Heavy Siege

The Land of Rice, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Rain frequently changing their battle locations or mission areas is quite common. The ninja world itself is just a small world, and ninjas in wartime possess extreme mobility and operate over vast ranges.

To this planet, ninjas are nothing more than a group of hyperactive insects.

The Land of Rain, the amount of time it enjoys clear skies is comparable to the amount of time the Land of Wind experiences rain.

Yuhara was hidden in a large tree. He quietly pulled down the hood covering his head, and the humid air that had been building up around him immediately dissipated through his collar. Combined with the fine, scattered cold rain hitting his face, he instantly felt refreshed.

"Shitty weather."

Yuhara took a few deep breaths before inevitably sighing.

The reconnaissance squad's progress was slow. The environment of the Land of Rain was unfamiliar and dangerous, making it crucial to ensure the team's stealthy movement. Stealth meant safety.

The intel Yuhara and his team needed to gather wasn't some "secret of Hanzo" that required infiltrating Amegakure. In fact, they only needed to confirm general matters, such as the main direction of Amegakure's current troop deployment and whether it had changed compared to before.

This kind of information might seem easy to obtain, but for Yuhara's team, acquiring it was still extremely dangerous.

In this unchanging jungle, even ninjas could get lost. If they accidentally ran into a large Amegakure force... the jungles of the Land of Rain were a prime location for decomposition, with bodies breaking down exceptionally quickly.

By this time, the squad had scanned the surrounding environment and found no traces of enemy activity. This meant they had temporarily secured a safe zone, allowing some ninjas to rest briefly. This was a long-term mission, and if everyone remained on high alert constantly, problems would arise.

A short while later, Yuhara's hair was completely soaked. In this world filled with war, no one could expect Yuhara, a (formerly) reliable adult male, to put any effort into his appearance. It was commendable that he managed to maintain his personal hygiene daily.

The time the original host spent imprisoned in the dungeon, the time Yuhara spent imprisoned in the dungeon, and the time since Yuhara saw the light of day again – after so long, Yuhara hadn't bothered to get a haircut anywhere. Now, his gray hair looked incredibly cool, like a haystack.

Just then, Jian Dong approached Yuhara and handed him something, "Here, use this."

A hair tie? A scrunchie?

Yuhara looked at the item in his hand, then clumsily tied back the hair at the back of his head. He then grinned and chuckled silently, remembering something happy.

A low ponytail was a standard strong-person hairstyle in this world. It was a shame Yuhara had gray hair instead of white.

At this time, the internal conflict within Amegakure had not ended. On the contrary, due to an incident three years ago, Amegakure was in an even more chaotic state.

Three years ago, due to the schemes of Hanzo of Amegakure and someone from Konoha who always thought they were clever but was actually brain-dead, the leader of "Akatsuki," Yahiko, died. This caused the complete transformation of this righteous organization and extinguished Amegakure's only hope.

Although Hanzo was still alive, in truth, ever since Nagato went berserk, Hanzo's death had been inevitable; it was only a matter of time... A demigod was still just a demigod, not an opponent for a true god.

So, what was the current situation of Amegakure's division? Yuhara naturally had no idea. He just hoped he wouldn't encounter someone as monstrously strong as Nagato.

After taking turns resting, the twelve-person team continued to advance.

About two days later, a frontline camp of Amegakure appeared within the sight of the Konoha reconnaissance squad.

Jian Dong took out a map and recorded the relevant information.

"The location hasn't changed much. This camp is still used to defend against Konoha..."

"But the scale of the camp has expanded. Judging by the number of tents, the ninja here have increased by at least fifty percent compared to before."

"Targeted deployment? Targeting what? Amegakure should only be able to defend passively; they shouldn't have the capacity to launch proactive attacks."

The Konoha team was observing the Amegakure camp from afar with binoculars. This method of gathering intelligence was inefficient, and the accuracy of the information was limited, only allowing for general estimations. However, this team would not get any closer to the camp... Konoha's strength was naturally far superior to Amegakure's, but that didn't mean a small team could run amok in the Land of Rain.

In fact, the surrounding major nations were somewhat wary of the Land of Rain. Although Amegakure, under Hanzo's command, couldn't truly contend with a major power, in the stalemate between the major nations, Amegakure's movements could, to some extent, influence the course of the war.

What Amegakure was trying to do was not Yuhara and the others' concern. Their mission was to obtain intelligence and bring it back. Determining Amegakure's actions was a task for Konoha's higher-ups.

But after obtaining the relevant intelligence, could the Konoha infiltration team successfully withdraw from the heartland of the Land of Rain?

The answer was no.

With a whistle, it signaled that the Konoha team no longer needed to hide themselves sneakily.

"Retreat! Full speed retreat! Our operation has been exposed!"

The somewhat scattered Konoha team quickly regrouped and began moving at high speed directly towards the west-south direction.

"The enemy appeared suddenly. Several teams are encircling us from all directions!"

As the team retreated at high speed, Tigo explained.

"Is there a possibility they are on a routine patrol?"

Someone asked.

"Highly unlikely. The enemies from all directions are acting in unison, and their advance converges here... the target is very clear."

"Why were we suddenly exposed..."

The answer to this question was self-evident: the enemy had superior reconnaissance ninjas, whose scouting abilities far surpassed Tigo's.

Yuhara involuntarily looked up at the rain curtain in the sky.

"Impossible, right..."

Not only can't you speak ill of the dead, but you're not even allowed to think it?

"It's best to prepare for the possibility of being unable to escape the enemy's pursuit..." Yuhara reminded them.

"The enemy's encirclement is very tight. Now is not the time to worry about escaping the enemy's reconnaissance ninjas... Prepare to face the enemy ahead!"

Soon...

Yuhara would meet another kind of ninja.