Pursuit

The group of Konoha shinobi all split up in varying directions as they retreated, as they all realized that they would need to execute various tasks at once.

The first team's objective was to flee into the land of fire in order to report to the Hokage directly about what occurred.

This team mainly consisted of those who were in worse shape, in addition to those who were focused on auxiliary roles, such as scouting or healing instead of combat, with Konchu being in this category.

After all, this team was the least likely to be targeted, as any shinobi overextending so far would practically be committing suicide.

In the end, the first team consisted of five members, making up the largest group by far.

Shinku: "Your mission is to deliver your observations, and the scroll I gave you to the Hokage himself, this is an emergency A-rank mission. Do I make myself clear?"

Group: "Yes Sir!"

Shinku: "Then go!"

And so, with a quick look back and a promise to grab ramen after things ended, Konchu bade his two teammates farewell.

Upon seeing them leave, Shinku turned to face the remaining shinobi.

Shinku: "As for the mission that is being assigned to the remainder of you, I need you guys to update the bases further down the line of what occurred here. This was most likely not an isolated event."

Shinku: "This is an A-rank mission as well, effective immediately, do you understand?"

Group: "Yes sir!"

Shinku: "Good. Follow me."

Saying those words, Shinku focused the chakra to his feet before starting to dash across the grassy planes, advancing towards the nearest base down the line, the group quickly following behind him.

All in all, there were only four members of the group, with Shinku being the leader, Neko serving as their sensor, and Mizuki and the other chunin working as ranged damage dealers.

Shinku: "Ok, the next base over is another hour or so east of our current position."

Shinku: "We need to arrive there to warn them, or, potentially serve as reinforcements if we are too late for that"

Shinku muttered the last part to himself gravely.

. . . . .

As time went by, and the scenery of open fields of grass never changed, causing Mizuki to grow bored quickly as he reflected on his actions in the previous battle and how he could have improved.

However, despite his boredom and relative ease, there was still a part of Mizuki that just *felt* that something was not right.

Something that just was off.

Something that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to straighten.

Something to be feared.

Unfortunately for Mizuki though, these fears would be confirmed not thirty seconds later by Neko, who after interacting with his ninken, had a newfound look of horror on his face.

Neko: "Son of a bitch!"

Neko: "Somebody is approaching us from behind, and fast"

Neko: "At this rate, he will be on our asses in less than ten seconds."

As if on queue, an explosion could be heard as Gari rocketed himself towards the group, clearly using his Kekkei Genkai in order to enhance his mobility.

Shinku: "Shit."

Shinku took a moment before giving an incredibly brief summary of him.

Shinku: "Gari - Iwa-nin, Captain of the Explosion Corps. Uses explosion Kekkei Genkai. In the Bingo Book. Spread out to make sure that we don't all get blown up together."

Obeying the orders given, the four shinobi all leaped in opposite directions, creating distance between them.

However, even this was too little too late, as just when the nameless chunin was in the middle of his jump, Gari rocketed towards him before grabbing his head.

Gari: {Bakuton: Explosion Palm!}

*Boom*

A relatively tame, yet controlled explosion detonated in the palms of Gari's hand, taking the entire chunin's head with it, as where it was previously was now simply gone, the neck still smoking from the impact.

Gari: "Oh, what's this?"

Gari: "Shinku Yuhi, eh?"

Shinku: ". . ."

Gari: "You are listed in our bingo book. I will receive great rewards for your head."

Saying those words, Gari focused his chakra to his feet before launching at Shinku with an explosive burst now in his step.

Gari: {Bakuton: Claymore Step}

Surprised by his mobility, Shinku evaded the initial punch just barely, with the fist missing him by less than a centimeter.

Despite this though, the confident smile never left Gari's face, as a matter of a fact, it widened as his fist let loose an eerie glow.

Gari: {Bakuton: Landmine Fist}

A large explosion occurred around Gari's fist, causing Shinku to fly outwards, with Mizuki catching him before he could hit the ground.

Luckily for him. Shinku's instincts went off at the last second, allowing him to mitigate some of the damage by using his sword to guard.

However, this did not change the severity of Shinku's injuries, as in addition to a broken nose, he also had several burns along his body, with even several ribs broken.

Gari did not wait for Shinku to recover before charging both him and Mizuki, intent on overwhelming the chunin in order to kill both him and Shinku, who was still dazed.

Mizuki: "Son of a bitch"

As he knew that he would have no time to cast a Jutsu to combat Gari head-on, Mizuki realized that he would need to use one of the failsafes he created.

Mizuki pulled a portion of his vest away, allowing for a scroll to fall out of his pocket which he grabbed and smudged some of his blood on after quickly biting his finger,

Mizuki then turned and pointed the now unraveled scroll towards Gari, who was now less than two meters away, mere moments away from winning the battle then and there.

However, Mizuki was able to pull out the scroll on time, and so, they would live to fight another day.

Mizuki: "Unsealing Technique."

In a puff of white smoke, Mizuki released what he had stored in the scroll, allowing him to fight evenly with Gari, even if for just one attack.

Whilst most shinobi used the sealing and unsealing techniques on objects, Mizuki did so with some of his Jutsu.[1]

Whilst the Fuinjutsu formula required to seal the Jutsu in the first place was incredibly complex, that served no real problem, as Mizuki had the time to prepare them beforehand.

Additionally, as Mizuki had prepared the attacks beforehand, he had made sure to add an entire day's worth of chakra into the attack, making it so that it was around five times as powerful as normal.

Mizuki: "Shiroi Nensho: Great Flamethrower"

A large blast of flames emerged from the scroll, devouring all in their path as they rushed towards Gari, who was forced to abandon his attack as he fell back, a new look of caution in his eyes as he looked towards the chunin whom he had ignored throughout the battle so far.

Gari: {White Flames? What kind of Jutsu is that?}

Gari: {It appears this battle will be less one-sided than I hoped it would}

. . . . .

[1] We see Jiraiya sealing Amaterasu in the anime after the fight ended, meaning at the very least it can be done (even if not in mid-combat).