Support, Operation

Judging from the number of poisoned ninjas, a large number of Sunagakure teams have already used the Toxin prepared by Chiyo.

However, poison cannot be conjured out of thin air. Herb cultivation in the Land of Wind is far more difficult than in the Land of Fire. Furthermore, Tsunade concluded that Chiyo alone could not possibly complete such a demanding task, so there must be multiple personnel at the Sunagakure front-line base jointly responsible for this matter.

Therefore, after discerning the personnel distribution at this base, it can be deduced that the enemy's poison production facility is not located here.

"Our mission is to support this stronghold." Shuichi pointed to a point northeast of the Southern Sichuan Ridge on the map. "Sunagakure is worried that Konoha might launch a surprise attack via a longer route, but they can't afford to abandon the advantageous terrain on the main battlefield."

"Teacher Orochimaru also said that we should hide in Sunagakure for as long as possible, so our strategy is as follows..."

Simply put, it involves tracking the movement of Sunagakure's forces, and when they reach the front lines and engage in battle, secretly causing trouble and cooperating with Konoha Ninjas to ambush and kill enemy troops.

"Mokui, I believe your acting skills are already masterful," Shuichi said with a malicious smile. "Then I'll explain the battle plan for the front lines; perhaps it will be of great use to you."

Mokui: "..."

In the Konoha Year 47's reign, the war between the two villages in the Land of Rivers officially entered its most intense phase. Konoha temporarily had the option to launch an offensive, but it was still one major victory away from defeating Sunagakure.

On the northern battlefield of Southern Sichuan Ridge, Shuichi's squad received their first mission upon arrival: reconnaissance. There were quite a few other teams traveling with them, all carrying Signal flares and not far apart.

"Captain, has the village's battle plan been arranged?" Aburame Shihei successfully followed them in the shadows through various intelligence transmission methods within the team. After the Sunagakure squad split up to carry out their mission, he secretly came back to reunite with Shuichi and the other two.

"Yes, it's all settled. Several acquaintances will be assisting. If successful, we can annihilate the enemy."

Shuichi's squad's reconnaissance area was relatively far back, roughly the same as those cannon fodder missions used to lure Konoha Ninjas in the past. They only needed to send out a signal to call for friendly forces before they died, although the higher-ups would definitely say that on the surface.

However, they weren't actually from Sunagakure; they were Konoha Ninjas plotting something in the shadows. After a quick search of the surrounding area, they rushed directly into the area their "teammates" were responsible for.

"There are targets at the 3 o'clock and 11 o'clock directions; they should be Sunagakure team," Hyuga Akiha began to report.

With the help of the Byakugan, the four of them circled within the Sunagakure's coverage area. Previously, this was to infiltrate deep into enemy territory, but now it was to scout out the enemy's positions from the inside out.

"That's about enough, let's send a message to the other side."

He ran all the way to the front line, and when the surrounding Sunagakure were far enough away, Shuichi immediately used the Summoning Technique to send a message.

Before long, several squads sped over from afar, and Shuichi and the others deactivated their transformations and waited in place.

"Is that Shuichi?" The leader, with his hair in a bun and two scars on his face, was Nara Shikaku.

"Yes, the code is..." Shuichi was very cautious. Even though it was virtually impossible for anyone to discover that their memories had been swapped, they still had to follow the rules.

"That's right," Nara Shikaku replied. "We can begin the operation now. This operation will rely primarily on your intelligence. Several more teams are already in position; hopefully, we can mobilize the Sunagakure's forces."

Shuichi glanced at the members of several teams. There was the famous Ino-Shika-Cho trio, as well as Mitarashi Kiyohi, whose life he had saved, and even members of the Hyuga Clan, which increased the number of Byakugan they could use to two pairs.

"Alright, let's get straight to the point. We've already scouted the distribution of the Sunagakure Squad, and now we're focusing our operations on the Byakugan, divided into two groups..."

This was a plan devised after careful consideration. Orochimaru had granted him the authority of a temporary Captain Commander, and he was tasked with winning a resounding victory.

A few minutes later, the two Konoha multi-person teams split up and moved out of the way, keeping a short distance between them to ensure they could provide support in case of any emergency.

In the forests of the Land of Rivers, a four-person Sunagakure squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission at a steady pace, with each member remaining vigilant, even though the chances of encountering the enemy directly in their location were slim.

"Earth Release: Earth Return!"

"Boom!"

A tall earthen wall rose directly in front of them, looking quite magnificent, but from the side, the wall was only a pitifully wide palm, as if it would crumble with a single tap.

"Enemy attack! Watch out!"

The Sunagakure captain instinctively shouted out, but felt a sense of bewilderment, not understanding why the enemy didn't use offensive Ninjutsu at the start, but instead foolishly created a large earthen wall.

The other team members also stopped and stood guard a dozen meters away from the earthen wall, intending to observe why the enemy was making such a fuss.

Their attention was immediately drawn to the earthen wall, but they soon realized that the enemy might attack from the side, so the four of them formed a back-to-back formation so that they would be detected no matter which direction the enemy attacked from.

But they didn't notice that as the earthen wall rose, a shadow stretched out from under the trees to the side and behind.

Under the slanting sunlight, long shadows were cast beneath the tall earthen wall, just a step away from where the group stood.

The slender, shadowy arrow was already close to the corner of the wall when the Sunagakure formed its array. After connecting with the shadow of the earthen wall, it magically moved to the edge of the shadow generated on the top of the wall, and the black spikes headed straight for the feet of the group.

"What? You can't move your body?"

Because the four were standing together, they were immediately locked in place after being hit by the attacking shadow.

"Shadow Imitation Technique, successful!"

Nara Shikaku emerged from behind a tree, several dozen meters away. The distance between them was actually quite far, but the shadow of the tall wall extended the distance, making the Shadow Imitation Technique possible even at such a great distance.

"Your mind is still as sharp as Shikaku!" Yamanaka Inoichi immediately followed with his secret technique, "Ninja Art: Mind Disturbance Technique!"

While the four Sunagakure members were still struggling, they felt a sudden jolt, and their brains completely lost control of their bodies and became unresponsive.

As Nara Shikaku withdrew his shadow, Akimichi Choza also began to move.

"Expansion Jutsu!"

Two giant hands slammed down from both sides towards the middle. "Bang!" Several Sunagakure were almost turned into a pile of minced meat under his full force, unable to even make a sound before they died.

"Phew... It's a bit difficult to use Shadow Neck Binding Technique at this distance. It's much easier to cooperate with you guys." Nara Shikaku's expression was very calm, obviously none of the opponent's movements were beyond his expectations.

"To prevent Sunagakure from firing their Signal flares, they mustn't reveal themselves. As long as the enemy doesn't see the attackers, they can't determine how many there are, nor can they guess that they won't be able to move an inch. Truly worthy of Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho!" exclaimed Hyuga Clan ninja.