Post-Battle Analysis (Part 1)

Just as everyone finished off their opponents, Jiraiya slowly emerged from the shadows.

Tossing a few bandages and some hemostatic medicine to them, Jiraiya shook his head and sighed, "Your performance... well."

Watching Jiraiya's expression, which was full of things he wanted to complain about but didn't know where to start, Yahiko and the others lowered their heads in shame.

Even they felt that their performance had been far too abysmal.

After checking their injuries and the surrounding environment, Jiraiya shook his head once more.

"Forget it, we'll talk about it when we get back."

Half a day later, the group returned to their small cabin.

After resting for a brief moment, Jiraiya took out his small blackboard again and began to lecture them.

Chiba and the other three naturally sat in a row, obediently and attentively watching Jiraiya.

"The mistakes you made this time, well, they are simply too numerous to count. If you want a direct measurement of how poorly you performed, this data should illustrate it."

As he spoke, Jiraiya began to sketch on the blackboard.

"You could say that you used four times the combat power to surround a single opponent, and it cost you at least twenty times the chakra of your opponent to secure the victory. Furthermore, you were nearly turned around and defeated several times."

Hearing this, Chiba and the others felt even more guilty and silently lowered their heads.

Seeing their ashamed expressions, Jiraiya suddenly laughed.

"Alright, actually, your performance didn't exceed my expectations."

"Huh? Jiraiya, did you already guess we would be like this?"

"Yes. In fact, I could have taught you more combat essentials before this battle, and you likely would have performed much better. However, I hoped you would gain some insights from actual combat first; that way, your understanding might be more profound."

With that, Jiraiya began to analyze the situation for them in earnest.

"First, let's start with your initial method of pursuit."

"Generally speaking, in the Ninja World, unless the party being pursued has an absolute speed advantage, they are destined to be caught, even if they are faster than everyone in the pursuing party."

"Huh?"

Chiba looked at Jiraiya in confusion and asked, "Why is that? Logically, shouldn't you be able to escape as long as you run faster than everyone chasing you?"

Jiraiya laughed heartily, "This involves the specific formations and rotation knowledge used when ninjas pursue someone."

"Hmm, how should I put this..."

"Got it."

After thinking for a moment, Jiraiya seemed to have hit upon an idea.

"For example, if Yahiko runs with all his might, he can probably run for a thousand meters. Once he hits that thousand-meter mark, he will have exhausted his stamina and be forced to stop and rest, slowing his pace."

"But if Yahiko runs at a moderate speed, he can easily run three or five thousand meters, or even more, without any issues."

"Therefore, in long-distance pursuit, moving at a moderate speed is actually superior to explosive bursts."

While Yahiko and the others were still pondering in confusion, Chiba had already realized something.

Isn't this just like running a marathon? Those who burst out at the start will naturally exhaust their stamina later, becoming slower and slower, perhaps even unable to finish the race.

"Jiraiya, does this mean that if two people are chasing one person, as long as one of the pursuers bursts with full speed, it forces the target to also burst with full speed? And as long as the other pursuer maintains a moderate speed, they will eventually overtake the other two and achieve an interception, right?"

Jiraiya nodded with satisfaction.

"Exactly, that's how it works."

"At the time, you all burst with full effort, which was actually a huge waste. When the opponent exhausted their stamina and was forced to slow down, you had also exhausted your stamina and were forced to slow down. Plus, since the opponent could set obstacles in front of you, under normal circumstances, there is no way you could have caught them."

"In fact, if it weren't for the fact that you possess far more chakra than the opponent, this pursuit alone would have easily drained your chakra and stamina, allowing them to kill you with ease."

"If you had split into two or even three echelons and rotated your bursts, you wouldn't have needed to do anything else; you could have easily worn them down during the pursuit or achieved an encirclement shortly after, and there wouldn't have been such a long chase."

Hearing Jiraiya explain it so thoroughly, Chiba and the others finally understood that such techniques were hidden within what seemed like a simple pursuit.

Chiba, in particular, realized that when he watched the anime in his past life, he hadn't thought that much about it. He just felt that in the Ninja World, whenever enemies kidnapped hostages—whether it was Hinata or Sasuke—it seemed unreasonable that they were caught so easily, as if it were just for the sake of the plot.

But now, he undoubtedly understood why: those people, in order to maintain a long-term average speed, could not possibly have been traveling at an explosive pace from the start.

"Then, Jiraiya, once the smaller party is being pursued, is there really no way to escape?"

"Good question. In fact, generally speaking, there are methods, but these methods are somewhat... well."

Jiraiya frowned slightly as he spoke.

"The method is to leave a small number of people behind to cover the retreat and stall the enemy. That way, the rest of the group naturally has a chance to escape."

"To think... it would be this kind of method."

Thinking of such a scenario, Chiba and Yahiko found it clearly unacceptable.

Expecting them to abandon anyone was impossible.

Jiraiya laughed heartily, "You likely won't need to use this method under normal circumstances. Given your chakra levels, it's possible that the pursuing party would be the ones worn down by you instead."

As he spoke, Jiraiya rubbed his chin with a serious look.

"Hmm, you might even be able to use this to specifically develop a set of tactics: by constantly baiting the opponent into thinking you are out of chakra, you could lure them into a chase and exhaust their stamina and chakra one by one while you run."

"Is it really possible to do it this way?"

"Haha, for a ninja, no tactic is unfeasible, as long as it gets the job done."

After a serious discussion regarding the specific execution plan, Jiraiya began to continue instructing Chiba and the others.

"Next, I have to point out some major mistakes you all made during the execution of the technique."

As he spoke, Jiraiya's expression turned serious.