Tōu barked in a low voice, his eyes sharp.
"Jōnin Sanmon left fifteen minutes ago. They said they had spotted a five-man squad from Konoha and tracked the smoke that gave away their position to pinpoint the enemy."
"Jōnin Sanmon and Special Jōnin Gasa left with a squad of fifteen in total!"
The Iwagakure ninja on night watch answered immediately.
"Sanmon!"
Tōu's eyes narrowed slightly. Then he registered the time the man had mentioned.
"Accounting for travel time and the time spent tracking them while staying hidden, they could have been fighting for no more than five minutes, yet Sanmon already fired a signal flare!"
"These Konoha ninja probably won't be easy to deal with!"
In the blink of an eye, he had reached his conclusion.
Then a sharp gleam appeared in his eyes.
"Organize the squads immediately and advance on the target location in an encircling formation."
"Order the sensory unit to search for the enemy immediately and pinpoint their route!"
"These Konoha ninja who dared penetrate our border must be captured or eliminated as quickly as possible!"
The Iwagakure ninja before him froze for a moment at his words, then immediately acknowledged the orders.
A dozen breaths later, figures rushed out of the base nestled among rocky mountains.
They split up and raced toward the location where the signal flare had been fired.
Ten minutes later, Tōu arrived at the site where Jōnin Sanmon's squad had fought.
His pupils contracted at the sight of more than a dozen corpses strewn across the ground. The ninja beside him were even more shocked.
"In less than five minutes, they actually took out Jōnin Sanmon and his men..."
Tōu's expression turned grave.
Clearly, this Konoha squad was even stronger than he had imagined.
He had expected Sanmon's squad to hold the