Team Renjiro left through Konoha's gate and rushed towards their destination. They just took one break for lunch and spent the rest of their time running at full speed without using any chakra.
At 7 PM, they reached a patrol outpost. Fujin's eyes twitched on looking at the outpost. He thought, 'This is an outpost? It's almost a small village on its own!'
The outpost was big. There was a 2 storey building at the center. And there were multiple small houses around it. A wooden fence surrounded the entire outpost.
On reaching, they saw a huge man standing before them. He smiled and said, "Renjiro! How have you been?"
Renjiro smiled and replied, "I have been well Seiichi. Meet my students."
Akimichi Seiichi looked at the 3 kids behind him and said, "I heard that 3 talented genins were promoted to chunins this exam. Congratulations on such a quick promotion."
The trio politely thanked him. Renjiro did the instructions, "They are Suzuki Fujin, Uchiha Mieko, and Hyuga Hoka."
He looked at his students and said, "This is Akimichi Seiichi. He was my teammate. He is a Jounin and the head of all the Patrol teams patrolling the Eastern shores."
The trio now looked at him with more respect. The Eastern shore of the Land of Fire extended for hundreds of kilometers! Fujin wondered, 'How did an Akimichi become teammates with a Senju?'
Renjiro asked, "So Seiichi, what is the latest information on the Kiri nins?"
Seiichi replied, "We tracked them a few times, however, they were quick to escape. My guess is that one of the squads entered here to escape from pursuit. However, the other kept pursuing inside the Land of Fire. But, since that squad hasn't approached us, we can only consider them both as enemies."
Renjiro nodded. He looked at his students and asked, "Do you want to take a break or find and attack them today?"
Mieko immediately replied, "We attack today, Sensei!"
Hoka thought for a bit and agreed with her. He wasn't tired.
Fujin looked at Seiichi and asked, "Did we clash with those 2 groups?"
Seiichi nodded, "We clashed with one group once and the other group four times. However, they managed to escape successfully every time with the help of the traps they set. Since they used masks, we couldn't identify them."
Fujin asked, "Masks? Are they…"
Seiichi interrupted, "No, they didn't act like Anbu. If they did, this mission would have been an S rank mission."
Fujin nodded and asked, "Were they injured or tired?"
Seiichi answered, "Nothing serious. Slight injuries and tiredness that come with spending a few days behind enemy lines."
While answering, Seiichi secretly praised Fujin. Fujin looked at Renjiro and said, "Let's attack today, Sensei. Best to get them before they manage to escape."
Renjiro nodded. Mieko scoffed, "That's what I said at the very beginning!"
Fujin ignored her antics.
Seiichi said, "Alright, you focus on capturing them. I'll ensure that they don't manage to escape. Take Inuzuka Hotaka with you. He will brief you on the details."
Renjiro nodded. Inuzuka Hotaka walked ahead. A ferocious-looking ninja dog followed him. Hotaka was a chunin in his mid-twenties. The group left.
After travelling for some time, they arrived outside a village. Hotaka said, "This is Tsumagoi village. They were last spotted around here."
Renjiro nodded and looked at his students.
Fujin shook his head, "No one in 1 KM radius sensei."
Hoka and Mieko activated their Doujutsus. Mieko didn't find anything. Hoka looked for a couple of minutes and said, "600 meters to the east, Sensei."
They immediately moved towards it. On reaching, they noticed a huge tree with a hole in it. The hole was large enough for some people to hide in.
Hoka went in and grabbed a few bandages that were stained with blood. He reported, "It looks like they rested here for some time."
He gave the bloody bandage to Inuzuka Hotaka and his dog. Mieko activated her Sharingan and began observing.
After a minute she said, "Found a trail!"
She immediately began moving along the trail. The group travelled for around 4 km. But Fujin, Hoka and even Hotaka weren't able to pick up on any clues.
The group arrived before a small pond. Mieko frowned, "Their trail ends here."
Hoka checked with his Byakugan and said, "I don't see anyone."
Hotaka commented, "We don't smell those ninjas."
Fujin frowned and said, "Nothing in my chakra field either."
Renjiro smiled and made a hand sign. He said, "You have very good skills for tracking and detecting your enemies. However, I never taught you about Fuinjutsu. Let this be a lesson. Never underestimate those seals! Even if you don't detect anyone, it doesn't mean that you can drop your guard."
He slammed his hands on the ground.
"Earth Release : Rampart of Flowing Soil jutsu!"
Renjiro sent a huge amount of chakra into the ground. The entire lake became unstable. Soon, a small pointed Rock appeared at the center of the pond. It rose up. Underneath it, a needle mountain was forming! That pointed Rock was the peak of that mountain!
Renjiro said, "Of course, even if you take every precaution, it doesn't mean that no enemy can track you."
While the mountain was rising, Fujin suddenly sensed 6 ninjas! Hoka and Hotaka noticed them too. Soon, 6 ninjas jumped out of the pond to escape!
Renjiro saw them. Suddenly the needles from the mountain facing them were launched. Two of them quickly made hand signs. A water wall followed by an earth wall formed to defend them.
Fujin, Mieko, and Hoka were about to attack, but Renjiro stopped them. He looked at them. They looked back. Both sides were in a stand-off.
Fujin observed them carefully. All 6 wore masks. They were probably all in their 20s or 30s. Two of them had jounin level chakra, while the rest had chunin level chakra.
Renjiro asked, "State your names and your purpose for entering the Land of Fire."
Some of the Kiri nins recognized Renjiro and became tense!
Renjiro threatened, "Surrender and identify yourself, or…" He released a very strong killing intent and continued, "DIE!"
Karatachi Kazuki, the leader of the 6 Kiri nins, said, "Senju Renjiro, we just want a safe passage back to Kiri. Give us a way and we will leave. Otherwise, don't think you will leave unscathed!"
He was making a compromise. He still wanted to hunt the Kiri nins from the rebel faction. But he didn't think that he would draw out someone as strong as Renjiro!
Renjiro ignored his threat and said, "Kill them!"
As soon as he said it, Fujin, Mieko, and Hoka immediately got into the action!
Fujin launched a Great Breakthrough jutsu even before Renjiro had completed his command.
Mieko immediately made a few hand signs and launched a Fireball jutsu into the Great Breakthrough jutsu less than a second later.
Hoka gathered chakra in his palm, planning to use Vacuum Palm.
The Kiri nins didn't expect the kids behind Renjiro to make such a quick and strong move. However, they had spent the last few days on edge. So they were on very high alert!
As soon as Fujin made a move, Karatachi Kazuki made a hand sign and a water wall appeared in between them. Due to how fast he did it, Fujin had no time to supercharge the jutsu. So the Water Wall managed to hold the winds back until 3 more Water Walls formed. However, soon a raging Fire spread through the winds!
The Earth affinity Kiri ninja was about to make an Earth wall, when Kazuki shouted, "Disperse!"
The group immediately dispersed in different directions. As soon as they moved, the ground underneath them turned into deadly spikes and spears. Kazuki saw them and recalled the dozens of Kiri ninjas who died from this tactic of Renjiro.
Renjiro frowned. He didn't expect his attack to do zero damage. He created a shadow clone and said, "They have dispersed. Take one opponent and kill. Then help others."
