Chased

Ryo was tense, they could engage in combat at any moment, and that could cause casualties for his team. Of course, he wouldn't let something like that happen if possible; the best scenario was for them to deal with the team of ninjas coming their way quickly and without any casualties in Team 13.

Even though he was tense about the situation, he breathed calmly, not letting it affect his thoughts and judgment. Ryo looked at Haruka and Denji; both of them seemed okay. Kakashi was the calmest among them. His face covered by the mask remained calm, and none of the three moved until Kakashi gave an order.

A few minutes passed, and the group of ninjas began to approach them. It didn't seem like they had noticed them yet; there wasn't any sensory ninja in the strange group. But even that wouldn't prevent them from eventually locating Team 13. Since they were coming from a path that Ryo and the others had already passed through, they would eventually find more traces.

Soon, Kakashi's signal came, and the team quickly flickered away from the scene, leaving the ninja team behind. It had been smoother to do that than to fight them. But none of them knew if they would be pursued. And soon, night would fall. "Let's continue at this speed. Whoever can't keep up will be helped by the other two," Kakashi said.

However, even after a few hours, they were in a safer location deeper into the Fire Country, and they weren't far from Konoha. But even so, Ryo had a bad feeling, just like the night the ninjas pursued Kentou to the entrance of Konoha territory.

With that, he clenched his fists as he sent out seven waves of location. After a moment, Ryo put his hand to his head, feeling a lot of information and, of course, a headache. But he didn't have time to complain about the pain, as 670 meters away, he saw the group of ninjas still heading their way.

"Kakashi-sensei, they're still pursuing us! 650 meters in the direction we came from, and they could be closer given their speed," Ryo reported. Kakashi listened and then said, "We shouldn't be far from Konoha patrols. Let's fight while retreating; the sound of battle will attract attention."

And as it was said, it was done. They began to retreat while Haruka did something behind them, and if Ryo was right, it was a genjutsu. As he thought that, she said, "I've placed a genjutsu behind us. It won't stop everyone, but it can confuse some if they step on the tree we were in."

It was a genjutsu with a trigger; if the ninjas stepped on the spot, they or one of them would be caught. However, it wasn't 100% certain that they would pass by there unless...

At that moment, Ryo turned back, raising his hand towards the tree as a stone rose from the ground, making a noise as it hit the tree. "Let's make as many as possible fall into the genjutsu," he said, turning back and continuing the escape with the other three.

And just behind them, the group of ninjas had noticed the sound coming from the tree, and two of them flickered directly to the tree. As they touched the branches with their feet, they stood motionless in place. "It's a genjutsu! Avoid the tree!" the ninja with the scratched bandana said, while the others dodged the tree, leaving the two caught in the genjutsu behind.

"There they are!" one of the ninjas yelled loudly, and then all the others grabbed kunais and shurikens, throwing them towards Team 13.

Quickly, Ryo made some hand seals, then said, "Wind release: Wind Shuriken!" Six wind shurikens formed in front of him, colliding with some kunais and shurikens thrown at them. Denji, in mid-air, batted some away with his staff, while Haruka dodged others.

Meanwhile, Kakashi precisely launched some kunais in the same trajectory as the others thrown at him, causing them to clash mid-air and cancel out. The team skillfully and calmly evaded the pursuing ninjas, defending themselves from the weapons thrown at them.

Apparently, the ninja team pursuing them didn't want to attract attention. However, with each passing moment they were allowed to escape, the chance of the pursuing team...

...who at that moment began to realize this, and the squad leader quickly said, "Use everything! We can't let them return to Konoha; we can't fail this mission." The man had a metallic tone in his voice and then began to make hand seals. "Wind Release: Wind Bullets!" But on the other side, Kakashi was repeating the same hand seals alongside him, copying the jutsu with alarming speed, and then the jutsus clashed in the air, creating a large wave of wind in all directions.

"Cursed Kakashi!" However, on the man's side, there were more ninjas using jutsus, mostly wind release. Ryo jumped into the air and then landed on the ground, hitting it with his hands, creating a wall of earth to stop the jutsu coming towards him, which collided with the wall, shaking it but not destroying it.

Denji managed to dodge some other jutsus, but Haruka wasn't as lucky. "Wind release: Great Break!" One of the ninjas flickered near Haruka and then unleashed the jutsu. Haruka was caught off guard, but Denji reacted faster, throwing his staff in between her and the jutsu.

"Haruka!" Then the staff and Denji switched places with Haruka, with Denji taking most of the jutsu, and both of them were thrown away into the middle of the forest. "Denji! Haruka! Damn." Ryo saw the situation that had occurred very quickly, but he didn't have time. As he looked to the side to check, a ninja jumped towards him, attacking him with a kunai.

Ryo reacted quickly, drawing his katana to block the blow, sparks flying as their weapons clashed. Ryo didn't have time to waste and quickly kicked the ninja away, but not before making a small golden needle on the tip of his foot that pierced the ninja's abdomen as he kicked him back.

The ninja probably wouldn't be able to get up for a while due to the injection of chakra into his intestines. In fact, Ryo didn't want to stick around to see the aftermath either. Without wasting time, he flickered in the direction of Haruka and Denji. He couldn't afford to lose time. In the distance, he could see some lights of Kakashi fighting with the rest of the ninjas; at least with him, Ryo didn't have to worry.

As he reached the scene, he saw Denji lying on the ground while Haruka fought with a ninja. She was injured and had some cuts on her body, but nothing serious so far. Ryo looked at Denji, who was unconscious after taking the jutsu directly. His back was already bare, with blood all over. Ryo couldn't assess the situation of the young man while a ninja was attacking them.

Flickering behind the ninja, Ryo had a serious expression. He couldn't afford to prolong the fight. With one of the coins in his palm that held the katana, Ryo appeared behind the ninja, swinging the katana towards him. The blow would probably kill the ninja; it would be the first time for Ryo. But the ninja was fast, quickly turning towards Ryo to defend against the blow.

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