I had been traveling for roughly a half hour at this point, and I was nearing the suspected area that the Samurai had defected towards.
Dropping down towards the forests floor, I scanned the many roots, branches, bushes, and the dirt ground around me, trying to find something to suggest a trace to follow.
With my nose to the ground, I began to scour the area around me, searching for broken branches, chipped roots, footprints, damaged brush, or any kind of material left behind on either the thickets or dropped onto the ground.
Not finding anything, I moved off towards the North, casting a net on my own as I attempted to locate part of the trail they left behind.
Since they were Samurai and not Shinobi, I could expect to find remnants of their journey through the forest, as they were never trained in stealthily traversing the forest like we were; they were taught the art of frontal warfare and weapon techniques, not the art of silent killings.
Of course, tracking wasn't a skill that everyone learned in Konoha; I knew more then others because I spent my time honing my skills inside the forests as I hunted to earn some extra Ryo.
That, and it was always a therapeutic activity to cleanse my mind of any and all doubts and worries.
So, I quickly located a few snapped twigs, scratched bark, and heavy footprints in some soft soil, a smirk rising to my lips as I began to follow them.
Twelve minimum warriors, four of which were trained Samurai; it was by no means a small, insignificant force, which was why the mission was flagged for priority.
If these trained soldiers were allowed to desert to any foreign land, we would have secrets and techniques leaked to our enemies.
The artifacts were important, yes, but the locations of which bases are heavily fortified and any potential plans for the future couldn't fall into any of the other major lands hands, so these soldiers needed to be put down.
And I was commissioned as their executioner.
Running and jumping through the thick forest around me, I eventually began to hear the sounds of people walking through the dense underbrush, talking and cursing as they tried to reach the edge of the forest.
From their trajectory, they were likely heading towards Kirigakure and the Land of Water, which would be a terrible landing spot anyways.
Silently standing on a branch dozens of feet away, I overlooked the traveling group of warriors, briefly counting out their numbers.
Two in the front and back were wearing black leather armor, the layered rectangular plates adorning their shoulders embossed with the Land of Fire's flame symbol.
The four Samurai were accounted for, so I began to observe the people in between the two teams of two Samurai, pursing my lips at the sight.
Eight of the group were wearing leather chest protectors and shouldering yari spears, which were the Goshi, surrounded four more people, who were carrying a large chest each.
They wore little more then simple brown clothes, their wrists shackled to the chests sides.
In total, there were still twelve warriors, but now I had four hostages to work around, increasing the difficulty of the mission slightly.
Pulling out the storage scroll for my bow, I summoned it, nodding at the familiar weight in my hands.
Taking out the quiver as well, I slung my arrows over my shoulder before laying one on the bowstring, watching the men walk through the dense forest.
My mind idly memorized the landscape as I observed the Samurai, noting each one before going towards the Goshi, getting a good grasp on each of their positions.
Standing on the branch, I kept my chakra flowing towards the soles of my feet as I stead myself, before I nocked the arrow back and took aim.
Starting with the two Samurai in the back, I waited for them to pass the next tree before letting the arrow fly, swiftly nocking the next one and loosing it a mere moment after the other.
Sailing through the air, the arrows remained silent as they reached the Samurai's exposed necks, thunking into the mens flesh and sending them stumbling forwards.
Without waiting to see the results, I began to move towards the next tree, changing positions and nocking another arrow.
Next, I took advantage of the confusion to snipe one of the remaining two Samurai, the tip of the arrow wrapped with a weak explosive tag.
Sending my chakra into the tag via a thread, I listened to the sharp crack of the explosive as it tore through the mans armor, tearing out chunks of his flesh and shattering his bones.
He screamed in agony as his lower torso was removed, dropping to his knees and desperately trying to drag his intestines back into his cratered stomach.
Drawing his sword, the remaining Samurai looked around in wary fear, his eyes scanning the forest for the attacker as he shouted for his Goshi to ready themselves.
Each of them was a hardened veteran soldier, but the fear of having three of your four strongest picked off in complete silence was pervasive.
Smirking to myself, I laid another plain arrow on my bow, a second one waiting in my left hand.
Shooting the first towards the Samurai, I intentionally lowered its speed with a chakra thread, before loosing the second one.
The man displayed his incredible reflexes as he slashed his sword out, slicing the arrow from the sky.
He let out a triumphant shout, trying to rally and bolster the Goshi's morale with that one swing, but...
As he was raising his katana again, an arrow thudded into the side of his throat, silencing him quickly.
Releasing the chakra thread, I chuckled softly as the Goshi all shouted in fear, each one scanning the forest for their enemy, before...
I grinned as I desummoned my bow and drew my longsword, the lightweight metal gleaming blue as I flew forwards.
Two of the eight had started to run, dropping their spears and rushing through the forest, hoping to escape.
Sadly for them, a quick activation of Body Flicker allowed me to appear before them, and their eyes widened in fright as they watched my sword flash forwards.
Severing their heads, I tossed them back towards the remaining Goshi, before taking four senbon from my pouch.
Jumping up into the trees, I moved to loom over the remaining six Goshi and four hostages, each one looking down towards the trees and not up.
Waving my left hand out, I let the four senbon needles rain down into the skulls of the waiting Goshi, each one dropping dead instantly.
Joining them, I stabbed my sword into the throat of one of the Goshi before flicking my blade out and towards the last, slitting his throat cleanly.
And like that, twelve soldiers fell dead inside the forest, all without letting out more then a single scream.