Then it's decided!"
"Move out!"
With great skill comes great boldness.
Yuhi Kurenai was also eager to test herself and gave the order directly.
Inuzuka Hana and Uzuki Yugao exchanged glances.
Although they were worried, since Kurenai was the captain, they could only steel themselves and follow.
"I'll lead the way. Everyone, stay alert!"
Yuhi Kurenai said as she raised her right hand, fingers extended in front of her.
Her eyes were filled with red chakra.
Trees, weeds, rocks, and everything ahead became transparent under her gaze.
Hidden weapons and traps were all clearly revealed before her.
Nothing was hidden from her sight.
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