From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

Kakashi turned to Team 7 and said casually.

Upon hearing this, Sakura's expression tightened, and she asked urgently, "Has something happened, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Don't be nervous, Sakura."

Kakashi smiled and said casually, "It's just an emergency meeting of Jonin."

"Go back after you're done."

Sasuke nodded: "Understood."

"No problem, leave the rest to me, Naruto-sama, who will become the future Hokage!"

Naruto said nonchalantly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow slightly and said calmly, "Then I'll take my leave first!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kakashi vanished in an instant.

"As expected, something bad still happened!"

Sakura sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

Although Kakashi had seemed casual before, Sakura noticed his haste when he left.

'Could this mission really be going as I predicted?'

Sakura felt her unease growing stronger. During her last trip to the Land of Snow, she was unfamiliar with the terrain and the unique chakra armor of the Snow Ninja.

They did suffer at first.

Fortunately, everything turned out alright in the end, but Sakura had a feeling that if something really happened this time, it would be far more dangerous than her trip to the Land of Waves and the Land of Snow.

"Something happened?"

Naruto's ears perked up, and he turned his head in confusion, asking, "What happened? Hahahaha! Don't overthink it, Sakura. Even if something really happens, I'll protect you!"

After saying that, he gave a thumbs up: "I swear!"

"I hope I'm just overthinking it."

Sakura sighed and unconsciously looked at Sasuke, who was standing to the side with his head down and silent, as if she could only find her backbone in him.

Naruto followed Sakura's gaze.

Be careful in everything you do.

After seeing the two looking over, Sasuke remained silent for a moment before uttering a few words.

"Sasuke, do you think so too?"

Upon hearing this, Naruto, who had always been grinning, became quite serious. He had come to deeply appreciate Sasuke's keen insight over the years.

"Ah."

In fact, Sasuke knew this even earlier than Kakashi.

Because the ANBU who had been secretly following them ever since they left Konoha had disappeared for some time.

The secret agents who follow the Seventh Squad usually adjust their own speed and the frequency of their follow-up based on the Seventh Squad's speed of movement.

For example, during their time in the Land of Waves, Team 1 wasn't traveling very fast, so it took Sasuke about an hour to sense the gaze of an ANBU member.

This time, it happened about once every twenty minutes, and it had been half an hour since Sasuke last sensed the gaze of the Anbu members.

They must have encountered some kind of enemy, and a powerful one at that!

Could it be someone from the Akatsuki organization?

Sasuke took one last deep look at the direction from which the Anbu members had disappeared, then turned and said:

"Let's go!"

After saying that, Sasuke walked towards Shibuki and Fu, who had been waiting in front of the waterfall. Naruto and Sakura exchanged a glance and followed suit.

Sasuke planned to finish dealing with things here as soon as possible and then go to Kakashi's side to provide support.

Regardless of whether the Anbu encountered members of Akatsuki or not, they might not have encountered any enemies at all.

Sasuke wanted to go and see him, after all, Kakashi was his teacher, even though he had ulterior motives for approaching Kakashi in the first place.

But deep down, Sasuke didn't want him to be in any danger.

If the enemies encountered by the Anbu are indeed members of the Akatsuki, then the Akatsuki usually operate in pairs.

The so-called "50/50 split" is just something to take with a grain of salt.

Sasuke knew that with Kakashi's current strength, he would be defeated even by one, let alone two.

The reason he didn't go there now was because Sasuke suspected that something had happened in Takigakure itself.

Naruto and Sakura are quite strong, but can they handle unknown dangers without any real harm?

It's still a big problem.

..............

Once Kakashi was out of Team 7's sight, his expression was no longer as casual as before; now it was filled with deep seriousness.

The signal he just received was an emergency alert that Konoha's ANBU were under attack.

He had always known about the secret squad that was following Class 7.

Moreover, the captain of this squad was someone he knew.

Tenzo, who has mastered the power of Wood Release.

'Who exactly is the enemy? They actually made you send out the highest level of danger signal.'

Kakashi's gaze turned serious. With a few leaps, his speed increased even more amidst flashes of lightning!

Meanwhile, in a grove of trees dozens of kilometers away from Takigaku Village Waterfall.

The once lush forest had been subjected to some kind of enormous and inexplicable destruction, as if it had been bulldozed over and over again. The original forest path was twisted beyond recognition, with clods of earth and gravel scattered all over the ground.

With a clang, the sound of swords clashing against each other rang out, sparks flew, and the two figures separated immediately after touching.

"Captain, are you alright?"

Two members of the Dark Squad quickly surrounded Yamato, shielding him behind them. They gripped their blades tightly and stared solemnly at the two figures in black robes with red clouds in the distance.

Several members of the Dark Guard had already fallen around them, suffering from various causes of death, including knife wounds, blunt force injuries, burns, and electric shocks.

"I am fine."

Yamato shook his head slightly. A huge wound appeared on his chest, and blood seeped through his vest and flowed out uncontrollably.

Fortunately, for someone with the original cells, this injury was nothing.

"But who are these two guys?"

Yamato glanced at the corpses of his colleagues around him, his heart filled with grief, before finally fixing his gaze on the two mysterious figures in the distance.

Seeing Yamato looking over, Hidan grinned, licked the blood off his sword, and spoke to the silent Kakuzu beside him:

"Kakuzu, I'm faster than you this time!"

After saying that, Hidan quickly drew a mysterious blood pattern with a circle and a triangle on the ground with his scythe.

"Evil God, enjoy my sacrifice!"

Hidan revealed a maniacal, ferocious smile, raising his large sword to stab himself in the chest.

not good!

As the sound of Chidori Thunder rang out, Kakashi, who had rushed to provide support by continuously using Lightning Instantaneous Body Technique, was met with this inexplicable and strange scene.

Although Kakashi didn't know what Hidan was doing, his experience allowed him to guess that something bad and dangerous would happen after the enemy finished.

We must stop him!

Kakashi tried to stop Hidan, but he was too far away. He had only sprinted halfway when he saw Hidan's scythe already plunging towards his chest.

At his speed, he was completely unable to stop it in time and could only watch helplessly as this scene unfolded.

Bang!

Just as Hidan was about to complete the ceremony, he was suddenly struck hard and sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of gravel and dust.

There's internal strife?

Kakashi was puzzled, unable to understand why the guy next to him, who looked like a comrade, would suddenly attack him.

The cautious Kakashi did not choose to continue the pursuit, but instead turned around and jumped to Yamato's side.

"Damn it, Kakuzu, what are you doing?!"

Hidan stood up and said angrily, "How dare you ruin the ritual I performed for Lord Jashin? Do you want to die?"

Facing Hidan's frenzied killing intent and questioning, Kakuzu remained unmoved and said calmly, "I have no interest in your rituals whatsoever, Hidan."

"I said, this guy has mastered Wood Release, so I'm the one who must kill him!"

Chapter 99 (Two-in-One)

Are these two guys the enemy?

'Judging from their appearance and build, I don't think I've ever seen these two guys before, and there's no similar person in the intelligence reports.'

As Kakashi flew backward, he calmly observed the physical characteristics of the two people in front of him who seemed to be fighting amongst themselves.

'The two are wearing the same uniform overcoat, so they must be from the same organization.'

'Black robes and red clouds—which organization in the ninja world is dressed like that?'

Kakashi searched his mind for information, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find any similar organizations or members in the ninja world.

Thinking quickly, Kakashi leaped to the side of the Konoha Anbu in no time.

He glanced at the corpses around him out of the corner of his eye, and his heart sank.

'They took down ten elite members of the Dark Guard in such a short time.'

The enemy is very strong!

Our casualties were heavy!