Sand Shinobi Stronghold

"Everyone, be careful. The enemy has set traps around us." In the forest, Yueguang Xingye, who was walking at the 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." Yueguang Han stepped forward. With a single glance, his Electronic Eye spotted the trap between two bushes ahead—a thin steel wire dyed gray, yellow, and green. It ran through the bushes a few centimeters above the ground and was extremely inconspicuous.

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

"Mm." Yueguang Han answered, indicating that he was listening carefully.

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

"Traps like this usually have Explosive Tags hidden at both ends. Although this kind of trap is simple, it can be set up quickly and is extremely powerful, so it is quite common. To prevent it from being a Chain Trap, you cannot simply cut the steel wire. You must first find the Explosive Tags." As Yueguang Xingye explained, he demonstrated for Yueguang Han. Following the wire into the bushes on both sides, he found two concealed Explosive Tags and carefully dismantled 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. There will be more and more traps ahead. The Jonin and Elite Chunin with more experience dismantling traps will lead the way. Work together and clear the traps as we advance in this direction."

"Yes." Hearing Yueguang Xingye's arrangement, everyone immediately nodded. Several older Jonin and Elite Chunin with extensive experience in dismantling traps quickly moved to the front of the group.

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

At dusk on the third day, after advancing cautiously and clearing traps for a full day and night, Konoha's group of over 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 their cliffs were not sheer, the surrounding slopes were extremely steep and the terrain complex, covered in lush trees and vines. The way was precipitous and difficult to traverse. Even Shinobi would need a great deal of time to cross the mountains, while carts and horses could not cross them at all.

The valley between the mountains had been leveled and widened by the Sand Shinobi with Earth Style, making transportation easier. The Sand Shinobi had also set up a great many traps on both mountainsides.

Yueguang Xingye led everyone carefully up one side of the mountain, spending half a day to do so. At last, they saw the target of this operation: a Sand Shinobi stronghold built half a li into the gorge. More than thirty temporary wooden houses and forty to fifty tents had been erected on both sides of the valley. Even from such a distance, 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 sent to attack it.

"Young Han, what do you think of the terrain here?" Looking at the Sand Shinobi stronghold below, Yueguang Xingye asked Yueguang Han beside him. The people around them hurriedly turned their eyes toward Yueguang Han as well.

"High mountains surround this place, with towering ranges on both sides. The terrain is treacherous, and there are likely no other routes nearby. This is a very important transportation route—perhaps even the Sand Shinobi's only supply route on this front. If the Sand Shinobi reroute their supplies, not only will it take a great deal of time and require more people to handle transportation, but without the terrain advantage here, they will also be more vulnerable to attacks along the way." Yueguang Han immediately launched into an orderly analysis.

At the same time, Yueguang Han was puzzled. With terrain this important, there could not possibly be few Sand Shinobi stationed here, and its defenses would certainly be strong. Why had Orochimaru sent only a little over a hundred Shinobi? Although they were all Shinobi from established families, 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 surely be severe, not to mention holding it afterward. And why had Yueguang Xingye and these Shinobi from other families accepted a mission that was almost impossible to accomplish?

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

"Me?" Yueguang Han froze for a moment. Then he finally understood. Orochimaru intended to rely on the advantages of his Bloodline Limit to take this place and hold it.

That also explained why Orochimaru had not sent anyone to seize such an important location before Yueguang Han appeared. A force that was too large would easily be discovered by the Sand Shinobi and would never be able to infiltrate this place, while a small force lacked the strength to capture and defend it. Nor could they specifically pull elite troops and Jonin from elsewhere, since the other battlefields needed them just as badly, and doing so would risk losing a large number of elites if the mission failed.

But with the advantages of his Bloodline Limit, things were different. In this long, narrow, open terrain, the advantages of Firearms were enormous. Orochimaru had clearly seen that, which was why he had sent them here.

"Then if it were you, how do you think we should capture this place? And how should we defend it afterward?" Hearing Yueguang Han's analysis, Yueguang Xingye smiled as he 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 direct assault. As for defending it afterward, we can discuss that later. It will require everyone to work together." Now that he understood he was responsible for the main assault in this operation, Yueguang Han immediately answered. Having just installed a new Tech Template, Yueguang Han had the confidence to force an attack, and this was also a good opportunity to test the new Tech Template.

"There will definitely be several Sensory Shinobi among those Sand Shinobi. It will be far too difficult to sneak within one hundred and fifty meters of them," a Jonin from the Mitarashi Clan said, shaking his head. The others nodded as well. In such an important location, the Sand Shinobi could not possibly have failed to station Sensory Shinobi here, and there was certainly more than one. It was almost impossible for over a hundred people to sneak over unnoticed.

(The protagonist will have many Tech Templates. Aside from special templates such as the Red Alert Template, Transformers Template, Clone Template, and robot production lines, the other templates will only be introduced when they are used. There is no need to pad the word count with the acquisition process. This includes standard Tech Templates such as the Barrett template and Battleship Template.)

(A sensory range exceeding a thousand meters is the mark of exceptional talent. The Byakugan, for example, is extremely valuable and makes the other ninja villages very envious. Ordinary Sensory Shinobi can generally only sense a few hundred meters, and their sensing ability is not very effective.)