"Stop!"
At this moment, the trio led by Shikaku, who were still rushing to the battlefield, looked anxious.
According to Inoichi's Sensory Ninjutsu, Ryosuke and Mr. Otani had already engaged in a fierce battle with the three Sunagakure ninjas.
Ryosuke's opponent was that Kage Guard from the Hidden Sand Village.
Otani was attacking two juniors from the Hidden Sand Village.
Suddenly, Inoichi Yamanaka, who was on Akimichi Choza's back, opened his eyes and said in a heavy voice.
His expression shifted, and between his brows... a hint of grief appeared.
"What happened?"
Shikaku and Choza immediately stopped. Based on the distance Inoichi had just mentioned, they would be able to see the battlefield once they crossed this grassland.
The three of them were already very close to their target.
Shikaku looked at his friend's face and immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
"Senior Otani... is dead."
Yamanaka said.
"What?!"
Shikaku's and Choza's pupils constricted.
Immediately after, Yamanaka closed his eyes again, concentrating his mind to perform Sensory Ninjutsu.
In his 'pitch-black' Sea of Consciousness, he could clearly sense several figures radiating Chakra... but among them, Senior Otani's Chakra energy... had vanished.
Yamanaka had 'observed' the scene of the enemy fighting the two Konoha Jonin throughout, but limited by the mental images transmitted by his Sensory Ninjutsu, many details couldn't be captured... even less clear was what exactly had happened; he could only make inferences through the activity trajectories of the Chakra.
"And Senior Ryosuke..."
A moment later, Yamanaka released the Ninjutsu and said with a trembling voice.
He'saw' that Elite Jōnin from the Hidden Sand Village personally kill Ryosuke.
He 'witnessed' Senior Ryosuke's Chakra fluctuations extinguish.
"Go!"
Shikaku was shaken to the core; without any hesitation, he instantly turned and fled.
Choza followed, carrying Inoichi on his back.
If the Hidden Sand trio started chasing them now to counter-kill... the three of them would be in deep trouble!
After all, the opponent had an Elite Jōnin, and... since even Mr. Otani couldn't eliminate those two brats, it meant their strength was definitely extraordinary.
"A miscalculation..."
A chill ran down the back of Shikaku's head.
He had thought that with Ryosuke's and Mr. Otani's strength, even if they weren't a match for the enemy, they could at least pin them down and buy time for them to arrive.
In the enemy trio, only that Kage Guard from the Hidden Sand Village should have been truly troublesome... the remaining two juniors, no matter how one looked at it, were just objects of protection for the former.
The reason the Village's supply squad was wiped out was likely due to this Elite Jōnin, including the deaths of the personnel sent from the front lines to investigate afterward.
But looking at it now... I'm afraid the truth is not so.
Those two Hidden Sand juniors... are not that simple.
Judging from the situation Yamanaka sensed and relayed in real-time, Mr. Otani, as a Jonin, had relatively sufficient time to deal with the two boys, yet he failed.
Shikaku knew well the pressure and power of Senior Otani's strong Taijutsu, and the weapon he held was a type of 'Chakra Blade.' After injecting Chakra into that Kunai, it wasn't just sharp; combined with superb close-quarters combat, it was particularly terrifying.
In the Village, the person who possessed a weapon with the same 'craftsmanship and technique' was the 'White Fang' Sakumo Hatake, who had shocked the entire Ninja World in this great war.
A literal god of slaughter... just his name alone could make enemies shudder.
Therefore, in Shikaku's judgment, even if some unexpected factors occurred, with Mr. Otani's strength, it should have been enough to easily kill those two brats.
The suppressive force of a Jonin is unimaginable for ordinary Chunin and Genin.
With Mr. Otani's methods, he could even take out several Chunin within a minute... this was no joke. Mr. Otani was a relatively experienced Jonin of the Village who had been through many battles and was highly respected by them, his juniors.
"According to my deduction, that Hidden Sand Kage Guard would most likely protect the two juniors and force a fight with Ryosuke and Mr. Otani... that way, the two Hidden Sand brats would have a way to survive or find a chance to escape. However, he took the initiative to abandon the protection of the two and fought Mr. Ryosuke first... this kind of combat scenario was also within my considerations... I just didn't count on Mr. Otani failing to succeed." The three of them sprinted quickly; now the situation was reversed, and it was the three of them who were in mortal danger instead.
"Senior Otani... seems to have been killed by a Hidden Sand boy."
Inoichi Yamanaka recalled the 'images' in his mind just now and said uncertainly.
"Really?!"
Hearing this, Shikaku's scalp went numb.
He didn't believe it... because it was impossible.
A Hidden Sand junior who was only about ten years old could actually kill Senior Otani, a Jonin?!
This was too appalling.
But Shikaku also knew the level of his friend's Family Secret Technique; if Yamanaka said so... it couldn't be false.
"It was that Sunagakure Jonin who heavily injured Senior Otani, and then... created an opportunity for that boy. It's just... I didn't sense exactly what kind of method he used." Inoichi's brows were tightly knit.
"No matter the method, even if Mr. Otani's condition was at its worst, it shouldn't be that easy for an ordinary Chunin or Genin to succeed in a sneak attack... let alone a killing move..." Shikaku swallowed hard.
Konoha and Sunagakure have been fighting until now, yet they had never heard of any outstanding juniors in the Hidden Sand Village... they only knew that Chiyo had a grandson who seemed to have a good talent as a Puppeteer.
Shikaku was quite familiar with the Village's intelligence capabilities.
Is it Chiyo's grandson?
What... exactly is going on?
He began brainstorming.
The mission failed... but that didn't matter.
The key was... to warn the Village that an extraordinary fellow had appeared in the Hidden Sand Village... "They're not chasing us, are they?"
Shikaku steadied his mind and looked at Inoichi.
"No."
Yamanaka performed a Sensory Ninjutsu to confirm and shook his head.
"The other side also doesn't know the strength of our follow-up support team, how many people there are... or if there are any Jonin among us, so they don't dare to take risks. For them, the mission is already complete, so there's no need for further action..."
Shikaku exhaled a breath of turbid air.
He had analyzed the Hidden Sand trio's thoughts.
That thought of theirs, on the contrary, allowed the three of them to escape with their lives.
Otherwise, if just that Hidden Sand Kage Guard had chased them alone, they might not have been able to escape.
"This is the Land of Grass... it's foreign territory, and everything is unknown, so the Sunagakure trio is also playing it safe. But this further proves from another angle that those two Sunagakure juniors... are very important to their Village."
Shikaku thought to himself.
"Hurry, let's go!"
He then urged... Meanwhile, on the messy grassland.
Arai pushed over Ryosuke's corpse, whom he had killed.
He gazed at the distant horizon.
"The sensation has disappeared... have they retreated?"
Arai narrowed his eyes.
Clearly, the Konoha people already knew what had happened here.
"It seems... the strength of the support behind them isn't very strong..."
A flicker of killing intent rose in Arai's eyes.
To be scared away... if he chased after them now, he might be able to annihilate all the enemies.
However, after some thought, Arai dismissed the idea.
Better to take Yubi and Sasori out of the Land of Grass first.
And find a relatively safe spot first.