With Bunya's surveillance in place, Ishiki and the team resumed their advance.
The implanted eye quickly identified who had been tailing them.
"It's a squad just like ours. I recognize them," Bunya reported swiftly, giving their unit some form of structure. "It's Hyūga Miyasai from Konoha, Ferari from Kumogakure, and Iwa's Ishijima."
Ishiki only knew of Hyūga Miyasai—he'd met him at the Konoha Hospital.
Miyasai was a rare Hyūga who pursued medical ninjutsu, possessing a remarkable aptitude for it. Combined with his Byakugan, this gave him a unique edge with chakra scalpel techniques. Ishiki even knew that Miyasai had fused Gentle Fist with medical ninjutsu to develop a close-combat style uniquely his own.
A true Hyūga prodigy—never mentioned in the anime.
"Ferari specializes in taijutsu and Lightning Release. He's tough to deal with," Samui added, delivering intel coldly.
"Ishijima's a Doton user like me. I doubt my eye fooled him, especially with a Hyūga in their team." As Bunya said this, he abruptly reopened his sealed eye, canceling the jutsu. "Just as I thought."
Right before the jutsu ended, the last thing the stone eye saw was a kunai arcing toward it.
"Miyasai's not only a master of Gentle Fist, he's a top-notch medic-nin too," Ishiki shared openly.
If his memory served him, the Jōnin leading that squad was Iwagakure's explosion release user—Kari.
"The fact that Ishijima attacked my scout eye tells us they didn't just wander into our trail," Bunya said, voice steady despite his imposing build.
"Competition," Samui stated flatly, voice like an arctic breeze.
"Compete for what? It's an A-rank mission, not some time trial," Ishiki replied, a bit baffled.
Samui gave him a sidelong glare. "Spoken like a true Konoha shinobi."
Kakashi glanced her way but didn't comment. Instead, he pulled a book from his flak vest mid-run and started reading.
The title didn't exactly scream high literature.
Ishiki took a few sidelong glances. Were they not mid-mission, he'd absolutely ask Kakashi to lend him that book.
Bunya, to his credit, didn't mock either of them. He calmly explained, "They're likely simulating real mission scenarios. A-rank missions aren't always single-village affairs. It's common to encounter other nations' shinobi while in the field. Sometimes, it becomes a race to eliminate the target first—or worse, a trap. If they're here to protect the target, they're our enemies."
He continued, "These are just the two simplest scenarios. Reality's messier."
Ishiki nodded, understanding. He hadn't thought of that angle—his past missions were mostly patrol or infiltration.
This was his first real elimination mission. He'd underestimated the complexity.
Kakashi, meanwhile, had put down his book and started jotting in a pocket notebook, which only made Ishiki's brow twitch.
"Which approach do you prefer?" Samui asked Bunya, bypassing Ishiki completely.
Ishiki squinted at her but didn't reply.
"Ask them directly," Bunya said after thinking. "We know them. A straight answer's easier than guessing."
"And if they lie?" Samui frowned. "Ishijima's sharp. No way he'd reveal a secret mission."
"I know," Bunya admitted. "But even lies reveal intent. That's better than fumbling in the dark."
"Agreed. Engaging them is better than blind speculation—especially since I think we could take them in a direct fight," Ishiki said, smirking.
The enemy team likely tailed them to monitor their course and choices. With a Byakugan onboard, they could observe decisions from afar.
So why not flip the board?
Of course, another option was to use broader detection to stay behind the other team, flipping the roles—but Ishiki had no intention of playing that game.
"My vote's to ignore them and outrun them," Samui said, clearly opposing Ishiki now out of pure spite.
"Two to one," Ishiki grinned.
Samui shot Bunya a disapproving look, hoping for a swing vote.
But that wasn't happening—Bunya had suggested the approach himself. He gave her a helpless shrug.
Unfortunately, what followed showed how naïve their plan was. The other squad was clearly more cautious. When Ishiki's team stopped, they didn't approach. They even attacked one of Samui's scouting summons.
Ishiki frowned. He hated being watched.
After a brief pause, he quickly weaved a hand seal. Golden Ripple energy surged from his body and burrowed into the earth.
"My detection range should exceed Hyūga Miyasai's. I can't see them like he can, but I can pinpoint their exact position—and they won't even know."
"You're a sensory-nin?" Samui looked surprised. "Why didn't you say so?"
Kumo's alliance with Iwa hadn't included full intel sharing, and Ōnoki hadn't offered much on Ishiki.
Most of what Kumogakure knew was outdated—only his last known intel from the border near Yugakure. It included the fact that he used a unique snail-based jutsu, but lacked specifics on his combat abilities.
"Something like that. But my range isn't far—maybe three kilometers," Ishiki said, deliberately lowballing. In truth, his current range was over eight kilometers.
Still far from Karin Uzumaki's massive sensory scale—but for Ishiki, it was more than enough.
Sensing over hundreds of kilometers either required coordinated sensory teams or specialized tech enhancements.
The Uzumaki clan had natural talent and chakra reserves for that kind of ability, but so far, Ishiki hadn't encountered another sensor-nin at that level in this world.
"What's your plan then?" Bunya asked, ever the pragmatist. He'd long suspected Ishiki had hidden depth.