Two days later.
"Whoosh~"
A dozen or so dark figures flashed past silently, leaving humanoid trails in the misty rain of the Land of Rain, before finally disappearing into the canopy of two or three trees.
Among the dozen or so ninjas, the leader, a silver-haired boy, crouched among the treetops, cautiously looking ahead and watching for any movement around him.
"Creak!"
Suddenly, a Chunin behind them Chunin on a dry branch, which snapped loudly in the silent forest.
"What are you doing? Watch your step!" The Chunin captain Jonin warned in a low voice.
This silenced Shin'un, who was about to turn around and reprimand him. He glanced at the Jonin captain who was protecting his teammate and whispered, "Don't make this kind of basic mistake again."
"Yes."
Upon hearing Hirakawa Shin'un's words, the Chunin had made the noise immediately bowed his head and admitted his mistake.
Seeing this, Shin'un ignored him and turned to look at the other side behind him.
" Dan Katō, scout the surroundings."
Behind Shin'un, Dan Katō, who was hiding on another treetop, nodded clearly and immediately Hand Seals.
After a few hand seals, an extremely slight fluctuation of Chakra appeared. Then, Dan Katō closed his eyes and, as if suddenly losing consciousness, was about to fall off the treetop.
At that moment, his two teammates, who were already prepared, skillfully held Dan Katō's body and placed it securely among the tree canopy.
Seeing Dan Katō's eyes roll back as if he had lost consciousness, Shin'un was not surprised. He knew that Dan Katō was actually performing Spirit Transformation Technique, and his soul had left his body.
Shin'un turned to look in front of him, keeping a watchful eye on all movements ahead and around him, silently awaiting the results of Dan Katō's reconnaissance.
Several tens of seconds later, Shin'un, who was on guard, suddenly heard Dan Katō's voice.
"Report: No enemies nearby, but two groups of Sand Ninja are about 600 meters ahead. Judging from their path, they are on patrol."
Shin'un turned his head and glanced at the still unconscious Dan Katō's body behind him, and asked:
"What level are the two Sand Ninja teams? How far are they from the target base?"
As soon as the words were spoken, Dan Katō's voice rang out again.
"Both teams consist entirely of Chunin."
After saying that, Dan Katō for a moment before continuing:
We're very close to the target location; we should be there in about half an hour.
Shin'un nodded, then turned his gaze to Dan Katō's physical body behind him.
"Alright, it's all over, go back now."
"Yes."
Dan Katō's voice rang in Shin'un's ears, and then Dan Katō's body trembled violently, his eyes widened, and he immediately rolled up from the tree branch he had been lying on.
" The Spirit Transformation Technique is truly amazing..."
Shin'un sighed inwardly. Seeing that Dan Katō's physical body had regained its mobility, he raised his Teuchi a few hand gestures, signaling the team to continue advancing covertly.
Then, Shin'un took a step forward and was the first to leave from the treetop where he was hiding, followed closely by more than a dozen Konoha Ninja.
After a short while, two Sand Ninja squads appeared in the forest ahead; they were the patrol squads that Dan Katō had mentioned.
Shin'un had no intention of causing any trouble, and upon seeing the two Sand Ninja teams, he immediately led the Konoha Ninja to hide.
Several minutes later, the two Sand Ninja squads, which had been on patrol, left their positions. Shin'un seized this brief opportunity and quickly led the Konoha Ninja toward the Sand Ninja stronghold ahead.
They remained silent and cautiously lay in wait until, after more than ten minutes, when they estimated that they were close enough, Shin'un immediately ordered the Hyuga in his team to scout the surrounding area.
"Open!"
The Hyuga ninja activated his Byakugan, instantly expanding his field of vision.
After a short wait, the Hyuga ninja replied immediately.
"Report: There are a large number of Sand Ninja patrolling ahead; the target base should be a short distance away."
"Okay, lead the way."
Seeing that they were very close to the target base, Shin'un immediately ordered the Hyuga ninja Hyuga lead the way.
"Yes!"
The Hyuga ninja agreed and came to the front of the group, leading a dozen or so Konoha Ninja through the winding forest.
The Byakugan can ignore obstacles and see all the patrolling Sand Ninja in the vicinity.
It was as if he had a cheat code for seeing through walls. By pausing from time to time, changing direction from time to time, speeding up, slowing down, and even leading the team backward, he led the team forward through the gaps between the Sand Ninja squads.
Gradually, half an hour passed. Although the process was slow, Shin'un and his group successfully approached the Sand Ninja stronghold right under the noses of more than a dozen Sand Ninja squads.
Hiding in a thick patch of grass, the Hyuga ninja observed the situation for a moment, then, after some thought, abandoned the idea of leading the team to continue infiltrating.
"Report, Jonin Hirakawa, we can't go any further."
Hidden in the shadows, Shin'un nodded in understanding, looking ahead at the Sand Ninja stronghold that had come into view.
Shin'un looked up and noticed a large tree nearby.
"Whoosh~"
A dark shadow flashed by, Shin'un onto the treetop, using the high vantage point to re-observe the Sand Ninja stronghold not far away.
"One, two, three... fifty-four."
Hidden in the treetops, Shin'un roughly calculated the number of Sand Ninja in the Sunagakure stronghold ahead.
As Shin'un finished calculating the number of ninjas in the Sunagakure base, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.
The number of Sand Ninja exposed to his sight at this base alone was already fifty, not to mention the dozen or so Sand Ninja patrolling around.
All the Sand Ninja combined probably number close to two hundred, making it a large Sand Ninja stronghold.
Shin'un turned his head and looked at the dozen or so Konoha Ninja under the tree.
Sigh~
Shen Cloud Ninja but sigh, feeling somewhat exhausted.
"Why are all the missions lately so difficult?"
Since Shin'un led a thousand Konoha Ninja to the Sand Ninja Village front, three months have passed. Shin'un has received about a dozen missions, almost all of which were personally assigned by Nara Shikahito.
At first, Nara Shikahito still had some humanity, only assigning Shin'un tasks such as transporting important supplies and blocking Sand Ninja.
Gradually, starting from the third task, the difficulty of the tasks began to increase dramatically.
Transporting vital supplies became a supply depot for eliminating the Sand Ninja; intercepting the Sand Ninja became a means of infiltrating enemy-occupied territory to kill designated targets...
Basically, every mission involves Shin'un leading a dozen or so Konoha Ninja, facing enemy ninjas several times or even dozens of times their own strength under various unfavorable conditions to complete the mission.
Fortunately, Shin'un still has some skills. Although the missions are becoming increasingly difficult, he still manages to maintain a 100% mission completion rate thanks to his own abilities and quick thinking.
Of course, Shin'un also knew that Nara Shikahito was not trying to make things difficult for him, but deliberately assigning him some extremely difficult tasks.
However, Shin'un is now Elite Jonin, and his combat strength is evident to all. He can be considered the core backbone of Konoha, so the missions he handles are naturally not on the same level as before.