Rocky ledges flashed beneath their feet at breakneck speed. Kuro moved ahead, barely slowing down. His gaze was focused, his mind fully immersed in tracking chakra.
"He sped up," Nara said quietly without turning around. "Looks like he sensed we're chasing him."
"How far ahead?" Nawaki asked, leaping over a crack in the ground.
"Not far," Kuro replied shortly. "He's not particularly fast—we'll catch him soon."
Mikoto, running slightly behind, activated her Sharingan and carefully scanned ahead.
"Maybe he's a puppet master?" the kunoichi suggested, since puppeteers were often physically weaker.
The pursuit had already lasted half an hour. The landscape gradually changed. Rocky hills gave way to narrower passages, and ahead appeared the first signs of deep fissures, canyons, and winding gorges.
A perfect place for an ambush—and Kuro understood that perfectly.
"Be careful," he said quietly. "He's most likely leading us to his people."
Nawaki frowned.
"You think it's a trap?"
"I'm sure."
"What do we do?"
"We intercept him first. Speed up!"
Ten minutes later, Kuro suddenly slowed down and then stopped, raising his hand.
"Up ahead."
The three shinobi leapt down from the cliff in unison, where the red-haired Sand ninja was already waiting for them.
He stood facing them, breathing heavily, yet showing no sign of nervousness—only confidently watching the three before him.
"Took you long enough," the man said, giving them all a sharp look. "Didn't expect someone so young to be chasing me. Though, judging by your chakra, you're not so simple."
Kuro stepped forward, ready to attack at any moment.
"Enough of this act."
The Sand shinobi chuckled quietly, and behind him four puppets appeared—three humanoid figures in old armor, and one resembling a scorpion. At the same time, Kuro sensed eight more chakra signatures approaching.
"So that's your plan—wait for reinforcements."
Mikoto narrowed her eyes.
"So it really is a trap."
"Correct."
A brief silence followed. Wind swept through the canyon, kicking up dust. Kuro quickly considered all possibilities and realized he would likely have to show more power than he wanted.
"Mikoto, Nawaki—eight more are coming. You'll take three of them."
"Wait, Kuro, what about you? Fighting six shinobi at once is suicide. How are you—" Mikoto started to protest, but was immediately cut off.
"That's an order! I've been appointed commander, which means you follow my decisions."
"Oh, how touching. I'll almost feel sorry killing you. It's not every day you see such sincere friendship. But your time's up," the red-haired man said as more figures began appearing behind him.
They quickly took positions around the canyon, completely cutting off all escape routes. Some stood on ledges above, others along the sides.
"Back!" Kuro said sharply, biting his finger and instantly performing a summoning technique. Smoke engulfed everything, and when it cleared, the Sand shinobi saw three massive snakes, each looking at them like prey.
The three reptiles hissed in unison, spreading their bodies and blocking the canyon. Without waiting for orders, they lunged forward, trying to crush their enemies.
One Sand shinobi tried to jump away, but a snake instantly closed the distance and slammed him with its head. His body flew into a nearby rock, bones cracking audibly. Another attacked from above but was struck down by a powerful tail swipe—though it turned out to be a puppet. The third dodged more easily, clearly faster than the others, but now two snakes focused on him at once.
The battlefield split instantly.
"Let's go!" Nawaki shouted.
He and Mikoto rushed toward their opponents. A brief exchange of blows and a flurry of thrown kunai followed. The kunoichi facing them, with short sandy-blonde hair and bandaged legs, unsealed scrolls from which elegant, slender puppets emerged, each armed with hidden blades and needles.
There was also a tall man with a gaunt face and long fingers. His movements were sharp and slightly twitchy, and behind him hovered a massive puppet shaped like a giant crab, filled with hidden compartments.
The last shinobi before them was a sturdy man with a bandaged eye and long dark-blue hair. A short blade already gleamed in his hand, coated with a thin layer of chakra.
"They're dangerous," Nawaki muttered.
"And every blade is probably poisoned, so don't get hit," Mikoto added, activating her Sharingan.
The Sand kunoichi looked at them with disdain and smirked.
"Kids, did you wander into the wrong place?"
No answer came. The newly promoted Leaf chūnin were fully focused—their battle would soon become deadly.
The humanoid puppets attacked first. Mikoto instantly dodged, her eyes constantly reading their trajectories. She formed hand seals and counterattacked with the Phoenix Flower Technique, but in the next moment, the swordsman appeared behind her, ready to strike.
However, he was intercepted by a lightning-fast attack from the Combined Divine Dog, which Kuro had sent to assist his teammates. In a fraction of a second, it reached the enemy and delivered a powerful blow, sending him flying several meters.
Meanwhile, Nawaki clashed with the giant crab puppet. Its steel claws slammed into the stone-armored fist of the Senju, sending sparks flying.
"Die!" the opponent shouted, opening a hidden compartment in the crab's joints and releasing a thick purple mist, forcing Nawaki to retreat quickly.
At the same time, Kuro, having sent one of his shadows to aid his friends, began his own assault.
His opponent was the red-haired puppeteer—whom Nara suspected to be Sasori's father, destined in the future to die at Sakumo's hands.
Alongside him were two others: one a slightly hunched man with lifeless fish-like eyes, who immediately drew two crescent-shaped blades and infused them with wind chakra.
The third was a refined blond youth, only slightly older than Kuro. His presence felt strange, and only after a few seconds did Nara realize he was being pulled into a genjutsu.
"So you want to compete in genjutsu…" Kuro said quietly, forming a seal.
At that moment, a fierce killing intent burst from his body, engulfing the three enemies. The world around them suddenly shifted, transforming into a burning hell, from which a four-eyed, grinning monster began to form, reaching out to crush them.
"Illusion of Evil."
While two of the shinobi were already on the verge of losing consciousness, the red-haired ninja proved far from simple. His skin lost its tension and seemed to sag, revealing the wooden puppet structure beneath.
The man himself had already moved beside his partners, trying to channel chakra into them to break the illusion. It worked for the fish-eyed one—but when he reached the blond, the latter was cut in half by a dense stream of water released by Kuro.
The red-haired man reacted instantly, jerking back and leaping away to avoid the advancing water stream. Fortunately for him, several wind blades fired by his ally met the attack, causing a small explosion.
In mere moments, two experienced Sand jōnin had lost their comrade and were themselves on the brink of death. It seemed they were in for a very difficult battle.
"Akira, I don't know who this brat is, but he's a real monster."
"Exactly why we need to kill him now. If Konoha raises another genius, it'll be a serious problem for us."