Battle, Sunagakure's Counterattack

In the sky, the moon, which had been obscured by dark clouds, quietly peeked out, instantly brightening the once pitch-black earth. Combined with the Camp now ablaze with Kakkou, the five members of Iwagakure finally saw Taiichi's face clearly.

However, to their disappointment, Taiichi had already changed his appearance using the Transformation Technique, and what they saw now was just an unfamiliar Sunagakure Ninja.

"Damn bastard, who are you?" The injured Iwagakure roared Jonin at Taiichi, enduring the excruciating pain.

Taiichi looked at the people in front of him indifferently, holding the Short Sword in a reverse grip, and sized up these Rock Ninja. They were clearly intimidated by Taiichi's series of moves and did not dare to step forward for the time being.

This was exactly what Taiichi wanted. His Flying Thunder God wasn't as proficient as Minato's. He had only overcome the problem of not being "space-sick" yet, and couldn't use it as freely as Minato.

Therefore, this first attack was the most crucial, and the target was naturally the Jonin.

"You scum, invading our Land of Wind at will, and you still have the nerve to ask who I am?" Taiichi verbally argued with them, but in reality, he had already made preparations.

As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist and threw a Flying Thunder God Kunai Jonin the Jonin with speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.

But that was Jonin, and without any apparent movement, he simply took a slight step to the right, easily dodging the flying Kunai, and then added a sarcastic remark, "Childish attack."

However, instead of Taiichi's retort, the "Sunagakure Ninja" who had just been there vanished abruptly. Immediately, he felt a sharp pain in his heart, and looking down, he saw a Short Sword piercing through his chest, now slowly being withdrawn.

He died without understanding how he died. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the sky.

The scene was deathly silent, save for the howling wind and crackling flames. The Iwa Rock Ninja were bewildered; how had their Jonin died in the blink of an eye?

However, Taiichi didn't give them a chance. With the biggest variable gone, what was left was easily under their control.

With a flick of his left hand, two Shadow Clone appeared on either side. The three figures rushed out with ghostly speed, their Short Sword occasionally emitting a chilling light.

In just two or three minutes, the Resupply point, which had been filled with shouts of battle, fell silent once again.

Taiichi's Short Sword trembled slightly, shaking off the traces of blood. Looking at the Resupply point that had been reduced to ruins, he nodded in satisfaction.

The Flying Thunder God is indeed useful, especially when used unexpectedly, often resulting in a fatal blow. Unfortunately, my proficiency is not yet sufficient to use it continuously; otherwise, this battle would have ended long ago.

After retrieving the Flying Thunder God Kunai he had just thrown out, Taiichi left without looking back. As expected, ambushing Resupply was the most cost-effective strategy. The loss of this Resupply point was enough to make Iwagakure feel the pinch.

An hour after Taiichi left, an elite Sunagakure Village squad appeared at the scene.

Faced with the devastation before them, a scene of utter devastation left by the powerful Wind Style attacks, the ninjas exchanged bewildered glances.

"Captain, has the Commander sent any other squads to carry out the mission?"

"Yes, Captain, judging by the power of this Wind Style, which esteemed figure has also arrived here?"

The Captain remained silent, took a few steps forward to carefully examine the traces at the scene, and reached out to touch the cut surfaces created by Wind Style, trying to reconstruct the previous battle in his mind.

But in the end, he shook his head, admitting his limited knowledge and unable to fathom what kind of battle could have caused such a scene.

"We're definitely not the only team that received this logistical sabotage mission; we just didn't expect another team to get to our target first."

"Let's go. Since this target has been taken first, let's move on to the next one. After this harassment, it'll be our Sunagakure's turn to counterattack."

The squad Captain was full of confidence, seemingly certain that Sunagakure would win this war.

Let's move forward a few days.

Sunagakure Frontline Camp, Central Army Tent.

The person sitting at the head of the table was no longer the original front-line commander, but Rasa had just taken over as the acting Fourth Kazekage.

Few people knew that the Fourth Kazekage had arrived at the front lines without a trace.

Iwagakure was even more surprised that Rasa, the village's kage, instead of stabilizing the village's unrest, had gone to the front lines. Wasn't he afraid that before he could even secure his position as the Fourth Kazekage, he would have to choose a fifth kage?

"Lord Kazekage, why have you suddenly come to the front lines? I didn't receive any news about this." Commander Ebizo asked curiously, "The village needs you here more right now, doesn't it?"

"If you didn't expect me to come here, then Iwagakure would certainly be even more surprised." Kazekage Rasa still respected Ebizo and did not show the slightest disrespect despite becoming the acting Kazekage.

Ebizo's eyes brightened slightly as he sized up the newly appointed Kazekage, his smile deepening. "What does the Lord Kazekage mean?"

"I also want to launch a surprise attack on Iwagakure, and take advantage of my presence to drive Iwagakure out of the Land of Wind in one fell swoop." The Kazekage spoke with unwavering resolve, his eyes radiating boundless confidence. "My Magnet Release Gold Dust will play a role in the war no less significant than that of a Tailed Beast."

"Since Lord Kazekage has such courage, I will naturally do my best to help." Ebizo's smile deepened. In fact, he had long wanted to end this war, as it brought no benefit whatsoever and was constantly depleting Sunagakure's potential.

"I previously sent a large number of people to the rear of Iwagakure to Scout their logistics Resupply. Since the Lord Kazekage wants to defeat them in one fell swoop, why not send elite troops to destroy these Resupply points and throw Iwagakure into chaos, so we can take the opportunity to attack."

Upon hearing Rasa's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Ebizo to have such a plan. This strategy could weaken Iwagakure's war potential and distract them. It was simple and unpretentious, and it would work no matter what.

"Good!" Rasa clapped his hands. "Then please have the elders arrange for manpower to act as soon as possible. We have already lost face in this war with Iwagakure, and we must make up for it as soon as possible."

"Yes, I'll arrange it right away."

Soon, dozens of elite Sunagakure squads left the Camp, quickly disappearing from sight under the cover of night, and stealthily moved towards the rear of Iwagakure.

The next morning, after packing his things, Taiichi once again set off on his journey to find the Iwagakure Resupply depot.

Such a mission is thrilling during the battles, but the initial search process is long and tedious, especially since Taiichi and has no one to talk to. At this moment, he can only rely on his own senses and a bit of luck that he might stumble upon at any time.

After a long day of trekking, the sun had already begun to set, but Taiichi hadn't found a single Iwagakure. Just when Taiichi thought he would have to return empty-handed, a blurry scene flashed by on the left at the edge of his perception.

Taiichi immediately stopped running and turned to look at the location he sensed. It was too far away for his perception to be clear, but Taiichi was certain that it was indeed a Camp.

As they drew closer, Taiichi's expression grew strange. Finally, when Taiichi appeared atop the Camp's walls, the small Iwagakure was clearly Camp before him—or rather, the ruins of a Camp.

The walls were broken and charred, with only charcoal emitting sporadic wisps of smoke remaining from the wooden structure. The Earth Wall had collapsed, and the roof of the makeshift warehouse had completely caved in.

Several corpses wearing Iwagakure lay on the ground in contorted positions, their deaths varied; some were mutilated beyond recognition by Ninjutsu, while others bore knife wounds or Kunai stab marks.

The most striking features were two huge, charred craters, clearly caused by a concentrated bombardment from powerful Wind Style or Fire Release Ninjutsu.

Taiichi strolled through the ruins, his gaze sweeping across the entire battlefield. The signs of destruction were still "fresh," the smell of burning had not yet dissipated, and the bloodstains had not yet dried. The battle could not have ended in more than a night, and it might even have happened at dawn this morning.

"This isn't like Senior Disciple Brother Minato— " Taiichi instantly made a judgment in his mind.

If Senior Disciple Brother Minato had made a move, the scene wouldn't have left such large-scale, hard-hitting traces. It's more like an elite team forcefully breaching the defenses with overwhelming power in a short period of time.

Immediately afterward, a thought flashed through his mind: it seems that Sunagakure is preparing to counterattack.

This force, which appeared suddenly and swiftly and ruthlessly destroyed the Iwagakure Resupply point, was not a lone soldier or small team sneaking in to cause sabotage like him; rather, it was more like an organized and planned infiltration and attack by Sunagakure!

The extent of the damage to this Camp far exceeded the "minor disturbances" he had caused in the previous days.

Considering that the Sunagakure frontline Commander was Ebizo, known as the "Desert Fox," Taiichi could easily deduce that Sunagakure had weathered the danger of the Iwagakure surprise attack, stabilized the situation, and was now preparing for a counterattack.

Deep behind enemy lines and proactively cutting off Iwagakure's Resupply lines was Sunagakure's first step.

A flicker of excitement mixed with seriousness flashed in Taiichi. The battlefield would become increasingly chaotic, and the balance of power between Sunagakure and Iwagakure would shift. It seemed he could no longer focus solely on Iwagakure; Sunagakure would also become a target.

Sure enough, over the next two days, all the Iwagakure Resupply points that Taiichi encountered had become ruins.

Judging from the traces, they were all breached on the same day.

This shows that Sunagakure's Ebizo is cunning and shrewd; he must have planned this surprise attack long ago.

With so many Resupply points, the prior intelligence gathering must have taken more than a day or two. Now that his raid has been successful, the next step should be to proceed.

With this in mind, Taiichi decided not to linger in the Land of Birds. There were not many valuable targets left there. If he wanted to hunt down more ninjas from the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, he would have to return to the main battlefield in the Land of Wind: the front-line Camp of the Sunagakure. In the Central Command Tent, all the high-ranking officials of the Sunagakure who had participated in this battle were gathered.

A mobilization meeting was being held, and Kazekage Rasa, sitting at the head of the table, made his first public appearance in the Camp.

The Sand Village Ninja in the tent, who were unaware of the Kazekage's arrival, all showed expressions of tension and excitement. After all, this was the Fourth Kazekage, although he was currently only acting as the acting Kazekage. But anyone with eyes could see that was just the official wording.

If I can perform well enough to make Lord Kazekage remember me, then becoming his confidant in the future is not impossible.

"Alright, quiet down!" Waving his hand to stop the chattering Jonin, Kazekage Rasa glanced at the ninja below. He had worked with most of these people before, so he knew them all; they were all well-known elites of Sunagakure Rasa.

One of the reasons I risked coming to the front lines was for their sake.

His position as Kazekage was elected by the Elder Council, and the position was not as secure as he had imagined. Many of the Kazekage's powers were still in the hands of the Elder Council, and if he wanted to secure his position Kazekage, he had to have enough merit.

What achievement could be more convincing than military exploits? And coincidentally, Sunagakure is currently under invasion by Iwagakure, which is the perfect opportunity for Rasa to gain military merits.

In this process, gathering a group of loyal subordinates is naturally an essential task.

"As you all know, we successfully raided Iwagakure's supply Resupply a couple of days ago, destroying all of their Resupply points in the Land of Birds. This loss is enough to put their logistics under strain for the foreseeable future."

The Kazekage's words immediately sparked whispers among the Jonin below. Some of them already knew about the matter and were able to remain calm, while others had just received the news and were immediately overjoyed.

After everyone had processed the news, Rasa continued, "We absolutely cannot let such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by, and that is precisely why I came here—to work with you all to drive Iwagakure out of the Land of Wind and make Iwagakure pay a heavy price for their foolish actions."

Upon hearing this, the Jonin below immediately understood that a major battle was about to begin, and the Lord Kazekage's intention was also clear: to fight alongside everyone on the front lines and thoroughly defeat Iwagakure.

This immediately Jonin all the Jonin present. This is the difference between "follow me" and "charge for me" leadership; the morale boost that the Kazekage, who could lead by example, provided was unprecedented.

"Tomorrow, at 8 AM, all the ninjas will be assembled, and we will officially launch our counterattack, driving those Iwagakure from Iwagakure back to the Land of Earth."

"Yes!"

All the ninjas were excited. One by one, they hurriedly left the camp to inform their subordinates and prepare for the decisive battle the next day.

Before long, only the Third Kazekage and Ebizo remained in the arena.

"What are the elders' thoughts on tomorrow's battle?"

Victory is assured!

Ebizo answered decisively, without the slightest hesitation. But this only aroused the Kazekage's curiosity.

"Elder, what is your secret to being so confident?"

Ebizo smiled and looked at Kazekage, "A head-on confrontation is nothing more than a matter of timing, location, and popular support."

"The timing is the same for both of us, so neither of us can gain an advantage."

The terrain is entirely in our favor, especially for you, Lord Kazekage, where you can unleash your full potential beyond your usual limits.

As for the people, the Sunagakure was united in their hatred of the enemy, with everyone of them working together as one. Moreover, with the Lord Kazekage personally leading the charge, their morale was soaring.

In contrast, Iwagakure was already in chaos due to its logistics being cut off, and there was no word of any powerful figures arriving.

Therefore, how could there be any reason for defeat in this battle!

"Haha, Elder, you're absolutely right!" Kazekage laughed heartily, but then his laughter subsided, and his eyes turned serious. "But why do I feel like Elder has something on your mind?"

Ebizo paused, looked at Rasa, and noticed the seriousness on his face. He then smiled with satisfaction, "It seems that Lord Kazekage has also discovered the problems in the reports of those squads that attacked Sunagakure's logistics."