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"Gather the troops. Move south." After clearing out the nearby Konoha ninja, Karatachi Yagura began leading the ninja force away.

Ever since entering the Land of Fire, they had made little effort to conceal their movements. Karatachi Yagura had predicted that Konoha would gather a ninja force to deal with them as quickly as possible.

After all, they were positioned beside Konoha's ninja force in the Land of Hot Water. If they pushed farther north, they could put the Konoha force currently fighting Kumogakure in a pincer attack.

Of course, Karatachi Yagura would never actually do that. It would benefit Kumogakure too much, and having the forces of three major ninja villages gathered in one small country could easily lead to unforeseen trouble.

During the march, Karatachi Yagura called over his two deputy commanders.

"Shingetsu, when you reach this place, take your troops and leave. Split up the force and operate in this area." Karatachi Yagura pointed first to an area on the map near the forest along the river flowing into the sea.

Their goal was to harass the Konoha ninja force and drain its energy, so Karatachi Yagura decided to divide their troops into three major groups. Each group would then split further in different areas to wage guerrilla warfare and play hide-and-seek with Konoha.

Then Karatachi Yagura turned to his other deputy commander. "Kawazawa, you and your unit will stay at this location."

Hozuki Shingetsu and Momochika Kawazawa both nodded to show they understood.

"Without Hana Minazuki dragging us down this time, we'll definitely wash away our humiliation!" Karatachi Yagura's lips curved slightly upward. He was quite satisfied with his allies this time.

Last time, he had truly been speechless. For no apparent reason, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had gone from seven to five, and then Hana