A Narrow Escape

Under the combined fire-style jutsu of Uchiha Ren and Uchiha Yōju, Kakashi, unable to dodge, was engulfed by their attack. However, to their surprise, Kakashi's figure dissipated into smoke with a "poof!"

"A shadow clone..."

"When did this happen? How is this possible..."

Seeing Kakashi's figure vanish into white mist, Uchiha Ren clenched his fists and voiced his shock. When did Kakashi create a shadow clone? When did the natural body leave? Ren had not noticed any of it.

"Damn! We got careless!"

Ren cursed under his breath, realizing their anger had caused them to lose their cool and fail to notice Kakashi's escape using a shadow clone.

"Tenpū's death made us lose our composure. Ren, what should we do now?" Yōju acknowledged their mistake and then turned to Ren for direction.

"Let's bury Tenpū first. That kid won't get away," Ren said, trying to suppress his anger, his eyes gleaming with murderous intent.

"It's a shame I couldn't retrieve Tenpū's Sharingan," Kakashi muttered as he sped through the forest, two kilometers away from the battlefield. For Kakashi, every Sharingan was valuable, even for research. But retrieving Tenpū's eyes would have alerted Ren and Yōju, making escape impossible. With only a tenth of his chakra left, Kakashi felt fortunate to have escaped alive.

"But managing to kill one of them and escape is already quite an achievement," he thought with a satisfied smile, hurrying towards the next planned town.

Kakashi arrived at the town of Matsushita Creek two hours later. Instead of immediately seeking information, he checked into a hotel, bathed, ate, and slept to recover his chakra. His Hatake clan's unique physiology allowed him to recover quickly, but even so, his Sharingan's constant drain made sleep the most effective recovery method.

Kakashi woke up fully refreshed two hours later, his chakra and stamina restored to their peak. He then gathered information on Tsunade, hoping for a lead.

His efforts bore some fruit this time, though it was not a substantial gain.

"She was here a year ago..."

"A year is a long time; she could be anywhere by now."

"Who would have thought finding someone in the relatively small world of Naruto would be so difficult?" Kakashi sighed inwardly as he prepared to move on to the next town.

"I've covered my tracks; Ren and Yōju shouldn't be able to follow me," he thought, remaining cautious while leaving Matsushita Creek.

However, a kilometer outside the town, two figures appeared where Kakashi had just left: Ren and Yōju.

"Hmph, that kid's heading towards the next town, Izumishita. We can't intercept him ahead of time. We'll have to catch up and finish him off. This time, he won't escape," Ren muttered darkly, glaring in the direction Kakashi had gone.

"Let's go," Yōju responded simply, his eyes filled with hatred for his fallen friend Tenpū.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two Uchiha sped off, determined to catch and kill Kakashi.

"I need to find a way to improve Chidori. Its power is still too limited. If I had Raikiri, I could have killed Tenpū with one strike," Kakashi mused as he continued his journey, unaware that Ren and Yōju were again on his trail. He contemplated evolving his Chidori from an A-rank to an S-rank jutsu.

"As for the Rasengan, it doesn't suit my chakra nature. Even if I mastered it, its power would still be within Raikiri. The best jutsu is one tailored to my abilities," Kakashi decided, focusing on enhancing his signature technique.

As he pondered and traveled, he soon sensed pursuers behind him.

"What? Are they following me again? How do they keep finding my location? No matter how I shake them off, they catch up!" Kakashi thought, shocked and angry, glancing back in disbelief.

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