Naruto: Hyuga Warlord

[Gray Secret Technique]

Four flying puppets, controlled by the figure hiding within the abdominal cavity of the Mū Puppet, unfolded their bodies with sudden precision. Accompanied by extremely rapid mechanical movements, countless launch tubes appeared before Hyuga Soushu and his companion, as well as the rapidly advancing cleanup squad!

"Chain Detonation!"

But once again, just as the Konoha ninja hurriedly dodged to avoid the targeted areas, these four transformed flying puppets did not fire any projectiles—they instead began inflating right on the spot!

Then—

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

With violent explosions, a mushroom cloud slowly rose into the sky.

"Kill him! We must kill them!"

Having barely arrived before being immediately outmaneuvered, Yechame Hamako shouted furiously.

Although only a few Chunin from the cleanup squad had suffered injuries or casualties during the chase—none too serious—the feeling of being frightened then openly mocked like that was simply intolerable!

While Hyuga Soushu had been carried out of the blast zone by Mahiru Uchiha's waist using the Shifting Body Technique, he still ended up smudged with soot and disheveled.

However, this wasn't over yet.

Just as the cleanup squad ninjas, led by Yechame Hamako, prepared to continue the pursuit, two battered puppets suddenly flew out from within the smoke of the explosion!

Judging by their appearance, these were two of the four rearguard puppets left behind by Sunagakure.

Clearly, the earlier explosion had been the self-destruction of the other two puppets, now reduced to ashes. Though severely damaged and missing limbs from the blast, the two were far from harmless.

Moreover, the outer shells of the two puppets pulsed violently with bright red light, as if reaching some kind of breaking point.

"Scatter and evade!"

Yechame Hamako immediately shouted while simultaneously forming hand seals at an extremely fast pace before slamming his hands onto the ground.

[Earth Release Mud Wall]

A thick and sturdy earthen wall shot up from the ground, forming a half-moon shape that blocked the two red-glowing explosive puppets.

"Huh?"

But this time, the expected explosion never came.

Hyuga Soushu looked closer and noticed highly concentrated chakra gathering inside the launch tubes of these puppets—clearly, this was more than just a simple self-destruct maneuver.

"Look out!"

Even without Hyuga Soushu's warning, Yechame Hamako realized he had fallen into another trap.

Yet he had no time to think further, because the two puppets finally began firing!

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!*

Dense barrages of chakra flames smashed into the mud wall!

Reluctantly, Yechame Hamako could only use the Earth Release Mud Wall again to block the continuous bombardment from the puppets.

Though widely known, the Mud Wall was still a B-rank Earth Release technique. After casting it twice consecutively, Yechame Hamako had already consumed a significant amount of chakra.

[Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique]

Meanwhile, Mahiru Uchiha pushed off the ground and leapt upward, exhaling a concentrated jet of flame that directly destroyed the two continuously firing puppets.

Although the battle had lasted only thirty seconds, that brief delay allowed the two fleeing Sand ninja to escape to a distance of two kilometers away!

"Chase them!"

"All of you, keep chasing!"

Yechame Hamako's eyes turned red with rage. Rage boiled inside her. Without even dismissing the earthen wall, she leapt forward first and activated her Shifting Body Technique to chase them down!

That big detour had shaken up the morale of Konoha's cleanup squad a bit, but under Yechame Hamako's leadership, they still followed in an orderly fashion. As they moved swiftly, they automatically shifted into a protective formation suited to each other's ninjutsu specialties.

"What do you think?"

Hyūga Soushu looked toward Mahiru Uchiha.

"They've got to die!"

Mahiru Uchiha, who had suffered greatly during the previous exchange of jutsu, spat out viciously, "I'll rip that red-haired woman's head off and kick it like a ball!"

"Good!"

Instantly, Hyūga Soushu activated his Body Flicker Technique to chase after them, with Mahiru Uchiha closely following.

However, the current cleanup squad also included scout ninja from the Inuzuka and Aburame clans. Their diverse sensory methods could accurately pinpoint the escaping Sand ninja from different angles and eliminate traps and obstacles along the way, so there was no longer a need for Hyūga Soushu to constantly keep his Byakugan active, continuously consuming chakra.

But after pulling ahead by quite a distance, keeping the chase going turned out harder than expected.

As the two Sand attackers kept fleeing, they were about to leave the open academy grounds and enter a small grove of trees.

The woodland terrain would clearly be an advantage for hiding.

However, the Konoha ninja had no choice but to push forward. Urged onward by Yechame Hamako, they had rushed here desperately, heavily depleting their chakra reserves. Even though they'd taken plenty of Military Rations Pills, they couldn't recover quickly enough to suddenly boost their speed for interception within a short period of time.

"Jonin Soushu—"

With no other options, Yechame Hamako had no choice but to turn to the miraculous Hyūga Soushu: "Can you lock onto the trail of those two Sand ninja?"

By now, to save chakra, Hyūga Soushu had already deactivated his Byakugan.

"They can use secret techniques similar to Shadow Clone Jutsu; once, they even managed to fool my Byakugan."

Hyūga Soushu didn't directly refuse but instead brought up another issue.

Although he really wanted kills, that didn't mean he was willing to gamble his life and future career away.

After all, right from the beginning, the mission he received from Western Front Commander Shirakawa Namiko was merely to locate them.

Besides, Soushu's abilities had pretty much all been exposed already, and now the Sand ninja, having gained some intelligence, would surely be prepared. Attempting the same tactics again might provoke heavy counterattacks using their various strange abilities — definitely not worth it!

Of course, yet another important reason was that whether intentionally or not, back then Shirakawa Namiko hadn't clearly stated what level this special mission would be rated, nor had she mentioned the specific reward amount. So why risk his life for this?

"S-rank!"

Yechame Hamako, as a Jonin of Konoha, naturally understood the complexity of human nature. She knew very well that one must never test human nature in critical moments. So she immediately played her biggest card by saying, "I'll give you a complete S-rank mission record as long as you can lock onto them and intercept them for one minute and thirty seconds!"

"And the same reward applies to all of you if you're able to accomplish this!"

To appease the inner discontent among the Cleaners, Yechame Hamako specially added another sentence toward her teammates.

However, although these Konoha ninjas pressing forward without looking up were indeed tempted, they genuinely lacked the capability!

"If that's the case, I'll take the risk and do my best!"

Hyuga Soushu nodded, though he didn't make any binding commitments.

Although he often played the role of a naive brawler from the Martial Faction in Konoha, it was just an act!

Then, Hyuga Soushu signaled to Uchiha Mahiru and slowed down their pace slightly.

Having been his closest partner for two-and-a-half years, Uchiha Mahiru instantly understood his intention. First, she clenched her blade between her teeth while her hands formed hand seals and regulated her chakra. Then she picked up her pace, and Hyuga Soushu quickly pulled her around the waist.

Now it was time for their dual high-speed dash!

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