After leaving the village, Shinji Hyuga bypassed the main road on the east side of the Land of Fire and turned onto a narrow path. Following it to its end, he arrived at a dense forest with no visible trails.
After climbing a tree trunk to reach the canopy,a path quite different from ordinary roads unfolded before him.
This was a tree-top route for ninjas to travel at high speed.
Through Hyuga Tetsu, Shinji Hyuga already knew the general route the main family would take—
Heading east from the Land of Fire along the main road,crossing the Kusanami Coast to reach the frontline camp. This route was relatively the safest, consisting mostly of flat terrain with open sightlines, making it easy to scout.
Then,putting himself in the enemy's perspective—
The known adversaries were the Hyuga clan,who possessed the Byakugan, could scout the terrain, and from whom it was virtually impossible to hide.
So,how does one attack such a team?
And ensure the capture of the main family member and obtain the Byakugan?
Very simple.
Set up the encirclement in a place the Byakugan cannot see,and tighten the encirclement from all directions the moment the Byakugan first detects the ambushing ninjas.
Furthermore,to prevent the Hyuga main family member from committing suicide by destroying their eyes, it is essential to ensure the initial encounter is a surprise, lowering the enemy's guard until they are completely captured.
The most critical issue in this operational plan is—
Determining exactly how far a pair of Byakugan can see.
This then dictates how the shape and extent of the encirclement should be arranged.
With continuous training,the range each pair of Byakugan can see can increase. Taking Hyuga Hinata from Shippūden as an example, she can narrow her field of vision to see the situation ten kilometers away in one direction, while her normal bird's-eye view range is at least two kilometers.
But,
Shinji Hyugawas not worried that the enemy would be unaware of the main family's reconnaissance range.
After all,he already knew the final outcome—the main family's Byakugan was taken by Kirigakure's Ao, and Kirigakure's hunting operation was a great success.
It wasn't hard to deduce by working backward.
Either the Root organization leaked information about the main family's guard members,or the Hidden Mist spies embedded within Konoha completed the collection of this intelligence.
Shinji Hyugaleaned toward the former.
But neither scenario affectedShinji Hyuga's current actions.
Standing from a higher, god-like perspective, he needed to break into the encirclement ahead of the main family's team, bypass the 'enemy lying in ambush,' and arrive behind enemy lines first.
When the conflict erupted,he would find Hyuga Natsu and tear a gap in this encirclement!
With this thought,
Shinji Hyuga,standing on the treetop at the forest's edge, leaped down and sped forward along the path formed by the tree trunks.
On the other side,
in a clearing about one kilometer away from the woodland,
a group of ninjas wearing various masks and Anbu uniforms were gathering.
Soon,
one of the ninjas forming hand seals and wearing a bird-shaped mask suddenly seemed to sense something and looked up in surprise in the directionShinji Hyuga had left.
He immediately went to the front of the group, found Aburame Ryōma crouching by some bushes observing something, and hesitantly reported:
"Vice Minister,that brat… didn't follow the Hyuga clan's movements. Instead, he went to the Kirigakure ambush site ahead of time."
"Will this...affect the plan?"
Aburame Ryōma, squatting by the clearing, raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and roughly guessed Shinji Hyuga's plan. A look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Oh?This brat actually guessed the plan we arranged for Kirigakure?"
"We...arranged it?" The bird-masked ninja was momentarily stunned.
"Isn't that right?Sir, we are not here for an inspection."
"Oh."
Aburame Ryōma glanced at him, shook his head in disappointment, and didn't bother to answer the question.
As a member of Root,Konoha's intelligence center, not knowing why he was here meant he was either feigning ignorance or genuinely foolish.
Aburame Ryōma didn't want to talk to idiots.
The bird-masked ninja realized he had overplayed his hand and immediately chuckled, admitting his mistake.
"Ah...I was wrong, Minister. I know, I know. But weren't we here to stop Kirigakure from intercepting the Byakugan?"
"Wouldn't letting that brat run wild alert the enemy?"
"Wrong."
Aburame Ryōma shook his head, a cold glint in his eyes, and said indifferently,
"The life or death of the Hyuga clan is none of our concern."
"The Byakugan brat leaving the village early was also due to negligence by the Hokage's secretariat."
"Order?Lord Danzo did not issue any order to obtain the Byakugan."
At this point, Aburame Ryōma paused, then said calmly and indifferently:
"Tobari...We are only here to confirm one thing—that Kirigakure has launched its operation based on the information we provided."
"Beyond this,I will only observe and not interfere in anything else, to prevent the big fish that has finally taken the bait from escaping."
"As for that conspicuous brat..."
"Let him be."
Having said that, Aburame Ryōma lost interest in giving further instructions and turned his gaze to the ground.
At this time,
in the bushes below,a praying mantis crouched on a branch, silently watching a grasshopper below, raising its sickle-like forelimbs without a sound.
Just outside the bushes,a goldfinch with reed-like tail feathers watched the mantis about to strike with greedy eyes.
And higher up,
Aburame Ryōma pushed up his sunglasses,revealing an enigmatic, inscrutable smile.
Meanwhile, in a more distant place,
in front of a crescent-shaped cliff,
a brown-haired ninja,holding a scroll and running at full speed, arrived at the scene. He glanced around, then carefully formed hand seals to activate a barrier at his feet.
Soon,
ripples like water appeared on the cliff face beside him.
A young Jonin, wearing a forehead protector with four water-patterned markings, sporting a head of spiky blue hair, and possessing an imposing, dignified expression, emerged from behind the cliff face.
"Ao-sama!"
Upon seeing the young man,the brown-haired ninja immediately knelt and held the scroll up with both hands.
"The final piece of intelligence from Konoha Village!"
"Understood."Ao took the scroll and immediately began to read.
A moment later, he shouted loudly toward the deserted, rocky slope below the cliff:
"The Hyuga main family has already set off."
"As previously reported,this main family member is escorted by three teams of guards."
"There are a total of three Jonin,six Chunin, two Genin, and the strength of the main branch member Hyuga Genkou is unknown."
"Among them,the vanguard team consists of Jonin Hyuga Hiroya, Chunin Hyuga Tetsu, Aburame Shiki, and Inuzuka Hana."
"Hyuga Hiroya's reconnaissance radius is 1.6 kilometers."
"Hyuga Tetsu's reconnaissance radius is 1.4 kilometers."
"Aburame Shiki possesses parasitic insects with a sensory radius of 0.4 kilometers."
"Inuzuka Hana..."
"The middle team consists of Jonin Hyuga Eiki and Chunin Hyuga Natsu, Yamasaki Sumiko, and the main family member Hyuga Genkou."
"Hyuga Eiki's reconnaissance radius is 2.1 kilometers,and he possesses longitudinal perception capabilities, with a maximum perception range of 7 to 8 kilometers."
"Hyuga Natsu's reconnaissance radius is 1.99 kilometers..."
Soon, Ao finished reading aloud the information and perception ranges of all the guards, then looked up and glanced around.
"So,"
"as per the pre-arranged team formations,everyone, proceed to your designated positions immediately and await the signal to complete the encirclement!"
"This intelligence is extremely valuable;we only have one chance!"
Finally,his eyes turned cold, and he said in a deep voice:
"Therefore,there is no room for error in this operation!"
As Ao's voice fell,
a sudden sound erupted from the deserted,rocky beach.
A unified shout:
"Yes!"