On the road, Uchiha Ran and Uchiha Ruka didn't waste time wildly speculating about why Pakura of Scorch Release had appeared near the Land of Fire's border.
In times of peace, sneaking into another country to carry out a mission was simple—
Get caught, exchange blows, and the truth would reveal itself soon enough.
Along the way, Ruka completely shed the icy aloofness she had back in the Uchiha district. Instead, she kept talking nonstop, chatting Ran's ear off.
She enthusiastically described Pakura as a true beauty—
Saying that despite growing up in the harsh deserts of the Land of Wind, Pakura didn't have the rough, weather-beaten skin typical of Sand shinobi. On the contrary, her complexion was delicate and radiant, making her extremely popular in Sunagakure.
Then Ruka leaned in with a grin and added that if Ran thought Pakura looked good once they met, they could always find an excuse to capture her together—
—and drag her back to the Uchiha clan as Ran's fortress bride.
Ran neither agreed nor objected.
Pakura was a wielder of Scorch Release, after all.
That bloodline wasn't exactly easy for the Sharingan to deal with.
Her signature technique, Evaporation Kill, was a large-scale area-of-effect attack—precisely the kind of wide-ranging destruction that countered the Uchiha's preference for precision and fine control.
Of course, "counter" was always relative.
Large-scale techniques forced Uchiha shinobi to fight carefully, but the Three-Tomoe Sharingan also made enemies hesitate.
In the end, ninja battles were wars of intelligence.
Unless someone possessed utterly overwhelming power.
Thinking of Pakura and Sunagakure, Ran's limited memories stirred.
If I remember correctly… it should be around this time…
The man known as the strongest Kazekage—
The Third Kazekage—
Would be assassinated by Sasori of the Red Sand.
And his disappearance would ignite the Third Great Ninja War.
"…This is bad," Ran thought.
"Am I about to get dragged into something huge?"
Then his thoughts shifted to his zanpakutō.
Well… a ninja war doesn't sound completely unacceptable either.
When Ran and Ruka arrived at the border, Konoha intelligence operatives immediately approached to report.
"Pakura was spotted at the border," said a masked Konoha ninja. "But she quickly retreated back into the Wind Country desert. The Aburame brothers have already tagged her with kikaichū."
"She didn't return to Sunagakure," he continued. "She's avoiding us. Or rather—whatever she's doing requires hiding from us."
"Don't overthink it," Ruka said coldly. "Once we catch her, we'll interrogate her properly."
Ran raised a hand, asking what sounded like a naïve question.
"Wouldn't directly capturing and interrogating her risk triggering a conflict between the two countries?"
Ruka laughed.
"Still thinking like an academy graduate, huh? Border rules weren't fully taught in school."
She grinned brightly.
"I love teaching you fresh recruits. It's very rewarding."
Then she turned serious.
"Can we locate Pakura once she enters the Land of Fire?"
"That won't be a problem," the masked ninja replied confidently.
"The Aburame Clan's kikaichū can track her. The moment she was detected, the insects were already deployed. But there's only one chance."
"One chance?" Ran murmured. "So once we find her, the insects will get destroyed."
The scout nodded and hurried off. "I'll contact the Aburame immediately."
Watching him leave, Ran voiced his conclusion.
"So after locating her, Pakura will notice and remove the tracking insects."
Ruka nodded and began explaining the Aburame's reconnaissance methods.
The Aburame clan specialized in insect-based techniques.
Within their clan, queen insects and worker insects communicated primarily through scent.
These pheromones weren't just a means of communication—they were the key to the Aburame's tracking abilities.
Aburame shinobi permanently housed queen insects within their bodies.
These queens never left.
Detached worker insects, once attached to a target, released a unique scent that relayed the enemy's position back to the queen.
The workers also followed the queen's commands—gathering information, sensing chakra levels, estimating enemy numbers.
It was an incredibly precise biological communication network.
Because of this, Aburame shinobi were highly valued on the battlefield.
But once an enemy realized they were being tracked, they would immediately check their body and destroy any foreign organisms.
Which meant—
The tracking only worked once.
"Ran," Ruka suddenly said after finishing her explanation.
"Yes, Ruka-jie?"
"I suspect Pakura isn't alone," she said quietly. "If you're working with me, stay sharp. I don't want to bring your Sharingan back to Konoha and apologize to Mikoto and Clan Head Fugaku."
She said it while turning her head away.
Ran chuckled.
"Ruka-jie, are you worried about me? It's okay. I don't like planting death flags either—but once we get back, how about—"
He paused.
"—we just go eat a big meal?"
"Tch."
"I'm not going with you."
She flicked her hair and turned away.
"Let's move. We're heading to the Aburame camp."
"Hey, wait for me!" Ran chased after her.
"And tsunderes are already out of meta!"
When Ran finally arrived at the tent with Ruka and the masked scout, he began glancing around—up, down, front, back.
Ruka noticed.
"What's wrong, Ran?"
"Well," he said thoughtfully, "aren't we here to meet the Aburame brother? Why don't I see anyone? Did he head out?"
…?
Suddenly, someone tapped Ran on the shoulder.
A voice came from right beside him.
"You're from the Uchiha, right? Even with the Sharingan, you couldn't notice me?"
The voice sounded deeply offended.
"Tch. We Aburame might have low presence, but we're not invisible. I saw your pupil reaction the moment you noticed me."
Ran froze.
"Ah—sorry about that, senior! I'd just heard that Aburame shinobi have low presence, and when I noticed you immediately, it felt awkward… so I pretended I didn't see you."
The man sighed.
"Call me Aburame Mumura. Low presence doesn't mean nonexistent. You Uchiha brat are really something."
"My fault, my fault!" Ran raised both hands in apology—utterly insincere.
"Mumura-senpai!"
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