Before setting out, Yechen and the others had been told that their mission had two objectives: eliminate the enemy's fighting forces and destroy their stockpiled supplies.
Nakagawa Ichirō intended to keep fighting to a minimum, complete the second objective, and withdraw quickly. That would give them something to show for the mission.
That was his plan, but would the Rock Ninja let them complete their mission so easily?
The answer was clearly no!
As they approached the village, dozens of kunai immediately shot toward them.
During the day, they had used their home-field advantage to drive back the Rock Ninja. At night, the situation was reversed.
Throwing kunai with such reckless abandon, as though they cost nothing, was probably a luxury only those fighting on their own turf could afford.
Ninja fighting away from home could carry only a limited number of tools unless they had storage scrolls or Space-Time Ninjutsu.
Under those circumstances, they naturally could not compete with the enemy in a battle of attrition.
A Jonin beside Nakagawa Ichirō rapidly formed hand seals and slammed both palms against the ground. Earthen walls rose one after another, shielding the group.
It was Earth Release-Earth Flow Wall, which blocked the incoming kunai.
The Jonin did not stop forming hand seals. Pouring out chakra, he slapped a palm against the earthen wall.
Roar!
Earth Release-Earth Dragon Bullet!
Chakra combined with Earth Release ninjutsu to form a massive earthen dragon more than ten meters long.
The earthen dragon roared skyward. Countless arrows formed from earth shot from its mouth, raining down into the village.
Then the earthen dragon lunged at the village. The already flimsy earthen wall surrounding it collapsed instantly under the impact.
The Rock Ninja hiding in the village and attacking them suddenly found themselves in trouble.
Caught between the earthen arrows and the dragon's impact, they would inevitably suffer injuries even if they survived.
Many of the Genin stared in stunned amazement. This was a Jonin's strength. A single Earth Release ninjutsu could unleash such power.
It was powerful, but it also consumed a tremendous amount of chakra.
With the Rock Ninja badly hit, it was time for them to strike.
Nakagawa Ichirō immediately gave the order.
"Teams One and Two, intercept the enemy! Teams Three and Four, find the stronghold's supply warehouse. Blow it up as soon as you locate it!"
Nakagawa Ichirō arranged things this way because Teams One and Two consisted entirely of skilled fighters, with even their weakest members at Chunin level.
Teams Three and Four each had a Chunin-level captain and several Genin. Their strength made them better suited to searching for the supply warehouse, while the Jonin handled the fighting and interception.
Yechen was in Team Three, while Abe Rō and Ito Miyuki were in Team Four.
After telling the two of them to be careful, he headed out with his own team.
Inside the Rock Ninja stronghold, Team Three was relatively stronger. Aside from Yechen, who was ostensibly a Genin, its other three members were all Chunin-level ninja, so their team was assigned the areas that were harder to search.
The slightly weaker Team Four searched the outskirts.
Five minutes had passed since Team Three infiltrated the stronghold, and they had finally located the Rock Ninja's supply warehouse.
That was largely thanks to the ninja from the Yamanaka Clan on their team.
Although he was not a member of the Yamanaka Clan's main line and had not learned its most advanced Mind Technique, he had learned a Mind-Reading Technique.
Just moments earlier, they had encountered a Rock Ninja squad led by an Iwagakure Chunin. They quickly finished the fight and captured one of the enemy Genin alive.
The Yamanaka Clan's secret technique came in handy for finding the supply warehouse.
If the information was correct, the Rock Ninja stronghold's supply warehouse was in an underground chamber at the center of the village. Once they destroyed it, their mission would be complete.
Then everyone could withdraw safely.
However, dealing with the guards would not be easy. Team Three's captain, Fukuda Iharu, was a seasoned Chunin.
As they approached the village's central area, he raised his right fist, signaling everyone to stop.
Then he used a secret technique to survey their surroundings.
Although Yechen did not know what ninjutsu he was using, he could feel Fukuda Iharu's spiritual energy spreading outward. It was clearly some kind of sensory technique.
Suddenly, Fukuda Iharu's eyes snapped open. He looked at Yechen in astonishment, unable to keep himself from scrutinizing him.
"What is it?"
Seeing him stare like that, Yechen's expression remained unchanged as he spoke calmly.
At his question, Fukuda Iharu looked away and replied evenly.
"Nothing."
Yechen frowned. The man would not have reacted that way for no reason. He must have discovered something.
Was it the Sharingan, or did he notice that I had seen through his sensory technique?
Either way, Yechen grew a little wary of him.
They might all be Konoha Ninja, but sometimes the person most likely to turn on you was the one standing beside you.
In short, he could never afford to let his guard down around others!
In truth, Yechen was overthinking things this time. The secret technique Fukuda Iharu had just used was Thermal Sensing. It allowed him to sense the number of living people nearby and roughly estimate their strength.
He estimated their strength by probing the strength of their chakra.
The technique was not particularly accurate in that regard, but it did have its advantages when it came to counting living people.
However, the vast energy within Yechen was alarming enough to give Fukuda Iharu quite a shock.
He thought Yechen was a Jonin in disguise. No-even a Jonin might not have as much energy as Yechen did.
Only after confirming that the person beside him really was Yechen did Fukuda Iharu recover from his shock. With the mission underway, though, he could not explain in detail.
Yechen could hardly be blamed for that. The Primordial Chaos Devouring Heaven Technique he cultivated was not a cultivation method from this world to begin with.
Although his energy was only 1,000, less than that of those Jonin, its quality was ten times greater than theirs. Overall, he had already surpassed the vast majority of Jonin, which was what had caused this misunderstanding.
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