pdf-ebookys Chapter 115 Thrilling
Chapter 115 Thrilling
Chapter 115 Thrilling
Starting yesterday afternoon, Hyuga Hizashi's mental state clearly declined. He was dizzy, had difficulty concentrating, and even the detection range of his Byakugan had decreased.
After noticing this, Hatake Sakumo decisively ended the reconnaissance. The group found a secluded spot to rest for the night, and Hiyori's symptoms began to improve.
"The activation of eye techniques requires not only chakra but also the support of mental energy. Although my soldier pills are very effective, they only replenish physical energy. The replenishment of mental energy is merely a way for physical energy to replenish the mental energy. More importantly, one needs sufficient rest."
"The reason for Hiizashi-senpai's decline in condition is that he has been using his Byakugan at a high intensity for extended periods recently, and his mental energy has not been effectively replenished."
Taiichi, as the team's medical ninja, gave his professional assessment and asked Hizashi to rest a little longer.
However, Sakumo Hatake rejected the offer outright. The mission was urgent; the team had to investigate the remaining two outposts in the morning and meet with the ANBU in the afternoon, leaving no extra time.
With 15 kilometers to go before the last outpost, the team slowly moved forward to scout. Because of Richa's poor condition, he could no longer use his Byakugan constantly. He could only use it for final vigilance and confirmation once they got closer to the target.
After the four members of the team explored another 5 kilometers, Hizashi finally opened his Byakugan, but in an instant, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Seeing this, Taiichi quickly stepped forward to help Hizashi up and was about to check on his physical condition.
Hizashi gently pushed Taiichi away and said with difficulty, "This is the last one. I can still hold on."
Seeing his condition, no one tried to persuade him further. They knew that only by completing the task quickly could he have more time to rest.
The team continued to advance covertly.
"There are Sand Village ninja patrolling 3 kilometers ahead at the 2 o'clock position."
"There is a hidden sentry post in the sand dunes, 4 kilometers ahead at the 11 o'clock position."
Guided by Baiyan, the team successfully made their way to an observation distance of 3 kilometers from the outpost. The four of them carefully hid behind a rock and quietly waited for Richa to make a final confirmation.
Five minutes later, Hizashi finally lived up to expectations and finished scouting the last outpost. Only then did he wearily close his Byakugan. "We can retreat now."
Following the route that Risa had previously observed, the team quickly moved away from the outpost. At this moment, everyone felt much more relaxed, especially Risa, who even managed a rare smile on his tired face.
However, before everyone could rejoice for long, Taiyi suddenly shouted in a low voice, "Stop!"
The team immediately stopped, and everyone looked at Taiyi with puzzled eyes, hoping he could give an explanation.
"I know a sensory ninjutsu. There is a small team of four Sand Village ninjas 500 meters ahead. They should have already noticed us, but they are not sure if we are friend or foe. They are currently heading this way."
Taiyi quickly recounted his findings, providing everyone with the latest information on the enemy.
"How could that be? I clearly looked over here just now, and there were no enemies coming at all—" As soon as he said this, Hizashi realized what was going on.
Because he was in such poor condition, he had focused all his attention on the direction of the outpost and only gave this area a cursory glance. After the reconnaissance was over, he immediately turned off his Byakugan, and this direction happened to be in the blind spot of his Byakugan.
It was likely around that time that these ninjas passed through his Byakugan's detection and approached the squad.
A wave of guilt washed over him, and he was about to apologize when Sakumo Hatake interrupted him, "An accident is part of the mission. Now, just solve the problem!"
"Can the Byakugan still be activated?"
Riza shook his head guiltily, "I just tried it, but it consumes too much energy and can't be opened at all."
Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo immediately turned to Taichi, "What's the enemy's situation now?"
Taiyi didn't hesitate and directly gave the intelligence: "They are 450 meters away and slowly approaching. They are spread out and should not have realized that we are the enemy yet."
Hearing such precise intelligence, Hatake Sakumo was slightly surprised, but time was of the essence, and he didn't have time to think too much before immediately coming up with a solution.
"Alright, we'll disguise ourselves as Sand Village ninja, slowly approach, and once we're within sight, we'll ambush and take them down. We absolutely cannot let them fire their signal flares. Minato, this raid mainly depends on you; your Flying Thunder God Technique is the most effective way to catch them off guard here."
Having devised a plan, the group pretended to be nonchalant as they approached the Sand Village team. However, under Taiichi's guidance, the team intentionally or unintentionally walked in places that obscured their view.
This was naturally intended to delay their discovery as much as possible and get as close as possible to the Sand Village ninjas.
300 m.
200 m.
100 m.
"Be careful, once we cross this small hill, we'll be face to face with the Sand Village pair, and the straight-line distance won't exceed 30 meters!" Taiichi gave a final warning.
Upon hearing this, everyone made preparations.
Sakumo Hatake drew his short sword, Minato Namikaze took out his Flying Thunder God Kunai, and Hizashi Hyuga began to gather chakra.
The moment the group slowly walked to the top of the hill, the four members of Sunagakure were at the bottom. At that moment, both sides were exposed to each other's view. The only difference was that one side was prepared, while the other was caught off guard.
The four Sunagakure members clearly did not expect to encounter Konoha ninjas in this place. They usually guarded against Iwagakure ninjas the most in this area, and recently there have been reports of an alliance with Iwagakure, so the guard at the outpost was inevitably lax.
In that split second, Minato flicked his wrist, and three Flying Thunder God kunai tore through the air, heading straight for the enemy formation. At the same time, the four activated their Body Flicker Technique, swooping down towards the enemy like arrows released from a bow.
"Send the signal!" The Sand Village ninja's reaction was incredibly fast. After only a slight pause, they made the most correct judgment. Their group was only Chunin, while the enemy team looked like a Jonin squad. They couldn't win in a fight, and they might not even be able to escape. The most important thing right now was to send the message out.
Quickly dodging several kunai thrown by the enemy, the Sand Village ninja had already taken out a signal flare from his waist. Just as he was about to pull the pin, a kunai slashed across his neck from behind, and his hand holding the pin was grabbed tightly.
Even in his dying moments, he couldn't understand how the enemy had appeared behind him and slit his throat. All his thoughts ultimately boiled down to one thought: "I'm so unwilling to accept this!"
With the most troublesome enemy dealt with, Minato breathed a sigh of relief. As he lunged at the next enemy, on the other side, Sakumo and Taichi had already dealt with their respective opponents.
When the last enemy fell, the entire battle lasted only a few seconds.
The Jonin's overwhelming strength overwhelmed the Chunin, and the surprise attack succeeded. Once the ninja who could send a signal was dealt with by Minato, the outcome of the battle was no surprise.
Hyuga Hizashi then approached, his gaze on Taiichi filled with complex emotions. At this moment, he truly understood the weight of Sakumo's words before the mission, "Don't underestimate him." It turned out that Taiichi was not only skilled in medical ninjutsu, but also possessed the strength of a Jonin in terms of raw power.
The three-person team was dealing with the corpses and the scene, which needed to be cleaned up as soon as possible to delay the Sunagakure's discovery. At this time, it was too conspicuous for Hizashi to be standing alone watching Taiichi in a daze.
Sakumo Hatake, as the team leader, was the first to notice his unusual behavior. He walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "What's wrong? Surprised?"
Ri Xia nodded, then shook her head: "I understand, there are always people who are different. It's just that this time it was my incompetence that increased the risk of the mission being exposed for no reason."
"You've done a great job. The reconnaissance was completed so quickly these past few days; your contribution is indispensable," Hatake Sakumo comforted him. "Missions are inherently full of surprises. We arranged four-person teams precisely to complement each other's weaknesses, weren't we?"
"Alright, hurry up and clean up the scene. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."
On the border, in a secluded cave, the four-person team was hiding. This was their pre-arranged hiding place, where they would wait for the ANBU ninjas to rendezvous.
Inside the cave, Taiichi was gathering dense Yang-attribute chakra in his hands, massaging several acupoints on Hyuga Hizashi's head. As Taiichi massaged, Hizashi's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.
It turns out that Taiichi noticed that Hizashi's speed was much slower during the previous team raid, and that Hizashi's lack of mental strength had seriously affected his combat performance.
In order for the mission to be carried out smoothly tomorrow, Taiyi offered to give Hijiri physical therapy. This way, as long as he gets enough sleep, it will better promote the recovery of his mental strength.
After half an hour of physical therapy, the dense green light on Taiyi's palm dissipated, and Taiyi slowly got up. At this time, Rizashi had already fallen into a deep sleep.
Taiichi gestured to Sakumo and Minato, who were watching from the side, and the three of them quietly arrived at the mountain pass.
"Hishi, is he alright?" Sakumo was still worried about his companion's health, not wanting him to get himself killed because of a mission.
"No problem, I used a special technique to put him into a deep sleep. As long as he can get through this night, he'll be fine tomorrow."
"Taiichi, we really owe you a lot this time," Sakumo sighed, then said to Minato and Taiichi, "You two should go and rest too. I'll keep watch here. I'll call you when the Anbu arrive."
Minato and Taichi nodded in agreement, especially Taichi, whose long period of chakra gathering had indeed taken a toll on him.
And so, the cave fell silent for a moment, with only the howling of the cold wind outside.
It was around 6 o'clock when the winter sun set exceptionally early, and it was already pitch black outside the cave.
A rhythmic bird call rang out, and Sakumo Hatake immediately stood up and listened intently.
After the bird sang three times and its identity was finally confirmed, Sakumo also emitted a series of bird calls with different rhythms.
After both sides confirmed each other's identities, footsteps were heard at the cave entrance, and a ninja wearing a dog-face mask entered the cave.
At this moment, Minato and Taichi also stood up and came to stand behind Sakumo.
Without a word, the dog-faced ANBU member took out a scroll from his pocket and tossed it to Hatake Sakumo. Then, without another word, he left the cave and disappeared in a few flashes.
Taiichi looked surprised. He hadn't had much contact with the Anbu and didn't quite understand their style of operation: "Are all Anbu members this—decisive?"
Sakumo Hatake turned around at this moment, and when he heard Taichi's question, he smiled and said, "It depends on who it is, but generally speaking, the Anbu's style is indeed decisive and efficient."
The three entered the cave without waking Hyuga Hizashi, who was still fast asleep. Minato even set up a soundproof barrier around him to prevent their conversation from disturbing his recovery.
Seeing that Minato and Taichi had sat down in front of him, Hatake Sakumo opened the scroll given to him by the Anbu, and the three of them read the contents of the scroll together.
It turns out that the envoy sent by Sunagakure was a high-ranking member of their militant faction—Anga. Coincidentally, however, this militant's ideology wasn't directed against Iwagakure, but rather against Konoha. During the Second Shinobi World War, this ninja named Angasa participated in numerous battles against Konoha.
Now, this ninja named Rusa is 52 years old. It is unknown how much of his former elite Jonin strength remains. However, it is worth mentioning that this ninja named Rusa is the second best puppeteer in Sunagakure after Chiyo.
Besides the envoy, Sarutobi, the guards arranged by Sunagakure were a squad of elite Jonin led by a Kazegiri. The squad included a captain skilled in Wind Release, a special Jonin proficient in swordsmanship, and two Chunin.
The three looked at the detailed information about the mission members and their approximate route for tomorrow recorded in the scroll, and finally had a better understanding of the situation.
In terms of sheer strength, Taichi's side is equivalent to four Jonin, while Sunagakure only has three at most, giving Konoha the advantage. The remaining tasks are devising tactics to completely neutralize the enemy and developing a retreat plan.
The three of them held the map and discussed it for an hour before coming up with a preliminary plan. The rest was up to them to improvise on the spot.
Finally, Taiyi reminded him, "Lousa is a puppeteer and must be skilled in using poison. Make sure you take an antidote pill before attacking tomorrow, or it will be too late when you're actually poisoned."
After discussing everything, the three of them stopped talking. After arranging the people on night watch, the others went to find places to rest.
Just as the Konoha people were resting, a Sunagakure outpost a few dozen kilometers away from them welcomed their target – the Sunagakure envoy group.
The garrison captain of the outpost personally went out to greet them; this was a high-ranking official of Sunagakure, and he couldn't afford to be indifferent.
Lou Sha knew what the garrison captain was thinking, but he didn't care. His purpose for this trip was to form an alliance with Iwagakure. Then the two countries could transfer the troops stationed on the border here and stockpile them on the defense line against Konoha.
When the time is right, Sunagakure has been eyeing the vast and fertile land of the Land of Fire for a long time.
"How's the situation at the border lately? Are there any unusual occurrences at the outposts?" As they walked, Risa didn't forget to ask the garrison captain about the real-time situation at the border.
"Nothing's happening at the border. The Iwa ninja haven't sent anyone to probe us recently." As he spoke, the captain hesitated for a moment, recalling a message from a nearby outpost earlier that evening, before finally reporting, "This morning, it seems a small squad of ninja went missing from the Eighth Outpost."
"Missing?" Yusha turned around, her sharp gaze fixed on the garrison captain. "Any further details?"
"Gone. Just say they've gone missing. So far, we haven't found any trace of them." The garrison captain was also a little puzzled. Missing instead of dead could mean the enemy was exceptionally powerful, which was why they hadn't left any clues. The thought of this possibility sent a chill down the captain's spine.
This was obviously something that Lou Sha had also considered. Although the probability of this happening was extremely small, it still cast a shadow over his mind.
Upon arriving at the tents assigned to them by the outpost, Lou Sha gathered the guards and gave each of them an antidote pill. "You all heard what happened just now. Just in case, these are antidotes I prepared. If there is any battle tomorrow, take them immediately."
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