Hayate stayed in the lower branches of his chosen pine-tree, and watched as the group of travelers moved in. Three men looking like guards, two in front, one in the back...a man guiding the beast--a mule or donkey, Hayate never could tell the difference--that pulled the wagon.

Hayate caught the flicker of motion and moved, tracking it. The damped chakra told him, even before he actually saw him, the other was ninja, and moving parallel with the little caravan.

Hayate flicked a set of kunai into either hand, and let fly as soon as he had a clear shot. The ninja nearly fell out of the tree dodging. Hayate didn't let him recover, slinging another spray of kunai and closing fast. He could hear the commotion as the first of Kotetsu's traps was sprung.

The ninja wasn't wearing a headband, but that wasn't important. The handful of shuriken he'd thrown was and Hayate drew his katana. Rather than sacrifice his advantage of speed and surprise, he kept coming and knocked most of the shuriken away with a sweeping stroke. One glanced off his mask with a single shrieking note.

The ninja just barely got a kunai up in time to deflect Hayate's first strike. Steel rang loud and bright beneath the cloudy sky, and Hayate's lips quirked in a tiny eager smile.

With a curse, the man pushed away and dropped to the forest floor. Hayate lunged after him, pushing chakra, feeling the first hot rush of adrenaline flood his limbs.

Ninja first. Then he'd go see what hadn't been caught in Kotetsu's tricksy traps.