Thinking back to the conversation with Orochimaru last night, Orochimaru said that Chao Yanqian had ambitions and was very similar to him.
Orochimaru believed that Chao Yanqian was just like him—someone who would use any means necessary to achieve his goals. That's why he chose Chao Yanqian for this mission. He likely expected Chao Yanqian to abandon his teammates at the last moment in order to complete the mission.
Even Chao Yanqian himself thought the same way, but when the moment arrived, he found it difficult to make a decision.
"They're catching up!" Keita Hyūga glanced at the Sand Shinobi pursuing them and spoke anxiously.
"Hurry up! As long as we enter the Land of Rain, we'll have our allies," he shouted to Qianren.
That was true, but it would take at least a few hours to reach the Land of Rain. In that time, many variables could come into play, and there was no guarantee that Chao Yanqian and Keita Hyūga would survive long enough to get there.
"No way, Qianren. If this continues, the two of us will be overtaken sooner or later." After a while, Keita Hyūga noticed that the Sand Shinobi were closing the gap and shouted at Mien Qianren in urgency.
Running through the desert was exhausting. The Sand Shinobi were used to this terrain, having lived in it all their lives. But Chao Yanqian and Keita Hyūga were in unfamiliar territory, struggling with the harsh conditions. Their stamina was draining rapidly, and they were much slower than the Sand Shinobi.
"Is the only option to split up?" Chao Yanqian wondered silently.
"Qianren, let's… let's split up!" Keita Hyūga suggested suddenly.
"What?" Chao Yanqian was taken aback, staring at Keita Hyūga in shock.
"If we split up, those Sand Shinobi will prioritize chasing me because I'm from the Hyūga clan. That means they'll ease up on chasing you, giving you a better chance to escape." Keita Hyūga spoke with determination.
"No!" Chao Yanqian shouted angrily. "That would mean certain death for you!"
Chao Yanqian didn't know what he was thinking at that moment. Wasn't this the most logical choice? So why was he rejecting it?
"If we keep running like this, we'll both die," Keita Hyūga roared.
"We can wait for Captain Minato to come and support us," Chao Yanqian said firmly.
"There's no guarantee we'll still be alive when Captain Minato arrives." Keita Hyūga glanced back at the Sand Shinobi and said seriously, "Qianren! If you keep hesitating, we'll both die."
"…."
In truth, this was also the best option in Chao Yanqian's mind, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it. Was he being too sentimental?
"You've been the captain for a long time, and I've never questioned your decisions. But this time, I'm making the decision for you. Qianren, you must survive!"
As soon as Keita Hyūga finished speaking, he suddenly veered off in another direction.
Watching Keita Hyūga's figure disappear into the distance, Chao Yanqian felt a mixture of emotions. If their roles were reversed, would he have made the same decision? Perhaps he didn't know himself as well as he thought.
But at the very least, Chao Yanqian knew one thing—he wanted to save this guy who was willing to sacrifice himself.
"Keita!" Chao Yanqian shouted, reaching into his pouch and throwing a kunai marked with Minato's Flying Thunder God seal. At the same time, he yelled, "Catch it!"
He could only hope that Minato Namikaze would arrive in time.
After splitting up from Keita Hyūga, Chao Yanqian ran toward the designated meeting point.
A quick glance behind him confirmed that fewer Sand Shinobi were following him—only seven in two separate groups.
He sneered at himself. As an ordinary ninja, he truly didn't hold the same value as someone with the Byakugan.
If those Sand Shinobi managed to capture Keita Hyūga, they would be hailed as heroes back in Sunagakure. But what they didn't know was that even if they captured him, they would only obtain a pair of sealed Byakugan eyes.
Time to use the same trick again.
The moment he used a sand dune as cover to momentarily block the enemy's sight, Chao Yanqian created a shadow clone to act as a decoy while he himself used the Transformation Jutsu to hide.
It was a gamble. He was betting that none of the seven Sand Shinobi were sensory-type ninjas.
If his trick was discovered, he would have no choice but to fight to the death. If he didn't get rid of these Sand Shinobi, he wouldn't be able to complete the mission.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The seven Sand Shinobi ignored Chao Yanqian's transformed form and continued chasing after the shadow clone.
He won the bet—there were no sensory ninjas among them.
An ordinary ninja and a Byakugan wielder—anyone would know which target to prioritize.
Boom!
The seven Sand Shinobi chased Chao Yanqian's shadow clone for five minutes until the clone's chakra ran out and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Damn it! It was a shadow clone! That brat tricked us!" one of the Sand Shinobi cursed.
By then, Chao Yanqian had arrived at the designated meeting point, but he didn't reveal himself immediately. Instead, he remained hidden, waiting for Fujita's arrival.
At ten o'clock, Fujita still hadn't appeared. Chao Yanqian continued to hide, unwilling to expose himself.
He believed that Fujita was also hiding somewhere, waiting for him to make the first move. Fujita would only show up once he was certain that the coast was clear.
What Chao Yanqian didn't know was that Fujita had no intention of showing up first. Chao Yanqian would never expose himself and give Fujita an advantage. This would be a battle of patience—whoever had more endurance would win.
Chao Yanqian wasn't worried. If Fujita never showed up, he could simply report that Fujita failed to arrive, shifting all the blame onto him. After all, Fujita was the one who didn't appear.
But Fujita couldn't afford to do that. If he kept failing to show up, Konoha would begin to suspect him. Then, the next meeting would be held in secret, and if Fujita still failed to appear, he would face relentless assassinations from Konoha—or worse, the activation of a certain curse placed upon him.
Chao Yanqian wasn't willing to risk his life for Konoha's mission.
That was the difference between the two of them.
At ten-thirty, Fujita couldn't wait any longer. He was the first to step out into the designated meeting place.
From his hiding spot, Chao Yanqian couldn't see Fujita's expression, but he was certain that Fujita's face must have looked grim at that moment.
Swish!
From a distance, Fujita tossed the scroll to Chao Yanqian. But in his other hand, he prepared an explosive tag—ready to detonate it at the first sign of trouble.
If Fujita made any sudden moves, Chao Yanqian would immediately set off the explosive tag, drawing the Sand Shinobi's attention and ensuring that Fujita would go down with him.
Because Chao Yanqian still had the letter with him, Fujita had no idea…