"It's still three kilometers. The last time that assassin attacked, it was about three kilometers away. Did he notice me? Or..."
Kakashi moved forward, calculating his position. The location of the distress signal was roughly three kilometers from the previous one!
By the time he reached the site of the attack, several people were already unconscious on the ground.
Among them, one member of the Sarutobi clan had already passed away!
He was too late.
At this point, he was certain that the assassin was targeting only the Sarutobi clan in Konoha. Most of the other clans were spared.
This made him question: What reason could there be for the assassin to be so obsessed with hunting down the Sarutobi clan?
He woke up the injured to gather information.
Kakashi was preparing to follow the faint scent trail to track the assassin.
Snap~~
But at that moment, another distress signal sounded in the distance, this time farther away—about five kilometers!
Kakashi took a deep breath and set off towards the new signal.
By the time he arrived, five people had died, with no survivors.
Two members of the Sarutobi clan and three from the Shimura clan.
"This assassin even killed members of the Shimura clan?" Kakashi seemed to be pondering.
Before he could come to a conclusion, another distress signal sounded nearby!
However, when they arrived, there was no one left and no signs of a struggle.
"Not good. We've been tricked. The assassin knows our communication method. Inform everyone to gather together. If you encounter that assassin, use sealing jutsu to stall for time!" Kakashi instructed the ninja who had been following him, before continuing to track the faint scent.
"Huh? He caught up to me? Could it be a sensory ninja dog?" Genya muttered to himself, looking back and seeing the tail of the ninja dog.
Immediately, he thought of Kakashi and his summoned dog!
"What a troublesome guy!" Genya murmured, then looked up at the sky. "Looks like it's going to rain."
He had initially planned to surround himself in black flames, but seeing the changing weather, he changed his mind and continued moving forward.
However, as Genya moved again, the sky began to drizzle lightly! The rain showed signs of getting heavier.
"This is bad! The scent left by the assassin is being washed away by the rain and will soon disappear!" Pakkun, the summoning dog, spoke up as he noticed the rain.
The assassin's scent was already faint, and with the rain washing it away, it was nearly impossible to track.
"Damn it! How are we supposed to track that person now?" Kakashi furrowed his brows, swearing in frustration. He felt completely powerless against the assassin.
But that wasn't all!
The real problem was that the assassin seemed to have perfectly set up a killing spree, and Kakashi was confused about how the assassin had pinpointed his target group and made sure that support wouldn't arrive in time.
Did the assassin have some sort of sensory ability?
Boom~~
At that moment, a distress signal was heard from afar. Reluctantly, Kakashi had no choice but to chase after it.
And so, the hunt continued through the night.
This time, Genya had killed 33 members of the Sarutobi clan, 25 from the Shimura clan, as well as some of the Utatane and Mitokado clan ninjas. His results were impressive.
At this moment...
In the rain, Genya stood on a tree branch, looking at the group of ninjas that had gathered about three kilometers away. He softly muttered, "It's getting late. I'll let you go this time."
After his quiet murmur, Genya didn't return to the village but headed toward the Land of Earth.
Earlier in the day, he had seen five Jonin from the Sarutobi clan heading in that direction. He intended to eliminate them to complete his mission.
Time passed, and soon, the day arrived.
In the Hokage office, Sarutobi Hiruzen glared at Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui, and Sarutobi Eisuke, his anger boiling over.
"Useless! Useless! All of you are useless! With so many ninjas, how could that assassin escape? And so many of our people died!"
"This is Konoha's disgrace!"
Hiruzen was furious. Most of the dead were elite ninjas from the Sarutobi clan.
Next to Hiruzen were Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura! Their clans had lost a lot of ninjas too.
It seemed that the assassin had specifically targeted the Konoha Council's clan members. Ninjas from other clans hadn't been hurt. It was unbelievable...
Shisui and Eisuke also felt frustrated. Like Kakashi, they had been toyed with by the assassin yesterday! There was nothing they could do!
But this time, they had set up ninja traps around Konoha. If the assassin struck again, they wouldn't be able to escape so easily.
"Hmph! Listen to my orders! Ask all Konoha ninjas to return to the village!" Hiruzen's voice was cold, but he continued, "Send other clan ninjas to bring back the Sarutobi clan members who are out."
However, Uchiha Shisui spoke up, "Lord Hokage, if we just call back the Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Utatane clan members, we can keep searching for that assassin."
Hiruzen's eyebrows twitched upon hearing this. His gaze toward Shisui grew cold.
Shisui's blunt personality was a problem.
If they only called back the Sarutobi clan, it would imply that the Sarutobi clan were afraid of the assassin. That would damage the clan's reputation!
"What if the assassin changes targets and attacks other clan ninjas? Are you going to take responsibility?" Utatane Koharu, who understood Hiruzen's thoughts, spoke up. As expected, she was Hiruzen's mouthpiece!
After these words, no one else said anything.
"Alright, let's go outside and discuss our next move." Hiruzen waved his hand, signaling for them to leave.
Once they were gone, Danzo's face darkened. His tone was cold and filled with killing intent.
"For so many years, no one has dared openly target our clan. This assassin is an exception!"
"Do you have any idea who it is? That person is really good at hiding information!" Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded silently, but he couldn't figure out who it was. He couldn't catch them either!
"I don't know!" Danzo shook his head but still said, "Based on the description from the injured ninja about the killer's build, the only person who fits and has this kind of power is someone from the Land of Earth, the Tsuchikage, Onoki!"
"Onoki?" Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. "It's not him. The techniques the killer used are not Onoki's style!"
"Then who is it?" Danzo couldn't think of anyone else.
Mitokado Homura interrupted, "The shape might have been altered by some special jutsu. Someone probably doesn't want to be recognized!"
"Afraid of being recognized? Could it be someone we know? Who could it be?"
The four of them fell silent, each lost in thought about who their potential enemies could be. Who would be most likely to target them?
Bang, bang!
At that moment, someone knocked on the door. It was an Anbu ninja, here to report.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the newcomer and asked, "How's the investigation going? Did any Uchiha members leave their homes last night?"
This time, he didn't send any Uchiha ninja, as he suspected that the Uchiha clan might be involved!
Last night, he had sent someone to keep an eye on the entire Uchiha clan!
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