Sand Village's Encirclement Tactics

Because Hyuga Akiha was quite exhausted, Shuichi and Aburame Shihei took on the responsibility of keeping watch. Soon, a large number of snakes and insects appeared around them, and the three of them gathered together to discuss the information they had just gathered.

Aburame Shihei said, "Captain, the intensity of the Sunagakure search is abnormal. This is an area close to the eastern part of the Land of Rivers. Have they sent most of their forces deep into this region?"

"No, I don't think so." Shuichi naturally knew more information. "Even if Sunagakure directly mobilized 10,000 men, it would be impossible to cover the entire Land of Land of Rivers. So we must have stumbled into one of their concentrated areas."

"That should be the case," Hyuga Akiha added. "I observed the supplies they were carrying; those Genin still had quite a bit left, which means the Sunagakure's base isn't very far away, because a team of this strength can't launch long-distance attacks."

"Oh, right, there's one more important point," Shuichi continued, "Given the strength of their Chunin teams, if they encountered our Konoha's elite squads, they would have a hard time even escaping. But we've encountered several such teams in a row and obediently followed orders. Isn't that a bit abnormal?"

"Yeah, that's true to some extent. The key is how to ensure the Jonin team can catch up with the enemy at that distance, unless they have special tracking methods." Aburame Shihei suddenly realized something after Shuichi's prompting. "I understand now. Those Genin probably don't know anything; they're just following the Chunin captain."

"Not bad." Shuichi responded, glancing at the sky. "It's still daytime. The enemy doesn't know we have the Byakugan. Let's rest until nightfall and wait for Akiha to recover before making our move. By then, we'll have a decisive advantage."

This judgment was very rational. Their team's mission was to scout the Southern Sichuan Ridge area, which was definitely teeming with enemies. If they tried to conduct a forced reconnaissance, they would have to rely on their Byakugan to circle around the area.

But things are different at night. The enemy team, consisting of Chunin Genin, will definitely stop to rest, and the dim visibility at night gives them an opportunity to launch a sneak attack, making it easier to attack or retreat.

After the sun went down, Shuichi's squad had rested for ten hours and set off again for Southern Sichuan Ridge in top condition.

The situation was roughly as he had expected. They marched straight toward their destination for quite some time without encountering any enemies, and the three of them soon entered the Southern Sichuan Ridge area.

"This area isn't large; we can scout it out in about three hours. If we spot the enemy along the way, then we'll decide whether to take action."

Reconnaissance is definitely less efficient at night than during the day, so they can only rely on Hyuga Akiha as the main investigator, while Shuichi and Aburame Shihei take notes from the side.

"Enemy spotted, 800 meters at 1 o'clock. They haven't moved; they must be resting." In less than an hour, Hyuga Akiha spotted the first enemy squad.

Shuichi made a decisive move to ambush the team, giving him an advantage to eliminate them directly without giving them any chance to make a move. This was a good opportunity to obtain intelligence.

Several hundred meters away, several ninjas wearing Sunagakure Forehead Protector sat around a tree. Three of them, who looked younger, had their eyes closed, while a mature middle-aged man beside them watched their surroundings warily, holding an invisible Steel Wire in his hand.

However, he didn't notice that several pythons had easily bypassed the Steel Wire in the woods and were creeping closer to the sleeping Genin.

Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!

"Ninja Technique: Shadow Snake Hand!"

Suddenly, two hands reached out from the ground, grabbed his feet, and pulled him hard.

Before he could react, several more snakes appeared in front of him, binding his upper body tightly, their heads biting his wrists and the back of his neck.

He tried to use all his chakra to struggle, but felt that he had lost more than half of his strength. At the same time, several of his Genin screamed in agony.

"Ah..." The python that had attacked them suddenly coiled around them, and then black insects continued to spread over their bodies. The Sunagakure squad was wiped out in an instant.

After clearing away the surrounding traps, Hyuga Akiha and the three of them pulled the unconscious people together. Shuichi stepped forward and first used Genjutsu on the Sunagakure Chunin, then they didn't spare the Genin either.

"There are no dangerous items." Aburame Shihei's insects crawled all over the Sunagakure's body; if the man knew this, he might have nightmares for the rest of his life.

Upon hearing Shuichi searched inside Sunagakure's shirt and pulled out two small items.

One is Bamboo tube about two fingers wide, and the other is Smoke Bomb commonly used in the Shinobi World; the only difference is the color.

"This is Signal flare. Pull this line and it will launch into the sky and explode. It will be visible for dozens of kilometers around," Shuichi explained to them. This was information extracted through interrogation.

"Shihei, have your bug check if this Smoke Bomb has any unusual smell."

Aburame Shihei quickly replied, "Indeed, it has a strong smell. It seems to be a tracking method used by Sunagakure."

"Yes, this Chunin's mission is to scout within a certain area and fire Signal flare immediately upon encountering Konoha Ninja."

Shuichi's expression was serious. "Not only that, Sunagakure also ordered this Chunin to throw Smoke Bomb immediately. As long as they can get close to Konoha Ninja, the surrounding Jonin squads will probably surround them in this direction."

After discussion, the group had figured out Sunagakure's plan.

These Chunin squads were bait. Sunagakure knew that the main force of Konoha wouldn't arrive in the Land of Rivers so quickly, so the squads sent out to scout ahead were definitely elite ones.

Their encirclement likely intensified as they moved deeper into the area. If Shuichi's team hadn't Byakugan, they might have ventured even further, and once their location was exposed, the Sunagakure elites would have surrounded them.

"Several Konoha teams are in danger. They don't have Byakugan. If they don't take down Sunagakure Chunin immediately, they'll send a signal, or worse, they might run into two Jonin teams."

Shuichi thought that Sunagakure was indeed ruthless; the three Genin just there to draw fire for the Chunin.

Because in ninja battles, everyone tries to reduce the enemy's numbers, this ingrained mindset leads Konoha Ninja to attack them immediately upon encountering them.

If the Chunin captain gets even a moment's respite, he can launch the Signal flare, Shuichi feels that even his team might not be able to stop him.

If they could exchange the lives of three Genin and one Chunin for a team Jonin Konoha Sunagakure.

Shuichi immediately gave the order, "Shihei, use the insects to find the enemy forces in Southern Sichuan Ridge. We'll take them all out under cover of night, and then complete the reconnaissance as quickly as possible."

Aburame Shihei's insects memorized the strong smell of the Smoke Bomb, making it easy to spot the enemy if they appeared within a few kilometers.

The three suddenly increased their speed, with Hyuga Akiha time to time. With the cooperation of the two reconnaissance ninjas, the team moved almost as fast as during the day.

An hour later, in a cave on the hill, Shuichi clasped his hands together and silently activated his Genjutsu. The squad not far away was completely unaware that the Konoha Ninja had easily broken their Barrier using his Byakugan.

Seeing that Shuichi Aburame Shihei succeeded, Kikaichū over and began to absorb the enemy's chakra, and yet another Sunagakure squad lost their lives in their sleep.

"A total of 3 teams, plus a powerful force, it seems to be about what we expected."

During this time, Shuichi and his two companions secretly eliminated three Chunin squads and also discovered a seven-member Sunagakure Hunting squad. Upon discovering them, they simply bypassed them without taking any action.

"Captain, our mission is complete. Shall we go and support the others?"

"Hmm, if the timing is right, it could be a good opportunity. If not, we can always retreat unscathed." Shuichi had considered everything carefully. Attacking the powerful Sunagakure forces would be risky for the three of them, and it was best not to reveal their Flight ability so soon.

"Only two teams, including ours, can do this. If we return to the Aoba City stronghold to report, it might be too late."

The Action route map that Orochimaru showed him was known only to him and Namikaze Minato, the two captains. The other Konoha Squad did not know each other's locations, because if they were captured by the enemy in an accident, Sunagakure would likely find out the whereabouts of all the Konoha Ninja.

Shuichi was currently weighing the options in his mind: which Konoha Squad were most likely to be besieged by Sunagakure, since they were all quite far apart, and he could only choose to help one team.

"Let's move towards the 11 o'clock direction."

The three of them vanished into the night in a flash.