After Hatake Sakumo and the others left the Konoha camp, they began their journey towards their destination, choosing a more complex route as planned.
If one's skills were lacking, it would be impossible to catch up in a short amount of time.
As they moved further away from the camp, Yamanaka Risa could no longer receive information from the mental secret technique.
Over long distances, unless assisted by a jutsu or large ninja tools, it was impossible to achieve with human strength alone.
"Captain Sakumo, we haven't received any intel about Iwagakure ninjas pursuing us." After the mental connection with the camp was severed, Yamanaka Risa immediately informed Hatake Sakumo of the current situation.
Hatake Sakumo turned his head to look behind him and said, "Good.
Pay attention to our surroundings.
I trust the village's intelligence gathering capabilities.
Even if Iwagakure ninjas do pursue us, it will take some time, and we can go even further."
"Yes." Yamanaka Risa replied, leaping and running in the center of the team, using her sensory abilities to observe their surroundings.
"The enemy must have been lured away, right, Captain Sakumo?" Fujimura Yuki, who was following behind, asked.
"Hmm, probably.
The movements of the Iwagakure ninjas subtly indicate that." Hatake Sakumo nodded.
"Thanks to Ken-kun's suggestion, our pressure will be much lighter.
With a bit of luck, we might even reach our destination safely."
"As expected of Ken." Fujimura Yuki smiled and glanced at Uchiha Ken.
"It's nothing special." Uchiha Ken said expressionlessly.
Watching Uchiha Ken's demeanor, Fujimura Yuki shrugged slightly.
Although Uchiha Ken had been diligent in his missions since his return, he showed no interest in fame or fortune.
The group consisted of the elites of Konoha ninjas, so their movements were naturally swift.
However, no matter how fast they were, they still needed to stop and rest.
Hatake Sakumo surveyed the terrain and chose a relatively safe spot to rest.
The primary strength for ninjas' running came from stamina, and while chakra reserves could not be fully converted into stamina, rest was still necessary.
After sitting down, Hatake Sakumo asked Asuna, "Asuna, are you alright?"
Asuna had left a Shadow Clone in Shikkotsu Forest to prevent Old Man from suddenly waking up for some reason.
Once a Shadow Clone was deployed, the user's strength would inevitably decrease.
Although it could be restored through other means, due to a certain connection between the Shadow Clone and the user, if the user suffered severe injuries, the Shadow Clone would also disappear.
Under this connection, it was impossible for the user to fully recover to their peak state.
"I'm fine, thank you, Sakumo-nii." Asuna shook her head and replied.
"Be careful.
Risa's energy has been somewhat depleted after such a long period of sensing, so there might be some gaps in her perception from now on." Hatake Sakumo turned to the others and reminded them.
Although there might be some gaps in their perception, since everyone was not rushing but resting in place, their advantage was not significantly reduced to some extent.
As long as they remained vigilant and paid attention to their surroundings, they could still detect the enemy's approach in time.
However, at that point, it would be a battle between the two sides, and even with an excellent team composition, they still needed to be careful.
Uchiha Ken and Mizuki also activated their Sharingan, looking in all directions.
While the Sharingan could not see through objects like the Byakugan, its ability to observe subtle phenomena was enough to compensate for certain shortcomings.
It couldn't do anything about obstructions, but with any slight disturbance, they could use their experience to analyze whether it was an approaching enemy.
Fujimura Yuki also stood guard nearby.
After carefully reviewing the battle plan, he believed that the enemy's purpose in pursuing them could not be to eliminate them, because the key figure, Old Man, was not here.
If Iwagakure ninjas had figured out Konoha's slug tactic, their purpose in pursuing them would at most be to prevent the transfer of Old Man.
Instead of concentrating their forces on a group that only had the ability to transfer, it would be better to try their luck on the other side.
The others also believed that Iwagakure ninjas would not concentrate their forces on them, so the danger of this mission had been reduced to the lowest level.
In fact, once the Slug Sage agreed to bring Old Man to Shikkotsu Forest, this mission was a sure thing, and the enemy could only rage helplessly.
"The pursuers are here." Uchiha Ken stared into the distance.
Although he couldn't see very clearly, the subtle tremors in his Sharingan's vision made him believe that it wasn't a natural phenomenon, but rather someone's movement.
"As expected, someone has come." Hatake Sakumo said, gripping his sword sheath and standing up.
"Ken-kun and I will deal with them.
You all stay here and wait for orders."
The others agreed, and Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Ken rushed out, while Yamanaka Risa once again began using her sensory abilities to observe their surroundings.
Given the strength of Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Ken, the Iwagakure ninjas, whose role was at most to obstruct, would not be able to win.
The main concern was to ensure no problems arose on their side.
Fortunately, thanks to the interception by the forces led by Uchiha Kagami, the number of Iwagakure ninjas who could infiltrate was very small.
Moreover, as everyone had predicted, most of their forces were concentrated on the decoy side, and the Iwagakure ninjas on this side had limited strength.
Against the power of Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Ken, these Iwagakure ninjas had no tricks to play and were eliminated one by one.
Hatake Sakumo was already a ninja who countered Iwagakure ninjas, and Uchiha Ken's strength, after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, had also grown stronger in other aspects.
Hatake Sakumo knew some of the secrets of the Mangekyo Sharingan to some extent.
After witnessing Uchiha Ken's strength, he thought, "As expected of the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan.
I wonder if Ken-kun has the ability to reach the level of the legendary Uchiha Madara."
Although Uchiha Kagami also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Kagami was already quite old, and no matter how much his potential improved, it couldn't experience a leap in growth like a young person.
Uchiha Ken's future potential was higher than Uchiha Kagami's, and this had to be acknowledged.
Of course, potential doesn't necessarily fully translate into strength.
Potential only represents the upper limit that one can reach, but many people may not actually reach their full potential.
After Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Ken returned, Yamanaka Risa said, "There are no other enemies."
"Good.
Let's rest a bit more, then we'll set off again." After this battle, the weight in Hatake Sakumo's heart was lifted.
Although there was no extreme urgency, it was still better to reach their destination sooner.
At the same time, the Iwagakure ninja squad deployed to the other side was launching a full-scale attack, while the Konoha ninjas arranged by Uchiha Kagami were defending using the terrain, trying to buy as much time as possible.
When they realized they could no longer hold out, they said to Katsuyu, "Lady Katsuyu, we're counting on you."
"Alright." Katsuyu said, and after a moment, the summoning jutsu formula appeared beneath her, and Tsunade emerged in a puff of smoke.
"You all worked hard." Tsunade said this first after appearing before everyone.
At this moment, she saw the distant rock wall crumbling, which was the Iwagakure ninjas' Earth Release.
While Tsunade used the summoning jutsu to summon Katsuyu and let everyone enter, she strode forward, saying, "I haven't had a good fight since last time, so this is a good opportunity to have some fun with them."
Tsunade single-handedly lifted a rock that had appeared due to the Iwagakure ninjas' attack, thought for a moment, and muttered, "I think that Steam Ninja plays like this, right?"
With that, Tsunade threw it forward with force, instantly injecting chakra into it.
The rock, flying with immense kinetic energy, shattered midway, and even the fragments carried a powerful impact, smashing into the opposite side like a dense barrage of bullets.
After successfully landing a blow, Tsunade quickly retreated and leaped into Katsuyu's body.
The soft body immediately enveloped her, and the falling rocks from the enemy's counterattack had no effect on Katsuyu's soft body.
Katsuyu then disappeared from the spot with a 'poof'.
When the Iwagakure ninjas entered the area, all they saw were the traces of battle, and the Konoha ninjas who had been there had vanished without a trace.
It took a while for the Iwagakure ninja captain in charge of this operation to utter an expletive, and it was no wonder he felt so stifled.
Although they had treated a dead horse as if it were alive, for the dead horse to truly turn out to be dead in the end was still a difficult situation to accept.
"We should have known.
Since they captured the jinchuriki, Konohagakure would never let them go.
Our success rate for this operation was never high."
Just as these Iwagakure ninjas were feeling frustrated, Tsunade brought everyone back to the Konohagakure camp.
She released the people from Katsuyu's body, and during that time, she had already performed emergency treatment using Katsuyu's jutsu, asking, "Thank you for your hard work.
Are there any casualties?"
Tsunade didn't know how many people were on the mission, hence her question.
The captain, his face covered in blood, sighed and said, "Two people sacrificed their lives."
"Is that so?
I mourn for them." Tsunade sighed softly.
As a medical ninja, she had witnessed many deaths.
"The village will remember those who sacrificed themselves.
I know a little about this mission, and you will all be rewarded."
"By the way, I hope to give my share of the bonus to the families of those who sacrificed themselves.
They were all from civilian backgrounds, and I at least have family property." the captain said.
"Oh?" Tsunade looked at the captain.
He was about the same age as Tsunade, with white hair that was striking because it was stained with blood.
"So you're from a ninja clan, huh?
Alright, I'll tell sensei Kagami.
I didn't expect you to care so much about your subordinates.
What's your name?"
Originally, Konohagakure would provide compensation to sacrificed ninjas, but the captain's willingness to give his bonus to his subordinates made Tsunade curious, so she asked for his name.
"My name is Dan, Kato Dan.
It's not a prominent family, but it's better than others.
The two who sacrificed themselves were hardworking people, and their families aren't well off, so I should help out." the captain said with a bitter smile.
"Kato Dan." Tsunade recalled.
She had some impression of the ninja clans within Konohagakure.
The Kato clan was indeed not a major clan, but they possessed a unique family secret technique, the Spirit Transformation Technique, which allowed them to separate their living soul from their body and maintain existence, thereby dominating the battlefield.
Although their numbers were not large due to the difficulty of learning the technique, their strength was not to be underestimated.
—So that's it.
No wonder sensei Kagami chose him for this mission.
He must have accomplished many feats in places I didn't know about.
Tsunade's thoughts were indeed correct.
Kato Dan, as the current heir of the family, successfully mastered the inherited secret technique.
With the Spirit Transformation Technique, which came and went without a trace, many enemies didn't even know how they died.
Without special sensory methods or doujutsu that could perceive spirits, one wouldn't even see the user's soul.
In the battle of the Land of Grass, Kato Dan was also one of Konoha's prominent strong individuals.
It was precisely because he led the people that the Iwagakure ninjas believed in the authenticity of their side even more.
"In any case, go back and rest well." Tsunade nodded towards Kato Dan, and had the nearby medical ninjas take them back for complete treatment.
Tsunade turned around and looked at the distant sky, wondering if Hatake Sakumo and the others had safely reached their destination, and also complained a little in her heart: "Honestly, Sensei Kazamori should also learn to cooperate well with summoning animals.
That way, he should have thought of this method earlier.
Using Katsuyu, Old Man could have been taken away, and we wouldn't have had to go through all this."
No matter how much Tsunade complained in her heart, things had reached this point, and she could only pray that Hatake Sakumo and the others could arrive safely.
Although there weren't many pursuing Iwagakure ninjas, once Hatake Sakumo and the others entered the Iwagakure battlefield where Fumori Masaki was, it would be a different situation.
The two sides in the ongoing chaotic battle had different degrees of demarcation lines, and everyone had to act very carefully and cautiously.
If they accidentally entered enemy territory, they would inevitably have to fight.
"I didn't expect that we wouldn't be pursued by the Iwagakure ninjas from that side, but instead were held up for a while by the Iwagakure ninjas here who knew nothing." Hatake Sakumo said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.
At this time, after a fierce battle, the group entered Konohagakure's territory.
After their identities were verified, they were immediately sent to the rear and informed that Fumori Masaki was fighting the Tsuchikage, and that he would come to see them after the battle ended.
Hatake Sakumo and the others, after receiving care from the medical ninjas, waited in the camp for Fumori Masaki to return.
They were told the battle would end, but the battle actually lasted quite a while.
It was almost dark when they finally received news that Fumori Masaki had returned to the camp.
Upon returning to the camp, Fumori Masaki, as soon as he heard that the people had arrived, rushed over and met Hatake Sakumo and Tsunade, who were coming out of the tent.