The initial success of "Flame Net" greatly boosted the team's confidence and drew some attention from headquarters.
But they all knew the true test lay in facing Sunagakure's well-equipped, tightly coordinated puppet units led by elite Jonin.
Soon, a highly valuable and extremely dangerous target made it onto their kill list.
Based on the combined findings of Hizashi's repeated ultra-long-range Byakugan reconnaissance, cross-checked by headquarters' intelligence department, an elite Sunagakure team code-named "Sand Fox"
had recently been active throughout a vast area northeast of the Wind-Eroded Canyon known as the "Rocky Wasteland."
The terrain was extraordinarily complex, filled with wind-eroded stone pillars dozens of meters tall, bottomless fissure canyons, and natural cave systems. It was an ideal battlefield for ambushes and guerrilla warfare.
The leader of the "Sand Fox" team was a veteran elite Jonin puppeteer named Sand Fox, renowned for his cunning, suspicious nature and his control of two powerful puppets named "Fortress" and "Hunter."
The team included a Jonin puppeteer believed to be Sand Fox's personal disciple, a Jonin skilled in large-scale wind release ninjutsu-particularly "Wind Release: Pressure Damage"-and an elite Chunin support operative proficient in earth release defenses, poison trap setup, and intelligence analysis.
This formidable team excelled at using the Rocky Wasteland's complex terrain to establish puppet positions and launch defensive counterattacks. At least two Konoha teams sent to eliminate them had already been driven back in defeat, even suffering casualties.
"They're the ones." After carefully analyzing all the intelligence, Sakumo made his decision. "Severing this elite, cunning arm of Sunagakure will not only cripple their fighting strength, but also strike a blow to their morale. Shinji, this will be the perfect proving ground for your new tactics."
They ran through the operation plan repeatedly, striving to make it both meticulous and lethal:
Hatake Sakumo would