As the streaks of afternoon sunlight pierced through the veiling clouds down to the ground, furious shouts within the deep ravines of the cliff sections reverberated in pursuit of the small shadowy figure.
"You won't get away, brat! Hand over your life!"
Lightning Release: Beast Tracking Fang!
Lightning Release: Rat Violent Quake!
Lightning Release: False Darkness!
Soon, the instantaneous and ominous flashes of lightning rained down with different forms of lethality.
A beast-like lightning kirin, alarming disks of lightning discharge, and forked bolts of several thunderbolts were cracking towards the silhouette.
"Damn it! These shinobi are truly a troublesome bunch of hounds!"
Not long ago, Yoichi's clone had transmitted all of the memories in a second concerning their crisis.
All of it brought bad news.
As a result of their incredible manhunt campaign against him, the Hounds of Kumogakure swarmed like a murder of crows, chasing the dashing Yoichi's silhouette atop the peaks.
At first, Yoichi thought that this terrain would stop some of the shinobi but designs couldn't keep up with reality.
Bombarded by lightning apparitions behind him, Yoichi sped up to his maximum speed, slightly exhausted and injured from the continuous attacks raining down on him.
"Damn it! I have no choice but to go into a town!" Heaving breath heavily, he then dashed with nimbleness.
Yoichi had a lot of reservations when it came to the innocent people living.
Since his curse remained puzzling, he was trying his best to stay out of the innocents' vicinity to prevent it from accidentally being triggered in the most problematic way possible.
The curse has its own enigmatic yet coherent limitations and boundaries.
Otherwise, any ordinary people dying in this world would be an unbelievable suffering that even Yoichi couldn't imagine himself accepting.
That's why he is throwing his good faith that these maniacal shinobi might not indiscriminately kill anyone within a remote town.
A very risky gamble he could bet on.
"Sensory shinobi! Don't forget about this brat's chakra signature. As for the remaining shinobi, we must capture this kid and provide our Raikage a proper explanation!"
An order rang, laced with superiority.
Multiple shadows began to leap. The terrifying convergence of murderous intents began to incorporate into a much sinister, lethal force with anger beneath their current countenances.
In the entire history of Kumo, this was the first time they were disrespected.
Not only that, but a brat accomplished assassinating the one they had taken away with unceasing efforts.
Overall, it was a massive oversight for them.
No one ever thought about fixing the security since they thought that their village was geographically impassable against foreign shinobi outside.
Well, now they are slapped by a brat.
*Crunch!*
Phantom Steps!
"A town!" Yoichi exclaimed.
Blitzing unhindered, his silhouette became imperceptible under the rays of light. A town within the horizon appeared with its bustling activities.
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
*Puff!*
Face Changing!
"We'll have to separate from each other! You'll pull off a diversion. I'll go and rush immediately out of here!"
Once the clone's shape emerged, Yoichi started to sneak away from the town with unprecedented speed.
Though he has been very tense, the adrenaline rush within his body led him to realize the weird sense of thrill and a state of composure.
Without looking back, he then rushed out furtively and reached the edge of the town almost at the end of the sensory shinobi's sensing range.
"What?! Why are they blocking our path?!"
"Oh my lord! Are they planning something with us?!"
"Calm down! Maybe they are trying to find a fugitive hiding within the town!"
"Surround the whole town and perform a thorough investigation! Not even an insect should escape or else, I'll definitely make your life worse!"
Amidst the interest and nervousness of the clueless crowd, the tyrannical voice of the leading shinobi echoed.
That being said, the shinobi formed an encirclement barring any people from leaving while the citizens felt apprehensive about this startling occurrence transpiring in the town.
"Sir! There are two signature chakras identical to what we are tracking. One was nearly on the edge while another one was staying in the alley!" The sensory shinobi exclaimed grimly.
"Fuck! Chase that one out! Forget about the one in the alleyways!"
The leading shinobi began the pursuit while the others followed suit. This kind of deception was eerily familiar to the leading shinobi as the memory of this infamous jutsu struck his mind in an instant.
"This must be that goddamn ninjutsu of the Second Hokage! We're dealing with a Konoha Shinobi right now!"
These shinobi's faces hardened at the recollection of the failed negotiations for a peace treaty, conducted by none other than their Second Raikage and the Second Hokage.
However, a bunch of criminals called the Kinkaku Force staged a coup d'état, seriously injuring both of these remarkable leaders with over 20 Jōnin.
At the end, the Second Hokage and Raikage did not make it. The peace talks between the two great villages ended in tremendous losses.
"Sir! The signature chakra vanished!"
"WHAT?! Are you kidding me? Don't tell me, we got outsmarted by a brat?! FIND HIS TRAILS! I don't believe that goddamn brat could run away from us!"
Hearing the sensory shinobi's report, the leading shinobi was undoubtedly infuriated. The exceptional sensing scope of a talented shinobi ranges from miles or an entire continent.
However, it wasn't a passive thing since it required kneading the chakra to sense other chakra signatures at a far distance.
Even so, the elite senses of the Kumo Shinobi spanned a dozen kilometers with clarity of the signature chakra targets.
So how did the brat escape from their web of perception?
[Purification has been triggered!]
"Hahahaha! So they got cucked by my newest passive?! What a surprise!"
Meanwhile, Yoichi has been especially joyful once he noticed the prompt on his face.
[Purification] (Gold)
—Removes all tracking and sealing techniques against the user.
Looking back at the description, he feels it makes sense. Operating the sensor to track him could be the only way to activate this passive ability.
When he got it at first, he was actually delighted with the cleansing effect on his brain curse seal.
Regardless, the tracking triggered at the right juncture, escaping from the clutches of the Kumogakure Hounds.
It was like a god-sent blessing right now.
But... This particular passive ability wasn't trustworthy. Why didn't it proc when I was being chased earlier on?
Left with questions in his mind, Yoichi scampered away from time to time. His silhouette above the vertical and steep elevations became carefree like the wind.
Each leap on rugged ground went lightweight while the refreshing rays of light washed over the anxiety he had over the chase.
"Fuck! Report back to Raikage-sama! We'll make sure Konoha bleeds in this incident!" Without any other clues surrounding the mountains, the Kumo Shinobi departed with a heavy heart.
As a result, they were finessed by a brat and left immediately with grim expressions on their faces.
There is no point in trying to blindly chase something out of nothing.
Without any clues around, it's impossible to think about the child's location using their wrathful minds.
What about there? What about that?
This could be a pointless search.
For a while, all of them started to find any inklings or hints about the brat's current location.
Trees, caves, and even clouds from the skies were constantly being scanned.
However, Yoichi's footsteps magically disappeared as if the heavens were helping him to escape.
"KONOHA!!!"
An anguished roar within the mountainous ranges echoed.
...
"Phew! That was so stressful!"
Yoichi took his time to recuperate back on the snowy landscape.
At this moment, he was indeed tired.
The hunt, the thrill, and the tense situation...is truly something special.
For a day, he enjoyed his time in the Land of Snow before Yoichi took off.
_____________
Thanks to Daemonic_Dragon for the power stones! I appreciate it a lot!