The six-man squad set off immediately.

They raced forward at high speed, and neither Kakashi nor Asuma explained the mission details to the four chuunin.

It wasn't until they stopped to rest midway, after Neji and Shino confirmed there was no one nearby, that Kakashi took out the intel on Kakuzu and Hidan to show them.

"Look carefully, don't miss anything. This time… it's life or death," Asuma reminded them.

"This is…" All four of them changed expressions as they read.

Shino's sunglasses reflected the paper.

"This is Natsuki's handwriting. So Natsuki is currently monitoring these two dangerous individuals. We're going to support him?"

Sasuke gripped his short blade tightly, his tone cold.

"Akatsuki… to think they have people this dangerous."

Shikamaru looked utterly dead inside.

"This mission… must be S-rank, right? I'm just a chuunin doing an S-rank mission… what a drag."

Neji's voice was serious.

"Fortunately, Natsuki gathered this intel in advance. Otherwise, if Konoha shinobi encountered them without knowing, we would have suffered heavy losses. Tsunade-sama probably wants to eliminate the threat as soon as possible."

"That's exactly it."

Kakashi nodded.

"The reason I chose you four is, first, because among the jounin only Asuma and I were available. Second, I trust your abilities and teamwork. Plus, Natsuki will be joining in. Perhaps all we need to do is support him to eliminate them. As for strategy… my plan is to find an opportunity to separate the two and take them out one by one. We'll discuss specifics after meeting Natsuki, but you should all start thinking, especially you, Shikamaru. I have high expectations for your intellect."

Shikamaru opened his mouth but said nothing.

Still, he was already thinking hard internally.

Though he always complained about trouble, when it came, he never failed to analyze a solution seriously.

These two enemies were the strongest he had ever faced since becoming a ninja. If they were careless, their lives would be forfeit. They needed a foolproof plan.

Thankfully, Natsuki had gathered detailed intel, which made things much easier than going in blind.

"Any questions? If not, let's keep moving," Kakashi asked finally.

"I have a question."

Shikamaru suddenly spoke up.

"Why didn't Natsuki use Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) to come pick us up? I know that jutsu can transport people. Wouldn't it be much more efficient if he brought us straight there?"

Right! Why not?

Everyone turned to Kakashi.

Kakashi scratched his head, unable to answer immediately.

Thankfully, Shino explained.

"Natsuki hasn't been using Hiraishin for long. Transporting others is still risky, let alone transporting so many people. Also, Hiraishin consumes a lot of chakra. Doing that would exhaust Natsuki unnecessarily. If you don't understand, think about Tenten, who only just learned it and can currently only transport small paper notes."

Everyone realized at once.

So that's how it is!

"Yeah, that's it."

Kakashi laughed awkwardly.

Honestly, he didn't really know the exact limits of Natsuki's Hiraishin. He just felt that travelling by themselves was safer. Besides, as Shino said, it consumed a lot of chakra. Taking everyone along would drain Natsuki's reserves too much. Better they move on foot.

Thanks to Shino's explanation, the awkwardness passed.

To divert the topic further, Kakashi asked,

"Cough… By the way, you all brought your chakra batteries, right? How's your charge?"

Asuma and the four chuunin subconsciously touched the batteries strapped to their arms.

"Full. All four seals are lit."

"Ah, good, good. Then let's keep moving!"

Kakashi also checked his own battery. Only two seals were lit. As expected of someone who burned through chakra daily; he could never fully charge it.

After a full day of travel, the six finally reached the rendezvous point as night completely fell.

In the next second, Natsuki appeared with a swish.

"Eh? Six people came? Shino, Shikamaru, Neji, Sasuke… you're all here!"

Seeing Natsuki arrive safely, everyone sighed in relief.

As long as Natsuki was okay!

Kakashi spoke.

"Natsuki, tell us about those two."

Natsuki's face turned serious.

"After leaving the bounty station, Kakuzu and Hidan immediately started looking for their next target. They've already locked onto someone and should act soon. From what I see, they'll likely return to that bounty station."

Shikamaru was puzzled.

"Why? Wouldn't they just carry the corpse to another bounty station along the way to cash it in?"

"That is possible, but unlikely."

Natsuki explained.

"From what I know of Kakuzu, he's obsessed with money. He would want to get paid as soon as possible, and that station is closest. Also, he's very sensitive to high-bounty targets. For example, Asuma-senpai, you need to be careful. Your bounty in the black market is thirty-five million ryo!"

Asuma froze. The cigarette fell from his mouth.

He never really paid attention to these things. He didn't expect his bounty to be that high.

Everyone looked at Asuma with strange eyes.

Shikamaru was even considering using Asuma as bait. It would work perfectly.

Asuma quickly interrupted their thoughts.

"Cough, cough! Then… let's plan under the assumption they'll return to that bounty station. According to Kakashi's idea, if we can separate them, Hidan won't be able to use his curse ritual without Kakuzu's protection, making it much easier to take him down. After that, we can join forces against Kakuzu!"

Everyone nodded and began thinking.

Natsuki didn't hurry back to continue surveillance because at this hour, the two wouldn't move anyway.

After a round of discussion, however, they still had no good plan.

Because those two always acted together. Separating them in secret wasn't easy, even using Asuma as bait wouldn't necessarily work.

Shikamaru frowned for a long time before finally asking Natsuki,

"When do you think they might separate? Even just for a short while."

Natsuki thought hard, mainly recalling the original story.

In canon, Shikamaru and Asuma's team encountered Hidan alone at first, thinking he was alone, only to have Kakuzu appear later. And the reason they separated was…

"I think… they might separate because of the toilet."

Natsuki's words made everyone's expressions go strange.

But he continued seriously.

"When they left the bounty station earlier, Hidan complained about how bad it smelled and was extremely disgusted. So I think next time, he definitely won't enter the station, and will choose to wait outside."

Eh? As ridiculous as it sounded, it actually seemed very possible.

After all, if not absolutely necessary, who would go into a place that smelled like a toilet?

(End of Chapter)

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