As Hiruzen Sarutobi made his way to the tent holding Hattori, Shikaku Nara turned to Inoichi Yamanaka.
"Inoichi, this potential Uchiha rebellion is serious. Go and request Lord Hokage's presence immediately!"
"Understood!"
Inoichi responded and quickly left the tent, obviously to summon Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The moment he left, Hattori looked over at Shikaku and grinned.
"Hehe, Uncle Shikaku, it's been fun being here with you guys, and the food's great, too! It's like being home here. I love it!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Shikaku felt something was off, his expression slightly changing.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing in particular—just speaking my mind."
Hattori smiled, then sighed with a touch of helplessness.
"Sigh, it's just a pity that no matter how nice this place is, it's not my home. My home's in the Hidden Sand Village. I've been gone so long they're probably worried, so it's time for me to head back!"
At these words, Shikaku's face immediately darkened.
"You…"
But he barely got a word out before Hattori spoke again.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
*Bang!*
With a loud blast, a massive slug, towering over twenty meters, appeared in a cloud of white smoke.
The slug appeared directly under Hattori's feet, so as it emerged, it lifted both Hattori and Shikaku Nara onto its head.
Faced with this sudden change, Shikaku was utterly dumbfounded.
Seeing Hattori, who was still under the hold of the Shadow Imitation Technique, Shikaku's face was a mix of disbelief.
"This… how is this possible? You're clearly bound by the Shadow Imitation Technique and shouldn't be able to form hand seals. How did you perform a summoning jutsu?"
"It's not that strange!"
Hattori's mouth turned up in a playful grin.
"With jutsu, it's all about clapping your hands and saying what you want, right? Since my hands are tied up, I just skipped that part!"
Shikaku: (Д*)
Damn, this is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing!
Seeing Shikaku's stunned look, Hattori chuckled again, winking at him.
"Alright, Uncle Shikaku, time's up. We've got to go. If we delay any longer, the old monkey will be here!"
"We?"
Hearing this, Shikaku froze, and just then, Hattori spoke again.
"Summoning Jutsu… Come on out, Giant Winged Dragonfly!"
With his words, a giant dragonfly, nearly ten meters long, appeared on the slug's head, like a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier!
Just like the slug, the dragonfly appeared right under Hattori and Shikaku.
As it emerged, Hattori called to it directly.
"Alright, buddy, let's go back to Kikyo Mountain!"
"What?"
Shikaku reacted quickly, ending the Shadow Imitation Technique holding Hattori, and jumped off in one swift motion.
Almost the moment he leaped down, the giant dragonfly buzzed its wings and took off, disappearing instantly into the sky.
Watching this, Shikaku, left on the slug's head, looked on with a bitter expression.
"He got away after all!"
Just then, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived.
But when he saw the enormous slug before him, he already knew things had gone wrong.
"Looks like I was a step too late."
He muttered to himself, but still held a bit of hope and asked the slug in front of him.
"Katsuyu, is Tsunade here?"
"Nope!"
The huge slug responded gently to Sarutobi's question.
"I was summoned by Lord Hattori, who has now left. So goodbye, Lord Hokage!"
With that, the slug vanished with a "poof," leaving behind a scene of destruction.
Hiruzen remained silent for a long time, while Inoichi Yamanaka wore a look of remorse.
"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage, we…"
"It's not your fault!"
Before they could finish, Hiruzen shook his head.
"This was premeditated. First, he lulled you into lowering your guard, then used the Uchiha matter as a distraction, finally escaping with a summoned creature. Every step was carefully planned."
With that, he looked back at Shikaku.
"Shikaku, you were right by his side. What exactly happened?"
"Well…"
Shikaku then recounted Hattori's hand-sign-free summoning technique and everything he had said.
He also voiced his own question.
"Lord Hokage, is it really possible to use jutsu without hand signs? As the 'Professor of Ninjutsu,' could you do it?"
"I can't, but one person could!"
Hiruzen shook his head, then laughed.
"My teacher, known as the 'God of Shinobi,' Hashirama Senju, could do that. His Wood Release—he really did just clap his hands and call out the technique, haha!"
Shikaku: ╭(°A°`)╮
Really?
Seeing Shikaku's astonished expression, Hiruzen chuckled again and waved him off.
"Enough of that. Hattori is a huge problem. Head to the front line and warn Jiraiya and the others to stay on alert!"
"Yes!" Shikaku and Inoichi both answered, then turned and left.
After they were gone, Hiruzen returned to his tent, pondering his response while waiting for news from Jiraiya and the others.
By nightfall, word finally arrived—
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Minato Namikaze had all found nothing at Kikyo Mountain.
Besides discovering several empty tunnels, they hadn't found a single Sand Shinobi.
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen's brow furrowed deeply, but he could only press on.
"Keep searching! Search through the night!"
He believed that if they could capture just one Sand Shinobi, they might find a breakthrough to advance the war effort.
However, despite the Leaf shinobi's relentless search, even venturing into the tunnels, they found no trace of any Sand Shinobi.
Hiruzen then ordered every Leaf ninja to enter Kikyo Mountain, setting up camp day and night.
He even had some ninjas patrol solo, hoping to lure out any hidden foes.
But nothing worked. For the next two days, the Sand Village remained silent, as if their forces had vanished.
Finally, Shikaku proposed a theory.
"Lord Hokage, do you think… the Sand Village might have already withdrawn from Kikyo Mountain?
Could Hattori have said he was returning there just to mislead us, wasting our time here?"
"Hmm?"
Hiruzen was taken aback by this, and then his face darkened.
"That must be it. We've been deceived!"
*(End of Chapter)*