Incoming

Although Sunagakure's plan seemed perfect, Konoha was not to be underestimated. They had only just reached a three-year truce, so how could they possibly let their guard down?

After the first exam, Konoha immediately obtained the list of the remaining Sunagakure teams and made some targeted arrangements in the following few hours.

In particular, the two teams, Yazo and Yukari, started from the northern and southern ends of the Forest of Death respectively, which made their rendezvous much more difficult.

Meanwhile, the other four Sunagakure Ninja teams were also assigned to less than comfortable positions, making the six Sunagakure Ninja teams in total resemble six points evenly distributed on the edge of a circle.

That's not all. Without their knowledge, Konoha also arranged for strong teams from within the village to be placed next to these four teams, increasing the probability of their powerful teams encountering the weaker teams from the Sunagakure Ninja.

So Shuichi and his group were actually a bit unlucky; they went the wrong way at the beginning. If they had activated their Byakugan and run around to either side after entering the Forest of Death, they would have easily spotted the Sunagakure Ninja team.

Now that Yazo and his group have obtained the Scroll, they are preparing to proceed according to their plan to the vicinity of the Central Tower to meet up with Yukari's team on the other side.

The reason we haven't approached the last area of Central Tower yet is because we're worried that there might already be more than one group waiting and lying in ambush in that area.

It's getting dark, which actually increases the risk of fighting. What was originally a sure win might turn into defeat just because we happen to encounter an enemy skilled in night combat.

Yazo explained his judgment to Saki in detail, and Saki found it to be very reasonable. So the three of them decided to find a place to rest nearby.

About 500 meters away, Shuichi and his two companions had already located the enemy's position and were now slowly approaching them step by step.

This is their team's most standard combat tactic: having Hyuga Akiha find the enemy and then gradually approach them. In this way, more and more information about the opponent will be revealed under the Byakugan's gaze, allowing Shuichi and the others to calmly choose their attack method based on the intelligence.

There's no way around it; the Byakugan is just that powerful on the battlefield, like a cheat code that X-ray vision the entire Cheat/System in a game.

Shuichi is now grateful that he was born in Konoha. If he were to make enemies with the Byakugan, the probability of being ambushed and killed on the battlefield would be quite high, because the initiative would be completely in the hands of the side with the intelligence, and he might be surrounded without even realizing it.

"Hmm? Something's wrong. Someone's getting closer to us. Everyone be careful!" At this moment, the female Sunagakure Ninja with reconnaissance skills immediately warned her teammates. She sensed someone rapidly approaching from not far away.

"What? Is it coming straight for us? Try to sense it, Aoi." Upon hearing the warning, Yazo's nerves immediately tensed, but he didn't lose his composure. He needed to know whether his opponent's direction was unintentional or deliberate.

The female Sunagakure Ninja named Aoi instantly understood his meaning. She formed a hand seal, closed her eyes, and began to try to sense her surroundings.

As the distance closed, Hyuga Akiha away, could observe the enemy's situation more clearly, and could roughly make out the opponent's movements and behavior.

"Captain, they seem to have spotted us. I saw someone standing still, with chakra constantly flowing around him; it's likely a sensory ability." Hyuga Akiha promptly reported this information to Shuichi.

Shuichi mentally calculated the distance and felt it was about right. There weren't many teams with reconnaissance ninjas, so the opponent seemed formidable. "Speed up and charge!"

"About 300 meters away... now 200 meters... Oh no! They're coming for us! Their detection range is wider than mine, and they're constantly changing direction. The enemy must have spotted us first." After sensing for a while, Aoi immediately said to Yazo.

"This is troublesome!" Yazo frowned slightly. "Their perception is much stronger than ours; they must be quite powerful. Stay alert. Saki, form a battle formation."

Upon receiving the order, Saki immediately drew her long sword from behind, gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, and stood next to Aoi, leaning against her back. Yazo stood a body length away from them, his expression extremely solemn.

The movement of the Sunagakure Ninja was clearly visible to Hyuga Akiha. "They have indeed discovered us, but their reconnaissance capabilities seem limited. They've formed a very conservative, tight formation, and they probably don't yet know our exact location."

As they advanced rapidly, Hyuga Akiha kept talking, continuously relaying information about the enemy to his two teammates. "One of them is wielding a long sword, another's chakra is constantly increasing, and the reconnaissance ninja hasn't changed. Based on these characteristics, it's a Sunagakure squad."

"I see." After confirming the other party's information, Shuichi quickly formulated a battle strategy in his mind.

He formed a cross seal with his hands and began to draw chakra from his body. "Shadow Clone Jutsu! BOOM!" This time, he created a Shadow Clone of extremely high quality.

"We'll use the third battle plan, Kohei. My Shadow Clone will cover your attack on that Sunagakure Ninja with the sword..."

The atmosphere in the air seemed to freeze instantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of Sunagakure Ninja's female ninja, Aoi, who was clearly trying her best to sense the surrounding situation.

"They're getting closer! There are two people in front, one on the left and one on the right, and two more behind!" Aoi said urgently.

"How is that possible? Is it a clone? Shadow Clone?" When Yazo heard that there were four people, his heart tightened, but he immediately realized that this situation was unlikely, so it was very likely that it was the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

The two teammates next to them also realized what was going on, "Is the opponent that confident? Aren't they afraid of wasting chakra?"

Before they could figure out the problem, a lot of sounds came from both the front and the back.

"Saki, watch Shuriken, the number is uncertain!" Yazo felt that this voice was too strange, like the sound of many ninja tools flying together, but normally it is unlikely that all the ninja tools would be thrown at once.

But as he got a little closer, he saw a barrage of Shuriken towards them. "These all look real! How can there be so many? What kind of Ninjutsu is this?" Yazo was shocked. How could their opponent be so strong right from the start? This was bad.

Although he hadn't even seen who was coming, he quickly realized that under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have been able to avoid it at all.

"Come closer to me!" he said, his hands quickly forming Hand Seals, "Earth Release: Earth Return."

Two Taiseki appeared from the ground one after the other at the same time, and Saki and Aoi quickly slipped into the crevice.

They had barely taken cover when a barrage of Shuriken flew towards them from both sides.

"Clang, clang, bang..." The sounds of numerous ninja tools hitting rocks and colliding filled their ears, all indicating that their situation had been extremely dangerous; these Shuriken were all real.