Enemies Caught Between Advance and Retreat

Yichen was separated from that Jonin by the entire canyon, making it unrealistic to inflict effective damage. Therefore, Yichen's target was the Chunin and Genin and lower who were gathered together and preparing to launch another attack on the caravan.

After the initial chaos, the ninjas who had been lying in ambush in the canyon have calmed down. Apart from a few who left and a few unlucky ones who died, most of them have gathered together, obviously discussing joining forces.

Before the results of their discussion could be announced, Yichen's Water Style: Raging Waves arrived.

Fu and his two companions were most familiar with Yichen's Ninjutsu, and they reacted immediately upon seeing the Water Style: Raging Waves. They quickly ordered everyone to attack the group of ninjas whose formation had been disrupted by the Water Style: Raging Waves.

With Fu's command and the advantage of the initiative, the group was highly efficient in dealing with the ninjas whose formation had been disrupted. Four or five ninjas were killed in the first wave of attacks.

Then the second and third rounds of attacks took away two more people.

However, he no longer had the chance to kill someone so easily.

It wasn't that the opposing team had adjusted their formation; rather, this rabble had abandoned their makeshift teammates and was fleeing for their lives.

Nobody's stupid. What just happened shows that there's another ninja, at least Special Jonin- level expert, secretly helping this caravan.

The Jonin made these people unwilling to take risks; after all, everyone only has one life, and everyone should cherish it.

Yichen's purpose in supporting the caravan was to make the remaining Jonin even more hesitant to act rashly. Otherwise, with the destructive power of a Jonin Ninjutsu, a few B-rank area-of-effect Ninjutsu would have been enough to wipe out a caravan, a stationary target.

But now Yichen has made it clear that he is on the side of the caravan, and the caravan has won a great victory. Yichen is telling the other side that they should run away.

Yichen misjudged the Jonin's intentions. The Jonin had intended to retreat as soon as he sensed Yichen's presence. He had initially assumed that Yichen was after the caravan, just like him, and since Yichen's existence posed a significant threat to him, he decided to back down. He had even given the order to retreat to his two subordinates.

However, Yichen's B-rank Ninjutsu made him hesitant to retreat. This Jonin well aware of his weaknesses; his speed was a clear disadvantage. If he retreated now, and Yichen relentlessly pursued him, he would have a hard time escaping. If Yichen were to Chunin with several Chunin who excelled in speed, he would be in grave danger.

Yichen's actions just now show that he is on the side of the caravan, and the caravan obviously has a lot of Genin and lower). What if Yichen calls on these ninjas in the caravan to attack him?

However, if they stayed here, they might be able to threaten Yichen with the safety of the caravan, making Yichen hesitant to act recklessly. Thus, after seeing Yichen's Ninjutsu, this Jonin hesitated instead.

After Yichen unleashed his Water Style: Raging Waves, he already knew the outcome of the battle below. Therefore, he ignored the caravan and instead used his Sensory Ninjutsu to monitor the Jonin once again.

Upon noticing that the other party hadn't moved, Yichen frowned. Why weren't they retreating? Could it be that they weren't after the caravan? Yichen was somewhat unsure of their intentions.

Both sides are in an awkward position. On one hand, neither wants to fight to the death, since they are Jonin. On the other hand, they are afraid that the other will act recklessly.

So Yichen is now facing a choice: either ignore everything and gather his subordinates to kill this Jonin, or, if pushed to the limit Jonin might do something to the caravan.

They could either call for the caravan to retreat and make concessions first, but that would affect Yichen's prestige within the group. More importantly, if the caravan lost faith in Yichen and his companions, it might jeopardize the development of the trade route.

Yichen was also in a dilemma, wasted no time and made a choice before his opponent.

However, Yichen did not choose either of these methods. Instead, he used Earth Style: Earth Submergence to enter the underground and then circled around to the other side through the passage in the middle of the canyon.

The speed of Earth Style: Earth Submergence was not fast, and it took Yichen several minutes to reach the designated location. By then, the caravan had basically finished cleaning up the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the three members of the Team 7 also realized the problem. Yichen hadn't appeared yet, which meant there were still enemies to deal with. They knew Yichen's abilities, and it was certain that Yichen had discovered the danger through his Sensory Ninjutsu.

Based on the information Yichen had provided, Fu and the other two deduced that the Jonin Ninjutsu was still lurking. However, judging from the Water Style: Raging Waves Yichen had just used to support them, the Jonin Taijutsu had already been dealt with by Yichen.

After discussing it for a while, Fu led Chun and Qingtian slowly towards the direction of Ninjutsu Jonin.

Yichen emerged from the ground not from the side where the caravan was located, but from the side away from the caravan. After emerging from the ground, Yichen first checked whether the Jonin was still there.

Seeing that the other party had not left, a hint of killing intent flashed in Yichen's eyes. Then he quickly Hand Seals and unleashed another Water Style: Raging Waves.

The Jonin was still discussing with his two subordinates what to do next. Unexpectedly, Yichen was so decisive, not only silently sneaking to this side of the canyon, but also launching an attack directly.

"Damn it, isn't he afraid I'll attack the caravan?" the high-ranking Jonin exclaimed in surprise.

"Could it be that he wasn't traveling with the caravan?" one of his subordinates guessed.

Hearing his subordinates' guesses, the Jonin began to doubt his previous judgment. Considering that Yichen had appeared in a location far from the caravan, he became even more hesitant.

However, now was not the time to hesitate. The Jonin led his two subordinates to dodge, preparing to avoid the impact of the waves.

However, the range of B-rank Ninjutsu was too large, and this Jonin was not a speed-type ninja. In addition, Yichen launched a decisive sneak attack, so none of the three were able to completely evade it.

The waves washed them away, disrupting their formation and leaving all three with injuries.

Yichen, however, pressed his advantage relentlessly. Before the three could even regain their footing, a Water Pressure Line swept away a Chunin.

Upon witnessing the death of one of his subordinates, the Jonin's anger was quickly suppressed by Yichen, as an equally powerful attack was already hurtling towards another subordinate.

What kind of Hand Seals speed is this? A ninja who can unleash B-rank Ninjutsu with power in about a second?

The Jonin sank, and he immediately hid behind a boulder and began Hand Seals.

He also knows B-rank Ninjutsu, but he's not very fast at executing it. He's not confident he can successfully use B-rank Ninjutsu against Yichen's attacks.

As for whether his subordinates would be in danger after he went into hiding, he obviously couldn't care less.

Sure enough, not long after, a scream came from the location of another subordinate who had been separated by the waves.

The Jonin, who was nearly startled by his subordinate's screams and almost made a mistake Jonin his hand seals, finally managed to calm himself down. Then he heard a new commotion. Upon closer inspection, he realized that his subordinate wasn't dead, but rather injured, and was now fleeing into the distance.

He cursed the ninja inwardly as a useless piece of trash, and after two more seconds, the Jonin finally completed the hand seals for B-rank Wind Release technique.

Then a wide-range Wind Release swept towards Yichen's location.

Seeing Yichen frantically attempt an Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall: Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, while it was considered a decent defensive ninjutsu among C-rank Defensive Ninjutsu, it was utterly inadequate against a B-rank offensive Ninjutsu, specifically Wind Release known for its offensive capabilities. It was blasted apart in less than a second.

Then, to the Jonin gaze, Yichen was torn to pieces by Wind Release. However, upon seeing this, the Jonin's expression turned even more grim, because all the fragments of Yichen's body had turned into rock.

Jonin they had been tricked by Yichen's tactics, the Jonin began searching everywhere for Yichen.

But before he could find any clues, a tremendous force came from beneath his feet, and the Jonin felt the world spinning around him. When he came to his senses, he found himself surrounded by darkness, unable to move, and even breathing was difficult.

The Jonin's first reaction was that he had fallen under Genjutsu. Having had similar experience Jonin quickly tried to disrupt his Chakra, but to no avail. He tried many times without changing the situation.

His panic intensified, his struggles grew more intense, his Chakra surged wildly, and his breathing became increasingly difficult.

At this moment, Yichen was standing on the ground looking at an open space not far away, where there was a violent fluctuation of Chakra. However, the fluctuation was very chaotic and could not form a combined force to break through the soil.

It turns out that what Yichen just used wasn't Genjutsu, but rather Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu. However, the Jonin too tense to react immediately and instead tried to break the Genjutsu using methods for countering it.

However, the moment this Jonin was struck by the Headhunter Jutsu, his fate was sealed. Even if he immediately broke through the blockade, he would still face Yichen's thunderous attack.

After a while, the fluctuations in the open space gradually disappeared. Yichen's lips twitched. It turned out to be a show-off, unable to withstand even a B-rank Ninjutsu.

Having confirmed with his Sensory Ninjutsu that the Yichen was Jonin dead, Yichen still cautiously stabbed the ground twice with his long sword.

Then Yichen used Earth Release to bring the person out of the ground and sealed him with a scroll.

After waiting a while longer, Fu and his two companions arrived. They saw that Qingtian was carrying someone in her arms. Yichen was not surprised. When he used his Sensory Ninjutsu to confirm the life or death of the Jonin, he had noticed his three subordinates attacking the fleeing Chunin.

After the two sides met up and exchanged a few words to confirm that nothing unexpected had happened, they returned to the caravan together.

The First Shinobi War was short and not very intense, but the results were significant. No one on our side died; only seven or eight people were wounded during the first wave of enemy attacks. One of our Genin was seriously injured, but his life was not in danger.

Moreover, Yichen had considered this situation when choosing his team, and it had already been dealt with by one of the Medical Chunin in the team.

After comforting the wounded, Yichen led everyone to set off again, as this troublesome place was not suitable for lingering.

The caravan crossed the canyon safely and traveled for another hour before Yichen allowed everyone to rest.