Reconnaissance Comes First

Half a day later, Shuichi's squad finished searching the Land of Fire Border and crossed directly into the Land of Rivers. His team did not take the route near Kikyo Castle, but rather headed northeast.

"Akiha, thank you for your help."

"Yes! Byakugan, open them!"

After entering the Land of Rivers, the three traveled for a while before embarking on a reconnaissance mission, slowing their pace. At the same time, Hyuga Akiha activated her Byakugan, carefully observing the surroundings.

The chances of encountering the enemy here are extremely small. Doing this now is one of the important reconnaissance missions in the early stages of the war, and the mission content varies for each squad depending on their capabilities.

Hyuga Akiha constantly scanned and analyzed her surroundings, with Shuichi and Aburame Shihei following behind her. The three of them spent the entire day wandering through the hills and then exploring several villages on the plains.

They needed to clear out potential enemy hiding places as they moved, such as caves in the Yamanaka or remote, deserted villages.

After the war begins, the vast majority of civilians will flee to non-combat zones, and their homes may become small strongholds used by the enemy. The actions of Shuichi's squad are to eliminate this uncertainty.

Because there was Byakugan in the team, their tasks were more demanding than the others. After spending a lot of time checking these areas, they also needed to check the nearby river.

"No problem for now." Aburame Shihei reported back after sending a small number of insects into the water to test the waters.

Shuichi quickly finished recording, then took out a small test tube, collected some samples, and stored them.

These need to be taken back to Tsunade for testing to ensure everything is in order, because Chiyo is a master of poisons, and it's not impossible for her to create Toxin that has a long-lasting effect.

After nearly two days of operations, reconnaissance of some areas within a hundred kilometers of the Kikyo Castle outpost has been completed. The inspection of most other areas is the responsibility of other teams, and they have completed the first phase of their mission.

At night, Shuichi chose an abandoned village as a resting place. After scouting the surroundings with his Byakugan, the three of them ate hot food to replenish their energy.

After resting until dawn, they immediately roused themselves, as there was a possibility of encountering the enemy that day.

Although based on the information currently available in Konoha, Sunagakure has not yet launched any large-scale operations, we must not let our guard down.

"Set off!"

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Shuichi's squad accelerated their advance. After exploring the area within 100 kilometers of Kikyo Castle, each team needed to continue forward to probe the activity range of Sunagakure.

The Southern Sichuan Ridge is a rather complex area, with many low-lying forests and uneven terrain, making visibility much worse than on the plains. This is a place where a major battle between the two sides may occur in the future, and Orochimaru attaches great importance to it.

"Captain, we've spotted an enemy squad at the 3 o'clock position!" Hyuga Akiha suddenly spoke as they moved.

"What? So fast? And at the 3 o'clock position?" Shuichi quite surprised; they had encountered the enemy so early.

Moreover, the enemy was moving from the north of the Land of Rivers to the south, essentially coming straight at their right flank, making it appear more like a patrol than reconnaissance.

"First, observe the enemy's speed."

"Yes!"

Shuichi frowned as he recalled the map of the Land of Rivers. They had only just stepped into the southern part of the Southern Sichuan Ridge, about 180 kilometers from the border of Konoha, when they encountered a group traveling in this manner.

Shuichi could accept enemies coming from the front, but encountering enemies searching sideways in such a large area seemed unusual.

"The enemy isn't moving fast, so they're probably not Jonin squad. Their numbers are normal, and they're approaching us."

These are some limitations of the Byakugan; its maximum observation distance can only detect the enemy's chakra, and to obtain more detailed information, one must get closer.

"Something's fishy. Let's wait a while and investigate this group." Shuichi ordered someone to hide nearby; getting closer would provide more information.

Not long after, Hyuga Akiha said, "The enemy team's chakra isn't strong; there are four of them in total, probably one Chunin and three Genin."

"Let's wait." A team of this strength is just here to be killed, but Sunagakure is definitely not stupid. Shuichi decided not to make a move. If he could figure out their strategy, he would let them go.

"By the way, Akiha, since they're acting this way, keep an eye on the due south direction every now and then."

This is the Byakugan spot of the Hyuga Branch Family's Byakugan, but it doesn't have a big impact; you just need to adjust the viewing angle from time to time.

"At 300 meters, the enemy is still advancing, but their position has deviated from ours. It seems the enemy lacks reconnaissance capabilities."

"Hmm..." After receiving this information, Shuichi quickly made a decision, "We'll also head south, maintain this distance, and see how far they run."

Shuichi's squad immediately sprang into action, trailing behind the Sunagakure Squad as they advanced south, completely unbeknownst to the enemy.

After traveling only a few kilometers, Hyuga Akiha's voice rang out again. "Enemy squad spotted 1 kilometer ahead at 2 o'clock. Judging from their speed, they're about the same as the one behind us."

"As expected!" Shuichi's expression turned serious. The Sunagakure's invasion was incredibly powerful; they had clearly deployed a large force. "They're pushing too far ahead. There's definitely a strong team nearby. We might already be surrounded by the enemy, but they don't know it."

The distance between the east and west sides of the Land of Rivers is about 500 to 700 kilometers, and the area in the north is about 600 kilometers wide. Shuichi and his group had only gone less than 200 kilometers into the area, but they encountered two teams in a short period of time.

"Stop for a moment and see if they turn around."

Shuichi's squad carefully maintained their distance, keeping about 500 meters away from both sides of the enemy, intending to observe their next move.

"They didn't meet; they passed each other a few hundred meters apart. It seems they didn't know each other," Hyuga Akiha said promptly.

"We will retreat 50 kilometers in succession," Shuichi immediately gave the order, because he was very familiar with the duration of Hyuga Akiha's Byakugan.

As the team leader, she must be responsible for the safety of the squad. While she still has chakra, they can quickly leave the danger zone and then make further plans.

Ignoring the two Sunagakure Squad, the three headed straight towards the Konoha border.

Hyuga Akiha swallowed a Soldier Pill, because Shuichi told her that there would be enough time to rest later, and that they might be able to gather useful intelligence during the retreat, so she did her best to maintain her Byakugan.

They had only walked a few kilometers back Hyuga Akiha sent another message: "Sunagakure Squad has been spotted about 1 kilometer in the 10 o'clock direction. Their chakra is many times stronger than the previous team..."

Although she couldn't see the exact number of people due to the distance, she could roughly determine the total chakra of the entire team.

"Observe from the furthest distance. Let's wait for them to leave and not get close." Shuichi wasn't surprised; he had already guessed that this would happen.

He didn't want to risk scouting the enemy's numbers, knowing they would definitely have scout ninjas. The good news was that their sensory range wasn't Hyuga Akiha Akiba's, because they couldn't see them from their direction.

Based on Hyuga Akiha's description of the enemy's chakra, it's likely that the enemy is operating in two teams together, probably two Jonin and six Chunin.

Shuichi is now certain that they have entered a large encirclement by the enemy. Relying on the Byakugan's advantage, they managed to wander around inside the enemy's territory, managing to escape unscathed.

Soon, on their way back, they spotted another Chunin team, and nothing happened for the next half hour.

After realizing they hadn't encountered any more Sunagakure, Shuichi changed his mind and let Hyuga Akiha rest for a while before searching north and south for some time. They ultimately found no enemies and assumed they had reached a safe area.

After about an hour and a half, the three stopped and found a safe place to rest and recover their strength.