Radar Jutsu

In the Land of Rivers, low-level summoning beasts like the Water Bat weren't difficult to catch.

What nearly stumped him was the simple matter of the summoning scroll.

Fortunately, he had accumulated quite a few Mission Merit Points over time, which he used to exchange for jutsu, and that came in just right.

Spending most of the hard-earned points, he exchanged for a basic summoning scroll and a copy of On the Care and Training of Summoning Beasts.

No wonder summoning scrolls meant for inheritance were so expensive.

And this was just a basic scroll supplied by the Uzumaki Clan to Konoha, only capable of contracting a genin-level beast.

If it were a higher-grade one, he'd be flat broke. At least On the Care and Training of Summoning Beasts came as a free bonus.

You get what you pay for. Uzumaki products were trustworthy. Contracting the Water Bat went smoothly, with no trouble at all.

It was only through continuous cooperative training with the Water Bat and analyzing and reconstructing the Transformation Jutsu that he realized just how difficult the transformation actually was.

With his already refined skill in the Transformation Jutsu, plus occasionally borrowing from Inuzuka Ryo's Beast Mimicry Secret Jutsu, it still took him several months.

Only by borrowing the Water Bat's chakra was he able to achieve partial mimicry transformation and use the Water Bat's Ultrasonic Echolocation Ability.

It was with this ultrasonic sensory ability that he managed to drag three genin deadweights through the life-and-death edges of the Second Shinobi World War, surviving time and again.

Since then, his squad had never lost a single member.

Not even a single injury had occurred.

While frequently using the Ultrasonic Echolocation Ability, he constantly applied the principles of scientific sonar from his previous life to deconstruct the Water Bat's ability, gradually replacing the bat's organs with his own chakra and simulating the ultrasonic vibration frequency.

He reverse-engineered the underlying principles.

Hard work paid off.

After tens of thousands of attempts and insights from deconstruction, he finally succeeded in reverse-engineering it. Without relying on the summoning beast, he used the unique properties of chakra to simulate the vibration frequency and unleash the Water Bat's Ultrasonic Echolocation Ability.

Though its range was less than a hundred meters—far from the three-kilometer detection range when working together with the bat—it was still astonishing.

This was almost like creating an entirely new jutsu.

And a rare Sensory Ninjutsu at that.

With the physical properties of Sonic Radar, its potential detection range could even develop into something on par with the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama's Earth Listening super-sensory technique—it wasn't impossible.

He couldn't help but marvel at how strange fate was.

Back then, even a C-rank Ninjutsu was hard to come by, and now he had accidentally created a sensory jutsu with such immense potential.

All this without any systematic experience in jutsu development—just pure scientific exploration, using the unique properties of chakra, painstakingly reverse-engineered bit by bit from the Water Bat.

Through this jutsu development, he truly realized the wondrous nature of chakra and began to understand why the Sage of Six Paths originally intended chakra as a spiritual bond.

Chakra indeed held unique properties of connection, transmission, inheritance, and even manifestation.

Especially its manifestation aspect—though far from the Uchiha Mangekyo's ability to materialize all kinds of obsessions—

it showed astonishing potential in assimilation and learning, reminiscent of the Sharingan's powerful copying ability.

Even the Inuzuka Clan's super-enhanced olfactory sense was likely related to chakra, probably learned through gradual assimilation from their ninja hounds using these same chakra properties.

The Inuzuka family's olfactory sense was quite impressive, especially for battlefield intelligence gathering.

"Captain, at least one squad of Sand Ninja Puppet Masters is coming."

At that moment, Inuzuka Ryo had obtained more specific intelligence. He immediately tensed up, and after reporting, couldn't help sneaking a glance at Xiao Xiao beside him. It seemed the Will of Fire in his heart had finally wavered a little.

"Ryo, you're not scared, are you?"

Tejudo's heart was also uneasy, but his mouth was tough.

Then he started buttering people up, "With the Captain here, a few Sand Ninja Puppet Masters are just chickens and dogs. Right, my dear Captain?"

Tejudo looked at Umino Sasuke with a fawning expression.

"Alright, you two continue patrolling the defense zone. I'll go support alone."

Umino Sasuke shot Tejudo a glare, fully aware of his old subordinate's little schemes.

This time, it wasn't that the Captain didn't want to take you along and let you coast for merit—it was that you couldn't handle it yourselves.

"Captain, how can that be!"

Inuzuka Ryo immediately objected. Clan honor was at stake, and the Will of Fire quickly reclaimed the high ground in his mind. He insisted on going no matter what.

Tejudo, though full of tricks, was still a man of loyalty. How could he let his Captain go alone into danger?

Seeing that even Tejudo insisted on going, Xiao Xiao had no objections either.

Umino Sasuke nodded, deeply gratified: Not in vain for half a year of careful training—none of them are ungrateful wolves.

Since they all knew to repay kindness, he'd take them along for a little fortune this time.

"Let's go!"

Umino Sasuke shot forward instantly. To achieve the fastest support speed, he leaned his body forward at about thirty degrees, arms stretched back, and executed the classic Ninja Run.

This posture seemed biomechanically awkward, but with chakra attached to the feet, it was the most scientifically efficient and explosive running method for a ninja.

It reduced air resistance while making it easier to use tools.

In just four or five seconds, they had already sprinted nearly a hundred meters.

"Captain, isn't the direction we're supporting a bit off?"

Inuzuka Ryo, following behind Umino Sasuke, noticed the squad had deviated from the support route and raised a question.

Tejudo, trailing at the rear, had a glint in his eyes, as if he had caught on to something.

"This is more like a captain."

Tejudo couldn't help but mutter inwardly: I was wondering why the captain was so eager to support this time, not even afraid of a full squad of Sand Ninja Puppet Masters—turns out he was planning strategic support.

Calling for reinforcements from the garrison is also a form of support, isn't it?

Umino Sasuke had no idea what Tejudo was thinking, and even if he did, he had no time to bother with his convoluted schemes.

Before they engaged the enemy, Sasuke kept running while sharing battlefield experience.

"In conventional ninja combat, the core lies in intelligence and tactical maneuvering. Even a lion uses its full strength against a rabbit. Exploiting an intelligence disparity to catch the enemy off guard is the best support strategy."

This was battlefield wisdom forged in blood and tears. Unless you had overwhelming power to crush the enemy head-on, the classic and most effective ninja tactic was to use intelligence gaps to ambush and hunt.

Ninjas were generally glass cannons—high attack, low defense. Once their intelligence was compromised and they were ambushed.

Even a Kage-Level Expert could fall.

"Captain, you mean we set up an ambush ahead on the Sand Ninja's breakthrough route?"

Inuzuka Ryo suddenly understood, feeling enlightened by the captain's strategy.

The Sand Ninja forces infiltrating here were elites—at least a squad of Puppet Masters.

The Aoba Squad was just a bottom-tier patrol unit; they had surely been completely routed by these Sand Ninja Puppet Masters.

Rushing to support them now would be useless.

It might even mean throwing away lives in pointless sacrifice.

But if they set up an ambush on the Sand Ninja's breakthrough route and caught them off guard, wouldn't that not only block their advance but also give them a decent chance to wipe out this Puppet Master squad?

Inuzuka Ryo, hailing from the Inuzuka Clan, understood the importance of intelligence all too well.

If they laid an ambush and set traps.

Even against an entire Puppet Master squad, they had a fair chance of taking them all down.

Besides, this was the Konoha Defense Zone. Even if they couldn't annihilate the squad, holding out for a few minutes would surely bring the Mobile Patrol Unit to reinforce quickly.

"As expected of the captain—his combat experience is just rich!"

Inuzuka Ryo felt he had learned a lot, his eyes full of admiration.

Hearing Umino Sasuke's battle plan, even Tejudo, who always stuck to the art of lying low, felt his confidence soar.

He had already started envisioning the mission rating for this defensive action, calculating how many Mission Merit Points he could earn.

And he was mulling over whether to exchange those Mission Merit Points for ninjutsu or get a few more Explosive Tags Paper Figure wives.