Twenty-five Konoha ANBU formed a crescent-shaped encirclement, quietly waiting for their prey to fall into the net.
In less than a minute, the targets appeared—
A man and a woman, two shinobi sprinting desperately.
The forehead protectors gleaming under the setting sun were especially conspicuous.
They were... Konoha shinobi?!
If they were spies using Transformation Technique, a quick test would reveal it.
A member of Team 6 stepped forward to probe. Suddenly, several abrupt bird calls echoed through the forest.
The two shinobi immediately halted in alarm, then responded with a series of bird calls of their own.
This was a common identification method used among Konoha ANBU. Different tones and repetitions of bird calls conveyed entirely different meanings.
Tenkō spoke up, "Identify your unit."
"We are members of the Third Division, directly under the Hokage's command... We were ambushed by a massive force of Sunagakure shinobi... Cough, cough..."
Before finishing, the male ANBU broke into violent coughing. His injuries were clearly severe.
"Our entire division was scattered. The rest of our comrades are dispersed throughout this canyon. There were at least seven full Sunagakure division attacking us!" the female ANBU continued. "My codename is Mercury. I'm a member of Team 4. This is our squad captain, codename Ōzoku."
The female shinobi had long black hair cascading like a waterfall and wore a green-and-white dog-faced mask. From her voice, she sounded very young.
Even though Shimizu's appearance—a cat-faced mask and short black hair—was fairly common among ANBU, she recognized him immediately.
"You're Captain Kūryū, aren't you?"
"Yes. I'm Kūryū."
Mercury let out a small sigh of relief. "During our breakout, Captain Ōzoku was ambushed by a puppet master. The weapon was coated with a powerful poison… it's very hard to suppress…"
A puppet master!
Every Konoha ninja present felt their hearts tighten.
Mentioning Sunagakure inevitably brought up puppet techniques. Puppet art was a specialized skill developed by puppet masters to control wooden puppets. The concealed weapons and mechanisms embedded within those puppets were often combined with potent poisons, resulting in lethal killing power.
This art had been developed by the Second Kazekage.
Generally, puppet masters used chakra threads released from their fingers to manipulate their puppets in combat. These threads could even be fixed onto human bodies for control. The threads were extremely difficult to detect and could extend and retract freely—making it a highly convenient and deadly technique.
A puppet master's strength depended largely on how many puppets they could control simultaneously.
During the Second Great Ninja War, there were rumors of a female Sunagakure shinobi who could control ten puppets at once, battling two full Konoha elite squads without falling behind.
That was terrifying combat power. To simultaneously engage eight Konoha elite ninja head-on…
Such strength far surpassed that of an ordinary elite jōnin.
But precisely because of their immense value, puppet masters were precious assets to Sunagakure and rarely operated alone.
Their appearance often meant that at least one fully organized Sunagakure regular division was present nearby.
"Tenkō, get a medical-nin to treat Captain Ōzoku."
"Yes."
Ōzoku's condition was extremely dire. That he had made it this far was clearly due to sheer willpower.
"Tell me everything you know."
"Two hours ago…"
"Captain—same nine o'clock direction, 1.2 kilometers out. Four shinobi are moving toward us," Kazawa suddenly interrupted, having detected new movement.
"They're likely the Sunagakure squad that's been tracking us. They have a ninja highly skilled in sensing and pursuit. With so many of us gathered here, we might be discovered…"
Shimizu assessed the situation instantly.
"Your chakra is nearly depleted. Stay here with your captain. Everyone else, disperse. Teams 1 and 3 engage from the front. Teams 4 and 5 flank left. Teams 6 and 9 flank right. Kazawa and I will cut off their retreat. Do not rush the attack—prioritize your own safety."
He issued the orders decisively. There was no longer enough time to gather more detailed intelligence.
A unit capable of pursuing a Konoha ANBU jōnin and chūnin was certainly no ordinary squad. At a distance of 1.2 kilometers, it would take barely a minute to reach them.
The moment he finished speaking—
Shimizu vanished from where he stood, disappearing without a trace.
"This kind of speed…" Mercury muttered to herself.
The other ANBU ninja were momentarily stunned.
Kazawa was the first to react, immediately chasing after Shimizu.
Soon, the rest followed suit, faithfully carrying out Shimizu's orders one by one.
…
......
............
As he sped through the forest at high velocity, Shimizu's mind raced just as quickly.
The terrain here was essentially a valley, with three routes leading into the Land of Rivers. Shimizu's Seventh Division was responsible for the southernmost route. The Third Division was scouting the middle path, while the Ninth Division guarded the northernmost one.
This time, the Third Division had been directly assaulted by an entire regular Sunagakure regiment. That being the case, the Sunagakure squad that had attacked one of Shimizu's teams near the southern passage earlier was likely part of that same regiment.
But where exactly was their camp?
How had they repeatedly appeared behind Konoha's defensive lines?
Had some section of Konoha's defenses collapsed?
If so, why had no intelligence reached them?
And what about the Ninth Division to the north—what was their situation now?
The most alarming possibility was this:
If such a large number of Sunagakure ninja could suddenly appear here, then they absolutely had the capability—and likely the intent—to wipe out all three Konoha ANBU division stationed along these routes.
After all, the three passages were less than two hours apart—practically neighbors.
Who knew what dangers awaited ahead…
But for now, he had to eliminate this Sunagakure squad first.
After a two-minute high-speed dash, Shimizu confirmed he had completely circled around to the rear of the enemy squad.
He activated his sensory ability to its maximum range—144 meters.
Compared to his battle with Orochimaru, his strength had improved slightly once more.
No additional enemies detected behind them… for now.
A short while later, Kazawa finally arrived.
"…Captain." He was slightly out of breath. Shimizu's speed was simply too fast—no matter how hard he pushed himself, he could only trail behind in the dust.
"Hold position here. If anything unusual happens, report immediately."
"Yes!"
What Shimizu needed was Kazawa's Byakugan to guarantee absolute security within a 1.2-kilometer radius behind them.
Given the current situation, even if an entire Sunagakure regiment suddenly appeared before him in the next moment, he wouldn't be surprised.
In his estimation, some section of Konoha's defenses had likely already been breached—otherwise Sunagakure ninja wouldn't have been able to slip behind them so silently.
Observation post established.
Prepare for battle.
Shimizu began maneuvering to complete the encirclement. Although he didn't believe the Sunagakure squad could escape from his subordinates, he still wanted to avoid any casualties.
Every ounce of combat strength was precious now.