I quickly left the team behind after being formed; in fact, I didn't waste a single moment near them. There just wasn't a point. I knew what the original wanted from me; her thoughts were mine.
As a shadow clone, there was no need to give me orders; we shared our thoughts, and I knew what I wanted. What I was meant to do as a clone was to move towards the water and to investigate what was happening.
Because I didn't like the potential idea of such a large force following us from behind, if we got caught resting by this group? I would likely be sent right back to the moon. And after getting out? Getting to experience the life of a Kunoichi? I didn't want to spend another minute trapped in there.
Honestly, I rather enjoyed this new, simple life, my time as Yuki Hyūga; it was a very different life, a different experience than what I had as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Honestly, at times, I didn't even feel like I was her, I was… my own person.
But just like how I was nothing more than a clone, Yuki herself, too, was just that, a clone, a temporary body. A second life, a chance to enjoy that, before having to return to being the Goddess of the Moon, and ruler of this world.
I sighed; my thoughts were slowly spiraling into a dark place, toward the truth. The fact that all this, all this, would soon come to an end.
I had allowed Koji to show me a new world, one of pleasure, of being desired, and it was a great few days. It was, however, also a reminder of the days to come, days removed from this, where my plans would once more be pushed forward.
My strength had reached its peak, at least while using just the gentle fist, I was just shy of a Clan Lord, the level of a S-rank ninja. A peak elite Jōnin, and that was while still young. I would likely grow a little stronger, faster, and get more chakra, but it wouldn't be enough to push me further.
Konoha had little left to offer me at this point, unless I could reach a position where I could use the village for myself, like becoming Hokage, it wasn't worth staying for much longer.
"Once this war is over…" I whispered to the forest as I jumped forward. Once this war was over, I would leave. I had much to do and much to prepare before Zetsu's plan could succeed.
Being reborn as Kaguya, it was an experience, a chance that only comes once, and I wanted to make the most out of it.
I knew I was far less Kaguya than I would become later; this consciousness, the ego of Yuki, was largely built up from the foreign Yin Chakra, it was the least Kaguya. Once I reunited with the main body, I would be more Kaguya.
It almost felt like dying… though maybe it was because I was a clone, knowing that I would soon stop existing, that I cared about that?
It didn't take long before I got close to the river, and I started turning lightly, running towards where I had spotted the group. I didn't want to hint too much at the direction from which I came. So, just running straight backwards from the main body was no good.
"There," my Byakugan spotted them once more, the many glowing dots that were each a chakra source, a shinobi, and there were a lot of them.
Last time, I just saw them from the front, seeing only the first few before pulling us off the river. Only letting me see a small portion of them. Now, I saw more, so much more.
There was an entire army of them moving across the river. Mostly Genin, but a good third of them were Chuunin and higher. Just that group alone was enough to deal with my little team. And this was still only a part of the entire army!
I instantly hid myself, not wanting to be spotted. I might just be a clone, but that didn't mean I wanted to be found. There was a chance it would mean my real body might get hunted, and there was no need for that.
Not to mention, information was key, and if they didn't find me, I could find more information about them.
So I stayed hidden, at the edge of my range, a map out, and I tried to judge where they might be going, because I wanted to avoid that place.
"Let's see, going along this river… they will reach here… this leads…" I whispered as I followed the rivers on the map, trying to predict where they might be going and how they would reach there.
It was a lot of guesswork, with me trying to use what little knowledge I had about the Third War to predict things.
I knew that Suna would fight against everyone, for some strange reason. They would fight Kiri, and end up sending Pakura to her death there, why? I had no idea.
I just couldn't understand why anyone would attack the Land of Wind; it was just a big desert, nothing of value there. Why would Kiri, an island nation, want a desert? Sure, there might be plenty of metals in it, but mining in a desert? Why not just mine normally at that point, even a less mineral-rich land would be better.
Not to mention, someone who uses mainly water based ninjutsu, why send such an army against Suna?
I could understand if Suna wanted to capture an island; they had no worthwhile land, just sand, but that wasn't really possible. Capturing and holding islands from Kiri would be impossible.
There was no reason for the war between them, no benefits to be gained for either side. Even if one wiped out the other completely, they wouldn't really get anything worthwhile.
The only real prize they might be able to claim would be the tailed beasts. Well, Suna could likely also claim some bloodlines, but for Kiri, nothing of value to be found.
Suna would also fight against Iwa, and again, why? Why would Iwa be on the offensive? What could they gain? The Land of Wind just didn't seem worth the effort.
Same with Kumo, who would be fighting Suna as well, and they were so far away, at least Iwa and the land of Stone weren't far away from Wind, but Kumo? Pretty much the other side of the continent, so how do they even fight?
Yeah, it made no sense, only Konoha and Suna made sense.
After all, Suna wanted River, the border nation between Wind and Fire, and a subject of Fire, something worth fighting over for both sides; their fighting seemed natural. There was a motive.
A prize worth claiming, but the rest? Not so much.
Still, from what little I remembered, Suna and Konoha would fight towards the end of the war, or at least Suna's end, they would fight Konoha after Iwa and Kumo.
So, I assumed that they would take River, and fight Iwa and Kumo, then at some point, push Konoha, and get beaten back.
Which meant that this current army was either going to push Konoha out or fight one of the other villages.
Which one?
I didn't know, but I had a guess.
Despite looking at the map, my Byakugan allowed me to still keep track of the enemy movements, and what I spotted next made me freeze.
I remembered back to the first time I left Konoha, a simple mission with Kazou-Sensei, one of the things he said, was that if we ever saw someone who left a clear trail of chakra behind them when they moved, run.
I understood the reason for such advice. Everyone who moved with Chakra left a trail, the ground, the trees, marked with chakra. It wouldn't last long, but it could be used to track someone.
Which is where running on water was useful, or rather, running on running water, like a river. There, the movement of the water washed away the chakra, making it impossible to track people moving on it.
Moving on water was without a doubt the best thing to do, which is why I had been tempted to do it many times, but only done it a few times in our long time here.
Why was I suddenly reminded of this?
Because, towards the back of the army, a few extra teams trailed behind, and among them, one very strong chakra signature, and the person, they left a mist of chakra hanging in the air as they moved.
It didn't last long, chakra didn't stick well in empty air, but it was enough.
The reason Kazou said that is because those who leave chakra behind like that have a lot of it, and I mean a lot, and more so, it's strong.
I'm currently on the edge of reaching that stage myself, and I'm just below the level of a Clan Lord, which means this was someone with Kage-level chakra, a true S-rank threat.
As far as I knew, Suna had only four people reach this level.
The Jinchūriki of Shukaku.
Pakura.
Elder Chiyo.
And finally, Rasa, the next Kazekage.
If not for Sasori's action, Suna would have another two in him and the third Kazekage, but right now, it was four.
And right now, one of those was right over there, together with an entire army.
I instantly concluded that it wasn't the Jinchūriki; the chakra wasn't that of Sukaku.
Pakura would be insanely dangerous; her bloodline could vaporize the water inside anyone it touched, and turn the air around her deadly, not someone you want to throw down with in a taijutsu battle.
I wouldn't want to get close to someone who can raise the temperature that much.
But this wasn't her; I couldn't see anything special about the chakra, no marks of bloodlines.
For the same reason, I didn't think this was Rasa, which meant this was Elder Chiyo, the strongest puppet user of this time outside of Sasori, and a very experienced leader.
If someone so important was on the move, this was a big deal, and a very bad one for me, because that meant sensors would be there, and indeed, not a moment after I noticed Chiyo and her team, they instantly accelerated towards me.
Covering the short distance in moments, as I dismissed the map and stood up, ready to greet them.
In the end, I was a clone, and I saw no reason to hide. Might as well take a look at her team and identify someone of importance, like their sensor, before being dismissed.
I didn't flinch. I didn't hide. I simply stood tall atop the tree branch, arms crossed and Byakugan on display.
They appeared in a body flicker on another branch, just a few trees over.
Four of them.
One I even recognized, Sazanami Tokuma.
Well, wasn't this just a treat.