Konoha's Hextech Ninja

Yoruichi Yagami never expected anything from her.

Kurenai Yuhi's talent is indeed remarkable, but it is mainly concentrated in Yin Release and Genjutsu, while she is much less skilled in other areas.

Compared to a genius like Kakashi Hatake, who is incredibly well-rounded and has no obvious weaknesses, he is not even in the same league.

The gap between top geniuses and ordinary geniuses is often greater than the gap between ordinary geniuses and ordinary people.

Moreover, even if Kurenai Yuhi worked hard and actually caught up with Kakashi Hatake,

One of the conditions under which Yagami Yoruichi agreed to take Yuhi Kurenai on the mission was that 'Yuhi Kurenai's permission must be granted'.

In the end, we can just make Kurenai Yuhi play the bad guy.

Given his doting nature towards his precious daughter, he probably wouldn't mind... right?

"Kakashi, humph, I'll catch up to his strength soon!" Kurenai Yuhi made up her mind that after returning home, she would ask her father to help her with intensive training.

Although the Yuhi family is not considered a ninja clan, they do have a lineage of genjutsu (illusion techniques).

Kurenai Yuhi is an elite Jonin with genjutsu skills, a rarity even in the ninja world.

With his full guidance and her own talent, Kurenai Yuhi was very confident in her growth.

Yagami Yoruichi sensed Kurenai Yuhi's thoughts, and although she didn't think highly of her, she didn't show it.

There's no need to compare yourself to a monster like Kakashi Hatake.

As long as Kurenai Yuhi becomes stronger than she was in the original work, the goal has already been achieved.

The two chatted as they walked to Kurenai's house.

Yuhi Shinku had clearly been waiting for a long time, but she showed no kindness whatsoever to Yagami Yoruichi, her attention entirely focused on her precious daughter.

Yagami Yoruichi was also quite sensible. She unsealed the birthday gift from the sealed scroll, helped Yuhi Kurenai put it away, and then took her leave.

Kurenai reluctantly saw Yoruichi Yagami off at the door, then returned inside under Kurenai's resentful gaze.

Instead of immediately opening the gift, she went to Kurenai Yuhi and said, "Dad, please help me with my special training. I want to become stronger and keep up with Yoruichi!"

Kurenai Yuhi was somewhat taken aback, wondering what had happened to her daughter.

But no matter what, wanting to become stronger is a good thing.

Even an elite Jonin like him wouldn't dare guarantee his own safety in this ninja world. The stronger Kurenai Yuhi is, the more reassured he will be about protecting herself.

“Training isn’t something that can be done in a short time. It’s late, so you should get some rest.” Kurenai Yuhi said to her daughter, “Starting tomorrow, I will ask the Hokage for leave to personally train you. My standards will be very high, so don’t give up halfway!”

Chapter 84 Leaving the Village, The Stalker

The following day, Yagami Yoruichi's squad regrouped.

Yagami Yoruichi remained the captain, with Maruboshi Kosuke, Hatake Kakashi, and Uchiha Inahi as team members.

Armed with the mission token obtained from Tsunade, the group of four left the village with their luggage and traveled quickly through the dense forest.

But after walking a short distance, Yoruichi Yagami suddenly realized that something was wrong.

There was a subtle, lingering feeling of being watched.

This feeling has never disappeared since the moment I left the village.

"Senior Kosuke!" Yagami Yoruichi said to Maruhoshi Kosuke, who was leading the way, "I sense something is wrong. Could you please use your sensory ninjutsu to check if we're being followed?"

Maruboshi Kosuke nodded, formed a hand seal with one hand, and used his sensory ninjutsu.

Chakra seeped into the earth and spread outwards, allowing Maruboshi Kosuke to sense chakra reactions from a great distance.

After a moment, Maruhoshi Kosuke frowned: "There is someone following us... I don't recognize this chakra, it's not someone I know. We can't be sure yet whether he's following us or just happens to be on the same road as us."

Yagami Yoruichi was completely bewildered.

He was just a student at a ninja academy and had only carried out one bandit suppression mission; he had never provoked any enemies.

Kakashi Hatake and Inahi Uchiha are the same.

If they came specifically for my group, their only possible target would be Maruboshi Kosuke.

However, this area is still near Konoha Village and belongs to the place where Konoha has the strongest control.

Even if there really is an enemy, would they dare to venture so close to Konoha to cause trouble for Maruboshi Kosuke?

Or is it just a coincidence that both sides happen to be heading in the same direction?

Yagami Yoruichi had a feeling that something was wrong, but she didn't have time to think about it too much and said directly, "Change direction. Kosuke-senpai, keep an eye on that person's direction and see if he continues to follow."

To determine whether the other party is targeting your group, there's nothing simpler.

Change direction and see if the other party continues to follow you.

If they continue to track us after changing direction, then they're definitely after our group.

Maruhoshi Kosuke, with his vast experience, naturally understood this principle. He made a near 90-degree turn and continued heading away from Konoha.

With such a sharp turn, if it were just a coincidence that the target direction was the same, then the people behind would definitely not chase after us anymore.

……

Inside a secret base in Konoha.

"My lord, the Yagami Yoruichi you instructed us to keep an eye on has left the village. She received the mission from Tsunade, but the details of the mission are not yet clear. We have already sent people to investigate."

A masked ninja knelt on one knee before Shimura Danzo and reported, "Currently, 'Inu' is following the target team. Should we take any action?"

Danzo Shimura asked, "Tsunade didn't come along? Who else was with her?"

"Tsunade hasn't left the village. According to our intelligence, she's currently gambling at the casino." The masked man quickly reported, "The target team consists of Maruboshi Kosuke, Hatake Kakashi, and Uchiha Inahi from the Uchiha clan. All three are the targets you instructed us to keep a close eye on, sir."

"Kosuke, this is an old friend."

"And there's White Fang's son. White Fang has been quite disobedient lately, so we need to teach him a lesson."

"Uchiha? Hmph, so you've actually mixed up with the Uchiha clan. Tsunade, it seems you've forgotten your teacher's teachings!"

Danzo Shimura muttered to himself, quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, and made a decision. He then ordered, "Dispatch two Root teams to capture the targets! Yoruichi Yagami and Kakashi Hatake must be captured alive! As for Kosuke and the Uchiha, it would be best if they could be captured alive, but if they cannot be captured alive, kill them without mercy!"

"For the sake of Konoha, some sacrifices are unavoidable!"

……

In the jungle.

The group changed direction several times, but the pursuers behind them kept close behind.

There's no need to dwell on it anymore; it's confirmed that this person is after Yagami Yoruichi and her group.

However, the other party simply kept a distance and continued to track, without any intention of closing the gap.

Moreover, the opponent's perception ability seems to be even better than Maruboshi Kosuke's, so ambushing him will not be an easy task.

"We still need to get rid of this problem." Yagami Yoruichi frowned.

With such a tracker around, it's impossible for them to complete their mission with peace of mind.

Moreover, Yoruichi Yagami was also eager to know who this tracker's target was.

Are they here for Maruboshi Kosuke? Or for Yagami Yoruichi and the other two?

Could it be that someone, for some reason, has set their sights on me?

If this problem isn't resolved, Yagami Yoichi won't be able to sleep soundly.

“If we’re going to ambush him, we need to deceive his senses first.” Maruboshi Kosuke had a lot of experience in this area and proposed a plan: “With the abilities you have, the best way is to use shadow clones to disguise yourselves as a small team and continue advancing, while your main bodies hide and lie in ambush. I have a ninjutsu that can temporarily conceal your chakra fluctuations and evade the enemy’s sensory methods.”

The vast majority of sensory methods are based on chakra.

As long as you can conceal your chakra, you won't have to worry about being tracked by the enemy.

Of course, there are some exceptions.

For example, the Inuzuka clan relies on their sense of smell and scent for tracking, so simply blocking chakra is useless in this situation.

But after chasing each other for so long, Maruboshi Kosuke had already figured out that the other side had locked onto their group's location through chakra perception.

Once you understand the method, you can naturally target it.

“I have a large amount of chakra, so I’ll use Shadow Clone Jutsu to lure the enemy,” Yagami Yoruichi said.

By creating four shadow clones, Yagami Yoruichi can still maintain enough chakra at the Jonin level for her main body to fight.

Kakashi Hatake and Inaha Uchiha, while also geniuses, have far less chakra than Yoruichi Yagami, and creating shadow clones would significantly impact their combat power.

After a brief exchange, the four decided on their tactics.

Yagami Yoruichi created four shadow clones, three of which absorbed a small amount of chakra from Maruboshi Kosuke and the other two and attached themselves to their bodies.

This is to disguise 'chakra properties'.

They only absorb a small amount of chakra and keep it on the surface of their bodies. With normal sensory ninjutsu, they can only sense the chakra characteristics of Maruboshi Kosuke and the other two.

However, this disguise cannot last long and can only be used to temporarily deceive the enemy.

This time, however, the situation was just right.

"We only have five minutes. Get your disguises ready as quickly as possible." Maruboshi Kosuke used a ninjutsu to conceal the chakra fluctuations of the four people's true forms.

Yagami Yoruichi's four shadow clones immediately teleported away, pretending to continue on their way.

The four acted independently, some concealing their tracks and deceiving the enemy, others setting traps.

After spending a few minutes preparing, everyone found places to hide and waited quietly.

A little over a minute later, a figure wearing a green vest and a patterned mask appeared and chased after the direction in which Yagami Yoruichi's shadow clone had left.

"This outfit...is it the Anbu?" Yagami Yoruichi was startled.

The Anbu is a direct subordinate unit of the Hokage, specializing in handling shady dealings.

Being targeted by the secret service is definitely not good news.

"No, not an Anbu!" Maruboshi Kosuke, with his vast experience, immediately discerned the subtle differences in the newcomer's mask: "He's a Root ninja!"

The roots!

Upon hearing this name, a gloomy and dark figure immediately came to mind for Yagami Yoruichi.

There's a saying about Naruto: if something bad happens in the ninja world but you don't know who did it, just pin it on Shimura Danzo, and you're unlikely to be wrong.