Tracking

Kuro and Anko were heading towards the Northeast.

They had already visited the attacked towns and the hiding places revealed by the captured bandits, confirming the information that was collected by the teams that came before.

The attacks on the villages were quick and organized; steal, murder or capture.

Few things were destroyed in the attacks.

And the prints left by the bandits disappear at some point or there were no traces of prints at all.

Although one thing in common is that the direction in which the bandits retreat always has a minimum of vegetation or grass.

There was also no unusual activity in the trees near the end of the footprint trail, something they checked just in case.

Meanwhile, the hiding places had signs of human activity, however, due to the amount of waste, the comfort level and some other traces, the bandits only stayed in the hiding places for 1 or 2 days and in one of them they did not even go 1 full day.

It was in the latter that Anko found a trail pointing northeast. Although it was somewhat minimal, it gave them something to work with.

They headed in that direction for a while, stopping after a distance and would go back to look for any sign of the bandits.

Kuro would send out some clones to check the surroundings and use his sensory ability to try to find some chakra signature greater than that of an animal.

Meanwhile, Anko would use the snakes to search the most hidden places for any possible clues.

In case they don't find anything, they will continue traveling to the Northeast.

They stopped 2 times without finding anything, however, on the 3rd time it was different.

One of Anko's snakes found a boot print hidden by a bush.

However, when they arrived and searched the surroundings, they did not find any other prints.

After advancing for a while in the direction the boot print pointed, they found more and more traces.

"It seems they don't bother trying to hide anymore." Anko spoke while looking at the remains of a campfire and the numerous boot prints around her.

She grabbed a lump of coal before speaking again. "The bandit who revealed the information of the last hiding place was captured yesterday, the group realized that their hiding place would soon be revealed and they escaped. After a long time of being alert and feeling no pursuers, they must have thought they were safe and they relaxed, forgetting to check the bush and when night fell, they stopped trying to hide their trail. "

Kuro nodded in understanding, "However, it was strange to have found the print in the hiding place, but nothing else afterwards."

Anko stood up and replied, "Yes, it's a bit strange. Although, maybe one of the bandits panicked and made a mistake."

She looked at Kuro and spoke. "We will follow the trail until we locate where they are staying. However, stay focused in case the tracks separate in another direction. Once we reach the end of the trail we will confirm if It is or is not the main hiding place and to proceed accordingly. Do you understand? "

Kuro nodded and they both moved.

With the trail becoming clearer, they had no problem following it. There were also no bifurcations in the tracks.

And in less than 1 hour, Kuro and Anko reached the end of the trail.

It was a small elevation of land surrounded by trees, on the slope there was a small entrance similar to the mouth of a cave, however, bandits must crawl across the ground to enter. Right in front of the entrance there is a tree perfectly hiding the place.

Kuro and Anko were on top of a tree at some distance, with a partial view of the side of the entrance.

"There are 23 chakra signatures. All at the civilian level." Kuro spoke after opening his eyes.

Anko was surprised. "So many?"

Kuro nodded. "From the positions of the chakra signatures, there is an underground space that extends around the entrance."

"Hmm. I see. Can you tell if there are hostages among that number?" Anko hummed and asked.

Kuro shook his head.

Anko thought for a moment and spoke. "The missing people during the attack were not too many, while the prints we found were only 4 individuals. We can assume that the bandit group splits into smaller teams. We will wait until it is very late at night to make a move. By then, any other bandit teams still outside will have arrived. In the meantime, we'll check the surroundings for any secondary entrances or any chance of getting a glimpse of the inside. "

Kuro nodded.

They left Konohagakure in the morning, searched the towns, hiding places, followed and searched for traces; It didn't take long for the sky to darken after they reached the hideout.