thefictionvixens Chapter 161 Moving Forward, Unspeakable
Chapter 161 Moving Forward, Unspeakable
Chapter 161 Moving Forward, Unspeakable
In the Land of Rivers, within the territory controlled by Sunagakure, Taichi's squad swept through Sunagakure's defenses like a deadly tornado.
Over the course of five days, they traveled from south to north and then from north to south, covering the entire Sand Village defense line twice, during which they killed as many as eight Sand Village squads.
The only pity is that there are no Jonin among them; most of them are Genin squads led by Chunin.
Meanwhile, the Sunagakure frontline camp also received news that a small team was wreaking havoc on their side. This team was simply too arrogant. Every time they finished a battle, they didn't even bother to clean up the battlefield, leaving behind a pile of Sunagakure corpses and a burning inferno.
In the largest tent at the Sunagakure front camp, the atmosphere was both intense and solemn, with flickering firelight illuminating several grim faces weathered by the sandstorms.
On the central table, a map of the land of rivers was spread out, covered with red and yellow flags, with yellow flags clearly dominating the area at this moment.
A Jonin with fresh burn scars on his face held a thin stick, pointed at the map, and looked at the commander sitting at the head of the table with a vengeful tone.
"Lord Shamon, this is the situation. There's no doubt that Konoha's defenses have a major breach. Our newly developed poison is highly effective; Konoha's antidote pills have almost no effect on them!"
Shamen remained silent, simply observing the situation diagrams on the table and carefully analyzing the current circumstances.
The scarred ninja was still reporting the situation: "According to the intelligence ninjas' investigation, Konoha has been transporting poisoned ninjas back to the Land of Fire. Their frontline camps are completely helpless against our poison."
At this point, the scarred ninja excitedly slammed his fist on the table, "This has resulted in a significant shortage of reinforcements for their frontline personnel, and patrols in many areas have become virtually non-existent. They can now only barely maintain a defensive posture in key areas."
His words elicited a chorus of approving whispers, and many of the ninjas present were exchanging pleasantries, looking eager to try it out.
However, not everyone was so radical. A young Jonin sitting on the other side raised an objection: "Gentlemen, please don't just look at the surface! Konoha seems to be retreating and suffering increased casualties. But in the past two days, several elite Konoha squads have infiltrated our controlled areas."
"Their attacks are precise and efficient, and they move like the wind. Our attacked ninjas are often wiped out within minutes. Currently, we know nothing about these ninjas, but we estimate that there are at least three such teams."
"Do you think this looks like a manpower shortage? They're slapping us in the face, and not just once or twice, they're constantly slapping us!"
The young Jonin grew angrier and more agitated as he spoke, as if he had been greatly insulted and had an irreconcilable hatred for Konoha.
"Jonin Aokawa, calm down. This is a meeting, and everyone is just expressing their opinions." Shamon couldn't help but remind the increasingly agitated young Jonin. After all, everyone present was a high-ranking member of the village and they all wanted what was best for the village; they just had different ideas.
Reminded by Shamon, the Jonin named Aokawa took a deep breath, nodded apologetically to everyone, and said, "I'm sorry, the losses at the rear have indeed been quite significant recently. I apologize for the trouble." He then sat down and ended his speech.
At this moment, another Jonin with a sinister look stood up and spoke next to the scarred-faced ninja, "Aokawa, you are still too cautious! I think the opposite is true! This just shows that Konoha has reached its limit, and that's why they sent these elites to harass us and delay our progress."
If we become timid and hesitant because of this, wouldn't we be falling into their trap, giving them ample time to develop an antidote or wait for reinforcements from the rear?
He looked around at everyone present and encouraged them in a confident tone, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We can take this chance to deal a heavy blow to Konoha, or even drive them out of the Land of Rivers."
The camp was immediately divided into two factions, who argued endlessly and neither side could convince the other.
Gradually, everyone stopped arguing and turned their attention to the commander-in-chief sitting in the main seat.
At this moment, the frontline commander, seated at the head of the table, was also deep in thought, having listened silently the entire time. Aside from trying to calm Qingchuan's earlier impatience, he hadn't uttered a single word.
As the argument subsided and everyone's attention turned to him, he slowly spoke, his hoarse voice carrying an undeniable determination: "Shajiu is right. Qingchuan's concerns are also worth noting, but Konoha's current predicament is also a real one."
Those active "elite" squads were indeed more like the enemy's desperate struggle due to a shortage of troops.
Their actions not only failed to halt our army's advance, but also exposed their outwardly strong but inwardly weak nature.
He suddenly stood up and jabbed his finger heavily into the vast area controlled by Konoha on the map.
"Pass on the order!"
All the Sand Village Jonin present stood up in solemn silence.
"First, intensify the attack! All units resting in the camp, including reserves, are to be reinforced at the front line immediately! Drive them into Konoha's controlled area like wedges, with the primary objective of inflicting casualties on their manpower and forcing them to bleed continuously!"
Second, he ordered the puppeteers to select elite troops, and then Qingchuan to choose the men to form an elite hunting squad.
Your mission is to hunt down and exterminate these annoying Leaf Village rats! Let them know that no rat can escape alive under the sandstorm!
A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. "Since Konoha has unleashed their sharpest weapons, then break them one by one! The scales of victory will only tip in favor of the one who applies sustained pressure!"
The command was firm and resounding, greatly boosting the morale of everyone in the tent. Under the commander's orders, the Sand Village's war machine was crashing even more fiercely into the seemingly crumbling Konoha defenses. But who would ultimately emerge victorious?
Just as Sunagakure was holding a meeting, Taichi's team finished their mission and returned to camp to rest.
"Taiyi, shall we continue with the mission?" Yangping asked Taiyi eagerly as soon as the mission was handed over.
"Let's rest for a day first. I need to check on the medical camp in the meantime. We'll have to wait until the day after tomorrow to do any missions—" Taiyi said, looking at Yangping suspiciously. "Is there something private you need to do?"
Yangping scratched his head sheepishly and explained, "It's just Obito. I sparred with him last time, but he's become a pest. We've got nothing else to do, so I'm going to teach him a lesson."
"I see!" Taiichi nodded in understanding, also thinking it was indeed a good idea. Minato wasn't there, Rin was at the medical camp, and Obito and Kakashi were just sitting around doing nothing, so they might as well train with Yohei and Saori.
Thinking about this, Taiichi suddenly felt that this was a brilliant idea, especially since Kakashi and Saori were both lightning-attribute.
"Yohei, take Saori with you when you go, and also bring Obito's teammate Kakashi. That guy is a lightning-attribute user, and he's quite strong. He can discuss lightning release techniques with Saori."
"Oh, is he very good?" Yang Ping's eyes lit up, clearly showing interest.
You should know that in his eyes, Kakashi looks younger than Taichi, but he was surprised that Taichi had already commented that he was not weak, so he can be considered a genius.
"Of course he's amazing!" Taiyi glanced at Yangping, his tone full of provocation. "He's the son of Konoha's White Fang, so you can imagine how skilled he is with his family's swordsmanship. Besides, his Lightning Release and Earth Release are quite proficient. If you didn't activate your Sharingan, you probably wouldn't be able to beat him!"
Now, Yangping's competitive spirit was ignited. He really didn't believe that he couldn't beat an eight or nine-year-old kid.
"Saori, let's go find them now!" Without even taking a break, Yohei immediately called Saori and headed to find Obito and Kakashi.
Saori watched Yohei walk away, then looked at Taiichi, and finally followed him at Taiichi's nod. "Go ahead, Kakashi has developed a lightning release technique called Chidori. It's a very promising ninjutsu. You can have a good talk with him about it."
Watching the two walk away, Taiyi also turned and walked towards the medical camp.
Due to the shortage of personnel, Konoha ninjas currently face greater pressure when going out on missions.
This has led to them getting injured more and more frequently. For example, Taiichi is looking at the Konoha ninja he is treating. This is the second time in the past few days that Taiichi has seen him come for treatment because of an injury.
Fortunately, this is Konoha, where the training and technology of medical ninjas are second to none in the ninja world. If it were any other ninja village, the front line would probably have collapsed long ago with this level of casualties.
The medical camp was overcrowded, with the cries of the wounded echoing everywhere. This was only because everyone there was a ninja, whose endurance was far beyond that of ordinary people. Otherwise, this place would probably be comparable to hell.
At this moment, Taiichi had also created four shadow clones to participate in the treatment of the wounded. Compared to ordinary medical ninjas, Taiichi's chakra was now quite enormous, with a chakra level of over 4, which was equivalent to five ordinary Jonin.
In addition, his medical ninjutsu is far superior to that of other medical ninjas, and the workload he undertakes is enough to be equivalent to that of most of the medical team.
It's not fair to blame other medical ninjas for being incompetent. After all, ninjas who focus on medical ninjutsu spend a lot of time learning medical knowledge and practicing medical ninjutsu. Not many of them can still focus their attention on other things like him and Tsunade.
With the addition of Taiyi as a fresh force, the number of patients in the medical camp decreased at a visible rate. On the second day of Taiyi's rest, the patients in the camp were finally almost completely cured.
Such intense treatment caused Taiyi, a veteran of many battles, to sway slightly from the sudden surge of fatigue the moment the shadow clone dissipated.
Fortunately, Lin, who was standing nearby, reached out to help him up in time, otherwise Taiyi would have been embarrassed.
"Are you alright, Taichi?" Director Fujita noticed Taichi's unusual condition immediately and rushed forward, asking with concern. Taichi was the backbone of their medical camp, and he couldn't afford to have anything happen to him.
"It's nothing, it's just that the fatigue from using shadow clones has piled up, and I'm a little out of sorts. I'll be fine after a rest." Taiichi shook his head, feeling much better, before saying that he was alright.
But Chief Fujita clearly didn't believe it. There were quite a few medical ninjas here, but why didn't they use the Shadow Clones? First, because their own chakra was only at the level of a regular Jonin; second, they naturally knew how serious the side effects were.
Normally, carrying out a short mission is fine, but if it's like Taiyi, who splits four shadow clones into one for a whole day to carry out high-intensity treatment, they would probably be lying on the ground foaming at the mouth when the treatment is over.
"There aren't many patients here anymore, you should go back and rest!"
Seeing that Taichi was still hesitating, Director Fujita immediately raised his voice, "Right now, go and rest!"
"Lin, take him back to the camp and supervise his rest!" Director Fujita gave Lin the order directly.
"Okay, okay, I'll go now!" Taiyi also gave in. Menopausal women are really scary. Besides, she was doing it for his own good, so he really couldn't refuse.
Watching Taiichi and Rin leave the medical camp, Director Fujita looked at the somewhat empty tents and the equally exhausted medical ninjas, and sighed inwardly.
Who knows how many more days they'll have to endure this? Hopefully, Jiraiya's plan will succeed soon, otherwise their medical camp will be the first to collapse.
On Taiyi's side, he and Lin had just approached the tent when they heard a familiar, hearty laugh.
When the two lifted the tent flap, sure enough, it was none other than Minato.
At this moment, Obito was recounting the interesting things that had happened during his training with Yangping these past two days, leaving Minato completely bewildered.
At this moment, Taiyi lifted the curtain and entered, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
Of course, this doesn't include Obito; his attention will only be focused on Rin.
Before anyone else could speak, he had already strode past Taiyi and moved close to Lin, offering her words of comfort and concern.
Taiyi ignored the idiot and sat down next to Minato. "Senior brother, did you just return from a mission?"
"Yes!" Minato smiled, the warm sunlight seemingly capable of healing the soul. "I must thank Taiichi and your team for taking care of them these past few days."
"Not at all, they're all my friends. Of course I'd help with something like this. Besides, aren't there two brothers here too?"
Taiichi glanced to the side, where Yohei and Obito were playfully fighting with their arms around each other's necks, and he was speechless for a moment.
These two are quite a pair. Ever since they got together, Obito has been constantly being lectured by Yohei under various pretexts.
One minute it's for being impolite, the next it's for not concentrating on training—basically, whenever Obito does something wrong, Yohei immediately corrects him. Even Taichi wonders if Obito has a masochistic streak.
However, since both of them were willing to give and take, Taichi let them be. Perhaps this was the unique way the Uchiha clan got along.
Minato looked at them, his smile growing even warmer, but then he sighed, "In the end, it's because I, as the Jonin leading the team, was incompetent. I only led them on low-level missions for a month, and after that, I had absolutely no time to teach them!"
That's true. Since he took on the role of the Jonin leader, it was Minato's responsibility to lead the team well. No matter what the reason, given their current state of exhaustion, Minato had to bear a great deal of responsibility.
Taiichi remained silent, unsure of what to say, because he also believed that Minato had indeed failed in this aspect.
"Taiichi!" Minato hesitated, wavered, and stammered, his eyes scanning back and forth between Taiichi and the person opposite him.
Upon seeing this, Taiyi had a bad feeling, but he still forced himself to ask, "Senior Brother Shuimen, is there something you need?"
Minato chuckled awkwardly twice, then stepped forward and said sheepishly, "You see, your team is short one person. How about we have Kakashi and the others accompany your team on missions for a while?"
Taiichi stared wide-eyed at Minato's eyes without blinking!
Look at this! Is this even human language? He doesn't teach his own students, and now he's trying to shift the blame onto him.
Do you think you're Tsunade?! Do you think you're Jiraiya?!
Taiyi mentally ranted and raved, but as he ranted, he started to think that it wasn't entirely impossible.
First, they know each other inside and out, so there's no need to worry about them being spies. Also, their strength isn't weak, especially Kakashi, who's at least a Special Jonin. Thinking about it that way, it seems like he actually came out ahead.
The only concern is their lack of experience, which is something we really need to pay attention to.