Fifteen minutes later, Shintaro put the scarecrow into his coat pocket and stood up, saying, "Fifteen minutes are up. The client has regained his strength. Let's go now."
Kurenai immediately stood up cooperatively, and Shintaro glanced at Asuma. They exchanged looks for a moment, then finally placed their hands on their knees and stood up from the ground.
Shintaro nodded in satisfaction and said, "Great, let's move out."
They took steps and walked into the forest.
As soon as they entered the forest, Shintaro immediately signaled them to slow down and said, "I sense danger in the forest. Form up to protect the client."
In an escort mission, the client's life is the most important.
They gathered, with Shintaro leading at the front and the scarecrow, the client Sakamoto Ichiro, behind him.
Next to Ichiro were the other two ninjas, Kurenai and Asuma. The three of them surrounded him.
Ichiro followed the three-person offensive formation in the middle without showing any flaws, allowing them to move forward quickly while ensuring safety.
At this moment, a kunai suddenly flew from the canopy of trees ahead, targeting the open space surrounded by the three of them.
In theory, that's where the client stood. If the kunai indeed hit the three in the middle, the client would be struck.
Since it was unclear whether the kunai was poisoned, being hit could be fatal.
Shikaku could have jumped out and declared that the escort had failed this time because the kunai was very poisonous, so the three did not dare to ignore it at all.
Asuma drew two unusual tiger-shaped blades, a gift he received when he officially became a ninja. They were short knives made by the Third Hokage using chakra metal and hard alloy.
Chakra metal was very expensive, and the Third Hokage's finances could only mix a small amount of chakra metal into them, but that was enough. These weapons could absorb the user's chakra and exhibit chakra attribute combat characteristics.
Asuma rushed forward, punched, and deflected the kunai, then quickly dashed into the forest, heading to where the kunai was launched.
He was strong enough to rank among the top three in his class.
He was swift and incredibly strong. He leaped and directly reached the tree where the kunai was just launched.
He infused chakra into the short knives and punched. The wind from his fist, accompanied by the cold light from the chakra blades, uprooted the tree in one go.
In an instant, leaves danced wildly and fell all over the ground, but Shikaku was not there, only a simple launcher was visible.
Asuma was slightly surprised but still pressed the launcher, finally jumping out and saying to Shintaro, "Sensei is not up there."
Shintaro already knew the result and said, "No problem, keep vigilant and return to formation."
Asuma nodded and returned to his original position.
This forest was only about 200 meters deep. It was easy to traverse these 200 meters, even while carrying a client.
But the problem was they knew that traps like this were set by Shikaku in this forest.
Moreover, he himself didn't know when he would appear, so the three of them moved more steadily, almost at the speed of an ordinary walk.
The three of them advanced step by step, very cautiously.
Sure enough, they encountered several such traps along the way, and the three of them resolved them one by one.
The little tricks along the way made Asuma let down his guard.
The three had already walked halfway and might soon leave.
But just as Asuma thought of this, Shikaku caught him off guard.
This time, only a kunai was seen flying toward them. Asuma rushed forward without thinking, preparing to counter it with his chakra blades.
But he didn't expect that this time the kunai had an explosive tag attached to it, and the tag was already ignited.
He was already halfway through his rush before he saw the explosive tag, but it was too difficult to change his movement now.
As he rushed toward the kunai, the kunai also quickly approached him.
When two forces move toward each other, they collide in an instant.
At such a time, there wasn't enough time to change actions.
Asuma could only prepare to knock the kunai away with one blow, to strike it as far as possible before it exploded.
But the risk was very high, as the explosive tag could detonate upon impact.
But there was nothing else to be done about it.
At this moment, a kunai flew past him and hit the explosive tag on the kunai in front of him.
The two kunai collided, altering their trajectory, causing the kunai to fly to the side and get stuck in a tree beside Asuma. With a loud explosion, the tree was blown to pieces by the explosive tag. The fragments of wood and dust from the explosion, along with the shockwave, knocked Asuma to the ground.
It was Shintaro who threw this kunai and saved Asuma's life.
He had long noticed the explosive tag kunai with his Six Eyes and sighed inwardly: 'Nara Shikaku is very bold. Isn't he afraid of blowing the Hokage's son to death? But he might have observed what I just used. The kunai's action triggering the hidden weapon mechanism made him think I could save Asuma, but it also shows his courage.'
Shikaku walked out from the shadows of the forest and said to everyone, "Hand over the client and you will be safe."
Shintaro responded, "Absolutely impossible. Not betraying the client is our Konoha ninja motto."
Shikaku put on a fierce expression in a very amusing way, even the scar on his face twitched twice, and he said harshly, "Then don't blame me for being rude."
He raised his hand and threw numerous shuriken, unexpectedly covering Asuma, Shintaro, Kurenai, and the client in four directions simultaneously.
Asuma rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Shintaro alone blocked the shuriken flying toward Kurenai and the client in front of him, and at the same time said to Kurenai, "Kurenai, protect yourself and the client."
He then took out two shuriken from his ninja tool bag and threw them at Shikaku.
Shikaku dodged to the side, but Shintaro had tied invisible wire to the shuriken, controlling the shuriken to chase after Shikaku.
Seeing it was difficult to dodge, Shikaku took out his kunai and knocked down both shuriken.
"Wire shuriken! Are you from the Uchiha?" Shikaku exclaimed.
Shintaro replied, "Knowing that I am from the Uchiha Clan, do you still dare to take action?"
Shikaku laughed and said, "Uchiha boys are worth a lot of money at the exchange!"
To this, Shintaro commented, "This doesn't seem like acting. I suggest a thorough investigation."