After speaking with him, Sato Hideaka learned that the company commander was named Yoshino Yasushiro, a Special Jōnin, and a member of the border patrol ninja team. His main responsibility was liaison work at the Land of Fire's border outposts, reporting information from the outposts to headquarters.
As they were patrolling the outpost as usual, they discovered that all the guarding ninjas had disappeared. They then launched another attack by the attackers from Iwagakure, causing heavy casualties in a short period of time!
Looking at his severely wounded teammates lying on the ground, and their corpses, Yoshino Yasushiro smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Thank you so much, Lord Ao. If it weren't for you, we would probably have been wiped out... Now, the Iwagakure Ninja invading our border are becoming increasingly elite, and I'm afraid our border outposts are finding it difficult to resist!"
The border outposts are temporary mission units, similar to military service in Taiwan in my previous life. They are ninjas' duties, but their rights are not very great. Of course, the strength of this temporarily formed unit is not as great as one might imagine.
Especially as major powers began to move towards the Land of Fire, the Land of Fire outposts were frequently discovered and attacked by enemy spies. This is one of the reasons why the Anbu continuously sent more personnel to the borders of the Land of Fire.
Sato Hideaka nodded and said solemnly, "We also encountered this situation during our mission. Don't worry, I will report this to my superiors and see if we can send more personnel to the border of the Land of Grass...!"
"Thank you so much, Lord Ao." Yoshino Yasushiro nodded and expressed his gratitude.
Sato Hideaka Hideyuki nodded, crossed his arms, leaned against a tree, and closed his eyes to rest. His chakra continued to flow steadily into the Sage Katsuyu to treat the patients. After two years of training, with his perfect chakra control, his chakra reserves were now comparable to those of a Jonin.
The purpose of Sato Hideaka's mission this time was to analyze and assess the reasons why the Konoha Ninja on the border were repeatedly attacked. According to Sato Hideaka's observation, the infiltration of the Land of Earth's Iwagakure into the Land of Grass has reached a saturation point.
These attacks seemed more like a probing and intelligence-gathering exercise, testing Konoha's troop deployment along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, as well as the specific locations of Konoha's border outposts. This gave Sato Hideaka a premonition...
It seems that Iwagakure is about to make a big move, which may even trigger a local war!
"Swish swish--"
Footsteps echoed from the direction the Iwagakure Ninja had fled through the forest.
The patrolling ninjas who had not yet lost consciousness were startled. Like frightened rabbits, their bodies tensed up, and they quickly assumed defensive postures and looked around. The psychological trauma caused by the enemy Iwagakure unit's sneak attack earlier was too great.
In the battle just now, within mere seconds, Iwagakure Ninja suddenly appeared beside them, killing or severely injuring about ten of their comrades. This feeling of being unable to control their fate left the patrolling ninjas shaken and filled with dread...
"Don't panic, everyone! These are my subordinates!" Sato Hideaka suddenly opened his eyes and said.
Upon hearing Sato Hideaka's words, the tense company commander Yoshino Yasushiro felt a sense of relief. He instinctively took out the Kunai he had been using for defense from his ninja pouch and put it back inside. His subordinates did the same...
Five dark figures flashed by, and suddenly five ninjas of varying heights and builds, all exuding energy and spirit, appeared in the forest. They wore animal-face masks and were fully armed, radiating a faint killing intent that seemed to lower the temperature of the surrounding environment by several degrees.
"Captain, all eight escaped Iwagakure Ninja have been annihilated!" Among the five Anbu Ninja, one wearing a bear-face mask, a green Jonin vest, about 1.9 meters tall, broad-shouldered and muscular, carrying a Blunt Blade, stepped forward and reported with his head bowed.
His codename is Giant Bear. He is the vice-captain of Team "Blue" and is a Taijutsu -type ninja. Although he only has the strength of Special Jōnin, his strength alone is no less than that of the Iwagakure Ninja from before. Moreover, he is cautious and meticulous, and is a pillar of the Anbu.
Sato Hideaka, who had been leaning against a tree, straightened up and nodded, saying, "Okay, let's help take these injured colleagues back to camp. Some of them may need a week of rest to fully recover!"
"Yes, Captain!" Giant Bear nodded, then turned and helped the two wounded men up.
However, a member of the Anbu Ninja wearing a red bird beak complained, "Captain, could you let more enemies in next time? Last time you left us ten, but this time there were only eight. Two of them were so scared they fell into the traps and died without even looking where they were going. There aren't enough left for us to go around!"
The red-beaked Anbu Ninja, named " Red Bird," is skilled in Fire Release Ninjutsu and long-range Kunai and Shurikenjutsu. His strength is around that of Chunin. He and " Flying Eagle," who excels in Wind Release Ninjutsu and swordsmanship, are rival partners...
The combination of ranged and melee attacks, along with the combination of Wind Style and Fire Style ninjutsu, gives these two the strength to fight even against ordinary Special Jōnin.
Unfortunately, although the two cooperated perfectly in battle, they often argued fiercely over various things in their daily lives. They were both partners and enemies, and their relationship was extremely complicated and difficult to resolve!
"Alright, Red Bird, next time I'll leave you twenty enemies all to yourself. Jonin or Chunin, you can choose whichever you like, and I'll let you play with them at your leisure!"
Sato Hideaka seemed to understand and nodded, looking at him with amusement.
Two, twenty Jonin, Chunin...
Are you kidding me?
Red Bird shrank back, and said sullenly, "Well... forget it then. You can decide on the fighting. You can release as many as you want, since you're our captain!"
Pshaw, that's more like it!
Sato Hideaka nodded, inwardly sighing, "This kid has finally grown up."
In this sneak attack by the Iwagakure Ninja, all the ninjas at the outpost were wiped out. Of the eighteen people who came on patrol, eight died, six were seriously injured, and four were slightly injured. Apart from the dead, almost everyone else was wounded. If Sato Hideaka had arrived a moment later, the entire team would have been wiped out.
The Anbu members buried the bodies of the patrolling ninjas in the soil and marked the spots. Then they helped up the seriously and lightly wounded. After seeing that everything was ready, Sato Hideaka sent the Shikkotsu Forest Sage Katsuyu Forest, and with a swift movement, he took the lead and dashed off...
This is perhaps one of the advantages of being a leader—finally, you can legitimately avoid doing menial tasks!
Sato Hideaka led the way, leaping from treetop to treetop, the trees beside him seeming to rush past. Behind him followed the Anbu Ninja and patrolling ninjas, the group speeding towards the camp...
On the outskirts of the city-forest on the border of the Land of Fire, after marching for nearly an hour, Sato Hideaka and his group finally arrived at the temporary base of the patrol ninjas. This was a transit station established by the patrol ninjas to report on their work, organize data, replenish supplies, and submit work documents.
The entire camp consisted of a continuous stretch of domed tents, occupying a clearing in the forest. Next to the camp was a freshwater lake for replenishing water supplies, and many ninjas were on guard duty around the camp.
Passing through numerous checkpoints using coded signals, Sato Hideaka frowned slightly beneath his Monkey Mask. He sensed something amiss as he passed through these checkpoints; the number of personnel seemed to have increased.
The number of sentry posts has increased, the number of guards has increased, and there seem to be quite a few more people in the camp!
What exactly happened?
Sato Hideaka to look at his five subordinates behind him, wanting to gauge their vigilance.
After all, a camp doesn't guarantee absolute safety; so-called safe places often harbor deadly dangers. This is because people lower their guard in places they perceive as safe, making it very easy for the enemy to succeed...
To Sato Hideaka's relief, his four Anbu Ninja seemed to have noticed the abnormality around them, their bodies tense and their eyes warily scanning their surroundings. Only Red Bird continued to walk casually with a wounded soldier on his back.
Even so, Flying Eagle, Giant Bear, and the others remained calm and surrounded the Red Bird to prevent a possible sudden attack that could instantly kill this "rookie"!
"Lord Ao, Shinnosuke has just arrived from Konoha and is currently holding an emergency meeting in the conference room. We hope you can come over there as well...!"
Just as Sato Hideaka entered the camp, a three-man squad of ninjas wearing Forehead Protector stepped forward and bowed respectfully to him.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, isn't he in Konoha...?
How did we suddenly end up on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass? (To be continued.)