Land of Fire

The next day, the Team 7 the Anbu Third Squad gathered again at the Training Ground. After Yichen described the mission, the four of them left Iwagakure.

The Team 7's mission objective is to reach the border between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire and harass one of their outposts.

Yichen still had a certain sense of the big picture; he knew that Konoha wouldn't collapse because of White Fang. Once Konoha resolved its internal conflicts, it would definitely launch a strong attack on the invading enemy.

Therefore, the mission must be completed before Konoha takes action, and the party must evacuate in time.

Therefore, while in the Land of Earth, Team 7 traveled at full speed until they entered the Land of the Falls, after which they became more cautious. However, their speed was still considerable, and their daily travel time was not short.

This journey continued until the group reached the border of the three countries of Taki, Tetsu, and Hikari before stopping.

Instead of entering the Land of Iron, Yichen went directly into the Land of Fire. Then, inside the Land of Fire, he circled around to the back of the target outpost.

Although the journey is risky, Konoha is in chaos right now, and everyone's attention is focused on the border, so the process is actually not very dangerous.

Yichen had joined the Anbu and carried out some missions, so he understood that the Anbu rarely patrolled within the country's borders; patrol missions were usually conducted at the border. In fact, given the number of ninjas in a ninja village, it was unrealistic to deploy troops throughout the country. Therefore, the safest location within the country was some distance from the border and far from the ninja village.

Of course, there are quite a few Konoha ninja coming and going in this area, so the Team 7 needs to be careful to avoid them. But it's still much safer than heading directly from the border to the outpost.

Yichen and his three companions rested for a night at the border of the three kingdoms, mainly because Chun's physical condition was poor and he was currently exhausted. So the four of them took a good rest at the border.

The next day, to reduce the risk of exposure, the four did not take any action during the day. Instead, at night, they crossed the border of the Land of Fire and infiltrated its interior.

This was Yichen's first time entering the Land of Fire. Influenced by his previous life, Yichen was very wary of Konoha. He used Counter-Sensory Ninjutsu he had learned long ago while carefully observing his surroundings, especially various small insects.

Counter-Sensory Ninjutsu is a continuous ninjutsu; once cast, it can be maintained for a considerable period of time, although this consumes Chakra.

Yichen didn't maintain it for long, but rather used it periodically, holding it for a few minutes each time. Anyway, this didn't affect his travel.

Whenever he encountered a village or a major road, Yichen would use his Sensory Ninjutsu to scout the way.

And so, we arrived at our destination without any major incidents.

Yichen and his three companions hid in a grove of trees, looking at the outposts that were faintly visible in the distance, and discussed the intelligence they had gathered.

Yichen estimated the time; after so many days, Konoha should have almost resolved its internal conflicts.

Time is running out for me.

Yichen spoke first, "After reconnaissance, this outpost has seventeen squads, ten full-strength squads, and seven three-man squads, plus the commander, totaling 62 people."

"The commander is either Jonin or Special Jonin." The other party was inside the outpost, which had a certain shielding effect on perception, so Yichen could not clearly sense the other party's Chakra, making his judgment inaccurate.

"The captains of the other seventeen squads are all Chunin. There are also four other members at the Chunin level, and the rest are Genin."

"As part of a harassment mission, our objective is to eliminate seven enemy squads and then successfully withdraw. Let's discuss how to proceed."

Chun said, "Destroying seven squads will definitely alert the enemy, so we should choose a time when they are more spread out and take them out one by one. This outpost has a wide patrol area during the day, covering an area of about thirteen kilometers around. We can choose to make our move when they are patrolling at their furthest point."

Fu said, "That's right. We'll fight our way out of the Land of Fire. It's not difficult to do that. As long as the operation goes smoothly, it can be done silently."

Qingtian said, "Give me some time, and I can set up a trap that can hold off the enemy Jonin."

Yichen nodded, and then the group discussed the details of the operation. The next morning, the four of them began as planned.

Yichen first used his Sensory Ninjutsu to confirm the location of the selected team, and then carefully led the three of them closer.

When they were only about 1 kilometer away from the target team, they lay in wait. Although the enemy's patrol route seemed chaotic, it had a pattern that Yichen had observed at the Land of Earth border.

As expected, the squad circled around before approaching Yichen and the others.

Waiting patiently, when the opponent was only about 20 meters away, Yichen used the Body Flicker Technique to appear directly in front Chunin the Chunin. Before the opponent could cry out, he used the Mind Disturbance Jutsu to distract him, and then slashed his throat with a knife.

At the same time as Yichen, Fu and Qingtian each targeted a Genin. Fu acted quickly, even taking down the Genin before Yichen.

Qingtian are a bit slower, but not by much. As a qualified Anbu, dealing with a Konoha Genin should be a piece of cake under normal circumstances.

Purely Ninjutsu Ninja, his Wind Release was too volatile, so he only used a hidden weapon to distract the last Genin, preventing him from helping his comrade. Then, Yichen and Fu, who had killed their opponent, rushed towards him simultaneously.

The outcome was predictable; this Genin died without fully recovering from his fear. This was something Yichen and his group had planned beforehand—deliberately choosing to kill the other three first, leaving this seemingly weakest one for last.

After annihilating one squad, Yichen used his Sensory Ninjutsu to observe the reactions of the other Konoha squads, while Fu and the other two simply began cleaning up the battlefield.

The main task was to collect loot, especially Forehead Protector, which were important proof of mission completion. After cleaning up, Yichen sealed and packed up the Chunin Captain's seal.

The four then rushed to the next location, leaving no need or time to clean up the scene.

The next location was also a four-person team, but in this team, in addition to the captain being Chunin, there was another member whose strength had also reached the Chunin level.

After discussing it, the four decided to proceed with the ambush as usual. When the enemy approached, they would activate all the hidden traps that Qingtian had set up.

The two opposing Chunin immediately went to protect their respective teammates. Meanwhile, Yichen used the Body Flicker Technique to appear not far from the opposing captain and used the Genjutsu Body Bind Technique to trap him.

Then the immobilized Chunin Captain was riddled with holes by hidden weapons and died on the spot.

Meanwhile, Fu and Qingtian, under the influence of the trap and Chun's hidden weapons, together killed the Chunin who Chunin ninjutsu.

Then Yichen and Fu made their move again. Fu easily killed a Genin with his swordsmanship, while Yichen used two Water Style: Water Line Jutsu to kill him from a distance.

Neither of the two Genin escaped death.

However, this time Yi and his group made quite a commotion. After Yichen used his Sensory Ninjutsu, he discovered that the nearest squad was approaching their location.

However, this team only had three people. And although the enemy was approaching after hearing the commotion, they weren't fully alert because this wasn't the border area.

Yichen beckoned to three of his subordinates, and they stealthily approached the direction from which the other party was coming.

Because of the bloodstains on Yichen and his companions from the previous battle, they dared not wait for the enemy to get too close. When the two sides were about 50 meters apart, Yichen formed hand Hand Seals and used the Body Flicker Technique, teleporting three times in succession to directly approach the enemy 'Chunin Captain. Yichen had previously judged that this captain was a ninjutsu type, so after rushing in, Yichen immediately used a sword technique to deliver a slash.

Caught off guard, the opponent hastily tried to dodge, but failed to completely avoid the attack and was slashed open in the chest by Yichen, causing blood to flow freely.

Seeing his opponent retreat while enduring the pain and trying to Hand Seals, Yichen directly swung his longsword, completing the Water Style: Water Line Jutsu at a much faster speed than his opponent. Then, to his opponent's astonishment, he pierced his throat.

Meanwhile, Fu, Qingtian, and Chun were still rushing over and hadn't arrived yet.

Yichen then took out two Kunai with one hand and threw them at the remaining two Genin, while simultaneously One-handed Hand Seals the other hand and quickly approaching one of them.

The remaining two Genin were thrown into disarray upon witnessing the death of their Chunin Captain. Furthermore, Yichen's display of proficiency in both ninjutsu and swordsmanship left them bewildered and unsure of how to respond.

Before they could even come up with a solution, they were so frightened by Yichen's One-handed Hand Seals that they couldn't utter a sound.

As Yichen approached one of the Genin, he completed the Hand Seals, slapped his other wrist, and retrieved another longsword sealed within. He then Genin and killed the genin before him.

At this moment, Fu also arrived and, without the cooperation of the other two, directly killed the last Genin.

"Phew!" Yichen breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, these two Genin were rookies who hadn't been out of school for long and hadn't experienced war. Otherwise, if they had both released Signal Flare at the same time, Yichen definitely wouldn't have had time to stop them. In that case, they would have been exposed by now.

After cleaning up the battlefield, the Team 7 headed back towards the border.

Following their previous method, Yichen and his group attacked another squad on the road, but an accident occurred as they approached the border.

The fifth team had actually set up an alarm device along the route Yichen and his group were traveling on. And this alarm device was well-hidden; unsurprisingly, Yichen and his group fell for it.

Upon receiving the warning, the squad immediately launched a warning firework.

Looking at the alarm device that had just been triggered by the talisman, and then at the fireworks in the sky not far away, Yichen took a deep breath and said, "We've been exposed. Begin the assault."

Then the four of them stopped their cautious stealth and rushed toward the squad that had spotted them not far away.

As he moved, Yichen formed hand Hand Seals, Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu. A thin line of water then pierced through the gaps in the trees, spanning over 60 meters, and directly struck a Genin.

Then Yichen Hand Seals, and another Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu shot forward.

However, this time the opponent was prepared, and the remaining three kept changing positions, successfully avoiding the attack of the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu.

At this moment, Yichen was less than 40 meters away from the three of them, while Fu was faster than Yichen and was only about 30 meters away.

Yichen Hand Seals again. Seeing this, the opposing Chunin Captain warned his two subordinates to dodge while he also began Hand Seals.

Just then, Yichen's figure was blocked by a large tree. And Yichen, who should have reappeared immediately, did not appear a second later.

The Chunin's eyes flashed, realizing something was wrong, and he was about to make a move. But it was too late; Yichen had already reappeared in front of him. It turned out that what Yichen had just used was not the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu from the previous two times, but the Body Flicker Technique.

The suddenly appearing Yichen Chunin the Chunin's obviously untimely ninjutsu and directly drew his sword, beheading him in one strike.

Then, facing the gazes of the remaining two Genin, Yichen charged towards one of them.

This Genin was relatively skilled; he immediately pulled out a Kunai with an Exploding Tag attached and charged straight at Yichen.

Instead of taking the risk, Yichen turned and rushed towards another person.

At that moment, in Yichen's original direction, a Wind Release Ninjutsu struck the Genin wielding the Kunai speed, sending him flying more than ten meters away. The Genin was clearly still alive after being knocked away, but before he could utter his last words, the Exploding Tag attached to the Kunai detonated.

Meanwhile, Yichen completed another kill, eliminating the last Genin.