The two of them split up again to check for clues nearby. Kakashi had Pakkun track all the possible routes they might have taken.
A group of dogs, big and small, jumped out and followed the nearby roads. However, unlike the forest, where there were things left behind,
even though it was a necessary path for leaving, none of the ninja dogs found any traces of anyone moving.
Judging from the footprints, no one had walked these roads at all.
The footprints of Shikamaru and some of the other people who came to help were clearly visible, but there was nothing else.
There were no footprints or any traces that might have been left behind.
"It's like...those people never left here at all."
Pakkun commented hesitantly.
Whenever people leave, they will definitely leave traces. This kind of tracking doesn't rely on smell, but rather on observing things on the ground nearby.
Dirt on shoes or broken branches, or any other possible related traces.
But there was nothing here. The dogs that went to every road shook their heads at them helplessly.
"Damn it...I just felt that those people were strange!"
"But how did they leave..."
Shikamaru bit his lower lip hard, frowning tightly.
If they didn't leave any traces, they should have gone into the air, but that person didn't seem to do anything special at the time.
Shikamaru looked up at the sky, which was still clear and cloudless.
Light and floating clouds drifted in the clear blue sky, and birds flew by from time to time.
Shikamaru stared at the sky for a while. He should have observed it when he was tracking. They shouldn't have left from the air either.
Shikamaru took a deep breath and scratched his head hard.
What was going on with that group of people? Why was there not a single clue?
The others must have never seen Shikamaru like this.
Although Shikamaru always complained about how troublesome things were, he could always figure things out the fastest whenever there was a mission or a plan to think about.
But now, he didn't have a single clue.
Kakashi scratched his head with a bit of a headache. This way of teleporting away and not leaving any traces was very similar to Hatake Satoru.
If it wasn't Shikamaru who encountered that group of people this time, but someone from Team 7,
they would have recognized their identity because of Sasori's face. It's a pity that Shikamaru came this time, so there was no way to start.
In fact, Sasori's face was not exposed to the deer group, and the surveillance had not seen him either.
This made the search more and more inconvenient.
"I'll go back and investigate this matter. I'll tell you as soon as possible if there's anything suspicious."
"The other party is a member of the Akatsuki organization. I know you're worried about what will happen next."
"But there are no factors that can change the situation right now. Leave the investigation to me."
"It's useless for you to worry here."
"I'll report to Tsunade-sama in a while. You go check the surveillance in your family to see if there's any useful information."
Kakashi patted Shikamaru and said as calmly as possible.
Kakashi actually wanted to send Shikamaru back quickly so that he could ask Hatake Satoru what was going on.
Shikamaru hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Kakashi with some gratitude.
"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."
"I will try my best to find some clues about this matter."
After the two separated, Kakashi went to the Hokage's office first, briefly described the situation, and then left.
It seemed that Tsunade also found it a bit tricky. After all, the Akatsuki organization was already annoying enough.
The Akatsuki organization had finally had some deaths and injuries, and the threat had decreased a bit.
But now, here was this group of people who were hard to understand, and they couldn't figure out whether they were friends or foes.
But based on the current situation, it would be a new enemy if nothing unexpected happened.
This was really a headache.
Tsunade leaned back slightly in the Hokage chair and looked out the window at the sky.
The Akatsuki organization's activities were becoming more and more frequent, and different forces were appearing. As it stood now, it wasn't a good sign.
Kakashi opened the door of the Hatake house, took off his shoes and walked in.
A thin layer of dust had already started to accumulate by the window. As expected, if only one person lived in such a big house, this would happen.
Hatake Satoru liked living here. After he came back, Kakashi moved back too....
However, Hatake Satoru was a restless person. He went out again not long after and disappeared without a trace. Anyway, that's just the kind of person he was, and Kakashi was used to it.
Fortunately, he knew where he was now. Before, he couldn't find any information about him at all.
At least he could contact that person now.
After Hatake Satoru left, Kakashi was too lazy to move back and forth, so he just stayed here.
However, when Hatake Satoru was here before, Naruto and Sasuke also often hung out here. He didn't really feel that the place was so empty back then.
Hatake Satoru was now in Sunagakure, Sasuke had become a missing-nin from the Akatsuki organization, and Naruto often went out to train with Jiraiya.
Even if Naruto returned to the village, he wasn't the kid who would always pester Kakashi and Hatake Satoru anymore, so he naturally wouldn't live here anymore.
Kakashi was usually busy with missions most of the time and didn't have time to be sentimental here.
But after taking a rare look at it now, he still felt a faint sense of melancholy.
"It's like being an empty nester..."
Kakashi paused and quickly shook his head, shaking off those messy thoughts.
Then he called Pakkun out again.
Looking at Pakkun's unhappy face, Kakashi showed an apologetic smile helplessly.
"Sorry, Pakkun, I didn't let you tell the situation directly at the time."
"After all, it would be difficult to explain, and I think he must have had his reasons for doing so."
Pakkun looked at Kakashi seriously for a while. Kakashi's behavior actually implied concealment.
Not only concealment, but it even made people feel that he wasn't loyal enough to the village.
Although the village should be put first, Hatake Satoru was also the only relative left beside Kakashi.
Unless absolutely necessary, Kakashi didn't want to advocate making him a suspect or enemy of the village.
What's more, Hatake Satoru liked to play tricks, maybe he had his own plans this time.
Pakkun scrutinized Kakashi. He had known Kakashi for so many years and knew what kind of person he was.
Pakkun finally just sighed and said.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you..."
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