185th day. Twenty kilometers from the Nakayama family hideout.
A young girl in black pants and a green vest was rushing forward at tremendous speed, jumping from tree to tree, each time changing her location, trying to escape pursuit.
Six sturdy-looking men were relentlessly chasing her, trying to corner her, and when convenient throwing shuriken and kunai at her, deliberately not getting closer than fifteen meters.
Once again, the next second after the girl pushed off the tree with her feet, a kunai with an attached explosive seal flew to the place where she had just been.
A loud explosion sounded, and the tree trunk was literally torn apart. Splinters flew in all directions, and the large tree slowly tilted and fell, raising a pillar of dust and yellowed leaves. The girl miraculously managed to escape the explosive wave. She was lucky to instantly find herself behind the next tree, which took the entire impact.
Possessing excellent analytical abilities, she instantly took advantage of the situation and threw two shuriken and a kunai at three nearest pursuers.
Two enemies immediately reacted to the attack and parried the two shuriken thrown by the girl without much problem. The third man also prepared to parry the kunai, seeing no explosive seal on it, and at the moment when the kunai was two meters from him, a shout came from behind from the commander.
"Idiot! Do not parry, dodge!"
But it was too late, and the unlucky shinobi at the last moment discovered a thin thread tied to the kunai. He had nowhere to go, so he still parried the enemy kunai and heard a satisfied shout from the girl's side.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu!" Forming seals, the girl shouted. She perfectly calculated the collision time of the kunai and the thread attached to it, which served as an extension of her own shadow, with the enemy's shadow.
The allies of the shinobi taken under control made a belated attempt to jump aside, but it was already late. The shinobi taken under shadow imitation control completely repeated the girl's movements, who reached for the pockets on her vest where kunai with explosive seals were located, and the enemy shinobi instantly threw two kunai at his allies.
The girl immediately interrupted control and rushed to escape, not paying attention to the result of her cunning attack. She managed just in time, because the next second after releasing control, the shinobi's head was cut off by the enraged commander.
Of the two kunai with explosive seals, only one successfully hit the target. From the explosive wave, the epicenter of which was only a few meters from the body, the unlucky missing-nin's eardrums burst, all internal organs shook, and due to excessive pressure, a lung ruptured.
The body of a Chunin-level shinobi had great durability and therefore was not torn apart, but damage could not be completely avoided, and without an iryonin's help, he might not live to see the next morning.
The group leader knew perfectly well that his unlucky subordinate was done for, so without hesitation cut off his head and ordered everyone to resume pursuit. He was not going to leave a wounded comrade in the forest due to fears that Konoha shinobi would find him and thoroughly interrogate him.
The black-haired kunoichi rushed forward at full speed, changing her location, hoping that the commotion behind would distract the enemies and allow her to escape, but literally three hundred meters later the forest suddenly ended, and green meadows stretched for several kilometers ahead, with huge mountains impassable for an ordinary person visible in the distance.
Cursing irritably to herself, understanding that there was nowhere for her to go, she rushed forward, intending to reach the mountains and use her tactical abilities for survival.
At the moment when the group of four missing-nin ran out of the forest, the black-haired kunoichi was three hundred meters ahead, but the missing-nin group leader was very fast and steadily closed the distance, intending to kill this annoying kunoichi.
When a kilometer remained to the mountains, he got very close to her and threw several shuriken, blocking possible evasion paths.
The girl was very smart, so she easily avoided injury and continued escaping, throwing a kunai with an explosive seal at the enemy, not hoping for success but only planning to buy time until the cherished mountains, which would multiply her survival chances.
The missing-nin leader caught up with the cunning kunoichi several more times and threw shuriken at her, and each time she skillfully dodged, but the last time one of the shuriken tore the muscles of her forearm. The girl did not lose her head and, clenching her teeth, silently rushed to escape, checking her wounds on the go.
Discovering that tendons were not affected, the girl sighed with relief and on the go threw a healing pill into her mouth to temporarily ignore the wound and be able to participate in battle.
Five hundred meters remained to the mountains, and the missing-nin commander made another attempt to attack the elusive kunoichi, this time hitting her left thigh. The black-haired girl cried out in pain and instantly regrouped in a jump, landing on all fours, taking a position for a suicidal attack.
The missing-nin commander at the last moment jumped back, not daring to take the attack of the crazed kunoichi, and began attacking her from afar, throwing shuriken and kunai at her.
The girl easily parried all flying shuriken, and by the time they ran out — the enemy shinobi was forced to use his techniques to delay帮扶 her until reinforcements arrived. He formed the needed seals in a second, struck the ground with his palm, and shouted:
"Doton: Aridjigoku no Jutsu!" Quicksand appeared under the black-haired kunoichi's feet and wanted to drag her inside. But due to her excellent intellect, the girl recognized the enemy's technique in advance and jumped away just in time, avoiding danger.
She immediately rushed to attack the enemy, wanting to close the distance and have the opportunity to destroy him with her shadows. The missing-nin commander instantly reacted and formed more seals, then shouted:
"Doton: Ganchuuro no Jutsu!" Thick stone pillars instantly emerged from under the ground in front of the girl and almost locked her in a sturdy prison, but once again the girl showed her tactical abilities and avoided the trap without much problem, closing in with the enemy.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu!" the kunoichi shouted, and small strips separated from her shadow and rushed along the ground, trying to touch the enemy's shadow.