A middle-aged man with short blur hair stared off in the distance. His blue eyes gazed up towards the sky. "Yuri, have you seen Kermit?" Denji asked his daughter.

Yuri was sharpening the edges of her kunai when she paused and looked at her dad. "No, didn't he go out hunting?" She asked him.

"That was about an hour ago, he should have been back by now." Denji sighed. "Why does this have to happen after Neja leaves?" Denji asked himself as trouble always seemed to happen when Neja was not around. He could still recall being alerted by his clansmen when Mishimoto got into a fight.

"Want me to go look for him, he couldn't have gone far. He knows not to go past the mother tree." Yuri suggested as she put the kunai in its slot on her belt.

"No, you and Mishimoto still have to go secure us more ninja tools. I'll go look for him." Denji said.

Yuri sighed. It's always been her and her cousin going to get supplies for their clan. It was tiring looking around for dead bodies in this vast forest. Not to mention they had to avoid contact with others as much as possible. Truthfully, she wanted to look for Kermit. It would be easy to find him.

"When we return, can you teach me Wind cutter?"

"You and these wind techniques. Why just can't you focus on earth release?" Denji asked.

Yuri smiled. "That's boring, and I have an affinity with wind."

"That you do. Take after your mothers side of the family. I still don't know how Mishimoto can use those techniques either." Denji shook his head as he pictured Mishimoto showing off his wind style jutsu years ago.

"We're just gifted. Guess grandma's bloodline is strong!"

"That it is..." Denji blankly stared at nothing as he recalled his mother.

"Anyway, I'll be off. Got to go find that brat before Ai gives me an earful." Denji told his daughter as he walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

A moment later, Denji's body flashed as the leaves in a nearby tree fell. Yuri gazed in the direction her father went before she took out another kunai hanging from her belt.

As Denji went from tree to tree, he kept looking right then left. He couldn't find any signs of Kermit.

After a few minutes he leapt down from the tree and knelt on the ground. With his eyes closed he placed his palm to the floor.

His chakra rang out like a pulse invisible to the naked eye. It continuously created ripples that stretched, searching for any life in the vicinity.

All Denji could feel were animals. He could not feel Kermit at all. "Where are you at kid?" Denji asked himself as he darted off.

It was not until he was on the border of the land they claimed did he spot drops of blood. His heart dropped as he feared for the worst.