Chapter 459: The Tacit Understanding of Clever People
The Konoha Maximum Security Penitentiary was located southwest of Konoha Village. After Masahiko 'rescued' the Sound Four, he led them all the way north.
Having witnessed Masahiko ripping open the steel cell bars with his bare hands and putting the Konoha guards to sleep with Genjutsu, the four treated Masahiko with a fair amount of respect, addressing him as 'Lord'.
"My Lord, where are you taking us? Aren't we going back to the Hidden Sound Village?" Tayuya asked.
Masahiko tilted his head to glance at her. Without activating her Curse Mark, Tayuya was actually quite pretty...
"The Hidden Sound Village has already been destroyed."
The four were shocked, taking a long moment to process the news: "Then Lord Orochimaru..."
"Orochimaru faked his death to escape Konoha and went to a northern hideout. We are going to find him now."
"A northern hideout?" The four looked at each other in bewilderment. After a long pause, Tayuya spoke up again: "I think I heard Sister Guren mention that hideout before. It's near the Land of Sea. My Lord, haven't we gone the wrong way?"
Masahiko's footsteps froze, nearly tripping over flat ground. There really is a freaking hideout there?
"Ahem! How could I go the wrong way? This is to throw off the Konoha pursuers! Tayuya, your memories have already been read. They might know we are heading toward the Land of Sea. Taking this detour is much safer!"
"So that's how it is." Jirobo realized, face full of admiration.
The other three, however, grew somewhat suspicious. This 'Lord' masked his face and acted entirely sneaky; it was truly hard to trust him.
"Actually, there is a secret base right here. We can hide here for a few days first."
"Here?" The four paused.
Masahiko's eyes crinkled with laughter: "That's right, it's right here. Follow my footsteps into the formation. Walk forward 20 steps, march in place for five seconds, turn left fifteen steps, back up..."
The four watched dumbfounded as Masahiko paced back and forth, completely unable to understand what on earth this was...
"Walk right five steps, dong-dong-dong-dong, the formation opens!" Masahiko shouted loudly as a black hole suddenly ripped open in front of him. He stepped straight inside. "Follow the steps I just took to enter the secret base!"
The black hole closed, and Masahiko's figure vanished. The four stared at each other in speechless silence.
Who the hell could remember that?!
"Is this guy really sent by Lord Orochimaru? And is this secret base real or fake... What do we do now?"
"Walk forward 20 steps, march for five seconds, then it's... mmm..." Jirobo began to experiment.
"Turn left 15 steps." Tayuya let out a heavy sigh.
"Oh? Oh!"
Sakon and Ukon focused their minds and snapped their heads around: "Konoha's pursuers are here. Why are they so fast?"
Hearing this, the other three spun around immediately. A group of deeply familiar boys and girls were sprinting toward them.
"It's actually those brats who participated in the Chunin Exams. Konoha looks down on us far too much! Let's just wipe these brats out."
"Why haven't you entered the base yet?" The black hole suddenly tore open again, and Masahiko stepped out from within with a face full of heartache: "Look at that, you've been caught up to! Consider it my bad luck! You guys run, I'll hold them off!"
The Sound Four: "..."
"Why aren't you running yet? Didn't you see that cat? If you don't run now, you won't get away! They also have a ninja hound in their squad. Follow my instructions and keep running north. After another ten kilometers, there's a place called the Final Valley. There is a lake there; if you hide in the lake, you can evade their search!"
"The cat?" The four shuddered, recalling the hundred-meter giant cat they had seen in Konoha. Instantly abandoning any thought of fighting back, they turned and bolted.
Masahiko pursed his lips: These guys are a bit unethical, aren't they? They don't possess a shred of 'companion' spirit at all.
The Konoha pursuit squad steadily closed the distance. Shikamaru's eyes swept over the masked man, Masahiko, blocking the path ahead, then glanced at the Sound Four sprinting away in a frenzy behind him: "Hoshino, Lee, you guys have the fastest raw speed. Go intercept those four fugitives first!"
"Ohh!" Lee responded loudly, suddenly hitting his accelerator. Hoshino, meanwhile, stood on her tiptoes, her figure instantly vanishing the moment her feet touched the dirt.
Thud! Thud!
A figure flashed ahead, followed by two heavy thuds. Lee and Hoshino flew backward at an even faster velocity, being caught haphazardly by the group.
"So fast!"
The square of black cloth masking his face couldn't conceal the grin spread across Masahiko's face. He pondered briefly before striking a classic Bruce Lee pose: "Aa-cha~! I can't easily let you past. I want to fight six!"
"Get out of the way!" At a time like this, not charging wouldn't be Naruto's style. Shikamaru couldn't hold him back in time at all.
Masahiko wasn't subtle either, lifting his leg to drive a sharp whip kick. Fortunately, there was no wall here; otherwise, it would have been another Naruto wall-hanging...
"Naruto, are you alright?"
Naruto wore a highly eccentric expression. That kick just now felt incredibly familiar, and that 'squinting face' felt deeply familiar too... What was the situation?
Masahiko's voice rippled beside his ear via telepathy: "If you dare spill the beans, watch your butt!"
Naruto paused, his little eyes rolling around. Swatting away Shikamaru and Choji who were supporting him, he barked: "Sasuke, this guy looks incredibly strong. It's not a problem for you to hold him off, right? We'll go pursue those four fugitives!"
Sasuke was startled, a trace of doubt flashing through his mind, but he still spoke impassively: "Leave it to me!"
"I already said I wanted six people to accompany me in a fight, one is anything but enough! Those two fast ones from earlier, that Byakugan boy, the blue-eyed boy, and the little girl carrying the ball—stay behind and play with me."
The ball resting on Tenten's back lifted its head to cast a single glance at Masahiko: "Meow~ Boring."
"Tch, being looked down upon, huh!" Sasuke let out a cold snort, charging straight toward Masahiko in a linear path.
Naruto: Hehehe.
"Shikamaru, this black-clad man is anomalous." Neji's veins bulged around his eyes as he spoke in a low murmur: "I can't see the flow of his chakra at all."
Shikamaru paused, looking thoughtfully at Hinata and Toneri, who both nodded to confirm.
"Akamaru also says he has absolutely no scent," Kiba supplemented.
By now, Sasuke had reached Masahiko, who met him with an identical whip kick to the face.
"I am entirely different from that idiot Naruto..."
Boom!
"Where exactly are you different?"
"Sasuke-kun!"
"What powerful taijutsu!" Lee finally caught his breath, looking over at Hoshino who had long since acted as if nothing had happened, his face full of profound admiration: "Hoshino, your taijutsu is incredibly strong too!"
Hoshino had already stood back up on her tiptoes, her mind drifting to another realm entirely, completely failing to hear a single word Lee said...
Sasuke let out a few light coughs, swatting Sakura's supporting hands away. His expression grew deeply solemn; he had clearly dodged it just now...
"Hey! Sasuke, are you actually up for this or what? Those four fugitives are about to run completely out of sight!" Naruto hollered, forcefully holding back his laughter.
Sasuke's face turned slightly dark. "Shikamaru, you're the captain. You make the arrangements."
Shikamaru took a deep breath: "If this were the Chunin Exams, the black-clad man in front of us should be the proctor. Combined with Naruto's reaction..."
"Toneri, Tenten, Lee, Neji, Sasuke, Hoshino—the six of you intercept him together. The rest follow me to pursue the fugitives!"
Masahiko nodded with satisfaction, failing to intercept the others as he calmly waited for the six children to completely surround him.
Shikamaru, you are excellent. As expected, clever people understand clever people best. Our cooperation this wave is a perfect score!
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