In the Land of Fire, a team of Konoha ninjas who had completed their mission were on their way back.
There were three people in the team—two men and one woman, all young.
Suddenly—
The soil under their feet turned into a soft swamp, their legs sank, and their bodies began to sink as well.
"No, there are enemies!"
The three were startled, recognizing this as a type of Earth Release jutsu that created a swamp. They had walked right into an ambush.
Among the three, one of the young men gritted his teeth, grabbed the other man and woman with his left and right hands respectively.
While the two were not yet deeply stuck, he pulled them out of the swamp and threw them beyond its range.
He himself accelerated and sank deeper into the bog.
"Ishii, hang in there! I'll save you!"
The two young people who were thrown out—one male, one female—landed clumsily, then immediately took out rope, attempting to rescue the young man whose body was already halfway submerged.
"No, run!"
The young man named Ishii refused, shouting urgently.
He had already seen the enemy—more than a dozen individuals, each emitting chakra stronger than anyone in their team.
One of them, a man in red armor, had such a terrifying aura that it made him tremble uncontrollably.
Knowing the enemy's overwhelming strength, he gave up trying to escape and urged the other two to flee.
At this moment, the two young people also spotted the advancing enemy.
Realizing the threat, they knew that if they didn't run now, none of them would make it out alive.
After a moment of hesitation, they broke out in opposite directions.
But before they could get far, a man suddenly appeared and blocked their path.
"I'll hold him off. You go!"
The young man made a quick decision.
He used Wind Release ninjutsu to attack the enemy and engaged him, buying time for the girl to escape.
"He Shu—"
The young woman's face twisted in sorrow, but she followed his orders and fled in another direction.
She couldn't let her teammates' sacrifice be in vain. At the very least, she had to report back.
However, just after she had run a short distance, a woman appeared beside her.
Her speed was far superior to the young girl's.
Before she could react, the woman struck the back of her neck.
The girl felt her vision spin and collapsed helplessly.
Behind her, the other two young men were also knocked unconscious and captured.
"Seal and bind their chakra."
The three were gathered, and the man in red armor issued the order.
"Yes."
A woman stepped forward, performed a sealing technique to suppress their chakra, then bound them with rope.
The man in red armor was none other than Han, the Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails.
And the dozen others were the Iwagakure team that had infiltrated the Land of Fire.
They quickly erased traces of the battle, retreated, and set up camp in a concealed location.
"Sensor unit, keep searching. Just these three aren't enough."
Han gave the next order.
"Understood."
A woman responded and immediately began her task.
Under her control, a swarm of bees dispersed and flew in all directions.
She was not from Konoha's Aburame clan, but from another insect-using clan.
In the ninja world, aside from the Aburame clan, there was also the Kamizuru clan of Iwagakure who could control insects.
At its peak, the Kamizuru clan's strength rivaled the Aburame, but they suffered major losses in a past battle with the Aburame and declined. Now, few people even remembered their name.
Over an hour later, one of the bees returned to the Kamizuru woman, flying in a specific pattern.
She watched its movements closely, then smiled.
"Found them!"
"How many?"
Han asked.
"There are four. One of them likely has jōnin-level strength."
She replied.
"No problem. Even if it's an elite jōnin, I can handle them."
Han responded calmly. With his Kage-level strength, there was little difference between a jōnin and elite jōnin—neither could escape.
"Leave three people behind to guard the first group. The rest, follow me."
The Kamizuru woman directed the bees to lead the way, while Han and the others followed.
After about half an hour of travel, they found their targets.
Indeed, four people—two girls, one boy, and a middle-aged woman.
"The woman seems to be the jōnin."
The Kamizuru woman whispered to Han.
"Got it."
Han nodded and turned to the others.
"Move."
All at once, they activated the Hiding Like a Rock Technique, concealing their presence and closing in silently.
However, just as they were about to strike, the middle-aged woman suddenly turned alert. She sensed something.
"Who's there?!"
Her eyes turned blood red. Two tomoe swirled in each eye.
She was a member of the Uchiha clan.
Among the other three, one girl also activated the Sharingan, a single tomoe in each eye.
All four were Uchiha clan members. The middle-aged woman was the squad leader, and the other three were her students.
Battle erupted immediately.
With her two-tomoe Sharingan, the woman's strength neared elite jōnin level.
Still, she was no match for this Iwagakure squad—especially with Han among them.
In just a few exchanges, all four were captured.
"We got four Uchiha!"
An Iwagakure ninja said happily while cleaning up the battlefield.
With these four and the earlier three, the mission was complete.
They cleaned up all traces and quickly retreated with their new captives, heading to rendezvous with the others and leave the Land of Fire.
What they didn't notice was a pair of eyes appearing on a tree trunk nearby.
It was a spore clone of Uchiha Fugaku.
Uchiha Fugaku had never stopped producing spore clones. Their numbers had steadily grown.
He used these clones to monitor and protect Uchiha clan members.
Nearly every Uchiha who left Konoha had a spore clone secretly watching over them.
(End of this chapter)