Facing Pakura, Inaba Hyuga didn’t dare drop his guard for even a second!
She was powerful!
Not just because of her Kekkei Genkai—her taijutsu, Body Flicker, reflexes, and all fundamental ninja skills were top-tier.
With nothing more than a single kunai, she parried his lightning-fast barrage of short-blade strikes effortlessly.
In a brief lull between parries, Pakura swept a palm toward him.
The hand was beautiful—slender-fingered and smooth as porcelain.
But Inaba had no time to appreciate it.
Instead, he recoiled as if dodging a viper!
Through the vision of his Byakugan, that delicate hand was ablaze with molten, blazing Chakra!
Inaba had no doubt that a single touch would drain twenty kilograms of water from his body in an instant!
Engaging such an opponent in close quarters was far too perilous!
He didn’t even dare brush against her hand.
Realizing his initial assault had failed, Inaba instantly shifted tactics, leaping backward while weaving hand seals with one hand.
“Lightning Style: Lightning Fang!” Releasing a wide-area Lightning Style ninjutsu to force Pakura back, Inaba didn’t waste another second battling her.
He charged decisively toward the crowd of shipwrights ahead.
“Don’t even think about it!” But Pakura was no pushover.
Lightning Style: Lightning Fang delayed her for only the briefest moment before she broke free and hurled a Scorch Style fireball directly at Inaba’s retreating back!
At the critical moment, Shisui Uchiha arrived just in time!
“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” The Uchiha Clan’s signature Fire Style ninjutsu successfully forced Pakura back, detonating her Scorch Style attack mid-air.
However, as Shisui arrived, the puppeteer accompanying Pakura quickly joined the fray as well.
With time running out, Inaba couldn’t afford to hesitate.
His Byakugan swept across the group of shipwrights, capturing every subtle facial expression in an instant.
He decisively grabbed the guy with the most animated expression—the one who clearly looked like he had an ulterior motive.
“Move!!” He called out sharply to Shisui!
At the same time, he pointed one finger toward the sky and shot off a streak of Lightning Style chakra.
This was the signal to their teammates: Phase One was complete, time for Phase Two!
By now, the hot-tempered Kou Uchiha was already battered and bloodied from being ganged up on by Kirigakure ninjas.
If they didn’t fall back now, he would be buried here for good.
Suna’s puppeteer chased after Shisui, showering the area with hidden needles as he bellowed, “Bastard, let go of that man!” Inaba glanced back in bewilderment, unable to fathom why Sunagakure was reacting so intensely.
But there was no time to think!
“Shisui, let’s go!” He called Shisui, and the two fled rapidly, not daring to linger for even a second.
Because Inaba moved so quickly, he failed to notice one of the shipwrights jumping frantically in the crowd, waving his arms and screaming at the top of his lungs: “No!
That’s wrong!
The person you’re looking for is me!” Unfortunately, Inaba didn’t dare look back.
Executing the Body Flicker Jutsu, he vanished from the battlefield in the blink of an eye.
Instead, it was the remaining Sunagakure duo who noticed the man.
Pakura and the puppeteer simultaneously turned their gazes toward the middle-aged man jumping up and down in the middle of the crowd.
In the next instant, the surrounding shipwrights backed away with remarkable synchronization and cowardice, leaving a huge empty circle around the poor man in the center of the crowd.
…
The shipwright instantly froze in place, with nowhere left to run.
The atmosphere suddenly grew tense and suffocating.
“Did you just say…
the person we’re looking for is actually you?” Pakura stared at him, her tone urgent.
The battle had been chaotic, and Pakura had focused entirely on Inaba earlier, failing to discern whether the man was shouting at Konoha or Suna.
The shipwright was terrified.
He knew full well that he was Konoha’s informant.
The white eyes and red eyes clearly belonged to Konoha shinobi, which was why he had shouted after Inaba.
But what was happening now?
Why were a beautiful stranger and a puppeteer glaring at him instead?
He felt something was deeply wrong, but his instinct for survival kept him from clarifying the situation.
In the end, he could only bite the bullet and squeak out, “I…
I can lead the way for you.” He meant he could take them to the warehouse where the supplies were stored.
But Pakura clearly misunderstood.
Her eyes lit up.
She thought light had appeared at the end of the tunnel, and their rescue mission was back on track.
Though this man wasn’t the one who had taken her bribe originally, he had just shouted, “The person you’re looking for is me,” so he had to be their contact.
It made perfect sense for informants to work in small networks.
Besides, if he wasn’t, why would he volunteer to lead the way?
With Kirigakure forces rapidly closing in, Pakura and the puppeteer had no time for further questions.
Grabbing the man, they fled before the enemy could encircle them.
“Speak!
Which way?
Quick!” And so, through a series of comedic misunderstandings amidst the firefight, both teams ended up with an informant in hand.
However, as time went on, both sides quickly began to realize that something was terribly wrong with their respective contacts.
First was Inaba’s side.
After withdrawing from the West District, they first grouped up with Rinfu Gekko and Anko.
Their captain was still out at sea, too far away to wait for.
They had no choice but to blow up the supplies first and meet up with the captain to retreat afterward.
Thus, the five of them hauled their captured informant straight toward their destination.
But they soon realized the path the informant led them on became increasingly secluded, eventually bringing them to a dark, remote basement.
Staring at the narrow dungeon before them, the squad members exchanged bewildered glances, completely flabbergasted.
Where were the supplies?
The military stores they were supposed to destroy?
Did Kirigakure really use five cargo ships just to transport a single half-dead person?
Until the half-dead woman inside the cell heard the noise, forced her eyes open with great effort, and rasped weakly, “Who’s there?
Who came?
Lady Pakura…
is that you?
I knew…
I knew you’d come to save me!” Rinfu Gekko looked at Inaba Hyuga with a face full of confusion.
Since Inaba had brought the shipwright, Rinfu had no idea what was going on.
“Pakura?” Young Anko also turned to look at Inaba.
“Who’s Pakura?
Is there someone in your Head House named Pakura?” Inaba’s expression froze.
All he could manage was a deep sigh.
He felt like he had finally pieced together the truth behind tonight’s chaos.
“Pakura…
is the Jonin leader of the Sunagakure squad.
I think…
we might have made a mistake and snatched Suna’s objective.” The group fell silent, feelings tangled.
For a moment, none of them knew how to react.
Meanwhile, Sunagakure experienced the exact same mind-boggling realization upon arriving at a warehouse.
Gazing at the neatly stacked crates of ninja tools, medical supplies, and scrolls, Pakura furiously slammed the shipwright against the wall.
“Are you playing us?!” “N-No, no!
How could I dare?!” “Then where is the person we came for?!” The shipwright was completely baffled as well.
In total terror, he covered his chest with one hand and shielded his rear with the other.
“Y-Y-You…
you guys wanted a person?!”