Tsume didn't pause to respond. She bolted toward the smell of burning timber, able to hear the crackle of flames and -- faintly -- screaming. Asuma ran on her heels, Inuzuka came out of houses hidden under trees, the ninja among them reacting faster, joining her. She and Asuma were fastest; they outpaced everyone, whipping beneath the overhead canopy of branches and leaves.

"That sounded like a gas tank," she snapped out, vaulting over a fallen log and flinging herself forward.

Kuromaru melted out of the shadows, streaking along beside her.

"Go!" She shouted at him, and he raced onward with a lunge of sleek muscle.