One of the rules of a ninja is to protect one's intelligence well.
You can talk about your abilities, but you don't have to say everything. Ideally, only you yourself should know your true limits.
Concealment within reasonable bounds not only protects yourself, but also better protects your companions.
In the ninja world, hiding a small piece of information will not get anyone killed; boasting and making reckless promises about things you cannot do will.
For example, when Makoto had just graduated, he told his instructor that his sensory range was a radius of three kilometers—but that was a lie. At the time, his actual sensory range was around four kilometers.
From graduation until now, four months had already passed. Especially after arriving at the eastern front, his rate of training with natural energy had increased slightly. A few days earlier, he had also successfully fused Ice Release, which raised his chakra reserves a little. As a result, his current sensory limit was a radius of about six kilometers.
In other words, the sensory ranges of both sides were roughly the same, and he had been repeatedly hovering right at the edge of Chūkichi's perception.
During the time that followed, Makoto led two squads and circled around to the other side of the Kiri ninja unit at the fastest possible speed. Then, like a ghost that appeared and vanished without warning, he would show up here for a moment, then reveal himself there.
Each time, the number of people was different. Sometimes he used abilities to conceal one or two individuals; sometimes he used Shadow Clones to make the team appear to have several extra members. He even went so far as to cover everyone's bodies with chakra when allowing the enemy to sense them, simulating unfamiliar fluctuations to avoid exposing any flaws.
In Chūkichi's perception, the Konohagakure search teams in this direction seemed a bit too densely concentrated.
If it were only one or two squads blocking the way, he could still bring people over, deal with them quickly, then erase the traces and run—but with the situation as it was now, it was obvious that something had happened over there, drawing a large number of Konohagakure ninja together. This forced him to lead the team on a longer detour to reach the target mission point.
Although constantly correcting their direction made him so irritated he wanted to kill someone, for the sake of the mission, he endured it.
Completing the mission was a ninja's duty. No matter how cruel the training in Kirigakure had been since childhood, this iron law was branded into the mind like a steel stamp.
For example, even though Zabuza and Kisame had defected, when they got by in the ninja world they still lived off missions—really quite remarkable.
Perhaps, deep down in their hearts, they still longed for order. Even after defecting, they still held to this principle.
The only one who truly went insane was probably Kurosuki Raiga.
Chūkichi's temper was indeed short, but he was also someone with a very strong sense of caution. As the vegetation around them gradually thinned, he slowly noticed that something was off.
It wasn't until they arrived at a mountain valley with many rocks and little water, where the grass was sparse and the woods were thin, that they finally confirmed it—they had fallen into a trap set by that bunch of Konohagakure bastards.
This place looked like the Land of Earth. In the vegetation-rich Land of Fire, terrain like this was rare, and it was usually found only in fairly famous locations.
The most famous rocky valley was called the Valley of the End.
At this point, it was no longer just Chūkichi— even the other Kiri ninja had sensed that the outlook ahead was bad.
Someone pulled out a map they carried with them, compared it, and cried out in alarm, "This is Kusamugadani. Not only are there no rivers nearby, there are barely even any ordinary civilian villages. Chūkichi-sama—"
Someone else beside him also asked, "Chūkichi-sama, what's going on?"
What kind of look Chūkichi had behind his red glasses was something no one could see. He glanced at the sky with an expressionless face and gave an order: "Pick up the pace. Leave this place."
They had only run a few hundred meters when he suddenly stopped.
A Kiri ninja beside him said, "Chūkichi-sama?"
Chūkichi let out a sigh, surveyed the surrounding environment, and said, "Everyone, we've been surrounded. While the encirclement hasn't fully closed yet, prepare to break out. Run east. If we can find a village with signs of habitation, even better—then we might still be able to stay alive long enough to reach the Land of Waves outpost."
At that, no one could remain calm anymore. Without bothering to complain about Chūkichi leading the team, everyone buried their heads and sprinted madly forward.
...
To the northwest of Kusamugadani, Makoto and seven others linked up with another search team.
It was the squad that included Yamashiro Aoba. His teammates were the highly motivated Sarutobi Asuma and the cute Yūhi Kurenai. The clan crest on the clothing of the jōnin leading the team showed that he, too, came from the Sarutobi clan.
In theory, after a genin squad of three was promoted to chūnin, they could break away from their original jōnin and operate independently. However, this was not a hard rule—it depended entirely on the choices of both sides.
As for those following along to protect their safety, there were only three people. The one in the lead was none other than Nara Suzaku, the staff officer of the eastern front. His teammates were a fat man and a middle-aged, orange-haired handsome guy.
This was a traditional Konoha Ino–Shika–Cho combination.
As an ally of the Sarutobi clan, and for Asuma's safety, Nara Suzaku had no choice but to come in person before he could feel at ease.
Although the Third Hokage often said that if Asuma were to die in battle, it would only mean his talent was no more than that, such words were fine to listen to—but one should never take them seriously. Anyone who believed them would be an idiot.
At this moment, Makoto suddenly said from within his perception, "The enemy has already realized they've fallen into an encirclement and has started breaking out toward due east."
Nara Suzaku sneered. "As expected. The reaction matches our predictions—but unfortunately for them, that's not an easy direction to break through."
After hearing the exchange between the two, Asuma was overjoyed. "Then what are we still doing here? We can't let the enemy get away."
With that, the guy immediately accelerated and gave chase.
"Huh? Asuma, wait!" Kurenai stretched out a powerless hand, but how could she possibly stop a companion burning with eagerness to earn merit.
"I knew it would be like this!" Suzaku pressed a hand to his forehead and had no choice but to call for everyone to speed up and chase after him as well.
'Damn it,' Makoto cursed inwardly, unable to hold back a line of profanity. Running into this kind of rebellious, hot-blooded youth really never led to anything good.
The meaning behind Suzaku's words had been perfectly clear: the command headquarters had already anticipated the enemy's subsequent moves. There were definitely strong opponents lying in wait to the east. All they needed to do was sit tight and wait for the encirclement to close, and they could wipe out the enemy at minimal cost.
Asuma was not stupid. Did he not understand? No—he understood perfectly. He just didn't want to miss the chance to earn great merit.
Sure enough, is this what it's like for anyone living in the shadow of the Hokage? Just like the future Sarutobi Konohamaru, always wanting to defeat his grandfather, prove his own talent, and earn other people's recognition.
Compared with Asuma at this moment, you couldn't say they were exactly the same—you could only say they were cut from the same cloth.
While speeding up in pursuit, Suzaku asked, "Makoto, we have fifteen people now. Can your ability conceal everyone so they won't be detected by the enemy's sensory ninja?"
"Although the number is a bit large, it's no problem, Suzaku-senpai!"
"Good. Since we have no choice but to go in, then we'll act as a surprise force and catch them off guard!"
A distance of several dozen kilometers was not far at all for shinobi moving at full speed. Makoto and his group of fifteen passed through the forest, crossed a desolate Grassless Valley, and then dove back into the forest again.
As long as they came out of the forest once more, they would be able to see, not far ahead, a bustling small town with signs of habitation.
But at this moment, a major battle had already erupted there.
Chūkichi was leading forty elite Kiri ninja and had deliberately run in this direction. Naturally, he knew there were Konohagakure ninja blocking the way here, but there was no choice—this was the best option. Only by charging into the town and creating chaos would they have a chance to fish in troubled waters and get a few people away.
Even if it was only one, it was better than being wiped out completely.
But the ones blocking the way here were Konohagakure ninja with the Uchiha clan as the main force, personally led by Uchiha Fugaku, and they dealt them a head-on blow.
For a time, kunai and shuriken flew everywhere, explosive tags and Great Fireballs blasted madly, and the collision of Fire Release and Water Release made mist spread thickly outside the town.
Seeing that this route was impassable, Chūkichi took advantage of the chaos, called over a few familiar companions, and turned around to run—using the rest of the Kiri ninja as sacrificial pawns to buy him the chance to flee from another direction.
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