After saying goodbye to the now-docile bear, Kaida, Itachi, and Kabuto moved swiftly through the dense forest.

  “Quite a nice way te food and a pce to stay for the hree days, Kaida. That area erfectly fine for it,” Kabuto said.

  “I am especially amused by how intelligent that bear was,” Kaida said.

  “It is quite normal, actually. Without intelligence, how do you think they wield their chakra? Ohey start using chakra, their intelligence grows, and o grows, they use chakra better, creating something like a loop. That bear is in the initial phase of that loop, while some of the summoning animals are at the ter part,” Itachi expined.

  “Thank you for the expnation, Sensei,” Kaida said seriously.

  “Hahaha,” Kabuto ughed at that.

  “Enough! We are about to leave the forest, Kaida.”

  Kaida, being serious once again, made three shadow es to be safe from lightning. Then three of them started moving, their senses alert and Sharingan activated as they navigated toward their destination: a small mountain that rose like a jagged tooth from the rocky terrain of Lightning Valley. Uhe previous cave, this one was in pin sight, with a ft pin all around the mountain.

  "That st oook lohan expected," Itachi said.

  “Let’s just hope no one has taken that scroll by now,” Kabuto said.

  “Your hope may get shattered; I see traces of someone going along this path,” Itachi said. Kaida, following Itachi's gaze, also found traces of some movement in the area. Though it would have been invisible to others, with the Sharingan, the traces were almost clear.

  “They are still fresh; we may catch up if we speed up,” Kaida said.

  “Let’s go,” Itachi said and disappeared from his position.

  ---

  As they approached the base of the mountain, the air seemed to hum with tension. The rocky terrain gave way to a narrow path fnked by steep cliffs. At the mountain’s peak, a small cave entrance was visible. The scroll they needed was hidden inside, but they weren’t the only ones aiming for it.

  At the mountain’s base stood three figures fag toward them. Kaida and his team didn’t even try to hide their movement toward the base, due to which Sunagakure’s team found out about them before they reached there, losing a ce for an ambush altogether. But it was not their goal from the start anyway.

  The Sunagakure team sisted of three trained and talented ninja:

  1. *Shima*: The team leader, a tall and lean kunoichi with sharp features and even sharper eyes. She wielded a deadly scimitar and was known for her wind-style jutsu, the main damage dealer of the team.

  2. *Tama*: A broad-shouldered ninja with a quiet demeanor. He specialized ih-style teiques, using them to create barriers and fortify their positions. He was the tank of the team.

  3. *Kuro*: The smallest and you of the group, but by no means the weakest. He had an affinity f-based jutsu, maniputing swarms of desert is that could be used for defense and overwhelm oppos. One could say they were an inferior version of Aburame teiques.

  "We knew you’d e," Shima said, her voice cutting through the air like her wind jutsu.

  “Since we reached here first, why don’t we do this in a civil way, aake the scroll?” she tinued.

  “Sorry, we don’t have an option; we hat scroll. But if you go away noill not pursue you guys,” Kaida said.

  Kuro smirked. "Why don’t we find out who will actually run?”

  Without warning, he unleashed a wave of buzzing is from his sleeves, all of them brown-colored beetles, sending them swarming toward Kaida, Kabuto, and Itachi. The is were fast, homing in oargets with uling precision.

  With both Kaida’s and Itachi’s Sharingan already activated, they had long predicted this attack after seeing the is in Kuro’s sleeves.

  With kunai in their hands, they strue beetle after another, but those were not enough to kill the beetles. The most impressive quality of these beetles was not their offe their defehe reason he used them at the start was to distract Konoha’s team.

  Taking advantage of the distra, Shima appeared behind Kaida and Itachi and used Wind Bde Jutsu from a distance.

  “Kaida handles her; I will take care of the beetles,” Itachi said.

  Meanwhile, Kabuto had vanished underground using his Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Teique. Tama, anticipating this, smmed his hands on the ground, causing the earth to quake and rumble beh him. Spikes of stone shot up from the ground, aiming to pierce Kabuto’s hidden form. But before they could hit their mark, Kabuto emerged from behind him, catg Tama off guard.

  "Earth Style won’t save you," Kabuto said, his chakra scalpel f in his hand as he delivered a precise strike to Tama’s shoulder, disrupting his movements.

  Oher side of the battlefield, Itachi pleted his hand signs. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Small, fast-moving fireballs shot out from Itachi’s mouth, eae homing in on Kuro’s swarming is. The fmes tore through the swarm, burning away his beetles, which were somehow tanking the kunai strikes, falling in bulk after being burnt to a crisp. Kuro’s face twisted in frustration as his panions, whom he had cared for long, were dying in masses.

  Kaida, now fully engaged with Shima, found an opening. With a swift movement, he grabbed her scimitar mid-swing, stopping it with his gau-cd hand. Her eyes widened as he twisted the bde from her grasp and delivered a powerful kick to her midse, sending her flying backward into a tree.

  "It’s over," Kaida said, standing tall as Shima struggled to her feet, her expression one of disbelief.

  Kabuto had already subdued Tama, who y immobilized by Kabuto’s chakra scalpel. Itachi, ever calm and posed, stepped forward toward Kuro, whose i swarm had been reduced to sm ash.

  "We... ’t lose..." Shima muttered, but her body was already ag from the kick she received.

  "You already have," Itachi said, his voice cool but not unkind. "Now leave."

  The Sunagakure team, battered aen, had no choice but to retreat. Shima’s scowl burned into Kaida as she was dragged away by her teammates, but none of them dared tue. They had been thhly defeated.

  ---

  With the Sunagakure team gone, Kaida, Itachi, and Kabuto ehe small cave arieved the third and st scroll. Itachi tucked it away, and the trio begarek back through the forest.

  As they approached the clearing where they had left the bear, Kaida was the first to notiething off. The bear was there, sitting proudly e deer it had hunted and brought back as a "gift" for them.

  Kaida chuckled and patted the bear’s head. "You’ve been busy, huh?"

  The bear licked Kaida’s fa response, clearly pleased with itself.

  “Good job; now go take some rest. We will call you when food is ready,” Kaida said, but the bear poi the deer carcass, as if saying, ‘What do you mean food is right here, pletely ready?’

  “Wait and see,” Kaida somehow uood the bear's iion and replied.