I glanced at the almost clear sky, focusing on the spot where the chakra source I had detected a couple of minutes ago should have appeared by now. It was a relief that even the fertile lands of Tsuchi no Kuni were far from a flat plain; otherwise, we would have been spotted from afar, ruining all our plans. Moreover, the weather had been sunny after the rain, and the available shadow was sufficient to immobilize an entire team without much trouble, let alone a single person.
— He will appear soon, — Hizashi whispered warningly, tensing for a forward leap.
In the next second, a figure of a person appeared on the distant hill. Instantly tracking the shinobi's movement trajectory, I determined that he would run about twelve meters from our position, which was when we should attack. Meanwhile, I had a moment to examine the courier. The man, appearing to be around thirty, was in standard chunin attire, with a small bag slung over his shoulder, a couple of pouches on his belt, and one on his leg.
A village symbol was visible on his left arm, and a dark blue headband was wrapped around his head, covering his eyebrows and nearly sliding over his eyes. An ordinary shinobi without any notable features, of which there were many on both sides of the front. The only exception was that his eyes were slightly more slanted than most of the local population.
I didn't scrutinize him further, just glanced quickly and continued to watch the shadow — even a green genin knows that a keen gaze can be easily sensed, and veterans have this sense finely developed, or they wouldn't have lived to their age. This guy was about the right age — couriers are frequently taken out even in peacetime, let alone during a war, so a courier needs not only fast legs but also a good sense for trouble to live a long life.
This was confirmed by the chunin, who began to swivel his head as he approached the genjutsu placed on the area. But it was too late!
— Kage Mane no Jutsu, — I whispered quietly, more for the team than for myself.
The thin shadow needle shot forward, covering twenty meters almost instantly and almost invisibly to the eye, but even so, the chunin managed to notice something, making a final attempt to jerk sideways and wave his arms. But at that exact moment, our shadows merged, and the courier stood rooted to the spot as the thin thread on the ground transformed into a wide rope. Got him. The following Hyuga performed one hundred twenty-eight touches of the sky, blocking the use of primary tenketsu and finishing by slapping a seal on the man's forehead, causing him to collapse in the technique's hold.
— Like clockwork, — Rotaro grunted with satisfaction and began moving toward the prisoner.
Satisfied that the chunin wasn't going to resist, I ended the jutsu, allowing the unconscious body to drop to the ground, and rising from my knee, followed him, retrieving the prisoner scroll case from the pouch on my belt.
— Excellent work! — The commander turned to us, deactivating his Byakugan and even managing a faint smile, — now we just need to get out of enemy territory…
But his praise was suddenly interrupted by a soft whistling sound from the fallen shinobi's body, and before anyone could react, some object shot up and exploded above us with a deafening bang, emitting a red signal flare visible even on a sunny day from afar.
— A signal flare! But when did he manage that? — voiced the thoughts of everyone, the only kunoichi in the squad.
— Ryo-san, seal him and let's go! — commanded Hizashi, now serious. — Enemies will be here soon, and we need to get as far away from this place as possible!
Quickly unrolling the scroll on the damp grass, I placed the courier's hand on the free seal and, after a small chakra impulse, jumped to my feet and rushed after the others, stowing it back in the case. Damn, what bad luck and how to deal with it!
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