Battlefield Tempo

"Wait, something's wrong?"

The Hedgehog-Haired Jonin halted the Sand ninja's retreat, his eyes gleaming with a chilling light.

His eyes seemed ready to transform into the Byakugan, piercing through the Iron Prison Gate's obstruction to see the situation behind it. Was it truly, as the Monkey-Faced Konoha Ninja's leaked intelligence claimed, nothing more than a Transformation Jutsu bluff?

Seeing the Sand ninja preparing to investigate what lay beyond the Iron Prison Gate, Gekko Yoru grew anxious. He hurriedly tried to smooth things over, though his face revealed nothing as he smiled breezily. "Kagejiro, you've gotten smarter. You even know how to use false intelligence for tactical deception. But there's no need for that—they won't believe it."

When Gekko Yoru said the word "false," he seemed to pause ever so slightly, whether deliberately or not.

Sarutobi Kagejiro: ???

What false intelligence? What tactical deception? How come I didn't know about this?

"Yes, exactly that expression. Your acting is so convincing that even I believed you. But it's useless. Master-level Tool Manipulation, hand signs at five seals per second, tactical standards beyond those of a jonin—every bit of it reveals the true intelligence on this Uchiha Jonin."

Looking as though he were affirming Sarutobi Kagejiro's superb acting, Gekko Yoru continued with some regret, "With intelligence this obvious, tell me, how could they possibly believe your tactical deception?"

Umino Sasuke, hiding behind the Iron Prison Gate, rubbed his chin, feeling slightly awkward. "Hehe, that actually sounds so reasonable that even I'm starting to believe it."

This Gekko Yoru had excellent battlefield adaptability. Unfortunately, even if he patched things up in time, it might not have much effect. A Sand Hidden Jonin's powers of observation were not something ordinary ninja could compare to.

"Captain!"

Tejudo raised a thumbs-up, giving him a gesture of praise like Might Guy's Youth encouragement.

Clearly, hearing Gekko Yoru's lavish praise, Tejudo also felt rather honored by association.

After hearing Gekko Yoru's analysis, the Sand ninja found it quite reasonable, and the urge to retreat that they had just suppressed rose again.

They were immediately caught in a dilemma.

"This—"

The Bald Chunin was even more flustered, his mind a complete mess. He could only look toward the jonin Captain, hoping for tactical guidance.

"Rock Wolf, don't be fooled again. This is definitely a Transformation Jutsu bluff. Hiding his head and tail like this isn't Uchiha's usual style."

The Hedgehog-Haired Jonin possessed incomparably rich battlefield experience. He had already sensed that something was off, but the battlefield's tempo had been controlled all along, so he had failed to react in time.

Now that he thought about it, with this ninja's speed of five hand signs per second, he should have formed several hundred seals by now. Yet the imagined ninjutsu had still not been released.

What ninjutsu could require hundreds of hand signs? It had to be fake. It was all fake.

"We've been fooled again."

The Sand ninja nearly coughed up blood. After fighting for so long, they had been fooled again—and they did not even know who the ninja on the other side was.

Looking at it this way, the moment they had stepped onto this battlefield, they had likely fallen into a massive trap.

From the very beginning, the ninja opposite them had controlled the entire battlefield's tempo, leading them by the nose until they ended up in their current predicament.

If the person opposite them truly was not an Uchiha Jonin, but merely a Transformation Jutsu bluff, then their previous guess had not been wrong. The person was a Konoha Jonin proficient in Tool Manipulation.

Moreover, he most likely was not skilled at nature transformation ninjutsu, perhaps not even at close combat. He excelled at tactical deception, used Tool Manipulation for sneak attacks, and possessed extremely refined Transformation Jutsu and Sensory Ability.

However, this Konoha Jonin proficient in Tool Manipulation had already expended a great number of Explosive Tags and bladed tools. His combat strength had surely dropped considerably. Now, perhaps they still had a chance to seize back the intelligence mission.

As expected of a Sand Hidden Jonin—his battlefield experience was immensely rich, and his analysis was orderly and logical. Aside from misjudging Umino Sasuke's jonin identity, every other part of his analysis was completely accurate.

"What do we do?"

Tejudo looked deeply anxious as he frantically signaled Umino Sasuke, asking whether they could make a strategic retreat now.

Their three-pronged tactics had been exhausted, and supplies such as Explosive Tags and bladed tools were nearly depleted. Their team's combat strength had already fallen to rock bottom.

Umino Sasuke shook his head, signaling them to wait and see. That Sarutobi Kagejiro was an idiot and utterly unreliable, but his teammate Gekko Yoru seemed quite capable. His tactical adaptability was also strong, making him rather dependable.

"I'd like to see who you really are."

The Special Jonin Puppet Master rapidly formed hand signs with both hands and directly unleashed an offensive Wind Release.

"Wind Release: Sand Dust Swirl!"

At once.

Two spiraling vacuum wind currents, carrying massive amounts of sand and debris, swept in from the left and right like twin storm dragons, converging upon the space behind the Iron Prison Gate.

Under the Sonic Radar Technique's perception, every move made by the Sand ninja was laid bare. Umino Sasuke still controlled the entire battlefield's tempo.

"Go!"

Umino Sasuke grabbed Tejudo, spread chakra across the soles of his feet, and rapidly climbed the Iron Prison Gate to the top.

With a thunderous boom.

The two sandstorm dragons collided behind the Iron Prison Gate, bursting into countless tiny grains of sand and dust.

Umino Sasuke and Tejudo flipped over the Iron Prison Gate and landed atop the Giant Rock Sphere ahead, neatly avoiding the spray of fine sand.

"A Konoha Patrol Chunin? How could he possibly be a chunin?"

The Sand ninja immediately looked at one another in alarm and uncertainty. At last, they clearly saw the opposing ninja's face and build, but they were far too familiar with that outfit. They had just killed an entire Konoha sentry patrol squad—how could they not recognize it? It was precisely because they recognized it so well that they became even more suspicious.

"Another Transformation Jutsu."

How could the Hedgehog-Haired Jonin believe that the one who had intercepted them was an ordinary patrol chunin? This had to be another Transformation Jutsu.

"Konoha Jonin, when it comes to Transformation Jutsu, I acknowledge you as the strongest!"

The Hedgehog-Haired Jonin looked again and again, yet he could not detect the slightest flaw in the opposing ninja's Transformation Jutsu.

It was simply flawless, exactly like the real thing.

"Everyone, don't let your guard down. This is definitely another round of tactical deception!"

The Hedgehog-Haired Jonin issued a tactical warning to his subordinates, then explained, "This ninja transformed into an Uchiha Jonin earlier to deceive us tactically. He wanted us to overestimate him and waste our chakra and supplies of bladed tools.

"Now he has transformed into an ordinary chunin. This is a reverse tactical move—he wants us to underestimate his strength, grow careless, and expose openings. Do not fall for it."

"Understood, Captain. We won't let our guard down again."

The Sand ninja all nodded, praising their Captain's keen insight and well-founded analysis. As expected of a jonin, his battlefield experience was truly abundant.

The ninja before them was despicable and shameless. He surely wanted to use tactical deception again, making them underestimate his strength so he could ambush them.