The two chased all the way and finally arrived at a market not far from the Iburi Clan. They found Kato and asked, "Where's the little girl?"
"Over there," Kato pointed at a young man who was gobbling up grilled corn without any regard for his image.
"You mean she's controlling this person's body?" Kiyosuke asked, stroking his chin.
"Yes."
Kato looked at Kiyosuke complicatedly. The gap in their strength was too large, and he was no match for him at all.
Kiyosuke put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Tenzo, I think you'd better quit Root and join Anbu instead."
"I follow Lord Danzo's orders. Also, my code - name is Kato, not Tenzo."
"Okay, Tenzo. Got it, Tenzo. No problem, Tenzo."
"You!"
Kato slapped away the hand on his shoulder and saw a cloud of pink smoke floating out from the young man eating corn. He quickly chased after it.
Yukimi had run out of the cave for the first time and was very curious about everything outside. But for their clan, a gentle breeze could kill them. The outside world was like a terrifying hell.
This was a very dangerous act.
Kato quickly followed. He didn't dislike this girl.
The other two also followed. Yukimi saw them and hid behind Kato in fear. Outside, she couldn't take Kato away. She might be killed by the wind blowing at any moment.
The outside world was that dangerous for the Iburi Clan.
Kiyosuke walked over. Kato tightened his grip on the knife and said, "Stop. Don't come near us."
"You tell me to stop, and I stop? Then I'd lose face. Hey, kid, get out of the way. I think this girl might be very important to Orochimaru - sensei," Kiyosuke said.
If he remembered correctly, Orochimaru seemed to need the power of this clan. But it had been too long, and he was starting to forget many details.
"Still, you can't come near her."
"That's not up to you." Kiyosuke shook his head, and his body suddenly disappeared from Kato's sight.
So fast!
Kato was shocked. The next second, he was hit hard in the abdomen. Kiyosuke appeared, retracted his fist, reached out to grab Kato's hair, pulled it down, and then kneed him in the face.
Bang!
Taking a solid blow, Kato was dazed, with stars spinning in his eyes.
"You... you..."
"Tenzo!"
Yukimi quickly helped Kato up. But Kiyosuke grabbed her hand, lifted her hair, and saw the cursed seal on her neck. "Sure enough, it's the cursed seal used by Orochimaru - sensei."
Orochimaru had been researching cursed seals for a long time, but he had only mastered them proficiently in recent years. There were two types, the Cursed Seal of Heaven and the Cursed Seal of Earth. The survival rate of cursed - seal transplantation was very low. The one on Yukimi's body should not be these two types. It should be a weakened version without the ability to enhance, only able to stabilize their bodies.
All members of the Iburi Clan had such cursed seals, mainly to stabilize their bodies and prevent them from dispersing even in the cave.
At the same time, the cursed seals could also be used to control this clan to prevent any accidents.
Kiyosuke let go of Yukimi. She quickly helped Kato up and asked worriedly, "Tenzo, are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm okay." Kato still watched Kiyosuke warily. As expected of a master who, together with the Fourth Hokage, ended the Third Great Ninja War, he was no match for him at all. The gap was too big.
And there was also Kakashi beside him. He couldn't escape with Yukimi.
Should he abandon her?
The education of Root would have him do so without hesitation. But his heart told him that he couldn't abandon this girl and should try his best to protect her!
He decided to follow his own will!
"Hmm, I thought you'd abandon her. For you Root ninjas, things that have no use value can be directly discarded. This girl should have no use value to you. Yet you didn't abandon her? Let me think? Your heart wants to protect this girl. Oh my, this doesn't conform to Root's education. After all, you guys don't even have a'self'," Kiyosuke pretended to sigh, and then said, "Come on, stop playing. Let's go back and wait for Orochimaru - sensei to come. Our mission is to capture him, right? Oh, you Root guys want to kill him!"
"You..."
Kato was shocked. He didn't know why this man knew his mission.
"Heh, I know exactly what kind of villain Danzo is. Do you think his hands are clean? Many of Orochimaru - sensei's experimental materials were provided by this guy. Now that sensei has defected, he naturally won't let someone who knows what he's done escape. The risk is too great for him. So he sent you, a ninja with Wood Release, to kill sensei. Am I right?"
Kato didn't say anything, but that was indeed the mission.
However, he didn't expect that Danzo had colluded with Orochimaru and used Konoha ninjas for experiments. But as a member of Root, no matter how dirty the leader was, he just had to follow their orders.
"He overestimates your Wood Release," Kiyosuke sneered. "Your Wood Release is like a joke. Does Danzo really think you can turn a desert into a forest with a wave of your hand like the First Hokage? Stop dreaming. Physique and chakra determine many factors. Your Wood Release is only good for greening. In a fight, you'll just be killed by sensei."
The First Hokage used Wood Release to conquer the world, while Yamato's Wood Release is only for greening!
That's the difference!
Kato gritted his teeth and didn't refute. It was true. He might not even be able to defeat Kakashi, let alone Orochimaru. Even if Orochimaru was injured, he didn't have the ability to defeat or even kill him.
"Let's go, Kakashi. We'll go to the Iburi Clan's cave and wait for sensei to come."
He casually grabbed the struggling Kato and Yukimi. These two might be very important.
"Hey! Kakashi! We've found Orochimaru's trail," a ninja dog emerged from the grass. It was Pakkun, Kakashi's ninja dog, sticking out its tongue.
"What? Where?"
"Follow me!"
Kiyosuke and Kakashi, one carrying Kato and the other carrying Yukimi, followed Pakkun.
But as they ran, they found that they had returned to the Iburi Clan's cave.
"We're back here again. Seriously," Kiyosuke said.
They put down Kato and Yukimi, and the four of them entered. But as soon as they entered, they smelled a pungent smell of blood.
"Everyone!"
Yukimi was terrified. Her body turned into smoke, wrapped around Kato, and rushed into the cave.
"These two reckless guys! Kakashi, let's chase!"
"Okay!"
They followed closely behind and entered the cave. As soon as they entered, they found the bodies of the Iburi Clan. Everyone was beyond help, with snake - like tooth marks on their necks.
At the same time, they also found Kato, who had been knocked down.