The tent fell silent after Orochimaru's pronouncement.
Tsunade's expression didn't change, but her knuckles cracked against the table. "I'll handle the Cloud reconnaissance personally."
Danzo's eye twitched. He'd been about to object, but Tsunade cut him off before he could speak.
"You have no authority over my assignments," she said flatly. "I'm the second-in-command."
"Tsunade—"
"You'll regret this," Danzo said, his voice dropping to something dangerous.
Several jonin exchanged glances. The tension between them was becoming impossible to ignore.
Orochimaru watched the exchange with clinical interest, then gestured dismissively. "Tsunade, take whoever you need. Danzo, coordinate support from the base camp."
It was a masterful deflection. Danzo's jaw clenched—he understood perfectly. "Support" meant surveillance. And it meant Tsunade would finally leave the base camp, where she'd been a constant thorn in his side.
Within the hour, the meeting dissolved. Tsunade was already barking orders.
"Hizashi, get the tracking teams assembled. Now."
Hyuga Hizashi snapped to attention. "When do we depart, Lady Tsunade?"
"Immediately."
The Hyuga clan arrived first, their pale eyes already active. Then came the Aburame—a cluster of white-coated figures that made Hanekawa do a double-take. Their aesthetic clashed spectacularly with standard Leaf Village gear, but the trade-off made sense. The bulky coats concealed their insect colonies better.
"Wang! Wang wang!"
A massive dog bounded toward Hanekawa, its tail wagging hard enough to knock over a small ninja. Hanekawa recognized it immediately.
"Hei Wan. Good to see you again."
He scratched behind the dog's ears as Inuzuka Tsume approached, grinning widely.
"Didn't expect you to remember the name," she said.
"Hard to forget." Hanekawa smiled. "How could I?"
Tsume's expression softened. Hanekawa was at the peak of his reputation now—even the Hyuga wanted his favor. The Inuzuka clan was no exception. "If you ever want a partner, I can arrange it."
"Not necessary," Hanekawa said politely. "I'd only waste the dog's potential. The Inuzuka breeds are built for your techniques, not mine."
It was a diplomatic refusal, and Tsume accepted it gracefully. She couldn't teach him the clan's secret arts anyway.
"Thirty teams," Hizashi reported once everyone had assembled. "All equipped with sensory or tracking specialists."
"Remember," Tsunade addressed them all, "we're looking, not fighting. You find them, you report to me. Understood?"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"
"Split up. Watch yourselves. Go."
The teams dispersed in different directions, leaving Tsunade, Hanekawa, Kurenai, and Rin to their own path.
They'd been walking for perhaps thirty minutes when Hanekawa's eyes closed.
"Eight Root operatives following us," he said quietly. "Maintaining distance."
Tsunade's expression hardened. "Danzo."
Of course. She'd expected this. The question was what he planned. Probably to let the Hidden Cloud know their location, trap them in an ambush. It was exactly the kind of move Danzo would make.
"I'll handle them," Hanekawa said. "You keep moving. Once you're clear, use the slug's reverse summoning."
"Don't kill them," Tsunade said. "They're still Leaf Village ninja."
"Just a little ninjutsu prison. They'll be fine."
They walked another half hour before Hanekawa stopped.
"Come out," he called.
Nothing.
Most of the Root operatives had already begun moving to intercept Tsunade's group. Hanekawa couldn't let that happen.
He slammed both palms into the ground.
Earth Style: Seismic Core!
The earth erupted. A massive square platform rose from the ground, carrying five Root operatives with it. Their cover blown, they had nowhere to run.
"Control him!" one shouted.
The shadows around Hanekawa suddenly animated, lunging for his feet. A Nara clan operative.
Hanekawa formed seals rapidly.
Water Style: Water Enclosure Wall!
A cylinder of water rose around him, opaque and churning. The shadow lost its target.
An invisible force pressed against his mind—Yamanaka Mind Transfer Technique. Hanekawa's body flickered out of existence, reappearing in midair. Below him, the Yamanaka operative stood frozen, their spirit still in transit, unable to return.
Water Style: Water Whip!
A tendril of water lashed out, binding the operative completely.
One.
A fire dragon roared toward him—two operatives working in tandem, amplifying each other's jutsu.
Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!
Hanekawa's water dragon met the fire dragon head-on. The collision sent both spiraling apart, but Hanekawa's continued forward, slamming into the nearest operative.
He flickered away using Body Flicker, but not fast enough.
Earth Style: Heaven Drops Cover!
A massive stone lid materialized above him, falling like a meteor. The operative tried to dodge, but the technique's range was too wide. The stone swallowed him whole.
Two.
Wind and fire merged into a massive inferno. Hanekawa turned to face it, but his shadow was already climbing the water wall behind him.
He jumped up and sank into the earth.
"He's gone!" someone shouted.
The warning came too late.
Hands erupted from the ground, grabbing an operative's ankles.
Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique!
The operative screamed as he was dragged downward, leaving only his head exposed. Hanekawa's fist came up, and the operative's world went dark.
Three.
His shadow was caught now, his body rigid. A Root operative materialized in front of him, ninja sword gleaming.
The blade passed through him without resistance.
Rock Clone.
Water erupted from a nearby puddle, reforming into Hanekawa's shape.
Water Style: Massive Water Arm!
His arm swelled to grotesque proportions. The punch came down like a falling boulder. The operative flew backward, crashing hard enough to leave a crater.
Four.
The shadow was moving again, trying to reassert control. Hanekawa looked directly at the Nara operative.
Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!
The ground beneath the operative's feet turned to mud. He sank immediately, his jutsu interrupted, his body immobilized.
Hanekawa appeared before him in an instant.
Earth Style: Rock Fist!
The punch connected. The operative's consciousness fled.
Five.
Three remained.
Hanekawa formed seals, his hands moving in a blur.
Water Style: Explosive Water Wave!
He leaped skyward and expelled a torrent—a literal lake's worth of water, pouring down like a deluge.
Water Style: Hidden Mist!
Fog rose thick and choking, visibility dropping to nothing.
Water Style: Heaven's Cry!
Four needles of compressed water shot through the mist. Two found their marks—legs, both of them. An operative screamed and fell into the rising water.
One operative formed seals desperately.
Wind Style: Tornado!
The fog scattered. But Hanekawa was already gone.
Water Style: Instant Water!
The water beneath the operative's feet surged upward like grasping hands, dragging him under. He thrashed, panicked, drowning in liquid that shouldn't exist this far from any river.
Darkness took him.
The last operative charged like a missile, no fear, no hesitation. Root conditioning at its finest—they didn't retreat, didn't question, didn't survive.
Perfect for what Hanekawa needed.
Water Style: Water Dragon Bite Explosion!
The water at his feet spun into a vortex. The operative ran straight into it.
The vortex became a dragon.
The dragon launched him skyward.
Hanekawa didn't wait to see where he landed.
---
He pressed his hand to the earth.
Summoning Jutsu!
The slug emerged in a cloud of smoke, her massive form settling gently.
"Notify my teacher," Hanekawa said. "Tell her I've delayed them. We're ready for extraction."
"Of course, Master Hanekawa."
The slug vanished.
Hanekawa felt the familiar pull of reverse summoning, reality warping around him. When his vision cleared, Tsunade was already there, Kurenai's hand on his shoulder, Rin watching him with concern.
"You're hurt," Kurenai said immediately.
"Just tired." Hanekawa managed a smile. "Eight Root operatives, all contained. They won't be following us anymore."
Tsunade nodded approvingly. "Good work. Now let's find those Hidden Cloud ninjas."
---
They searched for a week through the Frost Country, moving methodically, encountering Cloud patrols that they dispatched with brutal efficiency. Hanekawa's Heart's Eye made him invaluable—his perception range far exceeded Tsunade's, and Rin's spirit transformation technique could only scout while her body remained vulnerable.
On the morning of the second week, they finally caught a break.
A Cloud patrol, interrogated before being left unconscious, revealed a hidden base in a remote valley. No strategic value. No supply lines. Which meant something else was happening there.
"Why build here?" Kurenai asked, studying the fortification below them.
"No reason," Tsunade said slowly. "Unless they wanted to hide something."
"We should investigate," Hanekawa said. He glanced at Rin. "Rin, can you scout?"
Rin nodded and formed seals.
Spirit Transformation Technique!
Her body went limp in Kurenai's arms as her spirit drifted toward the base. The barrier at the perimeter was no obstacle—spiritual forms passed through physical barriers easily.
She was inside for perhaps ten seconds.
Then—
"It's really you!"
A voice. A one-eyed ninja materializing before her astral form.
Dodai.
Rin's spirit recoiled instantly, fleeing back toward her body.
"Trap!" she gasped as her consciousness snapped back. "It's a trap! They were waiting—"
Below them, the base erupted.
A thousand Hidden Cloud ninjas poured out like ants from a disturbed nest, forming ranks with military precision.
Dodai stood at their head, a satisfied smile on his scarred face.
"After all this time," he said to himself, watching the distant figures on the ridge, "we finally have him."
His hand moved to a communication seal.
"The ban is still in place," he murmured. "This should work."