In a forest that was almost reduced to scorched earth, Uchiha Giyuu and Shisui stood outside the blockade painted with symbols, looking at the huge potholes blown up by the fireball and the muddy riverbed not far away, thinking in their minds before thinking
Everything that happened here.
"Uchiha Enhuo's Fire Release Ninjutsu has a very high temperature. In addition, there has been no rain in the Land of Fire recently, causing the surrounding environment to be very dry, so everything burned completely. Looking at the scale of the fire, it was probably
The enemy deliberately stoked the fire, hoping that Konoha would soon realize that this place was under attack.
"After the patrol discovered the situation here, it took several hours to put out the fire, but the ashes almost covered up all traces."
Shisui explained unhurriedly: "The reconnaissance ninjas of the Hyuga clan have looked here with the Byakugan before. Considering that the insight effect of the Byakugan can penetrate the surface, if we search with the Sharingan again, it will be in vain.
.
"So, we have to find another way to look for possible clues. I have already hired a helper, but in order not to cause trouble to her future work, it is best not to go inside for the time being."
"..."
Yiyong's eyes swept over this area, as if he didn't want to leave the job of searching for clues to others.
Cooperating with others, especially placing hopes on people he doesn't know, is a very unfamiliar feeling, and it's hard for him to trust.
But just as Shisui said, the scene in front of them was like two armies fighting a tough battle. Except for the rocks that were slightly melted at the edges and then cooled and solidified, there were only burned trees with only crispy branches left.
, and black ashes exuding residual heat and a burnt smell.
Compared with the most common crime scenes for volunteers in the past, which were full of mutilated limbs and pools of blood, this place seemed a little too "clean".
Before coming here, I thought I could discover something and thought I could do something for Yanhuo and Wen, but now I just feel like I have no way to start.
Compared with ghosts who run away after eating and leave blood stains and clues everywhere, ninjas who are accustomed to destroying corpses and covering up their whereabouts are a brand new opponent for Giyuu.
They are not as stupid as ordinary ghosts, nor are they as unscrupulous, and will try to reduce the evidence pointing to them as much as possible.
Suddenly, the familiar helpless feeling of watching a tragedy happen, but being helpless, was like a ghost from another world. He had the face of Uchiha Fumi and Uchiha Yanhuo, and worked together with his hands full of barbs.
It pinched Yiyong's heart, making him feel both ashamed and remorseful.
For the first time, Yiyu wanted to know how ninjas think. Because only by knowing this, could he understand the enemy's logic and complete the hunt.
"Courage."
Shisui saw Yiyong's tense chin and gently pressed his shoulders.
"This kind of thing will always happen. It's more common than you think. Most of the time, the pursuit of the missing person will be fruitless. We can only do our best and get used to it."
During the war, too many people went missing and never came back. When the situation was most critical, everyone even acquiesced and treated disappearances as deaths, in order to reduce the suffering of ninjas waiting for their comrades to return and avoid being killed in the war.
Centered.
From Shisui's point of view, Giyuu was too young and it was his first time to experience such a thing, so it was necessary to tell him that this was actually the norm in this world. If he couldn't adapt as soon as possible, it would be even more painful in the future.
"I know this is common."
Yiyong answered calmly, "But bad things happen all the time, and that doesn't mean people have to get used to it.
“Isn’t it a natural ‘habit’ for people to gain strength to resist this kind of unreasonable tragedy?”
[Do you want me to see the same thing happen to my father, mother, Sasuke and even Itachi one day? 】
[Then what is the difference between this life and the past...]
"That's what everyone thought at first."
Shisui shook his head slightly.
"But when everyone has the power to protect themselves, they will find that there will always be people stronger than them to force them to accept this habit. If they continue to explore, people will not be able to continue to live. Yiyong, you are born to be better than
Others who are much stronger may not be able to understand the pain of being as powerless as a natural disaster in the face of man-made disasters..."
Shisui's voice stopped suddenly.
Because Yiyong suddenly turned his head and looked at him with an incredible look, as if there was a huge loophole in his words.
Then, Yiyong seemed to have remembered something, turned his head in a low voice, and only uttered a sentence that was like an oath.
"I'm going to find the person who did this."
He put his right hand on his waist, as if he was holding some invisible support, calm and solemn.
"You have to do it even if you pay for it with your life."
Shisui opened his lips, not knowing how to comfort him, let alone how to explain to Itachi and Fugaku and his wife when they returned.
Because based on what he knew, the relationship between Yiyong and the two missing tribesmen was far from a matter of life and death.
Sure enough, Zhisui, who thought he understood what the child was thinking not long ago, once again encountered a new obstacle that he could not understand.
Now he only hoped that Yiyong was speaking out of anger, after all, even he could not guarantee a result.
Just when he was worried because he didn't know how to comfort the child, a loud "wolf howl" came from the forest, breaking the silence between the two.
Uchiha Shisui sighed with relief: "Help is finally here!"
Yiyong looked in the direction of the howling.
Thousands of flying birds are panicking out of the distant forest. The tree crowns that have not been affected by the fire are shaking as if they are holding some kind of welcome ceremony, like dark green waves undulating one after another with crests.
Getting closer and closer to here.
【So fast……】
As Giyu's thoughts arose, a large black and white beast jumped out of the dense forest like a ghostly phantom, passing three meters above the heads of Shisui and Giyu.
Its outstanding speed brought up a lot of wind pressure, making the characteristic high collar of Uchiha whirring.
The big black dog wearing an eye patch passed the two people, landed on all fours arrogantly, lowered its body and rubbed four long tracks above the layers of ashes, and simply knocked open the barrier used to seal off the venue.
cordon.
A woman wearing a green vest sat straddling the back of this majestic big dog, her identity revealed by the canine-shaped paint spread on both cheeks.
But because of the bad way the dog landed, the surrounding area was already filled with smoke and dust. Giyuu, Shisui, and this woman who suddenly appeared had to cover their mouths and noses and cough at the same time without saying a word.
"Kuroimaru, are you blind?! Cough cough cough cough... How can you make an emergency stop in such a ghost place!"
An irritable and hoarse female voice came from the smoke, and her cursing way of speaking reminded Giyuu of the Immortal Kawa Saneya.
"My right eye has been blind for a long time..."
The wolfdog's voice is also very majestic.
Immediately afterwards, the newcomers, a man and a dog, spit out the ashes in their mouths at each other. After a long time, the smoke dispersed, and they stood still again.
"alright!"
The woman held her waist with one hand boldly, and looked at Shisui fiercely with two slender eyes, "Isn't it you who interrupted my mission and asked me to come here?"
The wolfdog named Kuromaru also squatted down menacingly and looked at the two of them as if examining them.
It's as if the bad landing just now never happened.
"Senior Claw, I am Shisui Uchiha, and this child is a volunteer."
After Shisui nodded slightly in greeting, he said to Giyuu who was staring at Kuromaru: "This is Konoha's most outstanding investigative expert, especially the jounin Inuzukazu-senpai, and her partner, Kuromaru."
."
"Special jounin?"
Giyuu was sure that he had never heard of this word in the Uchiha clan, but judging from the fact that this woman was much more powerful than the mother of one of the "Top Ten in Konoha"...
"Is he a particularly strong jounin?"
"Well this..."
Shisui was about to explain that the so-called "special" refers to a person who has outstanding abilities in a certain area and therefore makes an exception to become a jounin, but Inuzuka Claw already laughed and interrupted: "Haha, what a talking brat!
Not bad, he is more discerning than that brat of mine."
Uchiha Shisui was greatly shocked.
This was the first time he heard someone praise Zhiyong for being able to speak.
"Boy," Inuzukazuka strode up to Giyuu, "Do you prefer cats or dogs?"
"..."
【I don’t like it either...】
Giyuu could guess from the resemblance between her appearance and voice that things would get quite troublesome if she said the wrong thing (that is, the truth).
If Wen and Yanhuo were still alive, every second wasted would increase their chances of dying.
He stared into Inuzuka Takashi's eyes and did not answer the question, but seriously suggested: "Let's do business first."
Unexpectedly, instead of being angry, Inuzukazuma said loudly and in admiration: "Well done, I also like children who can distinguish priorities best! You are very good."
She suddenly turned her head to look at Zhisui, "Kid, why did you call me back from the City of Fire? We have been traveling for a long time, and we only took soldiers' food pills along the way. You'd better be important.
thing!"
[How come he became a child and I became a brat...]
"That's it, senior. Two of my tribesmen disappeared while on a mission. This is the place where the incident happened."
Shisui pointed around, "But because of a fire, most of the traces and smells were covered up, so neither the Hyuga clan nor the other ninja dogs of the Inuzuka clan could gain much. In the end, it was Qingyuan who suggested that you
My partner Kuromaru has a more sensitive sense of smell than other ninja dogs, so I rashly sent a message asking you to come back."
"(Inuzuka) Hana's suggestion? I see."
Inuzuka Takashi sniffed at the fire scene, "Indeed, there is still a strong smell of ashes here. Once a ninja dog uses secret techniques, his sense of smell will most likely be covered by this overly strong smell, and he will become extremely insensitive to other more subtle smells.
Especially since the fire just went out not long ago, right?"
"Two days."
Shisui looked at Kuromaru, "I don't know about you..."
"It's almost two days. Kuromaru is quite special among ninja dogs. Its sense of smell is more than twice as fine as that of ordinary ninja dogs. There should be no problem at this level."
Inuzuka scratched his beloved dog's head in agony, "But such a big place is covered in ashes, you have to give me something to reference the smell."
"Already prepared."
Shisui took out a blunt kunai wrapped in cloth from his pocket, "This is a practice tool that one of the children has used since childhood."
Giyuu glanced at it and recognized the mark made by Uchiha Fumi.
"Um……"
Inuzuka Takashi took the kunai and sniffed it, "The smell of sweat is very good, and there are also shed skin tissues, which is very suitable for tracking."
Then she placed the kunai in front of Kuromaru, "You should be able to find it, right?"
Kuromaru glanced at the three of them with his one eye, then wrinkled his nose, frantically absorbing the surrounding air and sifting through similar scent molecules.
Giyuu opened the transparent world and watched its movements, and found that this big dog could actually condense chakra in the nasal cavity like a human. He didn't know if he could have an excellent sense of smell like Tanjiro if he followed this...
Soon, Kuroimaru walked quietly towards the big crater created by Gou's fireball, with Giyuu following closely behind.
Shisui was about to follow, but was stopped by Inuzuka Hana with his arm.
"Hey, children don't know how to express their emotions, but big things will happen. The missing person must be very important to him."
"Are you talking about volunteerism?"
Shisui followed Inuzuka Hana's gaze and saw that it was Giyuu's farther and farther back, and explained, "He has always been much calmer than ordinary children."
"People can suppress themselves in expressions and thoughts, and they don't even know what emotions they are feeling, but the smells emitted by various chemical substances such as hormones and glands in the body do not deceive people."
Inuzuka Hana crossed her arms, "My nose told me that the child was under great psychological pressure. The smell on his body was really worrying and very complicated. Although he looked like a calm lake,
But who knows if there is a sleeping volcano under the lake.
"Children are supposed to express their emotions freely like puppies. If he continues like this, one day he will finally let it out..."
"Ouch! Here!"
Kuromaru's howl came, interrupting Inuzuka Hana's words. The two looked at each other without saying anything more, and quickly came to a big tree with only half of its charred trunk left.
"The owner of that kunai has been active in this area, and there are his shed skin tissues under the ashes."
Kuromaru gave this judgment.
Shisui nodded. He heard from Cui Hegan that Uchiha Wen was responsible for placing the detonating talisman, so it should be nearby. However, the buried talisman was not found.
What a poor murderer, he didn't even let go of a few detonating charms.
The ninja dog's nose was pressed tightly to the ground, and like a vacuum cleaner, it kept moving along a trajectory that Yiyong couldn't see. Finally, it stopped five meters away from the fire ball crater, with a trace of human solemnity in its eyes.
.
"In the end he stayed here. In addition to the skin tissue, there was also a lot of residual smell of blood."
It glanced at Inuzuka Hana, who thought for two seconds and nodded to it, then Kuromaru continued: "Judging from the amount of blood loss, it is enough to kill an adult on the spot."
Let alone a child.
At this point, it has pronounced Uchiha Fumi's death.
The two adults looked at Yiyong's face at the same time.
The latter was unexpectedly calm. His eyelids only lowered for a second, then immediately returned to their original state, and then revealed an inquiring gaze.
"Shisui, do you still have something from Uchiha Fire on you?"
He paused, his voice as cold as iron in the snow in winter.
