Ambush

The skirmish in the rainforest ended quickly—so quickly that the stench of blood hadn't even faded before the battle was already over.

"Quit daydreaming."

Uchiha Fugaku's cold voice snapped Chunin Kaito out of his shock. By now, things like this no longer stirred any emotion in him.

He flicked the blood off his short blade and showed no sign of relaxing after a minor victory. "Erase our tracks. Sink the bodies in the swamp. We have only ten minutes to move. The enemy's main force could notice their advance team has gone missing at any moment."

"Yes, sir!"

Kaito and the other Chunin came back to their senses and hurried to work. But this time, when they looked at Nishikawa Tetsu, who was retrieving the metal decoy rods nearby, their earlier contempt was gone. In its place was wariness of the unknown.

A Genin had just used a few bottles of liquid and several sticks to trick four elite Earth Release shinobi into their deaths.

That sort of method was more chilling than simple slaughter.

"Nishikawa Tetsu."

Uchiha Fugaku came over to Tetsu and asked in a low voice, "How much of that toxin do you have left?"

"Not much. We used a third of it just now," Nishikawa Tetsu answered honestly.

"But I have something more exciting in mind for the battle in the gorge."

The team set off again.

To avoid further scouts from Sunagakure, they abandoned their original route and chose a much rougher mountain ridge, slick with moss.

Hyuga Hiro kept his Byakugan active as he led the way. The veins at his temples bulged slightly from maintaining the technique for so long, and his face had gone pale.

The Byakugan was excellent for reconnaissance, but it also consumed a great deal of Chakra and mental energy.

"Hyuga Hiro."

As they marched, Nishikawa Tetsu suddenly quickened his pace and came up beside Hyuga Hiro, holding out a small glass bottle.

"What is this?" Hyuga Hiro remained wary and didn't reach for it. His pale eyes swept over the bottle.

"High-concentration Blueberry Extract, mixed with a small amount of Chakra Activator."

Nishikawa Tetsu explained.

"Put a drop in your eyes. It'll ease spasms in the optic nerve and improve oxygen supply to the tiny blood vessels in your eyes. The Byakugan gives you a 360-degree field of vision, but maintaining long-range X-ray vision for too long raises the pressure in your eyes and blurs the edges of your vision, right?"

Hyuga Hiro paused.

It was a chronic affliction of the Hyuga Clan, and a burden for branch-family shinobi.

Because of the Caged Bird Seal, their Byakugan had a one-degree blind spot. To compensate, they often had to overtax the nerves in their eyes.

But this was usually a closely guarded clan secret. How could an outsider Genin know so much about it?

"I do research. I know a little about human anatomy." Nishikawa Tetsu seemed to read his thoughts and smiled.

"Don't worry. Captain Fugaku has used my medicine too."

Behind them, Uchiha Fugaku's mouth twitched at that, but he didn't deny it. He only gave a cold grunt.

Hyuga Hiro hesitated for a moment, then took the bottle and tilted his head back to put in two drops.

A cool sensation seeped into his eyeballs. The aching, stinging discomfort eased considerably, almost like a miracle, and his vision grew sharper and clearer.

"Thanks." Hyuga Hiro's voice was less stiff now, and he looked at Nishikawa Tetsu more warmly.

"Just a mutually beneficial arrangement." Nishikawa Tetsu returned to the group. "We'll need your eyes for the road ahead."

Namikaze Minato came over and spoke quietly. "Your social skills are incredible. You can even put the Hyuga and Uchiha at ease."

Nishikawa Tetsu gave him a strange look. Aren't you, the future Fourth Generation, the one everyone loves?

"In this team, the longer we can keep our eyes sharp, the better our odds of surviving."

Half an hour later.

At last, the group reached their destination—Howling Valley.

The terrain was treacherous. Sheer cliffs hundreds of meters high rose on both sides, while a muddy river roared through the center.

The gorge was so narrow that the wind howled through it like wailing spirits, giving it its name.

"This kind of terrain..."

Uchiha Fugaku stood behind a rock on the high ground, looking down at the river below, his brow furrowed. "It's suited for an ambush, but they're on boats and we're on shore. If we attack, they can use Water Release to defend themselves or speed through. The range of our ninjutsu is limited. It'll be difficult to stop the entire fleet."

"What if we collapse the gorge?" Kaito suggested. "We could use Explosive Tags to blast the cliffs on both sides and block the river."

"That would be difficult."

Nishikawa Tetsu shook his head and pointed at the cliffs.

"The rock here is Basalt, which is extremely hard. And look at the structure of the cliffs—they're solid throughout. We'd need thousands of Explosive Tags placed precisely to collapse them and block a river this wide. We don't have anywhere near enough."

"Then what do we do?" Kaito said anxiously. "Just let them pass?"

"We can't bring it down with brute force, but we can use leverage."

Nishikawa Tetsu crouched and took out paper and a pen, quickly sketching an Acoustic Vibration Model.

"Hyuga Hiro, could you use your Byakugan to check whether there are several dense clusters of cracks halfway up the cliff across from us?"

Hyuga Hiro activated his Byakugan immediately, his vision crossing hundreds of meters. "There are. About eighty meters above the water, there are several deep fissures inside the rock, and it looks like groundwater is seeping out."

"That's it."

A glint flashed in Nishikawa Tetsu's eyes. "Those are Stress Concentration Points in the Rock Layer."

"We don't need to destroy the entire mountain. We just need to set off explosions at those support points at a specific frequency. Gravity will take care of the rest."

Nishikawa Tetsu stood and pulled more than a dozen specially made Kunai from his backpack. Strange metal plates were attached to the Explosive Tags bound to them.

"This is Resonance Blast."

He turned to Namikaze Minato. "Minato, you're the only one who can handle this mission. You'll need to use the Body Flicker Technique to plant these Kunai precisely in the rock points Hyuga Hiro identified, all within five seconds."

Namikaze Minato looked at the nearly vertical cliff, slick with moss, then at the rushing torrent below. He showed no fear—instead, a confident smile spread across his face.

"Five seconds? Three will be enough."

"Good."

Uchiha Fugaku took command and stared down at the dark river—the direction from which the enemy would soon arrive.

"Hyuga Hiro, report the enemy's position."

"Three kilometers out, moving fast. The lead vessel is a heavy transport ship. Its deck is crowded with... What's that?"

Hyuga Hiro's voice suddenly grew tense. "Puppets! Countless puppets! And the person standing at the bow has an enormous amount of Chakra. He's Chiyo of Sunagakure's disciple—a Jonin named Kazama Sousuke!"

"An elite unit..."

Uchiha Fugaku drew a deep breath. Chakra began to surge through him, and his Three Tomoe turned slowly in the darkness.

"Everyone, take cover! No one moves without my order."

"Nishikawa Tetsu, prepare the detonator."

"Namikaze Minato, stand by."

"Yes, sir!"

The rain grew heavier, masking every trace of danger in the gorge.

Nishikawa Tetsu lay in the cold, wet grass, his fingers hooked around a thin Chakra wire. He stared at the bend in the river, his heartbeat quickening as the distant sound of engines drew closer.

This battle wasn't just about cutting off supplies.

It was also a chance to prove to the Shinobi World that knowledge could sometimes be deadlier than ninjutsu.

"They're here."

Hyuga Hiro's voice rang out.

A powerful searchlight beam pierced the rain. A transport ship, like a steel monster and laden with weapons of slaughter, slowly entered the natural coffin.