Naruto: The Information Broker from the Uchiha Clan.

Chapter 138 Accident

Three figures darted swiftly through the woods.

The puppy that Inuzuka Hana was with was perched on her shoulder, constantly alert by its sense of smell as it looked ahead.

Night fell quickly, and the group stopped when Hyuga Tokuma, who was at the head of the line, raised his hand.

"Let's rest here tonight. According to the map, if everything goes smoothly, we should be able to reach our destination in another five hours tomorrow."

Inuzuka Hana nodded and patted the puppy's head on her shoulder: "After staying alert for four hours, Rimaru is a little tired too."

Izumi, who was standing to the side, opened his backpack and took out the items he had prepared beforehand.

Tokuma looked at the two men and said, "The rest time is six hours, and we'll rotate shifts every two hours, which means each of us only gets four hours of sleep."

Quan nodded: "I'll take care of the first two hours. You and Hana have been keeping an eye on things, so rest first."

Tokuma nodded: "Izumi will guard for two hours first, then I'll take over in the middle, and finally Hana will guard for the last two hours."

As the only male in the team, he naturally took the most tiring spot in the middle. After all, not everyone can fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, and the person assigned to the middle spot would inevitably not have four hours of rest.

At this moment, Inuzuka Hana said, "According to Tokuma's plan, our real test will begin a few hours after we leave the village, but so far, Kumo hasn't even started."

"So, if it's nighttime, are the first few hours also safe?"

Tokuma scratched his head: "I can't be sure about that, but if it's just about getting a certificate, then this test is too easy for us with Byakugan and Rimaru."

Quan nodded at this moment: "Brother's test should not be easy, but since it was not directly tested by combat, there must be something unusual about this mission."

Inuzuka Hana thought for a moment and suggested, "There's a high probability that there won't be any problems in the first hour or two of our rest at night. So, let Toshimaru keep watch for the first hour and a half, dividing the six hours into four parts. This way, we'll be in better shape tomorrow."

As soon as the words were spoken, Tokuma and Izumi both turned their gazes toward Rimaru, who had already landed and was eating something to replenish his strength.

Hana smiled and said, "Don't underestimate Rimaru. Judging from its sense of smell, although its detection range for anomalies can't compare to Tokumaru's fully activated Byakugan, it's definitely superior to mine and Izumi's."

In fact, the Inuzuka family's sense of smell is not much worse than a dog's, and the purpose of saying this was to comfort Izumi, who had not yet awakened her Sharingan.

The three quickly agreed to the plan.

So, without lighting a fire, the three of them replenished their energy and quickly rested in the insect-repelling enclosure.

Meanwhile, Rimaru, who was standing nearby, was ordered to keep a close watch on the surrounding movements.

……

An hour and a half later.

Rimaru licked the spring awake, and then Rimaru began to rest.

After rubbing his eyes, Quan opened his senses and remained vigilant about his surroundings.

"Whoosh..."

Half an hour later, a slight rustling sound came from the woods in the distance.

Izumi suddenly looked in that direction, quickly concealing and withdrawing her chakra senses, and reached out to touch Hyuga Tokuma beside her.

In an instant, Hyuga Tokuma's eyes snapped open. He didn't utter a sound but cautiously looked around. Once he found no enemies, he looked at Izumi with a puzzled expression.

"Is it time yet?"

Quan shook his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Use your white eye to look in that direction. Someone just passed by there, but their senses might be in a different direction, so they didn't notice us."

Without hesitation, Tokuma's eyes instantly blazed with blue energy, and the power of his Byakugan allowed him to see through layers of trees and spot the three people speeding away in the distance.

They're ninjas!

Wait, this headband...

It's Cloud Village!

In an instant, Tokuma withdrew his gaze and directly woke up the flower beside him.

"Izumi woke me up when she noticed the commotion over there. After looking with my Byakugan, I realized they were wearing headbands from Kumogakure."

Hidden in the clouds?

These two words instantly banished Hua's drowsiness, even though the war between Konoha and Kumogakure had only ended a little over a year ago.

Could it be that by this time, the other side has recovered from its losses in the war and wants revenge?

and many more!

Hana looked at Tokuma and asked, "Could it be... Cloud?"

Tokuma shook his head: "I don't know, because the other party just passed through here. As Izumi just said, it's very likely that the other party's senses weren't focused in this direction, which is why they passed by us without us noticing."

Quan nodded: "Judging from the situation, their target wasn't us; they were just passing by. However... we can't rule out the possibility that it was my brother who did it."

Scratching her head, Hua said helplessly, "In that case, we have no choice but to follow them and see."

Izumi hesitated for a moment: "Should we just attack directly? We're just genin, and Tokuma seems to be seeing a three-person team..."

Before she could finish speaking, both Tokuma and Hana understood what Izumi meant.

The three-person team dispatched by the Hidden Cloud Village was a three-person team that had ventured deep into the Land of Fire.

No matter how you look at it, this team cannot be a weakling. If even one of those three is a Jonin, they are no match for them.

but……

"We're just genin, and we don't have any intelligence on the recent actions of the village and Kumogakure."

Hana frowned as she spoke, then looked at Tokuma and asked, "Do you have any news? Like, that Kumogakure has sent an envoy to provide compensation or something?"

Tokuma shook his head: "You know I'm just an ordinary Hyuga from the branch family. Even though Lord Hizashi admires me, he wouldn't discuss Kumogakure's affairs with a newly graduated genin like me, would he?"

Izumi, who was standing nearby, understood at this point and said, "So, should we follow them to find out their purpose? But... their direction is completely opposite to our mission's destination, so..."

Tokuma shook his head slightly: "The assessment task is no longer important. If the three-person team from Kumogakure was arranged by Kumogakure using the Shadow Clone Technique, then following them would be part of the assessment task."

"If it wasn't Yun's arrangement, then the fact that the three-person team from Yun Village was still traveling so late after entering the Land of Fire strongly suggests a conspiracy."

"The assessment task is incomparable to the threat posed by the Hidden Cloud Village to the village."

Then Tokuma looked at Izumi and asked, "Do you have a way to contact the village?"

Izumi shook her head slightly: "No, my brother doesn't like ninja cats, nor does he like Shisui-nii's crows. However, I can contact Itachi."

Itachi?!

The name made Tokuma pause for a moment. Itachi, who was also a classmate in the first year, graduated early but did not have the same reputation as Kumo.

However, in the war against Kumogakure, there were also Itachis with those same eyes, who lived up to their reputation as geniuses.

"Pass the location information of the three-man Cloud Village team to Itachi, and have him try to relay the information to the village. As for us... we'll follow them."

Inuzuka Hana's gaze turned serious: "Isn't this... a bit too risky?"

Tokuma shook his head slightly: "Just keep them at a distance. My Byakugan can read their mouths. We need to know their purpose."

At that moment, Quan slapped the ground with his hand, and after a puff of smoke, a kitten appeared on the ground.

The cat paused for a moment upon appearing, then asked when it saw Izumi's headband, "Have you become a ninja, Izumi? Are you on a mission?"

Izumi handed over the scroll she had just finished writing: "Please give this scroll to Itachi. This is very important information, so please do it as quickly as possible."

The ninja cat glanced at the scroll in front of him but didn't take it. Instead, he looked at Izumi and said, "I can't help you with this mission. Last time... we were given a good warning by your brother, Uchiha Kumo. I'm afraid I'll get beaten up."

Izumi was a little embarrassed, so he leaned down and whispered, "What happened before is history. This time, we really have something important to discuss. This information is very important; it concerns the safety of Konoha. I promise I won't blame you later."

The ninja cat looked up in confusion: "Really?"

Izumi clasped his hands together: "It's absolutely true, please!"

Hesitantly, Ninja Cat still took the scroll, and then a puff of smoke appeared before disappearing from the spot.

"call……"

After letting out a breath, Izumi looked at her teammates and said, "The location of the summon isn't in Konoha, otherwise we could have sent it to find my brother."

Tokuma smiled and said, "As long as there's a channel to send messages back, that's fine. Let's go, we need to catch up too."

After saying that, the three of them headed in the opposite direction from their original destination, which was also the way back to the village.

……

With his eyes bulging with blue energy, Tokuma kept a close eye on the location of the target ahead, while Inuzuka Hana and Uchiha Izumi behind him were also ready for battle at any moment.

The three of them stopped abruptly when Tokuma raised his hand.

Tokuma whispered to Izumi, "They've stopped and are talking. I'll speak, you write it down, and Hana will be on guard."

Quan nodded and quickly took out paper and pen from his backpack.

Hana Inuzuka patted Rimaru on the head and looked around warily.

Then, Tokuma began to mimic the mouth movements of the Cloud Villager he was in sight.

"This kind of intelligence... from over thirty years ago... was discovered by chance."

"The entire Leaf Village... can be... destroyed."

"What was once...destroyed...will now...be a great help."

"Lord Raikage's vengeance...revenge..."

"Covered operations...cannot...be detected."

"The Raikage... no longer... has the ability... to..."

"One hour later... resume... departure!"

……

Shutting off his Byakugan, Tokuma's gaze was filled with solemnity.

The conversation had confirmed that Kumogakure was plotting against Konoha, but the specifics were not clearly stated.

How could a power capable of destroying the entire Hidden Leaf Village be possible?

"Buzz..."

A slight ringing sound reached Tokuma's ears, and a figure moving in the distant forest also came into view of Izumi and Inuzuka Hana.

……

Uchiha Izumi's perspective.

As she was taking notes, a figure suddenly rang in her ears.

"Three little mice from Konoha, just genin? How could they get this close? The Hyuga clan's Byakugan is indeed a great reconnaissance tool."

As soon as she finished speaking, Inuzuka Hana's voice rang out: "Disperse!"

A flash of lightning appeared, and a bolt of lightning struck the spot where the three of them had just been.

The speed at which the lightning struck was so great that even if Quan dodged it, it still paralyzed him for a moment, causing him to roll to the ground.

The instant he recovered, Izumi swiftly formed hand seals: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

The flames surged toward the spot where the person had been standing, causing him to slow down and dodge, thus relieving Tokuma and Hana's predicament.

The lightning attack was clearly aimed at Tokuma, which extended his and Hana's paralysis time by a moment.

"Imbued with Lightning Release chakra, the opponent is a Jonin from Kumogakure!"

No sooner had Dejian finished speaking than a bolt of lightning suddenly shot out from the opponent's longsword.

As expected, this is a Jonin from Kumogakure, capable of imbuing his longsword with chakra. He clearly possesses the power to wipe out the three of us.

"This brat from the Hyuga clan thinks he's so knowledgeable?!"

As the other person spoke, they looked at the spring that had just unleashed a fire jutsu, and the clan emblem fan on the spring's clothes caught their eye.

"A little girl from the Uchiha clan? Where's your Sharingan?"

Uchiha Izumi stared intently at her opponent, a kunai held horizontally across her chest: "Kumakuha ninja, what is your purpose in infiltrating the Land of Fire? Aren't you afraid of reigniting the war?"

As he spoke, Izumi subtly moved his other hand, gesturing towards Inuzuka Hana behind him.

Faced with such a force, they had no chance of winning and could only seek support.

Within the Land of Fire, the village isn't far away. In this situation, only one person could possibly break through: Inuzuka Hana's Rimaru.

Before the other two Cloud Village ninja arrived, they allowed Rimaru to break through from a blind spot, and then they could only stall for time as much as possible.

Out of the corner of her eye, Izumi noticed that Rimaru, who had just been at Hana Inuzuka's feet, had vanished, and Hana nodded slightly at her.

With this goal achieved, Izumi breathed a sigh of relief.

The Cloud Village Jonin ahead smiled and said, "War? If it weren't for your Uchiha clan's Uchiha Cloud, Cloud Village wouldn't be in this state today!"

"Your Konoha killed the Fourth Raikage, so you must suffer the revenge from Kumogakure."

As he spoke, the other party pointed his long sword directly at Uchiha Izumi: "As a member of the Uchiha clan who killed the Fourth Raikage, your death will be the best tribute to the Raikage."

"boom!"

The moment the words fell, lightning struck, but when the smoke cleared, it was just a shadow clone.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique!"

Six shuriken, wreathed in flames, fell from behind Yun Yin, but the opponent swung his longsword, crackling with lightning, and struck them down with lightning.

"Bang!"

Under the Byakugan's gaze, Tokuma, who had launched a sneak attack in an instant to try and sever the opponent's chakra pathways, landed his palm on empty air.

"boom!"

Meanwhile, Hana Inuzuka's shuriken's explosive tag missed its target.

Without Rimaru, Hana Inuzuka's power was largely restricted.

"His speed is too fast."

Tokuma's words resonated deeply with Izumi. Even with the Shadow Clone technique as bait to infiltrate behind him, the opponent's speed just now had no effect in catching him off guard.

"Swish!"

Two figures appeared around them, joining the Cloud Village's Jonin to surround Izumi and the other two.

……

(End of this chapter)