Hard Work and a Sneak Attack

A strange phenomenon has recently appeared at the Southern Camp.

Just moments before, you could see Taiichi standing behind Medical Ninja at the Medical Camp, instructing him on how to use the Mystical Palm Technique.

At this moment, you can see Taiichi again in the grove, vigorously wielding Short Sword.

You might just bump into Taiichi researching Ninjutsu in some corner the next moment.

In short, many ninjas say they often see Taiichi in different places recently, but these Taiichi all have one thing in common: they are busy.

Gradually, everyone realized that Taiichi was using his Shadow Clone to make the most of every moment for cultivation.

It's not that no one wants to emulate Taiichi's training methods; there are quite a few ninjas who pursue strength.

However, few people who understand the characteristics of Shadow Clone dare to try it. Even the few who are ignorant give up decisively after trying it once. The splitting headache and feeling of weakness throughout the body are something that anyone who has experienced it once would never want to go through a second time.

Don't be fooled by Taiichi's ability to train with six Shadow Clones all day long. He started from scratch and gradually increased the number of clones. Even so, he only managed to adapt to this hellish training method thanks to his physique and mental attributes, which far surpass those of Jonin, as well as the encouragement from the proficiency panel.

People often say: It's not that I'm afraid of others being more talented than me, it's that I'm afraid of someone who is more talented than me and also works harder than me.

Now everyone was no longer in awe of Taiichi's ability to achieve such a level of skill at such a young age—if you're not convinced, then you can try training like that too!

Central Army Tent, Jiraiya watched Taiichi run past him for the third time Jiraiya turned to Shikaku beside him with curiosity, saying, "I remember Taiichi could only create four Shadow Clones for training before, right? This number doesn't seem right to me."

"Now there are six, and two more have been added. They're really pushing themselves to the limit when they're cultivating!"

"Truly remarkable, he's really mastered the Shadow Clone Ninjutsu." Jiraiya exclaimed, but then changed the subject. "Has that matter been investigated?"

The question was ambiguous, but Shikaku clearly knew what Jiraiya ask. "We've captured him. He's a Chunin from the Barrier Team. He was captured by Sunagakure Ninja during a mission three years ago and has been under Sunagakure's control ever since."

"Oh!" Jiraiya became interested. "They've been planning this far ahead. Did you get any useful information?"

"In our most recent contact, I reported on Taiichi's situation. The Sunagakure has become suspicious of our recent surge in combat strength, so they had him gather the latest intelligence."

"Damn it, I'm still too late!" Jiraiya gritted his teeth, looking like he wanted to devour that traitor alive.

They naturally noticed the impact of Taiichi's role as Medical Ninja immediately, but too many people knew about it, so they couldn't suppress it even if they wanted to. They could only hope that the matter could be kept secret for as long as possible.

However, to everyone's surprise, Sunagakure discovered the problem so quickly and immediately sent spies to investigate.

"What do you think Sunagakure will do next?" Jiraiya watched as another Taiichi dashed past in the distance, unsure if it was the real Taichi or Shadow Clone. A tic-tac-toe mark appeared on Taichi's forehead. Jiraiya was worrying himself sick over him, while Taichi was training carefree. It was truly...

"According to the spy's memories, his intelligence was only passed out two days ago. Judging from Sunagakure's arrangements, they already had a plan to raid our Camp. With Taiichi's incident, Sunagakure is very likely to combine these two tasks."

"Oh!" Jiraiya withdrew his gaze and looked at Shikaku, waiting for him to continue.

"If they want to kill Taiichi or disrupt our medical system, the sooner the better for them. So I guess they'll definitely take action in the next day or two."

At this moment, Deer Holmes was incredibly confident, brimming with faith in his own judgment.

Jiraiya listened to Shikaku's analysis and nodded, "Then we really need to make some serious arrangements to give our opponents a proper welcome!"

Meanwhile, Taiichi was unaware that Sunagakure was already plotting against him, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care at all, and might even be looking forward to them sending more skilled fighters.

After all, he hadn't fought anyone for almost two months, and he felt his muscles and bones were getting loose.

That very afternoon, Shikaku found Taiichi, who was instructing the Medical Ninja, and pulled him aside to give him a mysterious instruction: starting today, stay at the Medical Camp at Taiichi, as the Sunagakure might launch a surprise attack on the Camp in the next couple of days.

With Taiichi at the Medical Camp, firstly, it would be convenient for them to focus their protection on one side, and secondly, his own strength should not be underestimated, so he could serve as the last line of defense to protect the Medical Ninja.

Upon hearing Shikaku's words, Taiichi immediately perked up, eager to test his skills against someone, only to find his opponent had arrived.

"Don't worry, I'll be staying at the Medical Camp for the next two days, and I absolutely won't let Sunagakure harm the Medical Ninja here!" Taiichi patted his chest, looking very confident, but even a fool could see through his eagerness.

Seeing Taiichi's expression, Shikaku knew that Taiichi had misunderstood him, and quickly added, "I was talking about you. You are the main target of Sunagakure this time. The Medical Camp is just a side target."

Upon hearing this, Taiichi became even more excited. It turned out they were coming for him! Wasn't that even better?

"Should I act as bait to lure them all over? That way, we can also ensure the safety of the Medical Camp."

Taiichi volunteered, his eyes filled with eagerness. This made Shikaku's scalp tingle. Sure enough, people who could persevere in self-training like that all had a warlike heart. You couldn't tell usually, but once it came to battle, they were all madmen.

"No, no, you stay at the Medical Camp. The people there need your protection too."

"Alright." Taiichi lowered his head, somewhat disappointed, but since the command had made this arrangement, he could only accept it.

Looking up at Shikaku, seeing that he had nothing else to say, he said "Farewell," then formed a hand Ram Seal with one hand, and with a "pop," turned into a puff of white smoke and disappeared from the spot.

"Shadow— Shadow Clone!" Shikaku stood frozen in place, unable to recover for a long time. It turned out that the command he had conveyed for so long had only resulted in a Shadow Clone. Taiichi's use of Shadow Clone was truly masterful.

Suddenly, he remembered something someone had once told him, "Those who are good at using Shadow Clone are no pushovers!" He now wholeheartedly agreed. However, Shadow Clone are indeed very convenient when used well.

Meanwhile, Taiichi, who was practicing Advanced Taijutsu in the grove, suddenly received a stream of memories.

At first, he was startled, as Shadow Clone shouldn't be disappearing at this time. He thought that something had happened to Nonō or Yohei, but after he finished processing the memories, he relaxed.

So it turned out that Sunagakure was planning a sneak attack. It really startled him. But thinking about the quirky personality of the Shadow Clone just now, it was quite funny. These Shadow Clone that are created over a long period of time will indeed gradually show a personality that is very different from the original body.

The Shadow Clone of Obito and Naruto in the future best illustrate this point; they actually go against the will of the original body, which is truly bizarre.

Taiichi vanished in a flash using the Flying Thunder God Technique. When he reappeared, he was already in a corner of the Medical Camp.

When he went back into the tent, no one noticed that this Taiichi was no longer the same "Taiichi" who had just gone out.

Continuing to instruct the Medical Ninja he had just met, Taiichi was now hoping time would pass even faster. He was eager to see the Sand Village Ninja; he had been idle for too long and was itching to get his hands dirty.

That evening, Taiichi withdrew all his Shadow Clone, adjusted his state, and sat quietly in a tent in the Medical Camp, engaging in shallow meditation, waiting for that moment to arrive.

Time passed second by second, from the moon rising high in the sky to the moon hanging in the middle of the night, and then to the moon casting its shadow in the west, until the first light of dawn appeared in the east. Taiichi then did Taiyi get up, lift the curtain, and go out.

Well! He waited all night for nothing, not even a hair. Seeing that it was still dark, Taiichi walked towards his tent, intending to take a nap while he still had time, otherwise he wouldn't have the energy to do anything during the day.

But after taking only two steps, a violent explosion came from afar, and judging from the sound, it should be coming from the direction of the Central Command Tent.

Taiichi immediately perked up. It seemed the Sunagakure's sneak attack had finally arrived. They had chosen a very clever time; even Taiichi had lowered his guard. He wondered how the others were doing.

Chakra Perception and discovered Taiichi there was more than one group of infiltrators, but the largest number of enemies were at the Central Command Tent, with several Sunagakure squads scattered around creating chaos.

However, facing the well-prepared Konoha Ninja, this chaos was clearly insignificant.

The entire Camp was awakened by the loud explosion. While not exactly in a state of panic, it was certainly thrown into some chaos.

However, the chaos lasted only a short while before the prepared personnel informed them that it was just an ambush targeting Sunagakure, and everyone was quickly assigned their next tasks.

One group was arranged to surround and ambush the Sunagakure, while the other group was deployed to defend against further attacks from the Sunagakure.

But the Sunagakure raiding force, which had just clashed with the Konoha Ninja, was completely unaware of all this.

The troops that came this time were all elites from Sunagakure. There were more than ten Jonin who attacked the Camp Jonin, not to mention the countless Chunin.

The area around the Central Army Tent was instantly covered by a large number of Ninjutsu, with gales, flames, and lightning destroying everything within the attack range in the blink of an eye.

However, such a significant attack effect did not make the attacking ninja happy; instead, a chill instantly crept over his entire body.

It's so quiet! How can there be absolutely no resistance?

Oh no, we've been ambushed!

"Retreat! Don't linger! Retreat immediately!" the leading ninja shouted the order without hesitation.

But it was too late; the encirclement around them had already been formed.

Meanwhile, Taiichi, having discerned everything through his senses, withdrew his gaze. The situation at the Central Command Tent was clear, and there was no need to pay too much attention to it anymore. Next, it was time to focus on the Medical Camp.

Although Taiichi is always seen moving around between different parts of Camp, making the Camp seem rather small.

But in reality, the entire Camp was a massive structure stretching for two or three kilometers.

Therefore, apart from knowing that the Central Army Tent had been attacked, the Medical Camp knew nothing else about the other side.

This is true for Konoha ninjas, and even more so for the Sunagakure Ninja fighting on the sidelines.

They were completely unaware that the Sunagakure Ninja were already engaged in a fierce battle at the Central Army Tent, and they continued their attack on the Medical Tent as planned.

Taiichi clearly saw through his senses that there were more than fifty ninjas in this group, including ten Jonin.

If they manage to launch a successful sneak attack, there might not be many ninjas left to survive in this Medical Camp. After all, it's mostly filled with wounded and Medical Ninja, and not every Medical Ninja has the combat strength of Taiichi.

But there are no ifs. The key to a sneak attack is surprise. From the moment these ninjas appeared, all their actions were under Konoha's control, and only defeat awaited them.

Sure enough, before the Sunagakure Ninja even got close to the Medical Camp, the Hidden Konoha Ninja were lying in ambush launched a surprise attack on them.

After all, the Medical Camp is not the Central Command Tent. There are many people and eyes here. In order not to alert the enemy, the wounded and Medical Ninja cannot be evacuated in advance. So the only option is to stop them outside the Medical Camp.

However, although the opportunity for the surprise attack was well seized, the results were far from satisfactory.

Taiichi could see it clearly from the Medical Camp. When the torrent of Konoha Ninjutsu attacked the Sunagakure Ninja, a golden dome that could cover all the Sunagakure Ninja suddenly rose up, protecting them completely.

"What's the Fourth Kazekage doing here? Is he out of his mind?" Taiichi cursed, leaving two Shadow Clones to guard the Camp while his main body rushed towards the scene, shouting a warning to the attacking ninjas, "That's the Fourth Kazekage! Everyone be careful!"

Although he had never actually seen the Fourth Kazekage, he had witnessed the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Ninjutsu, and apart from the color, the two were exactly the same.

The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, personally participated in the raid, something that not only Taiichi hadn't expected, but probably Jiraiya and Shikaku as well. This was a raid on someone's main camp; even if successful, the chaos of battle could easily lead to unforeseen events.

However, the environment on site is indeed conducive to the Kazekage's performance. His Magnet Release can unleash its full power in this environment where he is surrounded by enemies. Once he gets into a rhythm, Konoha will be on the defensive.

Fortunately, Taiichi's timely reminder caused the Magnet Release Gold Dust shield that had been covering the Sunagakure Ninja to suddenly scatter and condense into countless Gold Dust Senbon needles, which then shot out in all directions.

Those who participated in the surprise attack were all skilled, unleashing defensive Ninjutsu such as Earth Release: Earth Style Wall and Water Formation Wall. Those who didn't have time to use their Ninjutsu simply hid behind their comrades' Ninjutsu.

Even so, the Kazekage's Magnet Release Gold Dust is not so easy to defend against. Some Ninjutsu with slightly lower skill levels can be directly penetrated by the Magnet Release Gold Dust, and ninjas hiding behind it who are unlucky will inevitably have two more bloody holes in their bodies.

Those who didn't have time to hide, except for a few Jonin and some with excellent Taijutsu, were unlucky and fell to the ground one by one after being hit.

Kazekage's area-of-effect attack effectively cleared out the surrounding Konoha Ninja, instantly suppressing their momentum.

But at this moment, Kazekage's own mood was not as wonderful as it appeared on the surface.

Rasa's heart sank to the bottom. His well-planned sneak attack had been thwarted by Konoha's prior ambush. If he hadn't reacted quickly, the Sunagakure Ninja would have suffered heavy casualties in that attack.

Putting that aside, the ninjas who attacked the Central Army Tent didn't have a master like myself in charge. If they encountered Konoha's ambush, well... who knows how many of them would survive.

The more Rasa thought about it, the more uncertain he felt, and a surge of rage followed. This time, the losses were definitely huge, but he couldn't let the people of Konoha suffer any more.