Dispersed Retreat

After seeing Aburame Shikuroo off, Tetsumaru returned to his tent in the camp and mulled over the information he had gathered today.

As his first great advantage as a transmigrator, Aburame Tetsumaru's memories of the plot served as a lighthouse. Using the plot to analyze the current intelligence gave him extremely high accuracy and reliability.

Shimura Danzō was a figure that the vast majority of Konoha Ninja could not avoid.

The Aburame Clan was deeply entangled with him. Tetsumaru remembered that before Danzo died, two guards had covered his retreat. One had come from the Aburame Clan, and the other from the Yamanaka Clan.

Hmm, that should have been in Konoha Year 63 or 64. At the same time, the Aburame Clan had at least one other named Root Ninja. As for the rest, he did not know.

Judging by the timeline, those two Aburame Ninja had not even been born yet. They should have been elite members of the next generation.

From the fragments in his memory, that Aburame Ninja's entire body had turned purple. Contact meant poisoning, and the Kikaichū he controlled were Nanotoxic Insects...

Wait. Nanotoxic Insects.

The mainstream branch of the family, the Clan Head's line, cultivated versatile Kikaichū that developed in every direction. Elder Zhixin's line cultivated Macrophage Kikaichū that grew larger in size. Only Big Brother Shikuro's line cultivated nano Kikaichū that shrank in size.

That purple-skinned boy... was Big Brother Shikuro's child?

He probably was.

Big Brother Shikuro's child, the inheritor of Nanotoxic Insects—he was one of the Aburame Clan's core elites. Yet he had been casually thrown away as cannon fodder just to secure a little meaningless time to lift a seal.

Damn it. Danzo never changed.

Looking at the evidence from both sides, it was probably true that Danzo had used up every Root Ninja.

In the future, he had gotten his wish and become Hokage—the acting Fifth-and-a-Half Hokage—then grown arrogant and revealed his true nature. Right now, he was probably still young and hot-blooded, not yet knowing how to hide himself.

If that was true, then the ninja clans of the Hokage faction collectively resisting Danzo was probably true as well.

With the Aburame Family suffering losses on this scale, the clan was not merely heartbroken over its descendants. It was even more distressed over a failed strategic investment.

Dozens of clan elites had been invested in one department. That was a major strategic investment for a clan, nearly thirty percent of its strength. They had hoped to make Root bigger and stronger, then secure a place within it.

Then, crack—everyone was gone.

Danzo, you ran every last one of our people into the ground. Root had become an empty shell. What development was there left to talk about? What the hell were you trying to do?

Dozens of elites, not just a few people. Were you deliberately screwing over our clan?

Or had Root merely treated our descendants as cannon fodder during its expansion period, planning from the very beginning to wipe out all our children?

The several clans raising a fuss together now actually wanted a statement from the higher-ups: Danzo, were you going to share Root's power with us or not?

Having analyzed this far, Aburame Tetsumaru let out a breath. Everything matched up.

None of this had anything to do with me.

An hour later, Captain Ueno came to fetch Tetsumaru, and the two headed to the center of the camp to select team members.

That was right, they were selecting members on the spot—an operation so idiotic it made one lose faith in humanity.

Other than elite squads led by Jonin or direct members of great ninja clans, all ninja squads had their members selected at random.

Other than ensuring that each ninja squad was fully staffed, they did not consider team composition, compatibility between members, or anything else. It was practically the ultimate strategy for weakening combat effectiveness.

Because "more than half the squad becoming casualties" was one of the mission completion conditions, no captain dared carry out a mission while short-handed. As a result, lower-level squads were constantly broken apart, and the casualty rate rapidly climbed to an unbelievable sixty percent.

For this reason, Might Duy had never been able to return to his original squad after recovering from his injuries. He had been transferred to another team and used as cannon fodder. That simple-minded fool charged at the front in battle and stayed at the rear during retreats. Without familiar teammates to support him, he not only failed to achieve outstanding results but was also especially prone to injury.

Each time Might Duy recovered from his injuries, he only carried out one mission before being severely injured again and sent back to the hospital. This was already his third hospitalization. In two months, he had spent fifty-five days in the hospital.

And he had not even claimed a single kill. Rumor had it that Might Duy had already been judged as "trash" and would very likely be sent back to the village to perform laborious tasks such as transport work.

After casually picking two unfamiliar Genin, the Ueno Squad set off. This time, it was another long-range reconnaissance mission.

After leaving camp and running ten kilometers, Aburame Tetsumaru deployed his insect formation. All the Scout Insects mobilized, forming five reconnaissance rings: Dragonflies on the outermost ring, carrying Kikaichū and relying mainly on visual reconnaissance; Blood Flies on the second ring, primarily detecting the smell of blood and body odor; Fireflies on the third ring, which gathered around scattered Chakra and emitted irritating light, specially used for nighttime reconnaissance; Big-Eyed Moths on the fourth ring, using infrared vision; and Jumping Spiders on the innermost ring, using vibrations for detection.

Of course, there was also the fourth-generation Eye of Truth he carried himself, simultaneously observing infrared, ultraviolet, and fluorescence. Only after the reconnaissance insect formation had been deployed did Aburame Tetsumaru feel at ease. He signaled the captain that they could depart.

Captain Ueno gave orders to the two bewildered newcomers, and the squad headed straight north.

The greatest result of two months of continuous fighting had been driving away the enemy. The Ueno Squad traveled through the entire night. Apart from encountering two Konoha squads, nothing else happened.

At dawn, the squad selected a campsite and planned to rest for half a day before continuing the mission.

The campsite Ueno chose had a water source. The two exhausted newcomers hurriedly drank water and ate dry rations, their expressions gloomy as they remained silent.

Aburame Tetsumaru glanced at them, but he was not in the mood to speak either.

The mission standard of "retreat when more than half are casualties" was too disgusting. Right now, the veterans and newcomers in the squad had no way to trust one another.

The newcomers felt that they were tools the older ninja used to complete missions, while the veterans could not claim that they did not think that way. Otherwise, why bring along two burdensome newcomers?

The Ueno Squad split into two groups and rested silently.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two newcomers regained some energy. Since the two veterans had not assigned them to stand watch, they relaxed considerably.

They were not completely new recruits. They had also spent time in other squads.

When ordinary squads rested, newcomers stood watch. When they fought, newcomers covered the rear. Once newcomers became casualties, they retreated. It was pure cannon-fodder treatment.

They felt that they might have been lucky this time, encountering a reliable squad that might even accept them.

Little did they know that in Ueno and Aburame Tetsumaru's hearts, as long as the mission system did not change, they had no intention of accepting newcomers.

Although the two would not exploit them, deliberately set them up, and would even look after them a little, the mission completion standard was unreasonable and the current mission frequency was too high. Even with their full support, the newcomers were still unlikely to last. That was reality.

After resting, they continued forward. Tetsumaru took the vanguard position and maintained a speed of eight kilometers per hour. For ninja, that pace was far too slow, leaving the two newcomers walking in the middle thoroughly confused.

That speed was determined by the speed of Tetsumaru's reconnaissance insects. Reconnaissance had to go first. He truly did not dare charge about recklessly.

The Konoha Ninja charged around blindly, but the Sunagakure Ninja were just as miserable. With insufficient manpower, they could not confront Konoha head-on, so they could only lay ambushes everywhere and organize large forces to launch counterattacks at critical moments. Otherwise, if the Konoha Ninja really found their camps, it would be over.

In short, Konoha was doing its best to clear away the fog of war, while Sunagakure was doing its best to prevent it.

Therefore, after entering the Land of Rain, they could encounter an ambush at any moment, or even run into a Sunagakure counterattack company. If that happened, people would die.

After bypassing six ambush points and taking four hours to advance in circles, Aburame Tetsumaru suddenly raised his right hand and signaled for them to stop. The two newcomer ninja immediately took cover. Captain Ueno Hayato noticed that Tetsumaru himself had not hidden, realized he had discovered enemy activity at a distance, and immediately stepped forward to learn the situation.

"One o'clock, three kilometers. Six ninja squads, with puppets."

"Ten-thirty, three and a half kilometers. Five ninja squads, with a large number of puppets."

"Twelve o'clock, four kilometers. Four ninja squads, also with a large number of puppets."

Ueno Hayato sucked in a sharp breath. The situation was bad.

Sunagakure counterattacks were usually forty-eight-man companies, attacking in two columns.

Occasionally, there would be larger counterattacks. Several squads would form a battle group, and seven or eight battle groups would form a sweeping line. The most dangerous possibility was one or two even larger battle groups cutting in from both flanks of the sweeping front, encircling them and cutting off the Konoha Ninja's retreat route.

This time, they had already discovered three battle groups in front of them. It was a large-scale counterattack. The only question was whether there would be one force cutting in behind them, or two forces crossing in from different directions.

"What's behind us?"

"Wait a moment. Let me confirm." Aburame Tetsumaru closed his eyes and activated his secret technique with all his strength, sensing the Scout Insects left behind them.

The two newcomers rose from their hiding places and nervously approached the captain. They had also realized something was wrong, but they were utterly confused by the captain and senior's conversation.

What? They could detect the exact number of enemies three kilometers away? They could even judge the number of puppets?

Senior Aburame was actually such a powerful sensory ninja?

There were actually that many enemies?

Aburame Tetsumaru opened his eyes, his expression grave. "About eight kilometers behind us, there are two groups of ninja. We won't make it through before they close the encirclement."

"There's no other way." Ueno Hayato said apologetically, "Everyone, we can only retreat now."

"I'll explain the retreat tactics."

"There are enough Suna Ninja behind us to establish two blocking lines. We have enough strength to break through one defensive line meant for warning."

"The problem is that after we break through the first line, the enemies at the second line will converge on the breach. At least three squads will gather there. In the worst-case scenario, we might attract a Jonin."

"So after breaking through the first line, we'll circle to both sides, then split up and break out."

What came next depended on each person's strength and luck. Ueno Hayato did not say it aloud, but everyone understood.

"Any questions?"

The three Genin shook their heads together.

"Then move."

This time, Captain Ueno took the lead, with Aburame Tetsumaru following and the two newcomers at the rear.

Following the captain's footsteps gave Aburame Tetsumaru the spare capacity to activate his secret technique. He could also use Summoning Thread to direct the insects into motion. He had left plenty of reserves along the path they had taken.

Several Dragonflies flew ahead. The pheromones they carried awakened all the insects, calling them to gather at the planned breakthrough point.

Once all preparations were complete, Aburame Tetsumaru switched to the squad's spearhead position. Ueno Hayato followed behind him and prepared for battle.

The two newcomers fumbled about in a panic, unable to decide what they should prepare. In the end, one prepared several Explosive Tags, while the other rummaged through his ninja tool pouch, pulled out a Kunai, and gripped it in his hand.

Ueno Hayato finished his preparations, saw what the two newcomers had done, and was struck speechless.

There was still quite some distance to go. Would holding a Kunai not disrupt his running rhythm?

The one who had taken out Explosive Tags was a little better, but only a little.

He could not help instructing the two newcomers, even though the chances of either of them surviving the breakout were slim.

"Wrap all your Explosive Tags around the Kunai handles and pull the detonation cords. At the start of the breakout, you'll need to unleash the greatest possible firepower immediately."

"Don't hold them in your hands. Leave them in your pouches, as long as they're right on the outside."

"Remember not to throw all your Kunai. Keep one for when we split up and break out."

"If the enemy shows themselves, throw shuriken. Don't worry about whether they hit. Just run."

"If the enemy uses ninjutsu, use your last Kunai. Don't hesitate."

"If the enemy #@%&, then you ￥%...&*."

"..."

As he spoke, Ueno gradually fell silent. The two newcomers became even more at a loss.

Aburame Tetsumaru curled his lip. The captain had said too much.

The first three sentences had been just right. Everything after that about adapting to circumstances was useless nonsense. People were creatures of hardship; unless they personally experienced suffering once, they would never remember the lesson. Any amount of experience or advice was wasted breath.

"Wrap the Explosive Tags around the Kunai, pull the detonation cords, and put them on the outside of your ninja tool pouches. Once the fight starts, throw them all out. Remember to save the last one." The captain emphasized it one final time.

"The rest depends on your luck."