Ninja Will

"Captain, I'll keep working hard from now on."

After a round of PUA-induced self-reflection, Inuzuka Ryo quickly recognized the shortcomings of his own CPU and said there was still much he needed to learn from the Captain.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

At that moment, Ninja Hound Akitaru suddenly began barking, snapping Inuzuka Ryo out of his daze.

Inuzuka Ryo hurriedly sniffed at the air, analyzing the biological pheromones within it to sense information about the enemies ahead.

Umino Sasuke also formed a Tiger Hand Seal with one hand and pressed two fingers against his Summoning Beast, Water Bat, activating the resonant amplification of Sonic Radar to enhance his senses.

"Captain, the traps are set."

After a flurry of activity, Tejudo had just finished setting up the traps.

But Inuzuka Ryo looked as though he had encountered some terrifying beast. His expression changed drastically as he cried sharply, "Not good! Besides the three Puppet Masters, there are six unfamiliar ninja scents in the air."

Inuzuka Ryo's heart immediately sank into despair, and he blamed himself deeply. It seemed that because of his intelligence error, he had led his squad into a Life and Death Crisis.

The Sand ninja elite that had come to break through and infiltrate this time were not a three-man Puppet Master squad, but a full nine of them—the exact number of a standard Sand ninja elite unit.

Those nine scents were all unfamiliar, carrying the Land of Wind's distinctive smell of sand and dust, as well as a clear lingering scent of blood and rust. There was no trace of the familiar scents of the four members of Aoba Squad. They had likely been easily wiped out by this Sand ninja elite unit.

This was an entire Sand ninja elite unit—nine Sand ninja, three full squads. Every member was at least a Chunin, while the three Captains were most likely Jonin, or at worst Special Jonin.

On their side, there was only one Chunin and three Genin. Forget stopping the enemy—they would probably collapse the moment they clashed, without even a chance for a tactical retreat.

"What?! Inuzuka Ryo, are you saying nine elite Sand ninja came this time?"

Tejudo's eyes turned bloodshot as he glared furiously at Inuzuka Ryo. The veins on his thick neck throbbed violently with every breath, and his entire body looked like a drawn bowstring ready to snap into action.

"Mm." Inuzuka Ryo's lowered right hand had unconsciously clenched Akitaru's mane so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, drawing a whimper from Akitaru.

The ambush point they now occupied was a gap in the rear defense zone of Aoba Squad, as well as the entire zone's upwind area.

An upwind area greatly enhanced scent-based perception. There was no mistake—an entire Sand ninja elite unit was coming.

"Heh." Umino Sasuke's face looked terrifyingly grim on the surface, but inwardly, he chuckled.

Although the Inuzuka Clan's scent-based perception was extraordinarily impressive, its precision in gathering intelligence was far inferior to the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.

The Byakugan possessed a 360-degree field of vision without blind spots. It could observe things a kilometer away and had the ability to see through objects and perceive chakra flow.

It was practically a walking X-ray machine.

In terms of perception, it was nearly unmatched in the Shinobi World. Only the Uzumaki Clan's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could contend with it, making the Inuzuka Clan's scent-based perception utterly incomparable.

Still, his Ultrasonic Radar Technique was no slouch either. While it could not match Hyuga Hinata's high-purity Byakugan and its terrifying five-kilometer observation range, it far surpassed the ordinary Byakugan's one kilometer.

It reached an astonishing three kilometers.

It likewise possessed a 360-degree field of vision without blind spots and a certain degree of penetrating vision. Its only difference from the Byakugan was that it still could not perceive chakra flow.

In terms of intelligence-gathering perception alone, his Ultrasonic Radar Technique was practically equivalent to the Byakugan.

It was also a walking X-ray machine.

Perception this powerful far surpassed Inuzuka Ryo's scent-based perception, whether in range or the accuracy of the intelligence it provided.

According to Inuzuka Ryo's intelligence, Aoba Squad had indeed been completely wiped out by the Sand ninja. But this was no entire Sand ninja elite unit. It was clearly three Konoha intelligence ninja fleeing desperately back from the Land of Wind, with six elite Sand ninja in pursuit.

Yet judging from the situation, the Sand ninja who had initially come chasing them had indeed been a standard Sand ninja elite unit. One of the Sand ninja squads had most likely been held back by the Konoha intelligence Captain, or had already perished with him.

And these six Sand ninja still had not managed to take down the three Konoha Ninja. The three Konoha Ninja were evidently no weaklings either, at least elite-level Chunin.

If they continued to block the enemy, then with the addition of those three Konoha elites, even a direct confrontation would not be nearly as hopeless as Inuzuka Ryo imagined. At the very least, they could hold out until the Mobile Patrol Unit arrived with reinforcements.

If the traps were laid properly, they might even have a chance of taking down all these Sand ninja before the Mobile Patrol Unit's support arrived.

"Captain, what do we do now?"

Xiao Xiao grabbed Umino Sasuke's sleeve, her face deathly pale. She was so frightened that she had completely lost her bearings.

At that moment, an inexplicable Will of Fire seemed to surge from Umino Sasuke's body as he declared righteously, "You retreat first. I'll stay behind and cover you!"

A clash between Jonin still carried considerable risk. Better to have these three little ones stay far away so they would not get in the way.

"How can we do that?!"

Inuzuka Ryo immediately objected loudly, filled with self-reproach. This intelligence mistake had been his fault to begin with. In such a dire situation, how could he abandon the Captain and cling to life while leaving him to face it alone?

"I'll stay and cover the rear with the Captain. Brother, take Xiao Xiao and retreat first!"

Inuzuka Ryo seemed to have made some sort of resolve to die. He looked deeply back at Xiao Xiao, silently engraving her figure into his heart forever.

Then Inuzuka Ryo stepped to Umino Sasuke's side and faced forward. His eyes were filled with a will to die, yet his body radiated a resolute determination.

"Hm?" Umino Sasuke's eyes lit up.

He was all too familiar with what was happening to Inuzuka Ryo. Wasn't this the Will of Fire?

No, more accurately, this was Ninja Will.

It was a unique spiritual will that ninja awakened within themselves when facing brutal battle, provisionally called [Ninja Will].

The Third Hokage might not have been much good in other respects, but his political accomplishments were absolutely outstanding.

He had actually conflated the so-called Will of Fire with this Ninja Will, achieving an extraordinarily remarkable innovation.

The fact that the other nations later followed suit one after another showed just how valuable it was.

Among the Shinobi World's nations, aside from Konoha's Will of Fire, Iwagakure's Will of Stone was the most successful in this regard.

The reason Iwagakure could produce so many Jonin, besides its already large ninja population, was likely related to this Will of Stone.

Although Jonin who awakened the Will of Stone rather than attaining the rank through their own bloodline talents were somewhat lacking in strength due to their bloodline limitations, they were still Jonin, and their combat power was not bad.

Now that Inuzuka Ryo had actually awakened Ninja Will, becoming a Chunin in a short time was basically certain.

As long as he did not die young and continued like this, then with his bloodline talent, becoming a Jonin once he reached adulthood was almost foreseeable.