A Close Call
Starting yesterday afternoon, Hizashi Hyuga's mental state noticeably declined; he felt dizzy, had difficulty concentrating, and even the detection range of his Byakugan had decreased.
After noticing this, Hatake Sakumo decisively ended the reconnaissance. The group found a secluded spot to rest for the night, and Hizashi's symptoms began to improve.
"The activation of Dōjutsu requires not only Chakra but also the support of mental strength. Although my Military Ration Pill are very effective, they only replenish physical energy. The replenishment of mental strength is merely a way for physical energy to replenish the spirit. More importantly, one needs sufficient rest."
"During this period, Hizashi -senpai has been using his Byakugan at a high intensity for Senior periods, and his mental energy hasn't been effectively replenished, which is why his condition has declined."
Taiichi, as the team's Medical Ninja, gave his professional assessment and asked Hizashi to rest a little longer.
However, Hatake Sakumo rejected the offer outright. The mission was urgent; the team had to Scout the remaining two outposts by morning and meet with the Anbu in the afternoon, leaving no extra time.
With 15 kilometers to go before the last outpost, the team slowly advanced to Scout ahead. Due to Hizashi condition, he could no longer use his Byakugan constantly; he could only use it for final reconnaissance and confirmation once they got closer to the target.
After the team of four Scout another 5 kilometers, Hizashi finally opened his Byakugan, but in an instant, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Seeing this, Taiichi quickly stepped forward to help Hizashi up and was about to check his physical condition.
Hizashi gently pushed Taiichi away, and said with difficulty, "This is the last one, I can still hold on."
Seeing his condition, no one tried to persuade him further. They knew that only by completing the task quickly could he have more time to rest.
The squad continued its covert advance.
"There are Sand Village Ninja patrolling 3 kilometers ahead at the 2 o'clock position."
"There is a Sunagakure, 4 kilometers ahead at the 11 o'clock position."
Guided by the Byakugan, the team successfully made their way to an observation distance of 3 kilometers from the outpost. The four of them carefully hid behind a rock, quietly waiting for Hizashi to make a final confirmation.
Five minutes later, Hizashi finally lived up to expectations, completing the reconnaissance of the last outpost. Exhausted, he closed his Byakugan. "We can retreat now."
Following the route that Hizashi had previously observed, the team quickly moved away from the outpost. Everyone felt much more relaxed, especially Hizashi, whose tired face even showed a rare smile.
However, before everyone could celebrate for long, Taiichi suddenly shouted in a low voice, "Stop!"
The team immediately stopped, and everyone looked at Taiichi with puzzled eyes, hoping he could give an explanation.
"I know a Sensory Ninjutsu. There's a small team of four Sand Village Ninja about 500 meters ahead. They should have already noticed us, but they're unsure if we're friend or foe. They're heading this way now."
Taiichi quickly recounted his findings, providing everyone with the latest information on the enemy.
"How could that be? I clearly looked over here just now, and there were no enemies coming at all—" Just as he finished speaking, Hizashi realized what was happening.
Because he was in such poor condition, he had focused all his attention on the direction of the outpost and only gave this area a cursory glance. After the Scout was over, he immediately turned off his Byakugan, and this direction happened to be in the Byakugan spot of his Byakugan.
It was likely around that time that these ninjas passed through his Byakugan's Scout and approached the squad.
A wave of guilt washed over him, and he was about to apologize when Hatake Sakumo Teuchi, "An accident is part of the mission. Now, just solve the problem!"
Can the Byakugan still be activated?
Hizashi shook his head guiltily, "I just tried it, it consumes too much energy, it can't be opened at all."
Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo immediately turned to Taiichi, "What's the enemy's situation now?"
Taiichi didn't hesitate and directly gave the information. "They're 450 meters away, slowly approaching, and their positions are spread out. They probably haven't realized we're the enemy yet."
Hearing such precise intelligence, Hatake Sakumo was slightly surprised, but time was of the essence, and he didn't have time to think too much before immediately coming up with a solution.
"Alright, we'll disguise ourselves as Sand Village Ninja, slowly approach, and once we're within sight, we'll ambush and eliminate them. We absolutely cannot let them fire their Signal Flare. Minato, this surprise attack mainly depends on you; your Flying Thunder God is the most effective way to strike unexpectedly here."
Having devised a plan, the group pretended to be nonchalant as they approached the Sunagakure team. However, under Taiichi's guidance, the team intentionally or unintentionally walked in places that obscured their view.
This was naturally intended to delay their discovery as much as possible and get as close as possible to the Sunagakure ninjas.
300 meters.
200 meters.
100 meters.
"Be careful, once we cross this small hill, we'll be face to face with those Sunagakure, and the straight-line distance won't exceed 30 meters!" Taiichi gave a final warning.
Upon hearing this, everyone made preparations.
Hatake Sakumo drew his Short Sword, Minato Namikaze took out his Flying Thunder God Kunai, and Hizashi Hyuga began to gather Chakra.
The moment the group slowly walked to the top of the hill, the four members of Sunagakure were at the bottom. At that moment, both sides were exposed to each other's view. The only difference was that one side was prepared, while the other was caught off guard.
The four Sunagakure clearly hadn't expected to encounter Konoha ninjas in this place. They usually guarded against Iwagakure ninjas the most in this area, and recently there had been news of an alliance with Iwagakure, so the guard at the outpost was inevitably lax.
In that split second, Minato flicked his wrist, and three Flying Thunder God Kunai through the air, heading straight for the enemy formation. At the same time, the four activated their Body Flicker Technique, swooping down towards the enemy like arrows released from a bow.
"Send the signal!" The Sand Village Ninja's reaction was incredibly fast. After only a slight pause, they made the most correct judgment. Their group was only Chunin, while the enemy team looked like a Jonin. They couldn't win in a fight, and they might not even be able to escape. The most important thing right now was to send the message out.
Quickly dodging several Kunai thrown by the enemy, the Sand Village Ninja had already drawn Signal Flare from his waist. Just as he was about to pull the pin, a Kunai slashed across his neck from behind, and his hand holding the pin was grabbed tightly.
Even in his dying moments, he couldn't understand how the enemy had appeared behind him and slit his throat. All his thoughts ultimately boiled down to one. "I'm so unwilling to accept this!"
With the most troublesome enemy dealt with, Minato breathed a sigh of relief. As he lunged at the next enemy, on the other side, Sakumo and Taiichi had already dealt with their respective opponents.
When the last enemy fell, the entire battle had lasted only a few seconds.
The Chunin's overwhelming strength overwhelmed the Jonin, and the surprise attack succeeded. Once the ninja capable of sending a signal was dealt with by Minato, the outcome of the battle was no surprise.
Hizashi Hyuga then walked up, looking at Taiichi with Taiichi rather complicated expression. At this moment, he truly understood the weight of Sakumo's words before the mission, "Don't underestimate him." It turned out that Taiichi was not only skilled in Medical Ninjutsu, but also possessed the strength of a Jonin terms of raw power.
The three-person team was dealing with the corpses and the scene, which needed to be cleaned up as soon as possible to delay the Sunagakure's discovery. At this time, it was too conspicuous for Hizashi to be standing alone watching Taiichi daze.
As the Captain, Hatake Sakumo was the first to notice his unusual behavior. He walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "What's wrong? Surprised?"
Hizashi nodded, then shook her head. "I understand, there are always people who are different. It's just that this time it was all because of my incompetence that I unnecessarily increased the risk of the mission being exposed."
"You've done a great job. The reconnaissance was completed so quickly these past few days; you deserve a lot of credit," Hatake Sakumo comforted him. "Missions are inherently full of surprises. We arranged four-person teams precisely to compensate for each other's weaknesses, didn't we?"
"Alright, hurry up and clean up the scene. We need to leave here as soon as possible."
On the border, in a secluded cave, the four-person team was hiding. This was their pre-arranged hiding place, where they would wait for the Anbu Ninja to rendezvous.
Inside the cave, Taiichi was gathering dense Yang Release Chakra in his hands, massaging several acupoints on Hizashi Hyuga's head. As Taiichi massaged, Hizashi's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.
It turned out that Taiichi had noticed how much slower Hizashi was during the previous raid, and that Hizashi's lack of mental strength had seriously affected his combat performance.
In order for the mission to be carried out smoothly tomorrow, Taiichi offered to give Hizashi physical therapy. This way, as long as he gets enough sleep, it will better promote the recovery of his mental strength.
After half an hour of physical therapy, the dense green light on Taiichi dissipated, and Taiichi slowly got up. At this time Hizashi had already fallen into a deep sleep.
Taiichi gestured to Sakumo and Minato, who were watching from the side, and the three of them quietly approached the Yamaguchi pass.
"Hizashi, is he alright?" Sakumo was still worried about his companion's health, not wanting him to get himself killed because of a mission.
"No problem, I used a special technique to put him into a deep sleep. As long as he can get through this night, he'll be fine tomorrow."
"Taiichi, we really owe you a lot this time," Sakumo sighed, then said to Minato and Taiichi, "You two go and rest too. I'll keep watch here. I'll call you when the Anbu arrive."
Minato and Taiichi nodded in agreement, especially Taiichi, whose long period of Chakra gathering had indeed taken a toll on him.
And so, the cave fell silent for a moment, with only the howling of the cold wind outside.
It was around 6 o'clock when the winter Sun Barrier set exceptionally early, and it was already pitch black outside the cave.
A rhythmic bird call rang out, Hatake Sakumo immediately stood up and listened intently.
After the bird's call had been heard three times and its identity had finally been confirmed, Sakumo also emitted a series of bird calls with different rhythms.
After both sides confirmed their identities, footsteps were heard at the cave entrance, and a ninja wearing a dog-face mask entered the cave.
At this moment, Minato and Taiichi also stood up and came to stand behind Sakumo.
Without a word, the dog-faced Anbu member took out a scroll from his robes and tossed it to Hatake Sakumo. Then, without another word, he left the cave and disappeared in a few flashes.
Taiichi looked surprised. He hadn't had much contact with the Anbu and didn't quite understand their style of operation. "Are all Anbu this... decisive?"
Hatake Sakumo turned around at this moment, and upon hearing Taiichi's question, he smiled and said, "It depends on who it is, but generally speaking, the Anbu's style is indeed decisive and efficient."
The three entered the cave without waking Hizashi Hyuga, who was still fast asleep. Minato even set up a Soundproof Barrier around him to prevent their conversation from disturbing his recovery.
Seeing that Minato and Taiichi had sat down in front of him, Hatake Sakumo opened the scroll given to him by the Anbu, and the three of them read the contents of the scroll together.
It turns out that the envoy sent by Sunagakure this time was a high-ranking member of their Militant Faction — Rousha. Coincidentally, however, this Militant Faction's ideology was not directed against Iwagakure, but rather against Konoha. During the Second Shinobi World War, this ninja named Rousha participated in numerous battles against Konoha.
Now, this Rousha is already 52 years old. It's unknown how much of his Elite Jonin strength he still possesses. However, it's worth mentioning that this ninja named Rousha is the second-best Puppet in Sunagakure after Chiyo.
Besides the envoy, Rousha, the guards arranged by Sunagakure were a team of Elite Jonin led by a Jonin. In addition to the Captain, who was skilled in Kazekiri Wind Style, the team also included a Special Jonin skilled in Chunin.
The three of them looked at the detailed information about the mission members and their approximate route for tomorrow recorded in the scroll, and finally had a better understanding of the situation.
In terms of sheer strength, Taiichi's side is equivalent to four Jonin, while Sunagakure only has three Jonin at most, giving Konoha the advantage. The remaining tasks are to devise tactics to completely contain the enemy and to formulate a retreat plan.
The three of them held the map and discussed it for an hour before coming up with a preliminary plan. The rest was up to them to improvise on the spot.
Finally, Taiichi reminded him, "Rousha is a Puppet Master and must be skilled in using poison. Make sure you take an Antidote Pill before attacking tomorrow, or it will be too late if you're actually poisoned."
After discussing everything, the three of them stopped talking. After arranging the people on night watch, the others went to find places to rest.
Just as the Konoha members were resting, a Sunagakure outpost several dozen kilometers away from them welcomed their target – the Rousha envoy group.
The garrison Captain of the outpost personally went out to greet them; this was a high-ranking official from Sunagakure, and he couldn't afford to be indifferent.
Rousha knew what the garrison Captain was thinking, but he didn't care. His purpose for this trip was to form an alliance with Iwagakure, so that the two countries could transfer the troops stationed on the border here and stockpile them on the defense line against Konoha.
When the time is right, Sunagakure has been eyeing the vast and fertile land of the Land of Fire for a long time.
"How's the situation at the border lately? Are there any unusual occurrences at the outposts?" As they walked, Rousha didn't forget to ask the garrison Captain about the real-time situation at the border.
"Nothing's happening at the border. The Rock Ninja haven't sent anyone to probe us recently." The Captain hesitated for a moment, recalling a message from a nearby outpost earlier that evening, before reporting, "This morning, it seems a small squad of ninja went missing from the Eighth Outpost."
"Missing?" Rousha turned around, her sharp gaze fixed on the garrison Captain. "Any further details?"
"Gone. They said they're missing, but so far there's been no trace of them." The garrison Captain was also a bit puzzled. Missing instead of dead could mean the enemy was exceptionally powerful, which was why they left no clues. The thought sent a chill down Captain spine.
This was clearly something that Rousha had considered, and although the probability of it happening was extremely small, it still cast a shadow over his mind.
Upon arriving at the tent assigned to them by the outpost, Rousha gathered the guards and gave each of them an Antidote Pill. "You all heard what happened just now. Just in case, these are Antidote Pill I prepared. If there's any fighting tomorrow, take them immediately."