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Chapter 52 - Chapter 52

Twenty minutes earlier

Right after throwing down a smoke bomb, Hinata Haruki suddenly struck Mei-tsuki's chakra point.

"Haruki, you—?" Mei-tsuki gasped, shocked to find her body frozen in place.

"Sorry, Mei-tsuki-nee. I'm going to use a shadow clone to draw away the Sunagakure shinobi," Haruki explained quickly. He tossed another kunai with a smoke tag attached into the air, filling the area with a thick, spreading haze.

At the same time, a shadow clone hidden in the bushes dashed out, carrying another clone on its back. Haruki then used a Concealment Technique, slipping into the undergrowth with Mei-tsuki in tow.

"But that Hyūga traitor is still out there waiting for us. If I try to escape while carrying you, you'll be in danger." As he spoke rapidly, Haruki pulled out a scroll, unsealing a large hollow boulder—a contingency he had prepared before leaving Konoha.

"I've sealed your chakra points. Your breath and chakra flow will be faint enough that they won't sense you. You'll be far safer here. Konoha reinforcements will head for my marker first."

He created another shadow clone, which immediately transformed into Mei-tsuki's likeness.

"I'll lure that traitor away. Reinforcements will be here soon." Haruki inscribed a hidden mark on the boulder.

"Haruki… don't…" Mei-tsuki's voice grew weak, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Don't worry, Mei-tsuki-nee. I'm not that easy to kill." Haruki gave a calm smile before hiding her inside the hollow stone.

As the smoke began to clear, the Sunagakure shinobi pursued Haruki's transformed clone. When they had gone far enough, Haruki emerged from the bushes carrying "Mei-tsuki" on his back, running in the opposite direction. Not long after, Hyūga Ame chased after them, leaving the real Mei-tsuki hidden and quietly weeping inside the boulder.

Fifteen minutes later, several more Suna shinobi hurried back, picked up the trail of Haruki heading away, and crossed the clearing without noticing Mei-tsuki's hiding place.

Two or three minutes after that, Tsunade's team arrived and found Mei-tsuki. She immediately told Tsunade what had happened—that Haruki had drawn away the enemy to protect her.

Sobbing, she said, "Tsunade-sama, Hyūga Ame, that traitor—he's going to kill Haruki! The Sunagakure ninja are chasing him too! His chakra is almost gone… he won't last long!"

Tsunade's anger flared. She handed Mei-tsuki to a jōnin to carry. "Move! We're going to find Haruki! That bastard Hyūga Ame dares lay a hand on my student?!"

The Konoha jōnin charged in the direction Haruki had gone.

The four remaining Sunagakure shinobi stood before two Konoha corpses in the forest. One was the Hyūga jōnin who had abandoned his men to flee, the other a youth of about fourteen or fifteen whose eyes had been gouged out.

"Who did this? That Konoha brat? No… they're from the same village…" the Suna jōnin muttered.

"Sir, I found traces of another person at the scene, but their trail was carefully erased. We can't track where they went," a chūnin reported.

"Hm." The jōnin's eyes narrowed. "Stay alert—someone's coming!"

Tsunade's team appeared in the trees, glaring coldly down at the four Suna shinobi. Seeing the Konoha corpses below made their hearts sink.

"Damn! It's Tsunade-hime of the Legendary Sannin! Run!" The Sunagakure shinobi panicked and fled immediately.

"You think you can escape?!" Tsunade's team gave chase.

The Suna jōnin growled, "No choice… too many Konoha jōnin. We'll have to sacrifice you!" He shoved the chūnin subordinate toward Tsunade's group, slapping multiple explosive tags onto him.

"L-Lord!" the chūnin cried in despair.

"Explosive tags! Scatter!" Tsunade shouted.

A deafening BOOM! lit up the forest canopy, sending a fireball into the sky. When the smoke cleared, only three Suna jōnin remained, now further away.

"Damn it! After them!" Tsunade barked.

"Not so fast!" A Konoha jōnin suddenly intercepted from the side, spinning into a powerful roundhouse kick.

The Konoha jōnin's taijutsu was sharp, and he had the speed advantage. Two Suna jōnin dodged, but the third raised his arms to block and was kicked back just as Tsunade's group caught up.

"Disruptive Body Strike!" Tsunade's hand chop slammed into his back, dropping him to the ground.

One Suna jōnin turned back to help his comrade while another fled without looking back. Two Konoha jōnin split off to pursue the runner.

"For Sunagakure—die!" The Suna jōnin who stayed behind lunged at Tsunade's group with a bundle of explosive tags, trying to take one of them with him.

"Get out of my way!" Tsunade's punch sent him flying—his tags detonating midair in another fiery blast.

The one struck by Tsunade's Disruptive Body Strike twitched helplessly on the ground, his nervous system overwhelmed.

"Take him alive!" Tsunade ordered.

"Never! I won't let you capture me! Corrosive Poison Mist!" the Suna jōnin shouted, exhaling a cloud of green smoke.

The vapor hissed and bubbled as it ate into trees and stones alike.

"Back! Don't touch it!" Tsunade warned, retreating with her team.

The jōnin was engulfed by his own poison, screaming until the mist faded—leaving only a corroded, lifeless husk.

A short while later, the two Konoha jōnin returned, shaking their heads—the last Suna shinobi had escaped.

Back at the scene, the team examined the corpses.

"Tsunade-sama, this man is Hyūga Nisshin, son of Hyūga Hideyoshi, an elder of the main family. The other is his bodyguard, Hyūga Ame—the traitor who attacked me and chased Haruki," Mei-tsuki reported.

"Nisshin went to the ruins with you?" Tsunade asked.

"No. I don't know why he's dead here… Could he be the 'third person' Hyūga Ame claimed was needed to open the ruins? He even tried to make me think it was Haruki! I'm sure he ordered Ame to harm him!" Mei-tsuki said angrily.

Tsunade nodded grimly—Haruki's file contained details about his conflicts with the Hyūga elders.

"Was Nisshin here to ambush Haruki? I thought three were needed to open the ruins, and that Nisshin was with Ame for that… but it looks like the ruins were just bait. They tricked Mei-tsuki, lured in Suna, and drew Haruki here. When Suna failed to kill him, Nisshin and Ame attacked themselves…"

A jōnin reported, "We found a third person's blood—likely Haruki's. Judging from it, his injuries are severe—possibly life-threatening. But there's no trail after he left."

"Nisshin's throat was cut by a kunai, his fingers broken. Ame was killed by a precise strike to the heart—clean, one hit kill—likely by a jōnin. Both had other wounds, some from Gentle Fist, meaning they fought Haruki. But it's unlikely Haruki killed them. More likely, they were finished off by a Suna jōnin who then took Nisshin's Byakugan."

"Damn it! That jōnin got away! The Byakugan may already be in Suna's hands!" Tsunade slammed her fist into a tree, shaking it violently.

"Did Haruki slip away when Suna arrived? Was he already badly injured by Nisshin and Ame? Or did Suna wound him and take him? Could he still be running for his life right now?"

A scouting jōnin returned. "No trace of Haruki, Tsunade-sama."

"Expand the search. He may still be hunted by Suna. Get the Inuzuka and Aburame clans here immediately," Tsunade ordered.

"Yes!" The scout took off.

Mei-tsuki pleaded, "Tsunade-sama, let me come. I can move again."

"No. You're badly injured. You're returning to the medical station."

"But Haruki—" Her voice shook. Haruki was her younger brother. He'd risked his life to protect her, and now his fate was unknown.

"Haruki risked himself to keep you safe. Don't let that be in vain," Tsunade said firmly.

"…I understand." Mei-tsuki nodded, still deeply worried.

Despite the expanded search, no trace of Haruki was found. Tsunade had no choice but to send four jōnin to escort the wounded Mei-tsuki and the bodies of the fallen back to camp, while calling in more shinobi for a full sweep.

By 4 p.m., a second wave of reconnaissance ninja arrived and began paired searches. But Haruki's faint scent trail had already been scattered by the wind, leaving the Aburame's kikaichū and Inuzuka's hounds with nothing.

No Suna shinobi were found, and no sign of Haruki either. The possibility that he was still being chased was temporarily ruled out.

What worried Tsunade most was the severity of Haruki's wounds. He might have escaped to hide and heal… or collapsed unconscious somewhere, in urgent need of medical care. Worst of all—he could already be dead in the forest, his remains scattered by scavengers within hours.

When the jōnin brought Hyūga Mei-tsuki back, word of Tsunade's disciple—gravely wounded, missing after luring enemies away to protect a comrade—spread quickly through the Konoha camp.

Friends of Haruki, medics, comrades who had fought beside him, Tsunade's loyal supporters, and those who admired his courage all became restless. Many petitioned Konoha's White Fang to search for him.

Soon, hundreds joined the third wave of shinobi for the rescue mission.

Suna's scouting unit, seeing the mass mobilization, assumed Konoha was preparing another offensive and rushed to fortify their stronghold. But instead of approaching the fortress, the Konoha force headed into the forest sixty kilometers away, baffling Chiyo, who ordered heightened vigilance.

The rescue party reached the scene by dusk and began an overnight search—groups of ninja sweeping through the forest, flashlights in hand, calling Haruki's name, and sensing for his chakra.

By dawn, after a night of searching, there was still nothing.

Hinata Haruki—was missing.

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