As time passed, the group could faintly hear the sounds of fighting coming from the clearing, and Ao and Kawasaki's eyes lit up as they accelerated forward.
The battle isn't over yet, there's still a chance!
"We're almost there! Get ready for battle!"
No sooner had the words fallen than the group burst out of the jungle, and the scene before them made them freeze for a moment.
In the clearing, there were traces of Kunai, hidden weapons, and Ninjutsu collisions everywhere, and not far from the wooden house where the Three-Tails was held, two figures were still locked in a fierce battle.
Ao and Kawasaki recognized one of them as Shina, a subordinate of Hawk mask; she was clearly at a disadvantage, constantly accumulating new wounds, and the bandaged wound on her back, which hadn't healed, had torn open again, the seeping blood staining the clean bandages red.
The opponent, however, was still wearing Anbu attire identical to theirs, with only a few minor, scattered injuries that didn't significantly impact his strength; he still firmly suppressed Shina, and behind him was a bundle in an oval shape.
"Bastard!"
Kawasaki and Ao recovered, their eyes filled with intense killing intent as they attacked the opponent from left and right.
"The Village's reinforcements have arrived; you can't escape!"
Shina noticed the approaching reinforcements and, while repelling Ren, said with hatred.
"Damn it, I was still a step too slow!"
Ren's expression turned ugly; after repelling Shina with two Kunai, he retreated, looking around as if considering his escape route.
"Shina, are you alright!"
Two figures landed, wary of Ren while asking their companion.
"I'm fine, two seniors, that guy killed everyone; the bundle on his back is the Tailed Beast container he stole!"
"What!"
Ao couldn't help but exclaim, and then everyone's gaze collectively turned towards Ren not far away, making the latter feel a bit uneasy.
"I'm not playing with you anymore, goodbye."
Ren raised his hand and threw a smoke bomb, which instantly enveloped half of the clearing, but the Anbu's reaction was not slow; the captain stepped forward, forming hand seals while shouting.
"Wind Release: Typhoon Pass!"
A strong gust of wind rose, sweeping forward, instantly dispersing the rising smoke, and Ren had already disappeared from his original spot. Just as the group looked around for Ren's traces, Shina raised her arm, pointing to the jungle not far away.
"Over there!"
The Anbu squad followed the direction of Shina's finger and saw a figure constantly moving through the forest, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
"Chase him!"
The four members of the squad didn't hesitate, immediately activating Instantaneous Body Technique and re-entering the jungle to pursue the opponent.
"Let's follow them too, Senior Kawasaki!"
Ao said in a calm tone, but his tightly clenched hands and constantly trembling body showed that he was not as calm as he appeared.
With his subordinates and good friends all killed, his killing intent towards Ren had reached its peak; now he only wanted to capture Ren and torture him to death.
"Calm down, Ao."
Kawasaki, who was beside him, frowned at the junior who was somewhat losing his reason, and after a moment of thought, made a decision.
"I'll go chase him; you should wait for reinforcements here and pay attention to this side; her condition doesn't look too good."
"Hmm?"
Only then did Ao notice that Shina had walked to the wooden house and was slowly sliding down to sit against the wall. A wound on her chest was constantly bleeding, and her face showed signs of pain; it seemed she had also been at the end of her rope earlier.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you, Senior Kawasaki."
Ao quickly made his decision and also regained some composure; after all, someone indeed needed to stay here, and the other party was indeed more suitable than himself to carry out this task in all aspects.
"Don't worry, that guy is dead for sure!"
Kawasaki patted Ao's shoulder, left a sentence, then turned and rushed into the jungle, chasing in the direction the others had left.
Ao, meanwhile, walked over to Shina, took off the water bottle from his waist, and handed it to her.
"Have some."
"Thank you."
Just then, Ao felt a movement behind him; as soon as he turned around, he saw figures constantly rushing out of the jungle. When he saw the person leading them, he immediately knelt on one knee and said respectfully.
"Third Mizukage!"
"Get up, report the situation."
The Third Mizukage couldn't afford to waste time and said with a serious expression to Ao, who had risen before him.
"It's like this…"
Ao also knew the situation was urgent, so he immediately quickened his pace, recounting from when he was lured away to meeting the Anbu squad, then returning, and then the opponent snatching the Tailed Beast and fleeing into the jungle, with the others giving chase, and his own decision to stay behind.
The Third Mizukage's face darkened, and he immediately ordered the Anbu waiting behind him.
"Leave one squad, and the rest of you come with me to pursue the enemy; we must retrieve the Tailed Beast!"
"Yes!"
This time, a total of five Anbu squads had followed the Mizukage, all of whom were members of Hidden Mist's most elite pursuit units, generally at the Special Jonin level; they were undeniably professional in pursuit.
"Clean up the battlefield."
As the Mizukage and others left, the clearing became empty again. The remaining Anbu squad scattered on their own, cleaning up the battlefield while also searching for survivors.
"Hikari, didn't the Village arrange secret sentries here? Why was there no call for help for so long?"
Ao looked at his friend who walked up to him and said angrily, after all, if they hadn't encountered Fujiwara Katsuma and his group who came from the Village, the Village might still not have known about the attack here.
So Ao's resentment towards the secret sentries was now almost on par with that towards Ren.
"Of course there were; we sent people to investigate earlier and found bodies in the tree hollow at the stakeout point."
"…"
Ao stopped speaking upon hearing this, but a loud shout from not far away made his body tremble.
"Captain, we found a survivor here!"
Ao and his friend exchanged glances, then both instantly disappeared from their spot and reappeared beside an Anbu.
"This is… shiro!"
Ao's tone was suddenly joyful; after all, one of his subordinates had survived. It was a blessing in disguise.
"Alright, quickly send them both back for treatment, don't waste time. Kamato, you go too."
The Anbu named Hikari spoke while looking at Shina not far away, then motioned for a subordinate to go help.
"Okay, then I'll be going."
Ao nodded, directly crouched down, carried his dying subordinate on his back, and then hurried towards the Village.
The Anbu named Kamato carried Shina, nodded to his captain, and then followed, and soon, the two figures disappeared into the forest.