Hunt and Kill, Inside Man
"The main reason we were able to successfully take down the enemy Jonin squad was because of your excellent reconnaissance, En," Nara Shikaku replied politely.
"Even though the power of the Byakugan was foreseeable, experiencing it firsthand revealed it to be far more terrifying than imagined. Nobles truly deserve to be the pillars of the village!"
The attempt to ambush the Sunagakure Jonin team was no simple matter. After the Byakugan locked onto the enemy's location, it also deduced the reconnaissance route from their direction of movement, allowing its own side to choose an excellent location with complex terrain for an ambush.
They also calculated the angle of direct sunlight, and only through a combination of Ninjutsu and secret techniques could they achieve this decisive victory.
Although Nara Shikaku believed himself to be as intelligent as anyone else, he realized that some abilities are innate, and no matter how smart one is, there is no way to replace them.
"We've already taken down four squads. It's clear that preventing enemy Jonin from even transmitting signals is quite difficult; we can't always secure advantageous terrain in advance."
"So let's be cautious from now on. Let's try to eliminate the weaker Sunagakure first, and conserve our chakra for the big battle later."
"No problem, we'll listen to you, Shikaku!" Akimichi Choza indicated that he hadn't expended much energy and could strike at any time with a single command.
While the Ino-Shika-Cho were achieving their goals, Shuichi's team was not idle either.
Along the riverbank, a Sunagakure squad advanced in a diamond formation, moving at a moderate pace. All the team members appeared calm, clearly indicating that they could react in time to a surprise attack given the open field of vision, allowing them to relax a little.
However, some people just like to do the opposite. When they ran to a place with piles of rubble, a large number of ninja tools were suddenly shot out from the jungle in the distance.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique! Whoosh, whoosh..."
"Enemy attack! Cover!"
The Sunagakure Squad responded swiftly. Two Chunin forward; one pulled out a Scroll and instantly summoned a large number of ninja tools to launch a counterattack, while the other drew out a massive, fat longsword, which he pulled open to transform into a shield.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out continuously. Several scattered pebbles around them seemed to be awakened by the noise, shook, and burst out, releasing several figures that rushed towards the group.
"BOOM!"
As the Transformation Technique ended, Konoha Ninja attacked the Sunagakure team from three directions along the riverbank, with each enemy Chunin facing an attack from two or more opponents.
"Damn it, it's an attack from Konoha! Retreat!"
Upon realizing that the enemy outnumbered them, the Sunagakure captain immediately tried to fire Signal flare to call for backup.
Before he could make any move, Mitarashi Kiyohi charged straight at him amidst the chaos of battle, his long sword slashing towards him with unstoppable momentum, while his movements were incredibly fast, showing no concern whatsoever about any possible counterattack.
"Brush!"
The Sunagakure Jonin could only dodge the attack quickly, but another person suddenly appeared from his side and behind, seizing the opportunity of his movement to launch a straight thrust with Kunai. It was none other than Mokui, who had not rushed to dispel the Transformation Technique earlier.
Completely unprepared for the fact that there was another person from Konoha who had been hiding after transforming into a rock, he could only immediately unleash his chakra and retreat rapidly. Mokui's Kunai grazed his cheek, taking away a piece of flesh and blood, which frightened him into breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Tap, tap..."
The Sunagakure captain flipped backward and landed on the water's surface, preparing to immediately send out a distress signal before retreating. His teammates, surrounded by Konoha's elite forces, were unlikely to escape alive.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!"
The moment he touched the water's surface, four whirlpools appeared around him, simultaneously transforming into sharp water columns that pierced his body.
"Oh no! Someone was hiding underwater beforehand!"
"Hiss!"
"Ugh..."
Unable to change his momentum, the Sunagakure Jonin directly hit by the water pillar, and four horrific bloody holes appeared in his waist, abdomen, and back, causing him to scream in pain.
Mitarashi Kiyohi followed closely and slashed at his head with his sword. The shouts stopped abruptly. The headless corpse, now deprived of chakra control, remained frozen for only a moment before falling directly into the water.
The remaining Chunin on in despair. Their captain had died without even sending a signal, so they knew their turn would come soon.
"Gentle Fist Style: Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms!"
In a moment of distraction, the already retreating Sunagakure was immediately struck by Gentle Fist, and when the flow of chakra stopped, Hyuga Akiha seized the opportunity to strike the heart.
He only took two steps back, and although there were no visible signs of injury, his organs were actually completely shattered. He swayed a couple of times and then collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
Shuichi burst out of the water and slashed the throat of the last enemy with his short sword. After eliminating all the Sunagakure Konoha Ninja immediately regrouped.
"Captain Shuichi's tactical arrangement is absolutely perfect!" Mitarashi Kiyohi knew that he was strong, but he didn't expect him to be so thoughtful.
Their results are no less impressive than those of the Ino-Shika-Cho. They have already eliminated multiple Sunagakure Squad. Despite lacking strong control methods, they were able to successfully ambush a Jonin team, and their tactical arrangements played a decisive role.
As the Captain Commander of this war mission, Shuichi divided his team into two groups after carefully considering the characteristics of his own team members.
One team, mainly composed of the Ino-Shika-Cho and Hyuga, along with some Ninjutsu- type ninjas who can easily create shadows, can seize the opportunity to strike the Sunagakure Jonin team.
The other team was a 10-person squad led by Shuichi. In addition to the Byakugan, they had a wide variety of Ninjutsu techniques and were also excellent at close combat.
Their battalion is currently carrying out the first phase of their mission, which is to use the Byakugan's advantage to wipe out the Sunagakure squads and reduce the enemy's total strength.
When facing a team of Chunin and Genin, it's easy to deal with them without expending much chakra. However, if you discover a team with Jonin, you need to devise appropriate tactics to prevent that Jonin from sending out Signal flare. Overall, it's quite difficult.
"There's less than an hour left. Since everyone's not too tired, let's get going!" Shuichi calmly directed.
Sunagakure's arrangements were not so simple. After not gaining much advantage in the early stages of the war, they made some improvements to their reconnaissance system.
For example, in the war zone where Shuichi is now, all the Sunagakure squads were informed of their reconnaissance time before setting off. They usually need to rotate every few hours. If a team hasn't returned by the designated time, we can tell which area has a problem.
The timing is not fixed; it might be 2 hours today and 5 hours the day after, all chosen randomly by the Frontline Commander.
This is why Konoha dared to send troops directly to the Sunagakure- controlled area only because they needed the cooperation of people like these who had infiltrated the Sunagakure.
Generally speaking, conventional tactics involve sending out reconnaissance teams to ascertain the enemy's location before making any decisions; otherwise, even someone with the Byakugan wouldn't dare to recklessly intrude into enemy territory.
It was precisely because Shuichi and his team infiltrated and figured out the latest reconnaissance mechanism of Sunagakure that these two squads dared to keep killing people in the heart of the enemy.