Ice Technique: Extermination
Shuichi sighed inwardly. He hadn't seen Jugo for many years and guessed that Jugo had fallen into Orochimaru's hands.
Karin was intercepted by Tsunade halfway back; otherwise, a single bite from En would have been enough to cure her, eliminating the need for such a complicated Medical Ninjutsu...
"Now can you tell me how the accident happened to Land of Forests?" Shuichi asked Sae.
The rescue mission was secondary; his primary objective was to uncover the cause and effect of the situation and eliminate the enemy that needed to be dealt with.
Seeing his captain being sent back to the village, Sae calmed down and regained the composure expected of Anbu Ninja, quickly processing the information in her mind.
"I come from the Yamanaka Clan, and my role in the team is to gather intelligence and conduct interrogation."
The mask was removed, revealing a young face with sharp features.
Sae Yamanaka quickly replied, "A rebellion suddenly broke out in the Hidden Forest Village for unknown reasons, and then several of our squads were surrounded and killed by an organized group. During the pursuit, I used secret techniques to interrogate many enemies, and a large number of clues pointed to the Hidden Sand Village."
This news wasn't unexpected; the two skilled fighters from earlier displayed a fighting style reminiscent of Sunagakure. However, their motives and the role played by the Forest Ninja Village remained unclear...
"Lord Shuichi, the two of us can still move around," another Anbu quickly added. "Based on my observation, it might be related to the Daimyo of the Land of Wind reducing the Sunagakure's military spending."
"There are likely still quite a few people remaining in the Land of Forests at this time. Since you have come in person, we might be able to find clear evidence if we investigate further."
Shuichi readily agreed, and made a mental note of this quick-witted fellow. "Alright, lead the way."
The Hidden Forest Village has gained considerable influence in recent years, and thanks to its close relationship with Konoha, it is considered one of the more powerful forces in the surrounding area.
They harvested the resources of the Land of Rivers and sold them to the Land of Fire at a low price, living a pretty good life.
But now the city is in a state of panic, with many people staying home and not going out. The city walls are filled with ninjas on patrol, and small teams patrol the streets from time to time.
The Land of Forests, and its surrounding terrain is naturally related to its name.
This is an area carved out of the forest, with beautiful mountains and water and a touch of mystery, but the trees are too close together, which also brings some trouble to the defense.
Several ninjas crouched behind the city wall, oblivious to the figure that flashed out from the nearby watchtower. The newcomer calmly raised his hands in a gun gesture, paused for a moment, and then emitted a series of soft, rapid sounds—bang, bang, bang!
Puff!
The guards wearing the protective helmets of the Forest Ninja Village shuddered, each developing a bloody hole in their forehead, back of the head, or top of the skull.
The remaining few realized something was wrong, but before they could even shout, the same attack followed. Like a small hammer smashing into a watermelon, ice cubes the size of fingers easily pierced into their brains.
Ice Release: Ice Bullet Barrage!
Shuichi kept both hands in the same position, with her index and middle fingers extended and joined together, each wearing a rather silly-looking Finger Sleeves that extended about 1 centimeter beyond the fingertips.
"This move is very difficult, but its power and range are decent." As Shuichi commented, he continued to mobilize his chakra, first filling that small Finger Sleeves with Ice Release, creating a total of four round, semi-conical ice balls, and the loading preparation was complete.
Next, he switched to using Explosion Release chakra, firing it from his fingertips.
The entire process involved four Nature Transformation, and even with his powerful chakra control, there was still an unavoidable delay of more than one second between preparation and activation.
Judging from the results, it's somewhat like an enhanced version of Shikotsumyaku: Ten Finger Nukes. Its rate of fire and accuracy are much worse than Twin Pistols, but it's still quite good for normal ninja combat. This kind of high-difficulty Ninjutsu can also enhance one's skills.
Nearly two years have passed since he began learning the basics of Ice Release. He has basically completed the development of some Ice Release Ninjutsu that require Hand Seals. Many of them are improvements on Water Release, so they are not very difficult and do not significantly increase Shuichi's combat power.
Later, he focused on practicing creating various shapes of ice without using any special techniques. Until recently, when he was satisfied with both the hardness and the speed of creation, he finally put his skills to use in this mission.
From now on, all of these will become his main methods. With ice, most ninja tools can be discarded, and he can create whatever he wants on the spot.
The Flying Thunder God technique no longer requires special paper stamps to inscribe the incantation, making it easier to set up coordinates in battle more discreetly, while also saving a lot of money...
After dealing with the guards, Shuichi quietly infiltrated the city. In addition to investigating the distribution of the main forces of the Lin Ninja Village, he also went to their treasury based on the intelligence provided by the Anbu.
"As expected, there's nothing there. It seems the Sunagakure has infiltrated quite thoroughly..." In the dark underground space, Shuichi used Earth Release to peek out. This was a key area that needed to be heavily guarded, but now it was completely empty.
According to the intelligence gathered by the Homura Squad, more than a third of the ninja from the Land of Forests they encountered showed signs of being from the Sunagakure.
Because many people have advanced Fuinjutsu etched into their brains, they won't reveal any information even after death, unlike the methods possessed by a small ninja village.
Over the next two days, the entire Land of Forests was filled with intense unease and despair. After a large group of people died on the city walls, many more ninjas disappeared from the city.
Strangely, no matter how vigilant they were, they couldn't find out who the other party was, where they came from, or where they left. The elite ninjas they sent out disappeared into the forest like raindrops falling into the ocean.
Outside the city, Shuichi leaned against the trunk of a tall tree, arms crossed, staring intently at the ninja village. Several strange birds circled continuously in the sky, ready to detect anyone entering or leaving.
Turning around, in addition to the Elephant Squad and other Anbu who had arrived earlier, there were four whole squads of Konoha elites. They had just arrived and, after a short rest, were ready to fight at full strength.
Swish!
Shuichi down and said in a deep voice, "We've roughly figured out the situation. Sunagakure may have started infiltrating the Land of Forests several years ago, and since then, they've been secretly intercepting their transactions with the Land of Fire at higher prices..."
Seeing that the other side offered more benefits, the Land of Forests secretly made a deal Sunagakure Konoha's back.
But the key issue isn't who pays more or whether it's fair. The other party is essentially a force supported by the Land of Fire, so such actions naturally constitute a betrayal.
The Sunagakure was even more difficult to deal with. They had long planned to kill the fish once they were fat enough. Their hidden Dark Operatives, posing as ninjas from the Land of Forests, attacked Konoha Ninja without revealing any evidence, and then immediately took away all the evidence the enemy had accumulated over the years.
Looking at it this way, it's very much like depositing a sum of money in a bank and then robbing the entire bank.
Shuichi could roughly guess why Sunagakure did this: since the funds provided by the Daimyo were severely insufficient, they had no choice but to sacrifice some ninjas to plunder outside.
"It's difficult to distinguish which are Sunagakure Ninja and which are original forces from the Land of Forests, and there's no need to..." Shuichi gave the village orders. "The entire city is filled with enemies who attacked Konoha. The mission is to eliminate all the ninja from the Land of Forests. Now, attack simultaneously according to the planned encirclement formation! Disperse!"
"Yes!"
Swish Swish Swish--
Shuichi donned the Finger Sleeves again, now coordinated with his Ice Release Fire technique. He had already locked onto all members of the enemy's Anbu Hannya Clan. "With me personally taking action, the remnants of this force won't appear in the future..."