Sand Shinobi Stronghold

"Everyone, be careful. The enemy has set traps nearby." In the forest, Yueguang Xingye, who was walking at the very front, suddenly spoke up. He raised a hand to signal everyone to stop, then called to Yueguang Han in the middle of the group, "Young Han, come here."

"Uncle Xingye." Hearing this, Yueguang Han walked forward. His Electronic Eye immediately spotted the trap between two bushes ahead—a thin steel wire dyed gray, yellow, and green. It ran through the bushes at a height of roughly a few centimeters above the ground, making it extremely inconspicuous.

"There are many traps on the battlefield, especially around strongholds and camps, where large numbers of them are used. So you must be careful. Many traps rely on steel wire. These wires are usually dyed so they won't reflect light and can blend into their surroundings." As Yueguang Xingye spoke to Yueguang Han, he carefully placed his palm behind the wire, making the hidden wire much easier to see.

"Mm." Yueguang Han gave a quiet acknowledgment, showing that he was listening attentively.

Yueguang Xingye was taking this opportunity to teach him battlefield experience. Although Yueguang Han had relied on a large number of traps to kill that thirty-one-man Sand Shinobi squad, and understood the principle himself, his little experience was nowhere near comparable to Yueguang Xingye's.

"Traps like this generally conceal Explosive Tags at both ends. Though simple, they can be set up quickly and are very powerful, so they are fairly common. To prevent this from being a Chain Trap, you can't simply cut the steel wire. You first need to find the Explosive Tags." As he spoke, Yueguang Xingye demonstrated for Yueguang Han. Following the wire into the bushes on both sides, he found two concealed Explosive Tags and carefully removed them.

After demonstrating once for Yueguang Han, Yueguang Xingye said to everyone, "Reaching this place proves that we have entered the enemy's defensive perimeter. The traps ahead will only become more numerous. Jonin and Elite Chunin with more experience dismantling traps will take the lead. Work together and clear the traps as we advance in this direction."

"Yes." Upon hearing Yueguang Xingye's arrangements, everyone immediately nodded. Several older Jonin and Elite Chunin with extensive trap-disarming experience quickly moved to the front of the group.

"Young Han, come with me." Yueguang Xingye instructed Yueguang Han. He seized every opportunity to teach Yueguang Han battlefield experience. Of course, they had an important mission to complete, so this was only simple instruction along the way.

At dusk on the third day, after advancing cautiously and dismantling traps for an entire day and night, Konoha's group of more than a hundred finally reached the entrance of a valley flanked by steep mountains.

It was a narrow valley less than a hundred meters wide and of unknown length. The mountains on either side rose nearly a thousand meters high and stretched on without end. Though the cliffs were not sheer, the surrounding mountains were still extremely steep, with complex terrain, dense trees and vines, and treacherous slopes. Even Shinobi would need considerable time to cross the mountains, while carts and horses could not pass through them at all.

The valley between the mountains had been leveled and widened by the Sand Shinobi using Earth Style, making transportation convenient. The Sand Shinobi had also set a large number of traps throughout the mountains on both sides.

Yueguang Xingye led everyone carefully up one side of the mountain, taking half a day before they finally saw the target of this operation: the Sand Shinobi Stronghold, built half a li inside the gorge. It consisted of more than thirty temporary wooden huts and forty or fifty tents erected along both sides of the valley. Even from far away, they could see figures constantly moving within the stronghold.

There were definitely many Sand Shinobi in this stronghold—perhaps even considerably more than the number of Konoha Shinobi who had come to attack it.

"Young Han, what do you think of the terrain here?" Looking down at the Sand Shinobi Stronghold below, Yueguang Xingye asked Yueguang Han beside him. Everyone around them hurriedly turned their attention to Yueguang Han as well.

"Tall mountains surround this place, with rugged peaks on both sides. The terrain is dangerous, and there are probably no other roads nearby. This is a very important transportation route—perhaps even the Sand Shinobi's only supply route on this front. War does not have only one battlefield. If the Sand Shinobi reroute their supplies, not only will it take much more time and require more people for transportation, but without the terrain advantage here, they will also be more vulnerable to attacks along the way." Yueguang Han immediately began analyzing the situation in an orderly manner.

At the same time, Yueguang Han felt puzzled. With terrain this important, there would definitely be no small number of Sand Shinobi here, and their defenses would surely be strong. Why had Orochimaru sent only a hundred or so Shinobi? Although they were all Shinobi from mid-tier clans, their strength was still insufficient. They could not even match the enemy's numbers. Even if they managed to capture this place, the casualties would certainly be enormous, not to mention holding it afterward. And why had Yueguang Xingye and these Shinobi from other clans accepted a mission that was almost impossible to complete?

"Your analysis is very good." Yueguang Xingye patted Yueguang Han on the shoulder. "Then are you confident you can capture this place and hold it afterward?"

"Me?" Yueguang Han froze for a moment. He finally understood. Orochimaru intended to rely on the advantage of his Bloodline Limit to take this place and defend it.

That also explained why Orochimaru had not sent anyone to capture such an important location until Yueguang Han appeared. A force that was too large would easily be discovered by the Sand Shinobi and could not infiltrate this far at all, while a small force lacked the strength to take and hold the place. Nor could they specifically pull elite forces and Jonin from elsewhere, since the other battlefields needed them just as badly. It was also to prevent the mission from failing and costing them a large number of elites.

But with the advantage of his Bloodline Limit, things were different. In this kind of narrow yet open terrain, the advantages of Firearms were enormous. Orochimaru had undoubtedly noticed that, which was why he had sent them here.

"Then if it were you, how would you capture this place? And how would you hold it afterward?" Hearing Yueguang Han's analysis, Yueguang Xingye smiled and asked him. Everyone else watched Yueguang Han nervously as well.

"If we can get within one hundred and fifty meters of their stronghold, I can launch a frontal assault. As for the defense afterward, we can discuss that later. It will require everyone's full cooperation." Now that he understood he was responsible for the main attack in this operation, Yueguang Han spoke immediately. Having just installed a new Tech Template, he had the confidence to launch a frontal assault. It would also be a good chance to test the new Tech Template.

"There will definitely be several Sensory Shinobi among those Sand Shinobi. It will be too difficult to sneak within one hundred and fifty meters of their stronghold." A Jonin from the Mitarashi Clan shook his head. The others nodded as well. At such an important location, the Sand Shinobi could not possibly fail to station Sensory Shinobi here, and there would definitely be more than one. It was nearly impossible for more than a hundred people to quietly infiltrate that close.

(The protagonist will have many Tech Templates. Other than special templates such as the Red Alert Template, Transformers Template, Clone Template, and Robot Production Line, the other templates will only be introduced when they are used, so there is no need to pad the word count with the process of obtaining them. Examples include conventional Tech Templates such as the Barrett template and Battleship Template.)

(Those with sensory ranges exceeding a thousand meters are rare talents. The Byakugan, for example, is extremely precious and makes the other ninja villages deeply envious. Ordinary Sensory Shinobi can generally only sense within a few hundred meters, and their sensory ability is not very good.)