Chapter 140: Eight Hundred Enemies? The Advantage is Mine!

Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Eight Hundred Enemies? The Advantage is Mine!

When Shūichi Hoshita's shadow clone arrived at Uchiha Shisui's location, the battle had just ended.

Uchiha Shisui and Pakura were unharmed, but the other Konoha squads that intercepted the Kirigakure forces had suffered casualties.

At this moment, only a medical ninja was busy tending to the wounded. Shūichi immediately stepped forward to help and said, "Kirigakure's forces will be here soon. Shisui, Scorch, the two of you and I will stay behind to cover the retreat."

"Understood!"

Uchiha Shisui and Pakura nodded in agreement, then closed their eyes to rest.

A Jonin from the Sarutobi clan offered, "Shūichi, let me stay behind too!"

Shūichi shook his head. "Kirigakure has more than 50 shinobi. We're not here to stop them all, just to slow them down with strategic strikes."

"You should pull back a bit and set up defensive positions to support us!"

The Sarutobi Jonin nodded and refrained from saying more.

Ten minutes later, the wounded had been treated, and the Konoha squad of a dozen shinobi retreated, leaving only Shūichi, Shisui, and Pakura behind.

After waiting a while, Shisui's crows flew back.

"Shūichi, Kirigakure is here!"

Shisui's voice was calm but firm.

Sitting beneath a tree, Shūichi stood up.

Moments later, one by one, the Kirigakure shinobi appeared within sight.

"That guy!"

"It's him!"

"Is this the real one?"

The Kirigakure shinobi halted, all eyes focused intently on Shūichi Hoshita.

Hōzuki Metsuin, staring at Shūichi, suddenly spoke. "Are you Shūichi of Konoha?"

Shūichi smiled. "That's me!"

Metsuin's gaze shifted to Pakura, who was wearing a mask. Despite the mask, he recognized his former opponent all too well.

Especially after seeing the gruesome state of his fallen comrades earlier—it confirmed his suspicions.

"Pakura of the Scorch Release... so it was you Konoha who saved her!"

Hōzuki Metsuin snorted coldly.

Shūichi chuckled softly. "You kill people, we save them. You're the villains, we're the heroes. That tone of yours—I don't like it."

Metsuin's annoyance deepened. Considering Shūichi's strength, he gave a cold snort and waved his hand. "Retreat!"

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The Kirigakure shinobi immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat.

What the...?

Shūichi was ready for battle.

Were the Kirigakure shinobi really this weak?

"Chase them!"

Shūichi called out softly.

Immediately, the sound of Chidori echoed through the air as lightning sparked from his limbs, enveloping his body in a glow. In an instant, he shot forward like a streak of lightning.

Shisui followed closely behind, and his Body Flicker Technique was no slower than Shūichi's Chidori Flicker.

Pakura, however, was a bit slower, falling to the back.

The rearmost Kirigakure shinobi, including Hōzuki Metsuin, suddenly turned and unleashed their attacks. Three of them spewed water streams from their mouths, creating massive waves that surged toward the trio.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Shisui and Shūichi executed their jutsu in perfect sync, creating a fiery whirlwind that collided with the water waves. The resulting explosion sent mist billowing in all directions.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Shuriken laced with explosive tags shot through the mist, detonating with thunderous blasts.

Shūichi and the others dodged the explosions and rushed through the lingering mist, only to find themselves shrouded in a dense fog.

Hiding in Mist Technique!

The fog was so thick that visibility was reduced to less than two meters!

"Be careful of Kirigakure's Silent Killing Technique," Pakura warned. "Hōzuki Metsuin is especially skilled at it!"

Shisui suggested, "We can disperse the fog with Wind Release, right?"

Pakura shook her head. "In theory, yes. But this is a common jutsu for Kirigakure, and the range of this fog is likely massive."

Shisui nodded. "I see. It seems the enemy isn't planning on retreating after all."

"That's not necessarily the case!"

Shūichi's eyes ignited with blue flames, using his thermal vision. The fog had little effect on him.

"Follow me!"

With a soft command, Shūichi moved swiftly, zipping past a hidden Kirigakure shinobi concealed behind a tree.

The hidden shinobi silently attempted to strike from behind, but Shisui's shuriken hit him with pinpoint accuracy.

However, the struck shinobi turned into a puddle of water as he hit the ground.

"A clone!"

"Three o'clock!"

"Six o'clock!"

"Eleven o'clock!"

Shūichi's voice echoed through the mist, and shuriken flew toward him from every direction. He evaded each one with ease.

Shūichi didn't hide his thoughts from Shisui and replied, "That's right, I don't. While she was once the Second Hokage's team member, she's old now and has been away from the front lines for a long time."

"But with Lord Orochimaru here, there's no need to worry too much."

In fact, during the Second Shinobi World War, both Koharu and Homura Mitokado had played active roles, albeit in a command capacity.

Shisui smiled, trying to reassure him. "You're overthinking it, Shūichi. Lady Koharu is a veteran who has survived two Shinobi World Wars. Her experience far exceeds ours."

"I hope you're right."

Shūichi sighed. He knew he had let his biases take over.

But from his unique perspective, he couldn't muster any goodwill toward Koharu, Homura, or Danzo.

When you get old, you should just retire instead of meddling in everything.

"Someone's coming!" Shisui suddenly said.

Shūichi reverted to his human form. Soon, a figure appeared from behind them. Upon seeing Shūichi, the person's face lit up with joy. "Lord Shūichi, Lord Orochimaru has requested your presence."

Shūichi stood and nodded. "Got it."

The Chunin who had come to deliver the message bowed and quickly turned to leave.

Shisui said, "We'll handle things here. You should head back right away."

Shūichi created a shadow clone and smiled. "A clone will suffice!"

As he spoke, the clone disappeared.

...

At the Border of the Land of Fire

Sitting idly under a tree, Asuka suddenly perked up in surprise and joy. "Shūichi!"

"Asuka!"

Shūichi greeted her with a smile and said, "Come with me to the main camp!"

Asuka quickly stood up.

The two of them used the Body Flicker Technique and headed to the rear. After about half an hour, they arrived at the command headquarters.

"Lord Shūichi!"

"Lord Shūichi has returned!"

"He's so impressive at such a young age, it's truly amazing!"

"If it were me, I'd be happy if my son were even half as skilled as Lord Shūichi!"

...

Along the way, people continuously greeted Shūichi with respect, and various discussions about him filled the air.

Soon, they arrived in front of the commander's tent. The two Chūnin guarding the entrance bowed quickly. One of them said, "Please wait a moment, Lord Shūichi. I'll go report to Lady Koharu."

Shūichi smiled and nodded slightly.

In no time, the Chūnin returned and gestured respectfully. "Lord Shūichi, Lady Koharu will see you now!"

Shūichi nodded again and entered the tent alone.

Upon entering, he glanced around and saw not only Koharu Utatane and Orochimaru, but also several Jōnin.

After exchanging greetings, Koharu spoke. "Shūichi, you've returned at just the right time. We were discussing our strategy against Sunagakure, and Orochimaru mentioned wanting to hear your thoughts, as you currently have the most insight into both Sunagakure and Kirigakure's movements."

Shūichi's gaze shifted to Orochimaru, who smiled back at him. After a brief nod of acknowledgment, Shūichi began, "At the moment, both Sunagakure and Kirigakure's infiltration squads have been dealt with. In addition, I eliminated a hundred-strong unit from Sunagakure and repelled Kirigakure's vanguard. As a result, both Sunagakure and Kirigakure have committed their full forces. It seems they're attempting to compress the depth of our intelligence operations."

"Of course, it's also possible that they'll choose to focus their attack on a single point, especially Sunagakure."

Shūichi spoke calmly, but aside from Orochimaru, the other Jōnin in the tent, including Koharu, were shocked.

They were aware of the intelligence about the infiltration squads being neutralized.

But the later achievements? Those were news to them.

"Shūichi, are you sure about this?" a Jōnin from the Shimura clan asked.

Before Shūichi could respond, Orochimaru chuckled and said, "There's no need to doubt these accomplishments. Shūichi is more than capable."

"Shūichi, the border we share with the Land of Rivers is vast. Theoretically, Sunagakure could break through at any point, putting us in a very passive position as the defending side."

"That's why I want to hear your thoughts."

Shūichi was prepared and immediately replied, "Lady Koharu, Lord Orochimaru, in my opinion, the first thing we should do is turn defense into offense."

"We know exactly where Sunagakure's main forces are. We should strike them directly, crush their army, and then we can push forward into the Land of Rivers. By the time Sunagakure reinforcements arrive, we'll have taken control of the region and can then confront them at the border of the Land of Wind."

Koharu shook her head. "Our current forces are insufficient. Advancing recklessly could result in our supply lines being cut off."

Shūichi continued, "If Sunagakure intends to break through our lines and invade the Land of Fire, they will undoubtedly seek out our weak points."

"In that case, we can prepare two or three weak points for them, but behind those weak points, we set up ambushes."

"Whether they attack one of the weak points or all of them at once, we can reverse the situation and encircle them."

The Shimura Jonin, Feiyan, who had previously questioned Shūichi's accomplishments, immediately said, "Setting up such traps would require a large number of troops, but we simply don't have enough forces right now."

"If we spread ourselves too thin setting up three traps, and Sunagakure concentrates their strength on just one, those false traps could become real weaknesses!"

Shūichi ignored him and turned to Koharu. "Lady Koharu, how many troops do we have available for our operations against Sunagakure?"

Koharu replied, "Six hundred!"

That meant Konoha's total deployment on the Land of Rivers battlefield was just over a thousand.

Sunagakure had just over eight hundred.

Shūichi felt confident. The advantage was his!

(End of Chapter)

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