Kakashi took the scrap of cloth, bit his finger, drew a sigil in blood, and quickly formed a sequence of hand seals—
Summoning Technique!
A dog wearing a ninja headband appeared within the circle of the summoning array.
"What's the mission this time?"
"Pakkun, I need you to track someone."
Kakashi handed him the piece of cloth.
"I could smell it from half a mile away," Pakkun said with a look of disgust.
The stench was overwhelming—thick, metallic, and reeking of blood. He didn't even need to get close. After sniffing a few times, he turned toward a direction.
"Follow him."
"As expected of Lord Kakashi," said Kiyoda Shin, eyes shining with excitement as he followed closely behind.
Tenten stayed by his side, protecting him as always, while Chiba quietly fell back a little.
"Chiba-kun."
A figure stepped out from behind a tree.
"Tsukikage Kaza. I need you to use the Transformation Technique with me. We'll swap appearances."
"But you can't use Transformation. What about your voice?"
"I've read the theory a few times. It's not that hard."
"You found something?"
Tsukikage Kaza transformed into Chiba's appearance, then used Transformation to turn Chiba into her own image.
Her chakra control had improved a lot recently, and her transformation was near flawless. Even a seasoned jōnin might not spot any flaw.
Besides—
As a samurai, Kiyoda Shin wasn't good at sensory techniques anyway.
"Nothing yet," Chiba said, "but something's off about him. I think his target isn't Yuichi, but Kakashi-sensei."
"What?" Tsukikage Kaza's face changed.
Anyone daring to target Kakashi would definitely have a plan—and a backup.
"Kakashi-sensei and I both have our contingencies. I don't know what he's planned, but that's why I'm switching with you."
"Understood." Tsukikage Kaza didn't hesitate. "Then I'll catch up before he gets suspicious."
"Yeah."
Chiba nodded lightly, taking Tsukikage Kaza's original place in the formation. He slipped into the dense forest, vanishing from sight and suppressing his own presence.
When Kiyoda Shin saw "Chiba" return to the group, but noticed one chakra signature missing, he frowned. "Lord Kakashi, are you short one team member? Could Yuichi have ambushed her?"
"No," Kakashi explained. "She's skilled at concealment. She's hiding nearby."
He already suspected that Chiba and Tsukikage Kaza had switched identities, so he covered for them.
"But she's only a genin," Kiyoda said anxiously. "Can she really handle this?"
"I'm still here."
A voice came from above.
The leaves rustled faintly.
Tsukikage Kaza's heart gave a jolt.
When Chiba spoke in her voice, it was identical. And if he hadn't spoken up, she wouldn't have sensed his location at all.
She could perfectly conceal her own presence because of her kekkei genkai, but him…?
Besides, she knew Chiba was terrible at Transformation—almost completely incapable of it. Yet now he even imitated her tone perfectly?
Tenten was just as stunned, though she quickly came to terms with it.
For a genius like Chiba, unless something was absolutely outside his talent range, he could master it in no time.
Imitating a voice? He probably didn't even need ninjutsu for that.
The gap between geniuses and ordinary people…
She sighed inwardly.
"I see. Then that's reassuring," Kiyoda said. "The enemy is cunning—two of my comrades were ambushed and poisoned after being separated."
"Let's move. We need to catch up," Kakashi cut in before Kiyoda could start rambling .
They had already left the town and were pursuing northward.
This direction…
"The enemy's heading toward the Land of Iron?"
"What a sly bastard! If not for you, I'd never have thought he'd dare return there!" Kiyoda cursed, his anger perfectly timed.
Meanwhile, Chiba leapt across the treetops, scanning the surroundings while expanding his sensory range as far as possible.
But soon he realized—no matter how much he stretched it, he couldn't sense any enemies.
Damn.
Is my range too small?
Chiba frowned, deep in thought as he moved.
His sensory ability came from the Bodhi Seed—it was incredibly precise and had been invaluable in developing his ninjutsu. But it had one fatal flaw—
It was too precise, with too limited a range. Even with his current spiritual power boosted, it barely extended one or two kilometers.
Hmm… was there a way to increase that?
Chiba began to brainstorm.
As long as he didn't lose heart, there was always a solution.
Soon, inspiration struck.
In games from his previous life, what did you do when the system lagged because it couldn't handle high performance?
You lowered the graphics settings!
Drop the resolution, turn off the fancy effects—and suddenly, everything ran smoother.
Sensory range…
Maybe it worked the same way!
Chiba decided to test the theory immediately.
Sensory perception wasn't too complicated—aside from Byakugan and other kekkei genkai-based abilities that broke the rules of logic, most normal sensory techniques were simply refined uses of spiritual power.
That's why—
Those skilled in genjutsu were often good sensors too; both relied on manipulating spiritual energy.
Chiba couldn't use genjutsu, but thanks to the Third Hokage's vast library, he had studied spiritual energy deeply for a time. He hadn't created any new techniques yet, but—
He could at least make minor adjustments.
It didn't take long before his experiment succeeded.
His sensory range doubled.
The price? The information became far blurrier.
Before, he could perceive precise locations and even recognize individuals. Now, even Kakashi and the others appeared as vague blobs of chakra—
Like pixelated mosaics.
"Phew… Even if it's fuzzy, I don't need detail. I just need to know whether anyone's there. This is good enough."
Chiba let out a slow breath.
Then his expression darkened.
Because with the expanded range, he detected five chakra signatures.
Aside from Kakashi's team, there were four more—one following behind them about four kilometers away. It was hard to tell who, but judging by their path, it was likely one of Kakashi's backup units.
But what about the other three?
One of them must be Yuichi, the enemy Kiyoda had mentioned. But the other two…?
The information was too hazy to tell.
Still, one thing was clear—the three groups were quite far apart.
Not clustered.
So this was…
The mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Chiba narrowed his eyes.
Better get closer, adjust the focus, and see if he could pick up more details.
He silently increased his pace.
Kakashi looked up.
There was the faintest disturbance above—the sound of someone accelerating.
That brat must've found something.
"Pakkun."
"I'm on the trail. The kid's clever—he used chemicals to mask his scent."
"Doesn't matter. If you can smell the chemicals, we're still on the right track. Keep going!"
"Tch, whatever you say," Pakkun muttered, quickening his pace.
Kiyoda didn't suspect a thing. After all—
That slight sound Chiba made earlier?
Even Tsukikage Kaza hadn't noticed it. She had no idea Chiba was already far ahead of them.
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