The Calm Before the Great Battle

There were three squads, and with Mo Jingxian's team included, sixteen people in all.

Faced with Wind Blades raining down from the sky, seven of them joined forces to use Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.

Rumble!

A twenty-meter-long earthen wall surged up from the ground.

Immediately afterward, a string of dull thuds rang out.

The Earth-Style Wall lasted only two seconds before collapsing with a crash.

Dust swept wildly in every direction, blocking everyone's vision in an instant.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several dark figures burst from the cloud of dust and smoke, rushing headlong into the fierce attack.

Rotation!

The projectiles flying in from every direction were deflected. After landing, Ayako Hyuuga immediately retreated.

Mo Jingxian darted out from behind her, crossing paths with her.

Taking advantage of a gap in the enemy's attacks, Mo Jingxian charged between two Puppets.

Nintaijutsu activated, and the temperature within a ten-meter radius around him suddenly plummeted.

The low temperature made the Puppets' joints stiff and sluggish. Their owner could only watch helplessly as that freak dismantled his precious Puppets with his bare hands.

Before leaving, Mo Jingxian planted several Explosive Tags. Amid a series of blasts, his opponents once again lost sight of him.

For three days, the Sand Ninja had attacked in wave after wave, keeping the battles at a relentless pace.

The enemy exploited their overwhelming numerical advantage, taking turns attacking and severely exhausting the Konoha Ninja.

With a massive army bearing down on them, even the Konoha Ninja, whose individual abilities surpassed those of the Sand Ninja, had lost a great deal of ground over the past three days.

For a time, the Sand Ninja's advance surged like a tide.

"Retreat!"

Nara Shikuta's order meant that yet another stronghold had been lost.

The three squads covered one another as they withdrew in an orderly fashion. The enemy gained little from the engagement.

During a brief rest at Stronghold 17, two more squads joined them.

That was how things stood now. Small-scale duels between individuals had all but disappeared, while large-scale battles had become the norm.

It was the outcome the battlefield had arrived at after the two sides had fought this long.

"Make the most of this time to rest!"

Nara Shikuta looked over his subordinates.

"The enemy could catch up at any moment. If you don't want to die, don't go wandering off."

Even the usually mild-mannered High Ninja Lutai spoke with a cutting edge.

It showed just how fierce the fighting had become. The situation was grim.

Mo Jingxian thought as much.

Individual ability was greatly diminished in a group battle. Even he could easily die here if he let his guard down.

Unless someone was strong enough to change the course of the war alone, anyone caught in a concentrated attack was practically doomed.

The others were in poor shape. Even with Military Ration Pills, they still couldn't make up for their enormous energy expenditure.

Thanks to the recovery provided by the water element, Mo Jingxian still had less than a third of his Chakra left.

By rights, after fighting this long, they should have returned to camp to rest.

But Lutai showed no sign of intending to do that.

That was rather intriguing.

Mo Jingxian turned the thought over in his mind, then moved between Ayako and Shinju.

"Stay close to me later. Don't fall behind, no matter what."

Shinju started to say something, but Mo Jingxian stopped him with a look. Ayako gave a small nod.

No one was a fool. With the war at this stage, the first decisive battle couldn't be far off.

In a battle involving tens of thousands of Ninja, surviving took more than strength. It also took luck.

And wasn't Mo Jingxian their good fortune, too?

The attack came even sooner than expected. In less than ten minutes, the Ninja from both sides clashed again.

The Sand Ninja led the attack, while the Konoha Ninja fought as they retreated. One fresh life after another fell on the battlefield.

The fighting continued until nightfall, when the Sand Ninja finally withdrew.

Mo Jingxian leaned against a tree, too exhausted to even move a finger. He was completely spent.

After only two hours of rest, Nara Shikuta quietly woke Mo Jingxian.

He gestured: Don't make a sound.

Next, he carefully woke the other four members of their squad.

A moment later, a six-person Ninja squad disappeared into the woods under cover of darkness.

Mo Jingxian had no idea what their captain was planning. All he had to do was follow orders.

He wasn't powerful enough to sit at the decision-makers' table, so it was only natural that he hadn't been told in advance.

The group used the night as cover and headed south.

When they neared the place where Karura had forced Mo Jingxian to jump into the river, they turned east and made for the border of the Land of Wind.

Nara Shikuta didn't explain their mission. The six followed him in silence.

They traveled from midnight until dawn, finally reaching a secret outpost before the sun rose.

"Rest here for a day. No one is to leave this cave."

As soon as the captain finished speaking, Mo Jingxian dropped off to sleep.

Whatever the mission was, he'd have a better chance of surviving if he rested and got his energy back first.

He wasn't the captain. The rest wasn't his concern.

They were supposed to be resting, but no one dared to sleep soundly.

Especially here, at the front line of a war between two countries, with their current position not far from the border of the Land of Wind.

Mo Jingxian's old saying had never been more apt: even when you slept, you had to keep one eye open.

The cave was on a cliff above a mountain stream, its entrance hidden by vegetation and extremely well concealed.

It wasn't very big, just large enough to squeeze in six people. In other words... they all had to hold it in.

They barely made it to evening before Captain Nara Shikuta finally stirred.

He took out a map and spread it on the ground.

The others gathered around. Lutai put his finger on a point in the southeastern part of the Land of Rivers, near the Land of Wind.

"This is where we are."

He raised his head to look around, then moved his finger north to the border between the two countries.

"This is the mouth of the Wangchuan River. It has numerous tributaries and a complex network of waterways, making it very convenient to sneak into the Land of Wind."

Mo Jingxian understood. So this was a mission to infiltrate enemy territory.

No wonder they had kept it so secret.

Lutai's next words confirmed it.

"According to reliable intelligence, Sunagakure is transporting a shipment of supplies to the front line via Sandstone Millet."

The map was marked in great detail. Sandstone Millet lay north of the Wangchuan River, over a hundred kilometers away.

It was inland, within the Land of Wind.

"Our mission is to destroy those supplies. Does anyone have any questions?"

"How many troops are guarding them? What are our odds with just six of us?"

Hayama Shirakumo asked the key question.

Shikaku seemed confident. He answered calmly:

"The Sand Ninja won't have many troops escorting the shipment. If we catch them by surprise, we have a good chance of destroying it."

To make his reasoning more convincing, Captain Lutai offered a further analysis.

"At most, the Sand Ninja have twenty-five thousand Ninja. They've sent twelve thousand to fight us, eight thousand to hold the Rock Ninja front, and three thousand are stationed back in Sunagakure. The rest still have to be spread along the borders, so..."

"They're stretched thin at home," Mo Jingxian finished.

"Right. And that's not the only factor. This is a newly established route for the Sand Ninja. Our spies haven't been discovered. With surprise on our side, that raises our odds by another twenty percent."

Their discussion boosted everyone's confidence. Everything Nara Shikuta said was true.

It seemed their chances of success were pretty good.

Only one question remained: where to ambush the shipment.

Tekuno pointed to a stretch of canyon. "This spot would be perfect for an ambush."

It was true. Cliffs rose on both sides, with only one road in or out.

Once the enemy's convoy entered, they'd be like turtles in a jar.

Add an attack from above, and the enemy would have no chance of turning the tables.

The others looked at the map and nodded without thinking, entirely in agreement with Tekuno's choice.

"If we can think of this, don't you think the enemy can, too?"

Mo Jingxian objected, then pointed to the areas on either side of the canyon on the map and explained:

"Other than this canyon, the rest of the land is completely flat. If you were a Sand Ninja, what would you do?"

That was right. If they were Sand Ninja, they'd thoroughly search this place to make sure nothing could go wrong.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, but there weren't any better places to set up an ambush.

Lutai patted Mo Jingxian on the shoulder and encouraged him. "Go on."

Mo Jingxian didn't hold back. He placed his finger at the canyon's exit.

"If you ask me, we should set up here.

Think about it... when are people most relaxed? After they've made it through danger, of course."

He tapped the spot twice, then said firmly:

"If there's no suitable place for an ambush, we'll hide where the enemy least expects us."

Clap, clap, clap!

Nara Shikuta applauded softly.

"That was an excellent point. How did I never realize you had a talent for this?"

With the plan settled, Captain Lutai finally joked around for once.

"I learned it from the captain. Right?"

Mo Jingxian bumped Shinju Ishikawa with his shoulder, silently urging him to play along.

"Right. I can confirm he used to be an idiot."

The team's stifled laughter was even more mocking, and the tension before the battle lifted.

With their objective clear and their escape route agreed upon, everyone made the most of their time to rest.

The heavens were kind. Tonight, thick clouds covered the moon.

Beside a river valley not far from the border of the Land of Wind,

Mo Jingxian and the others crept to the riverbank and hid among clumps of grass.

"The first enemy patrol is two kilometers away. The second squad should reach this spot in five minutes. I don't see any other enemies for now."

With her Byakugan active, Ayako Hyuuga could see that the Sand Ninja's defenses were riddled with holes.

Mo Jingxian was almost getting used to relying on his teammate's Byakugan. It was incredibly convenient.

"Cross the river. Move carefully."

The six moved like ghosts, crossing the first line of defense over the water without making a sound.

The second line of defense had an extra squad of Sand Ninja, and their patrol routes crossed one another.

But under the Byakugan's gaze, they were all just pieces on a board.

The infiltrating squad seemed to be walking a tightrope, but in truth they moved without the slightest rush.

In less than half an hour, they had broken through the second line of defense.

Beyond it lay the territory of the Land of Wind.

From here on, they would have to tread even more carefully.

If they were exposed by accident, they would be doomed.

The six slipped into the river with hollow reeds clenched between their teeth.

Using the cover of night, they traveled upstream along the riverbed. Before dawn the next day, they finally reached a stony forest.

Traveling by day made them too easy to spot, so Nara Shikuta decided they would hide there for a day.

The stone forest had been badly weathered, and most of it had collapsed.

Only a few pillars remained standing, stubbornly refusing to fall.

They were like fearless spears, pointing skyward with unyielding conviction.