Tactical Master

"One second, five hand seals! Such incredible speed—he had to be an Elite Jonin proficient in ninjutsu!"

"No mistake about it. He was definitely an Elite Jonin."

Seeing Umino Sasuke's terrifying hand-seal speed, Sarutobi Kagejiro and the Gekko Chunin's confidence greatly increased.

They had only heard of someone forming five seals in a second before, but had never witnessed it themselves. Today, they finally had the chance to see it.

It truly was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Most people formed one seal every five seconds, yet this Uchiha Jonin before them formed five in a single second. His hands had become afterimages. As expected of an Elite Jonin—even his hand seals were so masterful.

With hand-seal speed like that, he was undoubtedly proficient in ninjutsu.

An Elite Jonin proficient in ninjutsu was an expert at group combat. Any random technique could potentially wipe out a large number of enemies with ease. This intelligence mission seemed secure.

The Hyuga Branch Family brat watched the battlefield clearly through his Byakugan, rolling his eyes again and again, though the anxiety in his gaze did not lessen.

This fake Uchiha was simply too convincing. Even among ninjas above Elite Jonin rank, few could possess such terrifying hand-seal speed. No wonder these Sand ninjas had not the slightest suspicion.

This level of hand-seal speed was simply too persuasive.

"How despicable. He had no bearing at all as an expert!"

The Bald Chunin had used a useless ninjutsu and wasted a great deal of chakra, immediately flying into a rage.

"Rock Wolf, don't act rashly. This is the tactical caliber only found among ninjas at Elite Jonin rank and above. He can exploit every last tactical advantage—don't let him catch any openings!"

The Spiky-Haired Sand Jonin had extremely rich combat experience and immediately understood. In an instant, he realized what was happening, as though he had seen through the enemy's tactics. The enemy had actually used tactical deception to buy himself more time to form seals and unleash a more powerful, complex Water Release.

What a tactical master!

That series of sneak attacks earlier was clearly not enough to encompass this man's astonishing tactical skill.

Moreover, despite holding such an absolute advantage, he was still so cautious and meticulous, refusing to waste even the slightest advantage. He must have been a veteran Elite Jonin tempered through countless battles.

Seeing that the Spiky-Haired Sand Jonin had indeed taken the bait, Umino Sasuke was delighted. This was exactly the sort of expert I wanted to fool. Ordinary ninjas might not even possess this level of tactical thinking.

Seeing that the battle was basically secured, the Gekko Chunin leaped to Sarutobi Kagejiro's side to ensure the intelligence scroll's safety. Only then did he turn toward the distant Hyuga Chunin and ask about his injuries. "Asuka, are you all right?"

"Yoru, I'm fine. I'm not dead yet!"

Hyuga Asuka leaned against a birch tree, his face pale. The poison had nearly robbed him of consciousness, and his Byakugan flickered on and off, yet his words remained stubbornly defiant.

Gekko Yoru nodded. He then stood guard in front of Sarutobi Kagejiro rather than joining the battle directly. As he watched the battlefield's overall flow, he turned back and quietly asked, "Kagejiro, judging by the number of hand seals, what rank of Water Release is that? It can't be an A-Rank Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique, can it?"

The Gekko Clan excelled at Konoha-Style Kenjutsu and was suited for close-quarters combat, while Kagejiro's Sarutobi Clan excelled at all kinds of elemental releases. They had always been experienced in ninjutsu and had more authority on the subject.

"No, it was definitely not Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique."

Sarutobi Kagejiro shook his head, immediately rejecting the guess.

"Then what high-level Water Release is it? Kagejiro, don't tell me you don't know either?"

"What? How could that be? How could I not know!"

Sarutobi Kagejiro immediately jumped up as if someone had stepped on his tail.

Among his peers in the Sarutobi Clan, Sarutobi Kagejiro was a bottom-ranker, a complete fraud. How could he know what rank of Water Release it was? Yet he had always been competitive and did not want his teammates to look down on him for not knowing.

Sarutobi Kagejiro rapidly calculated in his mind. With so many seals, it probably was not an A-Rank Water Release. That meant it had to be an S-Rank Water Release.

There were only a few S-Rank Water Release techniques in the Scroll of Sealing. In that case, this technique was either S-Rank Water Release: Water Severing Wave or S-Rank Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade.

This evil Uchiha intended to use the river behind him to perform Water Release, so it definitely was not Water Release: Water Severing Wave.

That revealed the answer.

At that thought, Sarutobi Kagejiro suddenly understood. He immediately put on an expression that said, I know everything, hurry up and praise me.

Then, full of confidence, he declared firmly, "Yoru, actually, I figured it out long ago. This is definitely the legendary S-Rank Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade."

Hyuga Asuka: #￥%@&

Hyuga Asuka rolled his Byakugan again and again as usual. What A-Rank Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique? What legendary S-Rank Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade? All fake—fake!

What use was fast hand-seal speed? Through the chakra pathway view of his Byakugan, he could clearly see that the chakra within this fake Uchiha's body had not been activated at all. How could he possibly release a ninjutsu?

Kagejiro was simply spouting nonsense. It seemed that aside from being competitive, bad-tempered, jealous, and somewhat lacking in strength, Kagejiro was also a liar.

Huh? Why did it feel like Kagejiro was extremely unreliable?

Thinking of how Kagejiro had needlessly enraged the Sand ninjas earlier, and the huge opening he had exposed while passing through the Explosive Tags trap, Hyuga Asuka became even more certain of it.

At that thought, Hyuga Asuka nearly fainted from anger as the poison attacked his heart. His teammates were too unreliable to count on. He could only hope this fake Uchiha could hold on a little longer.

Still, this fake Uchiha's tactics were quite good. His hand-seal speed, in particular, was unprecedented.

But this deception tactic presumably could not stall them for long, much less until this group of Sand ninjas succumbed to the poison and lost their fighting strength.

At most, it could exhaust some of the Sand ninjas' chakra and weapon supplies. In the end, it could not change the gap in strength between the two sides.

Hyuga Asuka's Byakugan had already grown somewhat bleary, flickering on and off. Due to the poison's erosion, the Byakugan's range of perception had been compressed to less than one kilometer.

Otherwise, he would definitely have discovered that the Mobile Patrol Unit was about to arrive, and understood that this fake Uchiha's tactical deception was not merely intended to stall until the Sand ninjas succumbed to the poison or exhaust their chakra and weapon supplies.

It was killing three birds with one stone, with the guaranteed objective being to delay until reinforcements arrived.

"Yoru, look! Those three guys have already been poisoned. They definitely can't last much longer! Hahaha, we've won for sure!"

Sarutobi Kagejiro swept his gaze over the battlefield and made a new discovery. His confidence greatly increased, and he burst into laughter.

He looked utterly wild and arrogant.

"Kagejiro, did you notice? Their Special Antidote Pills have no effect at all. They're completely relying on chakra to force themselves to endure."

Gekko Yoru was meticulous and highly perceptive. He quickly discovered the abnormalities and weaknesses of the poisoned Sand ninjas.

"Hahaha!" Sarutobi Kagejiro's arrogance only grew. Then his eyes shifted, and he suddenly suggested, "Yoru, how about you take the intelligence and withdraw first? I'll cover the rear this time."

"This—"

Gekko Yoru was immediately left speechless, unsure how to answer for a moment.

Victory was already in sight. If they left now, would they not miss out on a batch of Mission Merit Points? Still, the intelligence mission came first. They could not take even the slightest risk, so they truly should send the intelligence back first.

"Kagejiro, you should withdraw first and take the intelligence back. I'll remain here to support this Uchiha Jonin."

With a sweep of his longsword, Gekko Yoru made the best tactical choice. In his view, his strength was obviously far greater than Kagejiro's, so staying behind would be more helpful. It was certainly more suitable for Kagejiro to deliver the intelligence first.

Besides, Sarutobi Kagejiro was related to the Third Hokage. If he were left here to take risks and something truly happened, how would Gekko Yoru explain it to the higher-ups?