In front, the Rat Squad blocked the way in the Land of Grass, while behind, the Yellow Dog Unit continued their pursuit.
The encirclement of the Yellow Dog Unit grew tighter and tighter.
The Byakugan shinobi had already caught sight of Senju Haku, but the cunning Senju had managed to slip away.
Yako waited patiently for his chance. He needed to do something—anything—to buy time, at least until next month.
Seeing Senju Haku escape farther into the distance, the Fox Squad was dispatched.
Separated from the rest of the unit, Yako kept calculating the distance between himself and the sensory ninja of the main force.
Purple Cat felt the squad had gone too far, but she said nothing. She followed Fox's lead without objection.
Once they had left the Byakugan's scouting range by several kilometers, Yako ordered his three subordinates to fan out and search a small hill.
The three moved up the hill from different directions.
Ensuring his own safety, Yako formed hand seals and summoned his contracted beast.
A Longspear Egret, the size of a forearm, perched lightly on Yako's shoulder.
His heartbeat raced.
If he had miscalculated the distance, and the Byakugan shinobi spotted him with a Longspear Egret, then his only option would be desertion.
Tying the unit's intelligence report to the bird's leg, Yako quickly sent the Longspear Egret skimming close to the ground as it flew off.
The Longspear Egret was his personal messenger summoning beast.
At the border forests of the Land of Grass, Senju Haku hid inside the belly of a freshly slain bear, feeling the warmth of its body slowly fade.
This was a method he had devised against pursuit—ordinary detection jutsu rarely found a shinobi hidden this way.
For longer concealment, he would even use medical ninjutsu to heal the eviscerated beasts, keeping them alive longer.
He had been on the run from Konoha's pursuers for over ten days.
Such a feat was enough to be proud of.
Senju Haku suddenly thought of his teacher, Yachi.
Would his teacher be proud of him?
Yachi-sensei had charged straight into the Senju compound to draw attention away from him.
Haku had hoped to contact more Senju clansmen, but the morning after his ambush, he found that ANBU had heavily reinforced surveillance around the Senju compound.
Almost every Senju clansman was being shadowed.
Unable to find an opening, Yachi-sensei had suggested doing the opposite—not targeting the compound, but instead delivering the truth to Senju clansmen at the frontlines.
Especially Senju Nawaki, the young clan head. Once Nawaki learned the truth of Uzushio's destruction, he would not let it rest.
Yachi-sensei… he must be dead by now.
Before leaving the village, Haku had hidden a secret scroll near the lakeside where he and his cousins often played.
He wondered if his cousin would ever find it.
The ANBU's grip over the village was simply too strong.
His mood was grim.
That first night back in the village, he should have confessed everything he had seen directly to his father.
But ever since his father's retirement, he had avoided troubling him, rarely speaking of his missions.
The father who once stood tall like a great tree had, after retirement, withered into an ordinary middle-aged villager.
The man he had once idolized had become nothing more than a nagging old man.
Senju Haku understood—he would surely die.
Yet before that, he found himself longing for that annoying old man.
His teacher was dead, his father had grown old, and his mother's family had been wiped out.
Just as despair threatened to crush him, through a slit in the bear's belly, he spotted a white bird.
His eyes lit up. Could it be that even the heavens disapproved of the Uzumaki massacre, and were sending him hope?
Clambering out of the bear's carcass, his body drenched in blood and entrails, Haku faced the Longspear Egret.
The bird recognized him immediately.
He had seen Longspear Egrets before beside Yuka, and the species recognized him in turn.
On its leg was tied a slip of paper.
The note contained details of the pursuing ANBU:
The Yellow Dog Captain, a Fire Release specialist.
Two Hyūga ANBU.
One Inuzuka ANBU.
Two Aburame ANBU.
Such a concentration of sensory shinobi in a single pursuit squad…
What's more, another ANBU unit was stationed around Nawaki, lying in wait for Haku to walk into the trap.
Reading the intelligence, Haku felt his fighting spirit blaze anew.
Who had given him this information?
With it, he could plan far more effectively.
He had to meet the young clan head!
Meanwhile, Yako returned with his squad to the Yellow Dog Captain's side.
He glanced at the Byakugan shinobi, then at the Captain—no killing intent.
It seemed he hadn't been exposed.
Calmly, he reported that his squad had failed to catch the target.
Days slipped by. The moon shifted from half to crescent, and from crescent back to half.
Yako mused that while Senju Haku was skilled, dragging the Yellow Dog Unit from the Land of Grass to the Land of Hot Water and back again, he wasn't clever enough.
Seizing another rare chance, Yako once more released the Longspear Egret.
Senju Haku, hiding by a lakeside, saw the bird again.
This time, two slips of paper were tied to its leg.
The first contained a suggestion:
It was impossible for Haku to reach the young clan head through such heavy guard.
But he could use his life to create an opening.
Not only was Haku trying to reach Senju Nawaki, but Yuka and the remaining Uzumaki survivors were also working toward the same goal.
The second slip of paper was blank.
And Haku immediately understood its meaning.
He would serve as the decoy to draw ANBU's attention, while the Longspear Egret carried his plan to Yuka.
Yuka would then use the chance he created to reach Nawaki.
Biting his finger, Haku scrawled out his plan on the blank slip in blood.
The Longspear Egret vanished in a puff of smoke.
Haku crouched, placing his finger in the ground to sense for nearby enemies.
"One unit and one squad nearby, four shinobi in total, including an elite jōnin skilled in Fire Release.
My plan is…"
Half an hour later, the Yellow Dog Unit arrived at the lakeside, finding only a crocodile corpse Haku had once used as cover.
Following the blood trail, they could see the path of his escape.
The Captain declared:
"Senju Haku is a master of Senju sensory techniques, and he seems to know our intelligence.
Judging from his escape route, he's heading straight for the frontline command in the Land of Grass.
After twenty days of pursuit, he must be at his limit—ready for a final desperate struggle.
Chase him! Don't let up!"
The Yellow Dog Unit pressed onward.
The full moon hung like a silver disc, its light blanketing the world in frost.
Finally, another month had passed.
Yako exhaled in relief.
He had endured this month safely—luck was on his side.
As the frontline command drew nearer and Senju Haku's last stand approached, Yako's chance was about to arrive.