"We've finally made it!"
Shin'un stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the nearly one thousand Konoha Ninja not far away, and sighed with emotion.
After more than a month of fighting and trekking, Shin'un finally led his ninja team to circle around to the rear of the main Sand Ninja force and successfully arrived at the rendezvous point of the three teams according to Nara Shikahito's plan.
"But..." Shin'un observed the ninja group in the valley, his brows suddenly furrowing. " Orochimaru's group doesn't seem to have arrived yet?"
"Later than me?"
Sensing something was amiss, Shin'un suddenly frowned and began to think.
Logically speaking, Orochimaru has far more experience leading teams than him, so he shouldn't have started later than him...
Unable to figure out why, Shin'un simply shook his head, turned to look at the ordinary-looking Chunin who had been following behind him, and said:
"Alright, relay my order: everyone find a place to rest."
"The medical team should immediately treat the wounded. The Toshihiko Squad, Hyuga Ren Squad,..., and Sarutobi Shikō Squad should cooperate with the existing patrol ninjas to maintain vigilance and conduct patrols."
After speaking, Shin'un rested his chin on his hand, pondered for a moment, and then continued:
"These are the orders for now. As for the specific actions to follow... we'll discuss that after I meet with the Jonin Nara."
"Yes!"
Upon hearing Shin'un's words, the Chunin immediately responded loudly, then turned around and relayed the order to the ninja team behind him.
"Phew~"
Watching the messenger leader leave, Shin'un slowly exhaled and turned to look at the nearly one thousand ninjas in the valley.
" Kō-chan, Yūichi, come with me down there to find the Jonin Nara."
"Um."
"OK."
Shiina Kō and Yūichi, as Shin'un's teammates, had always been by his side, and upon hearing Shin'un's words, they immediately agreed.
Nodding slightly, Shin'un leaped down, jumping directly from the mountaintop several hundred meters high, heading straight for the valley below.
Jumping from a mountaintop hundreds of meters high is extremely dangerous for ordinary people. They would usually fall for ten or a few seconds before turning into a bright red mess with a "splat" sound. But for a ninja who has mastered Chakra, it is not necessarily the case.
They only need to touch the rock face with their hands or feet when they are going too fast, and then use the "adhesion" technique of Chakra to stick to the mountain wall, so as to control their falling speed and prevent accidents.
This is equivalent to the Chakra between the palm and the rock wall becoming a kind of "retarder".
Twenty-odd seconds later, with the help of his right hand, which had been clinging to the rock face, Shin'un safely "slid" down to the bottom of the cliff.
Immediately afterwards, Shin'un withdrew the Chakra that had been absorbing it from his right palm and shook his right hand.
His palms remained pressed against the rock wall, and although there was an invisible layer of Chakra between them, they were still a little hot.
Friction generates heat, which is very scientific...
"Whoosh~"
"Whoosh~"
Two sounds, like the screech of brakes, rang out overhead, Shin'un immediately looked up.
Shiina Kō and Yūichi followed closely behind, using a method similar to Shin'un's to safely descend onto the rock face.
Like Shiina Kō, Shin'un used his right hand to grip the rock wall, controlling his body to fall at a safe speed.
Yūichi is a bit too flashy.
He used his hands to suck, his feet to suck, and even his head to suck, turning himself into a "fire wheel" on the straight rock face, constantly spinning.
More importantly, although Yūichi's landing method looked more flashy than Shiina Kō's, his descent speed was actually not Shiina Kō fast.
After landing on his feet, Shiina Kō still had time to open his mouth slightly and look up with Shin'un to "admire" Yūichi, who had transformed into a whirlwind.
It wasn't until the "long" six seconds had passed that Yūichi successfully landed, under the watchful eyes of Shin'un and Shiina Kō.
"It looks like they haven't been here long either."
In the pouring rain, Shin'un and his two companions walked through the still unfinished temporary camp. Suddenly, Shiina Kō said to Shin'un beside him.
"That's right." Nodding, Shin'un looked around and saw that there were still many ninjas in the temporary camp setting up unfinished makeshift tents to take shelter from the torrential rain.
Although these tents that have been set up may have to be dismantled in just a few hours, there is no way to rest under the torrential rain. They can only assemble the portable tents they brought with them to have a small space to rest properly.
Fortunately, these convenient tents are very easy to set up, and even with the time required to retrieve them, it takes no more than ten minutes.
"With this heavy rain, where are we going to find Jonin Nara?"
Looking around, Xiong Yūichi seemed a little lost and asked Shin'un beside him in a loud voice.
Upon hearing this, Shin'un nodded in agreement.
The dense raindrops falling from the sky severely impaired visibility; the only thing visible was ninjas busily setting up camp. Furthermore, the open space in this valley was quite large, making it difficult to find anyone.
Fortunately, they were looking for Nara Shikahito, the commander of this Konoha team, so finding him was relatively easy.
Shin'un glanced sideways at Yūichi beside him and said:
How do I find it? (Your nose)
"Ah! Ah? Ah~" Upon hearing this, Yūichi immediately realized what was going on.
"Sigh~"
Seeing Yūichi's expression, Shin'un shook his head and ignored him, instead squinting as he looked around.
He quickly chose a Konoha Ninja who was busy on the left.
Judging from the light green ninja vest she's wearing on her upper body, she's a Chunin Konoha.
Shin'un stepped forward, approached the Chunin who was crouching on the ground, and asked:
"Excuse me, where is the camp of the Jonin Nara Shikahito Jonin Nara?"
"Um?"
The question that suddenly came from behind made the Chunin.
Then, she stood up, carrying the stones she had used to reinforce the tent, and looked at the person behind her who had asked the question.
" Lord Hirakawa!"
Upon seeing that the person asking the question behind him was none other than Hirakawa Shin'un, whom he had heard of before, the Chunin immediately threw away the stone in his hand, straightened his chest, which showed no signs of rising or falling, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
"Hmm." Shin'un wasn't too surprised to see that this Chunin recognized him.
After all, he hadn't spent those years active on the battlefield for nothing.
Nodding slightly, Shin'un continued to ask questions.
"Which tent is the Jonin Nara in?"
Upon hearing Hirakawa Shin'un's question again, the young female Chunin immediately reacted, turned around, pointed in a certain direction within the camp, and replied:
"That's it, Lord Nara is in that tent."
Shin'un squinted and looked in the direction the female ninja was pointing.
Although the torrential rain still obscured visibility, this time with a clear direction, Shen Kumogakure see a large, slightly crooked tent at the edge of his vision.
Nodding, Shin'un thanked the female ninja and then strode towards the large tent in sight, braving the torrential rain.
After bypassing a dozen or so temporary tents being set up along the road, Shin'un arrived at the entrance of the large tent in Nara Shikahito.
As soon as they reached the entrance of the camp, Shin'un and his group heard Nara Shikahito's shouts coming from inside.
"What?"
" Orochimaru's team was attacked by Sand Ninja from an unknown location and couldn't arrive in time?"