Outside Kasahara Village, the red glow of the signal flare gradually faded into the night sky.
Yamato's figure flashed into existence almost instantly.
The moment he arrived, he immediately saw Ken and Yumi being pushed into desperate situations under the relentless assault of two masked ninja.
"Wood Release: Smothering Binding Technique!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Yamato formed hand seals.
Several sharp wooden branches burst from his arms like spears, shooting directly toward the two masked attackers.
The two enemy ninja were forced to halt their assault and leap backward to evade.
A trace of shock and uncertainty flickered through their eyes.
At nearly the same moment Yamato intervened, the masked ninja standing in the rear with his arms crossed suddenly gave a hand signal.
"Retreat!" The command rang out sharply.
The three masked ninja moved with perfect coordination, instantly throwing several smoke bombs onto the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dense white smoke exploded outward, rapidly swallowing the entire area and obscuring everyone's vision.
Yamato swept his sleeve through the smoke, dispersing part of it with a cold expression.
But the area was already empty. The enemy had withdrawn cleanly and decisively, without the slightest hesitation.
"Sensei…" Ken clutched the wound at his waist while Yumi pressed tightly against his bleeding arm.
Both of them still wore expressions filled with the terror of narrowly escaping death.
Yamato did not let them finish speaking before immediately urging, "What happened? Who were those people? When did they appear?"
The actions of those three ninja had been extremely disciplined and efficient. They were definitely not ordinary rogue ninja or wandering mercenaries.
That style of operation gave Yamato a deeply unsettling feeling.
An ominous premonition began growing heavier in his heart.
Yumi endured the pain and quickly explained: "We had just finished dealing with the Bandits when they suddenly appeared and attacked us!"
"They were incredibly strong… we couldn't fight back at all…But it didn't feel like they wanted to kill us immediately… it felt more like they were deliberately forcing us to call for help!"
Ken immediately nodded in agreement. "Yeah! They kept pressuring us the entire time until we fired the signal flare!"
"Forcing you to call for help…" Yamato's brows tightened sharply as his thoughts raced.
A planned ambush. Forcing out a distress signal. Then immediately retreating the moment he arrived.
The enemy's target had clearly never been Ken or Yumi. Nor had it been him.
Then, Yamato's expression changed abruptly.
"Oh no!" Urgency exploded into his voice. "Their real target is Shin!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Ken and Yumi's faces turned pale.
"Shin?!"
"Their target is Shin-kun?!"
Panic and anxiety instantly filled their expressions. They had personally experienced the overwhelming strength of those masked ninja.
If Shin was truly their real target, then the danger he faced was unimaginable.
Yamato wasted no further words. His hands instantly formed another set of seals. "Wood Release: Wood Clone Jutsu!"
The air beside him twisted slightly as a portion of his chakra separated from his body.
In the blink of an eye, another Yamato condensed into existence beside him, completely identical to the original.
"You escort them somewhere safe and stay alert the entire time."
Yamato's original body issued the order rapidly, his eyes never leaving the direction of Ishikawa Village for even a second.
"Understood." The Wood Clone nodded immediately, its voice perfectly overlapping with the original.
In the very next instant, Yamato's chakra erupted violently.
Without lingering even a moment longer, his figure transformed into a black blur that tore through the night at maximum speed, charging straight toward Ishikawa Village before disappearing deep into the forest.
The Wood Clone immediately crouched down and began treating Ken and Yumi's injuries.
The two Genin stared silently in the direction Yamato had vanished, their palms cold and their hearts overwhelmed with unease.
"Shin…you have to hold on…"