Sai quickly traversed the forest, hoping to cut the enemy off as soon as possible. He needed to make this quick to ensure he could regroup with the others so the mission could continue. As he continued forward, he noticed the temperature dropping just as it was at the hospital when he arrived to assist Naruto and Kakashi. He figured this must be the work of the Kunoichi, who happened to get away from them. As he leaped from the last tree branch, he noticed three iced daggers coming toward him.

He unsheathed the sword on his back and quickly cut the three of them away. The surrounding area he was in suddenly began to frost over, turning the green leaves on the trees to a silvery ice color. His breath became visible as the wind from earlier continued to whip the cold air around him. With his sword still unsheathed, he waited for the enemy to appear before him. The wind picked up briefly, and the kunoichi appeared before him.

Her red-stained lips smiled before him as she leaned against the tree just a short distance from him. She was dressed in a sleeveless black top with black athletic compression sleeves and matching colored pants. Her golden hopped earrings and short brown hair stood out in the slivery white area.

"So, you all fell into our trap?" She said, still smiling. "My name is Kagami! Hand over the Prince, and I might let you keep your life. Deal?"

Sai narrowed his eyes as he continued to keep his stance with the blade out. He'd be at a slight disadvantage with his opponent with the cold air.

"Sai, and that's not happening," He replied, unbothered by her earlier threat.

Kagami made a smacking sound with her lips and shook her head. "What a shame to have to kill such a handsome man like yourself. Though I'll take great pleasure in it!"

After performing multiple hand signs, mini ice particles began forming around her.

"Ninja art! Ten Thousand Ice Petals!"

Darts of ice began shooting out toward Sai quickly. He deflected as many as he could and promptly flipped down from the tree branch he was standing on until he was on the forest ground.

'I need to make some distance between us. Otherwise, I'll be in trouble.' He thought to himself.

Then suddenly, a freezing sensation crept up his ankles. He looked down to see the forest floor was frozen solid with ice. Struggling to free himself, he tried to pull his legs out of the trap, but he was too late. He looked up to see his enemy had landed across from him.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Kagami asked rhetorically. "Ninja art, Ten Thousand Ice Petals!"

Many ice shards shot toward Sai, and his eyes widened in shock. Covering his face and neck, many of the ice pieces went into his body. He grunted, and a smile appeared on Kagame's face. That is until Sai began to melt down, leaving only black ink where he once stood. Sighing, Kagami shook her head and put her hands on her hips.

"Looks like my opponent has some tricks up his sleeve. Now I've gotta find out where he hid." She said to herself out loud and jumped back into the trees high above the ground."

Sai was busy making many signature ink drawings a short distance from the icy area. Due to the circumstances, his opponent had the upper hand as they were trapped within the vortex. However, he had some things up his sleeve after painting the last stroke on the scroll with his paintbrush. It was time for him to start making his move.

"Super beast scroll!" He called out.

Many mice, snakes, and other animals crawled from the page of the scroll to the surrounding area. He wanted to get a better grasp of her abilities. Specifically, with her ice release, the smaller critters could attack her when she's least expecting it. He didn't stop there. He went ahead and started making clones of himself and had them spend out around the area.

Kagami searched the nearby area for Sai, trying to see if he would make his move. In the corner of her eye, she noticed something approaching her on her left. She quickly jumped back in time to see an inked snake lunging for her. She promptly threw two kunai knives at the serpent and watched as it turned into black ink. Suddenly Sai approached her from behind. She turned around to see him coming with his sword unsheathed, preparing to strike. Gritting her teeth, she quickly did multiple hand signs.

"Ninja art Ice Whirlwind!" She called out with both of her hands pointed toward him.

Shards of ice and frosty wind quickly began to circle Sai, stopping him in his tracks. He was soon encased in a wall of ice but turned into frozen ink inside the wall, just like before. Kagami sighed as she looked around her surroundings.

"Damn, another clone! I'll find you soon enough!" She called out as she started in another direction.

Sai watched as she went away in silence. The cold air began to spread and frost over where she just was. The vortex was copiously stirring the air around them and was helping spread the cold air. He started to trail behind her to move in for the kill. A silent takedown like he was trained in would suffice for this opponent. He moved in closer, blade drawn to strike, but as his sword connected with her body, she vanished in a cloud of mist.

His eyes widened in shock as he also noticed the many piles of ink scattered about the forest that was beginning to frost over.

"Mmm, don't tell me you've got cold feet." She whispered in his right ear.

He turned around, slashing at her again to see her disappear in the frost. Sai narrowed his eyes as he looked around for his opponent. Suddenly she appeared in multiple locations in the forest. Kagami clones smiled as Sai found himself surrounded.

"I liked the plan you came up with. Mind if I give it a go against you?" All the Kagami's said in unison.

Shards of ice came at Sai in all directions. He dodged as many as he could as he couldn't tell which were real and which were fake. But as soon as several shards embedded themselves into his right arm and leg, he knew she was in that direction. His other two clones arrived and started cutting away at the incoming ice shards as he quickly began drawing. The pain was the only thing worst than this cold he was feeling at the moment, but he continued to draw as he needed to see this through.

Sakura charged ahead, keeping a lookout for her opponent. She figured she was nearing the vortex's wall as the wind picked up the pace in one direction. The only thing that mattered to Sakura at this point was to finish this fight as soon as possible. This mission needed to go well both for Toshiro and for Naruto. So she wanted to make sure she did her part as best as possible.

She could sense someone approaching as she looked forward. Coming toward her quickly was a tall, muscular man with short spiky black hair. He wore a sleeveless white vest with black accents that was left open to expose his abdomen, matching shorts, and black sandals. He had a wide grin and seemed overly excited as he approached her. Sakura stopped as he hopped high into the air through the trees. She couldn't see him through the many leaves that were above her. Suddenly, the crashing sounds of thick tree branches alarmed her that something heavy was coming toward her.

She jumped back just in time as he missed her, chuckling as he plummeted to the forest's ground with a crashing shock wave. The entire area shook; Sakura hopped down from the branches to meet her opponent. When she landed a short distance before him, he stood up with his hands on his hips and that same grin on his face.

"So, you're the pink-haired girl looking after the brat I've heard about." The man said with his onyx-colored eyes flashing with excitement. "The names' Genji; I heard you can put up a good fight!"

Sakura tightened her fist at her sides before she got into her fighting stance in front of him. "Genji, you said? You're not going to take Toshiro from us."

Genji laughed once without humor but held his fist up. "Pity, the last thing I'd want to do is mess up a pretty face like yours. But I've got money to earn, so I'll make this quick!"

He quickly charged toward Sakura; he was fast but nowhere near as fast as Rock Lee or herself. After the war had ended, Sakura wasn't fully satisfied that both Naruto and Sasuke had pulled ahead of her again. So in her brief time avoiding Naruto, she often worked out with Rock Lee and took part in some of Might Guy's unique forms of training. This improved her speed and stamina quite a bit, as it went a long way with the training she received from Tsunade. Although she mastered the Byakugo seal, she never forgot the foundations her master taught her.

The first was to look for the opponent's dominant hand and foot, as they would usually strike with that first. Genji led with his right foot and pulled back his right hand in preparation to hit her. When he neared Sakura, he threw the first punch, which she quickly dodged and followed up with a second one. She escaped that blow and promptly followed up with a swift kick to the stomach. To her surprise, he turned to the side as her kick missed him completely. He grabbed her left ankle and spun around, roughly swinging Sakura like a rag doll.

He slammed her into the ground twice, cracking the surface with her shoulders on impact and throwing her into a tree. It snapped in half when she hit the tree and continued to fly backward. Gritting her teeth, sending healing chakra to the damaged upper back area that was sure to be bruising. She regained composure by stopping herself on the surface of the tree by landing in a squat. Genji looked pleased with himself as she wiped away the blood from the corner of her mouth.

He caught her off guard that time, but she'd be sure to return the favor to him immediately. He started running towards her with a roaring laugh, and she willed chakra into both of her legs. She'd take him out with one punch, ending his fun in this fight. Using the tree like a springboard, Sakura launched herself toward Genji and a blinding speed he couldn't predict. Her right hand, laced with chakra, connected with his abdomen as she slammed him into the ground.

"CHA!" She called out.

The earth cracked, creating a large crater and toppling over many trees in the surrounding area. She looked down at him to see that Genji no longer looked like himself. His body was a grey metallic color. She lifted her fist from his abdomen to see no damage had affected him. He was smiling up at her even wider than before.

"Man, that had some power behind it! Good thing my Kekei Genki gives me such a great defense." He said happily. "I haven't felt pain in years!"

He quickly grabbed Sakura's right arm with both of his hands. His grip was rough and tight as he tried to pull her closer to him. She bawled her left first and punched him twice in the face with chakra strikes. He let go of her, and she jumped back a distance. There were a couple of things she'd seen at a glance. Her punches were working as she saw cracks that appeared on his jawline and then formed back into the smooth surface it was before. This would be more than a one-hit battle for her to defeat him.

He pulled his legs back towards his head and kicked out to use the momentum of this kick to stand up on his own. She glared at him as he seemed to be enjoying himself. The stupid grin on his face returned as he beckoned for her to come at him again. The wind began to pick up once before they started running toward one another.

The Naruto clones traveled to what was believed to be the source of the vortex. Meanwhile, the real Naruto and Ino stayed together, with Toshiro holding Sai and Sakura's bags. Ino focused on the chakra signatures when suddenly she noticed something odd. The chakra source that was wind happened to match another source that was near them. She opened her eyes and turned toward the new chakra source she found.

She narrowed her eyes, frustrated that she didn't see this person the first time. She turned to Naruto and re-opened the mind link between them.

'Naruto!' Ino mentally said to him.

His eyes widened as he looked over at her. 'What's up, Ino?'

'I got it wrong! The chakra source controlling the vortex is in the vortex with us. The source outside is another person!'

Naruto frowned as he held his hands up and made more clones. 'Don't worry; I'll make more clones to handle them!'

Five more Naruto clones appeared and went in the direction Ino just sensed the other person was waiting. The clones traveled together to the location of the new person. There standing in the open was a man with bright green shoulder-length hair. He was dressed in a purple and black jacket and black shorts. He held her hands together in the Ox symbol as her eyes widened. The clones charged toward him, and he jumped back in time to escape them.

"So you're the one causing this vortex!" One of the clones said.

The man narrowed her eyes which matched the color of his hair. "Damn, so you've got someone who can sense us! You all need to get out of our way!"

Naruto began forming the Rasengan in his right hand. "You all need to leave the kid alone, y'know! It's bad enough he's lost his family. Don't you monsters have a heart?"

The man smiled. "Not when someone hires us for a job, we handle it, so we get paid. Any true ninja can put their emotions aside for a job."

Naruto growled as the size of the Rasengan increased. "Fine, I'll deal with you quickly so we can be rid of this wind!"

Naruto quickly charged toward him, and his eyes widened. The man didn't have time to dodge the way he wanted and had to let go of the Ox sign and flip out of the way as Naruto ran into a tree. The Rasengan cracked it in half as it fell over, and a significant part of the forest was torn to bits from the after blast of the Rasengan. The vortex surrounding the large part of the forest dissipated, and she looked around in shock.

"Damn, my Typhoon release was interrupted!" He growled.

The four other clones in front of him grinned as they crouched down. "That'll make things easier for my team!"

His eyes widened for a moment before he frowned and got into his fighting stance. "Sorry, my boss just told me I've gotta run! I'm not sticking around here!"

Naruto's eyes widened as an unknown enemy instantly took out the clones he sent in one direction. That had to be the leader of this group, as they didn't hesitate to strike once the vortex was gone. He focused his attention back on the man in front of him. He needed to keep his enemy here or capture him before he got away.

Suddenly a large gust of wind whipped toward the four clones standing there, and they disappeared on contact. The last clone that'd done the Rasengan stood straight by the cracked tree and faced his opponent. The green-haired man smiled before laughing.

"I'm guessing you're a clone too! Good gives me plenty enough time to get away! My name is Bunsaku; next time we meet, I'll be sure to let loose!"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he started running after him but stopped when several kunai knives landed in front of him. He frowned before bawling his fist, and the real Naruto dismissed the remaining clone. Kurama's chakra cloak faded around them, and he turned towards Ino.

"Looks like the enemy is retreating. Sakura and Sai should be coming back to us soon."

Ino smiled before sighing in relief. "Good; hopefully, they have some answers for us about the enemy."

One of the clones Sai had made earlier couldn't deflect the incoming ice and was torn to pieces by the frost. He finished the last stroke on the page just as the other clone was pierced through.

"Super God Imitating Drawing!" He called out.

A puff of smoke covered the frosted area as the ice shards stopped coming in. A significantly large black and white first went in the direction Kagami was attacking him from. Her eye's widened, and she barely jumped out of the way of the attack. She looked high above her as the two drawings of muscular men towered over her higher than the forest trees. They looked as if they could crack a mountain in half with the punch one of them had thrown at her earlier.

She was about to perform an attack against him when suddenly, the wind wall of the vortex faded completely. Her mouth dropped open as she quickly turned on her heel and prepared to run for it. Before she was about to leave, she looked over her should look at Sai directly.

"Looks' like someone turned off the wind! Sorry to hit and run, but I'll AHHH-"

She was cut off by something binding her arms to her side and pulling her backward. It was another inked snake like the many she had taken care of earlier. But it'd pulled her down to the ground keeping her in place. The giant kings walked towards her as the ground shook with each step. The drawing shook and rumbled before it broke into many paper pieces covering the area. She looked from the paper back to Sai, who held a single kunai knife in his hand with a paper bomb attacked.

She looked around at the still-falling pieces of paper and noticed that they also had paper bombs littering them.

"Any last words?" Sai asked, raising the kunai knife higher.

"You all should turn ba-" She called out but stopped instantly.

Suddenly Kagami began to shake and grunt as the attacker in the hospital did the day before. Sai closed his eyes, knowing that her defeat meant she would have to die by her enemy or the seal on her body. He threw the Kunai and donated the bombs.

After a deep breath, Sai removed the last ice shards from his arm and started heading back toward the group. Whatever she tried to tell him, it was too late. The enemy was still watching them and knew he wasn't with Toshiro.

With the vortex taken care of, Naruto, Ino, and Toshiro waited for Sai and Sakura to return. Naruto already lowered Kurama's chakra cloak and clones that helped him keep watch guard over his group. Sakura arrived. First, her clothes were torn and covered in dirt, but she appeared to be okay. Naruto let go of the breath he found himself holding to see that she was okay when he started toward her. A smile appeared on her face as he approached her.

"Hey!" Sakura said.

"Hey!" He replied.

Ino quickly cleared her throat, and they both looked in her direction.

"Don't forget we're on assignment." She warned.

Sakura rolled her eyes before putting her hands on her hips. "Seriously, I'd like to talk to the team captain without being judged by you two!"

Sai appeared from the trees and landed before Ino and Toshiro. He looked up to Ino first and then to Toshiro. "Ino, Toshiro, are you both okay?"

Ino blushed a little. "Yeah, we're fine! But you're hurt!"

He frowned and looked at his arm where the ice pierced him. Sai shook his head, disregarding the wound for a moment. "I'll be fine. My opponent tried to warn me about something, but like the old man, she was taken out with gag jutsu."

Naruto frowned and sighed. "That's two people now. How bout your enemy Sakura?"

Sakura folded her arms and frowned. "He got away before I could catch him. He said he didn't want his boss to get angry with him. I guess she has them on a short leash."

"Same with the guy I found who was causing the Tornado." Naruto bawled his fist at his sides as he gritted his teeth.

Whoever this leader was, she had no regard for human life. He shook his head and looked at the group at large. Now wasn't the time to lose his cool, and after the day's events, it would be best if they went ahead and called it a day in the nearby town.

Ino went over to Sai with Toshiro following behind her. She took his injured arm and began to heal the wound with the Mystic Palm Technique. Sai observed as the wounds on his arm healed completely. When she finished, she smiled and let go of his arm.

"There, you're all set!" Ino said.

"Thank you," Sai said softly, looking down at his arm and then back at Ino.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other as they fought the urge to laugh. As much as Ino stayed after the two of them flirting, she sure didn't miss a moment to help Sai. Naruto rubbed his index finger under his nose as he knew it was time to get his team out of there.

"Okay, let's take to the trees and get to the nearby town." He said and made a clone, and it knelt. "Toshiro, you can ride on my clones back there."

Sakura's eyes widened before she regained composure and put her hands on her hips. "I don't mind taking Toshiro."

Naruto shook his head, smiling. "It's okay. You just got out of a battle, y'know. I'll hold your bag, too, so let's get going."

She shook her head and sighed. "Alright, I won't argue with you this time."

"Good! Let's get going!" Naruto said to everyone then.

Toshiro climbed onto his clone's back, and the group took to the trees to get to the next town.