Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
High above the bushes, dark figures flashed past, accompanied by rapid thuds as they stepped across the tree trunks. A group of twelve raced forward. Three Jonin and eight Chunin were responsible for protecting Tsunade, the current head of the frontline Medical Team. There was also Duke, a Chunin tasked with impersonating Tsunade.
Hizashi remained the unwavering vanguard. With the Byakugan's abilities, the Hyuga Clan could only say that they had seen the term "rear guard" in ninja manuals.
"The Sand Shinobi's defensive line has contracted drastically. Most of their forces have gathered together—they're coming in force!"
"I wonder what the Sand Ninja High Command is thinking. After pulling back their troops, they practically handed us many key fortresses for free. Are they planning to stake everything on one throw? Succeed or die trying?"
"If a fight breaks out, it'll probably be the final battle. It might rival the battle at the start, when we drove the Sand Shinobi out of our territory. I was there for that one. So many people died..."
The three Jonin, including Hizashi, discussed what they had seen and heard on the front lines. It was no surprise that they knew such classified information. In the world of Naruto, troop movements on the scale of entire legions were practically transparent. Ninjas excelled at infiltration, stealth, and intelligence gathering, and there was no shortage of such ninjas—like carp crossing a river, wave after wave.
The Sand Shinobi also seemed to understand that sneaking around was nothing but a meaningless waste of time, so they laid everything out in the open.
A troop deployment of this scale, carried out so openly, naturally could not escape Konoha's watchful eyes. Almost the moment the Sand Shinobi made their move, Konoha came up with a response. Since the Sand