According to the information relayed by the summoned snakes, there's a suspected abandoned trail branching off from the main road to the left.
There are clear traces of carriage wheels along it.
Aside from that, the snakes didn't uncover anything else.
Of course, that's largely because the snakes—while numerous—aren't particularly intelligent.
Even if you add up the IQs of a few hundred snakes, it still wouldn't equal the IQ of Nawaki.
So, one really can't expect too much from them.
Still, the fact that they managed to report even this much "detail" is already impressive.
Between the towering trees, Uchiha Tatsumi and Kushina darted swiftly from branch to branch, closing in on their destination.
They carefully inspected the overgrown foliage and soon confirmed the existence of the path.
With the six roads marked on the original map and the two newly discovered ones, the total number of potential routes was now eight.
It was clearly too much for just four people to watch.
But they had no choice but to persevere—after all, the higher-ups were working even harder.
Tsunade was combing the forest with two greenhorns, and Orochimaru was handling two squads' worth of responsibilities alone.
None of the squad leaders had complained—so it wouldn't be right for the "grunts" to whine either.
They could only grit their teeth and bear it.
After confirming the route, Uchiha Tatsumi began setting traps.
With only four people, constant surveillance was impossible.
These "simple traps" usually consisted of a nearly invisible thread stretched across the ground. If someone stepped on it, the trap would trigger.
What it triggered—kunai, smoke bombs, or explosive tags—varied by the user's preference.
Despite their simplicity, such traps were fully capable of killing or injuring a ninja.
Unlike some flashy ninjutsu that looked impressive but never seemed to hit anything, these worked.
"In the next few days, we'll focus on monitoring this trail and the other seven," Tatsumi instructed.
"If it's your turn and anything suspicious happens, alert me immediately. Or, you and Mikoto can patrol as a pair."
Though Tsunade had entrusted Kushina to Uchiha Tatsumi, he couldn't afford to be careless.
If something went wrong, it would be his responsibility—after all, Kushina had a unique background.
He had no desire to be known as Konoha's Scapegoat King.
"Can I team up with you?" Kushina asked, blushing.
Her long red hair was tied behind her, a butterfly-shaped clip on her forehead. Her black shinobi outfit made her look especially cute.
Uchiha Tatsumi patted her head. "There are too many roads. I need to work with Nawaki."
"If you and Nawaki can pair up, then Mikoto and I can too."
"You'll be safer with Mikoto. A man who can't protect a woman isn't a real man. Safety isn't something women should have to worry about."
He smiled brightly.
Kushina's face turned an even deeper shade of red—like a ripe tomato.
She felt dizzy, as though nothing in the world could scare her now.
When they returned to camp, Nawaki had come back from hunting.
He had caught a fast-swimming frog—impressive, all things considered.
Mikoto and Kushina started cooking together. Tonight's menu: stir-fried fast-swimming frog. They said the meat was tender and chewy.
(Of course, that recipe came straight out of the Pokémon Cooking Guide: Konoha Edition.)
Uchiha Tatsumi sipped a cup of tea Mikoto had brewed.
It was still steaming and had a rich, aromatic flavor.
Nawaki grinned proudly. "Pretty good, right? I caught dinner. You guys don't have to eat field rations tonight."
Uchiha Tatsumi smirked. "Then I guess we should thank your girlfriend. It's because she hasn't shown up in the past nine years that you were able to focus on training and get this good. Let's hope she stays away for another few decades."
"..."
After dinner, the four of them gathered inside the tent.
Time passed quietly.
Three days later, Orochimaru arrived to exchange intel with Uchiha Tatsumi.
They compared notes—Orochimaru explained that neither he nor Tsunade had found any signs of enemy movement.
Even Orochimaru was starting to wonder if this whole operation was just a red herring.
But if it was a trap—what was the enemy's real goal?
Orochimaru decided that if no new information surfaced within the next three days, they would consider the mission a failure and return to Konoha.
In this monotonous, uneventful atmosphere, it was easy to feel mentally sluggish.
After all, they were still just students of the Ninja Academy.
Most of their classmates had probably returned to school by now.
But they were still deep in this uninhabited forest, surviving off the land like wilderness explorers.
Uchiha Tatsumi chuckled, imagining Minato's confused face when he returned to the classroom and saw their seats empty.
Today was the final day.
Uchiha Tatsumi, Mikoto, Kushina, and Nawaki sat together under a massive tree, playing with crickets.
"This mission ends tomorrow. We can finally go back to Konoha," Nawaki said with excitement.
His cricket had just defeated Tatsumi's and he was quite pleased with himself.
"That letter must've been fake. The Land of Rain wouldn't dare make a move," he said, channeling his inner child detective.
"If they sent ninja and got caught, it would be considered an invasion. They wouldn't take that risk."
Uchiha Tatsumi smiled. "Nawaki, statistics show that over 95% of the people who die in battle are the ones who act first. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because only the survivors get to say the other side struck first."
Tatsumi found a new cricket and resumed the game.
"Same logic here—if we all die, nobody will know the Land of Rain made the first move. So your theory doesn't hold up."
After a few rounds, even Kushina, who usually enjoyed this sort of thing, lost interest.
What they didn't know was that, while they looked forward to returning to Konoha, danger was already creeping steadily closer.
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