LRAB Chapter 183 Battle, Sunagakure's Counterattack
Chapter 183 Battle, Sunagakure's Counterattack
Chapter 183 Battle, Sunagakure's Counterattack
In the sky, the moon, obscured by dark clouds, quietly peeked out, instantly brightening the once pitch-black earth. Combined with the camp now ablaze with firelight, the five members of Iwagakure finally saw Taiichi's face clearly.
However, to their disappointment, Taiichi had already changed his appearance using the Transformation Technique, and what they saw now was just an unfamiliar Sand Ninja.
"Damn bastard, who are you?" The injured Iwagakure Jonin roared angrily at Taiichi, enduring the excruciating pain.
Taiichi looked at the people in front of him with complete indifference, holding his short sword in a reverse grip as he sized up the Iwa ninja. They were clearly intimidated by Taiichi's series of moves and dared not step forward for the moment.
This was exactly what Taiichi wanted. His Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't as proficient as Minato's. He had only overcome the problem of not being "space-sick" and couldn't use it as freely as Minato.
Therefore, this first attack was the most crucial, and the target was naturally the unharmed Jonin.
"You scum, invading our Wind Kingdom at will, and you still have the nerve to ask who I am?" Taiyi verbally argued with them, but in reality, he was already prepared.
As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist and threw a Flying Thunder God kunai at the Jonin with speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.
But that was a Jonin, and without any apparent movement, he simply took a slight step to the right and easily dodged the flying kunai, not forgetting to taunt, "Childish attack."
However, instead of Taiichi's retort, the "Sand Ninja" who had just been there vanished abruptly. Immediately, he felt a sharp pain in his heart, and looking down, he saw a short sword piercing through his chest, now slowly being withdrawn.
He died without understanding how he died. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the sky.
The scene was deathly silent, with only the whistling wind and the crackling of flames. The Iwa ninjas were all bewildered as to how their Jonin had died in the blink of an eye.
However, Taiyi did not give them a chance. With the biggest variable gone, what was left was easily within their grasp.
With a flick of his left hand, two shadow clones appeared on either side. The three figures rushed out with ghostly speed, their short swords occasionally emitting a chilling light.
In just two or three minutes, the supply point, which had been filled with shouts of battle, fell silent once again.
Taiyi's short sword trembled slightly, shaking off the traces of blood that stained it. Looking at the supply point that had been reduced to ruins, he nodded in satisfaction.
The Flying Thunder God Technique is indeed useful, especially when used unexpectedly, often resulting in a fatal blow. Unfortunately, my proficiency is not high enough to use it continuously, otherwise this battle would have ended long ago.
After retrieving the Flying Thunder God kunai he had just thrown out, Taichi left without looking back. As expected, ambushing supply depots was the most cost-effective strategy. The loss of this supply point was enough to make Iwagakure feel the pinch.
An hour after Taiichi left, an elite Sand Village squad appeared at the scene.
Faced with the devastation before them, a scene of horrific destruction left by the powerful wind-style ninjutsu, the ninjas exchanged bewildered glances.
"Captain, has the commander sent any other squads to carry out the mission?"
"Yes, Captain, judging by the power of this wind release, which lord has also come here?"
The captain remained silent, took a few steps forward to carefully examine the traces at the scene, and reached out to touch the cut surfaces created by wind-style techniques, trying to reconstruct the previous battle in his mind.
But in the end, he shook his head, admitting his limited knowledge and unable to fathom what kind of battle could have caused such a scene.
"We're definitely not the only team that received this logistical sabotage mission; we just didn't expect another team to beat us to it."
"Let's go. Since this target has been taken first, let's move on to the next one. After this harassment, it will be our Sand Village's turn to counterattack."
The squad leader was full of confidence, seemingly certain that Sunagakure would win this war.
Let's move forward a few days.
Sunagakure Frontline Camp, Central Army Tent.
The person sitting at the head of the table was no longer the original front-line commander, but Rasa, who had just taken over as the acting Fourth Kazekage.
Few people knew that the Fourth Kazekage had arrived at the front lines without a sound.
Iwagakure was even more surprised that Rasa, the village's kage, instead of stabilizing the village's unrest, had gone to the front lines. Wasn't he afraid that before he could even secure his position as the fourth kage, he would have to choose a fifth kage?
"Lord Kazekage, why did you suddenly come to the front lines? I didn't receive any news about this." Commander Ebizo asked curiously, "The village probably needs you to be there now."
"If you didn't expect me to come here, then Iwagakure would certainly not have expected it either." Kazekage Rasa still respected Ebizo and did not show the slightest disrespect for him just because he had become the acting Kazekage.
Ebizo's eyes brightened slightly as he sized up the newly appointed Kazekage, his smile deepening. "What does the Kazekage mean?"
"I also want to launch a surprise attack on Iwagakure and take advantage of my presence to drive them out of the Land of Wind in one fell swoop." The Kazekage spoke with unwavering resolve, his eyes revealing boundless confidence. "My gold dust will play a role in the war no less significant than that of a tailed beast."
"Since Lord Kazekage has such courage, I will naturally do my best to help." Ebizo's smile deepened. In fact, he had long wanted to end this war, as it brought no benefit whatsoever and was constantly depleting Sunagakure's potential.
"I previously sent a large number of people to the rear of Iwagakure to investigate their logistics and supplies. Since the Kazekage wants to defeat them in one fell swoop, why not send elite troops to destroy these supply points and throw Iwagakure into chaos, so we can take the opportunity to attack?"
Upon hearing this, Rasa's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Ebizo to have such a plan. This strategy could weaken Iwagakure's war potential and distract them. It was simple and unpretentious, and it would work no matter what.
"Good!" Luo Sha clapped his hands. "Then please have the elders arrange for manpower to act as soon as possible. We have already lost face in this war with Iwagakure, and we must make up for it as soon as possible."
"Yes, I'll arrange it right away."
Soon, dozens of elite Sand Village squads left the camp. Under the cover of night, they quickly disappeared from sight and stealthily moved towards the rear of Iwagakure.
The next morning, after packing his things, Taiichi once again embarked on his journey to find the Iwagakure supply point.
Such missions are thrilling during the battles, but the initial search process is long and tedious, especially since Taiyi is all alone, without anyone to talk to or relieve his boredom. At this moment, he can only rely on his own senses and a bit of luck that he might stumble upon at any time.
After a long day of trekking, the sun had already begun to set, but Taiyi hadn't found a single trace of Yanyin. Just when Taiyi thought he would have to return empty-handed, a blurry scene flashed by on the left at the edge of his perception.
Taiyi immediately stopped running and turned to look at the location he sensed. It was too far away for his perception to be clear, but Taiyi was certain that it was indeed a camp.
As they drew closer, Taiichi's expression grew strange. Finally, when Taiichi appeared atop the camp's walls, the small Iwagakure camp was clearly visible before him—or rather, the ruins of a camp.
The walls were broken and charred, with only charcoal emitting sporadic wisps of smoke remaining from the wooden structure. The earthen walls had collapsed, and the roof of the makeshift warehouse had completely caved in.
Several corpses wearing Iwagakure vests lay on the ground in contorted positions, their deaths varied. Some were mutilated by ninjutsu, while others bore knife wounds or kunai stab marks.
The most striking features were two huge, charred craters, clearly caused by a concentrated bombardment from powerful wind or fire ninjutsu.
Taiyi strolled through the ruins, his gaze sweeping across the entire battlefield. The signs of destruction were still "fresh," the smell of burning had not yet dissipated, and the bloodstains had not yet dried. The battle could not have ended in more than a night, and it might have even happened at dawn this morning.
"This isn't like Senior Minato's style—" Taiichi made a quick judgment in his mind.
If Senior Brother Minato had intervened, the scene wouldn't have left such large-scale, hard-hitting marks; it's more like an elite team forcefully breaching the defenses with overwhelming power in a short period.
Immediately afterward, a thought flashed through his mind: it seems that Sunagakure is preparing to counterattack.
This force, which suddenly appeared and swiftly and ruthlessly destroyed the Iwagakure supply point, was not a lone soldier or small team that sneaked in to cause sabotage like him, but rather an organized and planned infiltration and attack by Sunagakure!
The extent of the damage to the camp far exceeded the "minor disturbances" he had caused in the previous days.
Considering that the Sunagakure frontline commander was Ebizo, known as the "Desert Fox," Taiichi could easily deduce that Sunagakure had weathered the danger of the Iwagakure surprise attack, stabilized the situation, and was now preparing for a counterattack.
Deep behind enemy lines and proactively cutting off Iwagakure's supply lines was Sunagakure's first step.
A flicker of excitement mixed with solemnity flashed across Tai's eyes. The battlefield would become increasingly chaotic, and the balance of power between Sunagakure and Iwagakure would shift. It seemed he could no longer focus solely on Iwagakure; Sunagakure would also become a target.
Sure enough, over the next two days, all the Iwagakure supply points that Taiichi encountered had become ruins.
Judging from the traces, they were all breached on the same day.
This shows that Sunagakure's Ebizo is cunning and shrewd; he must have planned this surprise attack long ago.
With so many supply points, the prior intelligence gathering must have taken more than a day or two. Now that his raid has been successful, the next step should be to proceed.
With this in mind, Taiichi decided not to linger in the Land of Birds. There were not many valuable targets left there. If he wanted to hunt down more ninjas from the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, he would have to return to the main battlefield in the Land of Wind, the Sand Village's front-line camp. In the central command tent, all the high-ranking officials of the Sand Village were gathered.
A mobilization meeting was being held, and Kazekage Rasa, sitting at the head of the table, made his first public appearance in the camp.
The Sand Village ninjas in the tent who were unaware of the Kazekage's arrival all showed expressions of tension and excitement. After all, this was the Fourth Kazekage, although he was only acting now. But anyone with eyes could see that was just the official word.
If I can perform well enough to make Lord Kazekage remember me, then becoming his confidant in the future is not impossible.
"Alright, quiet down!" Waving his hand to stop the chattering Jonin, Kazekage Rasa glanced at the ninja below. He had worked with most of these people before, so he knew them all; they were all well-known elites of Sunagakure.
One of the reasons I risked coming to the front lines was for their sake.
His position as Kazekage was elected by the elders, and the position was not as secure as he had imagined. Many of the Kazekage's powers were still in the hands of the elders, and if he wanted to secure his position as Kazekage, he had to have enough merit.
What achievement could be more convincing than military exploits? Coincidentally, Sunagakure is currently under invasion by Iwagakure, which is the perfect opportunity for Rasa to gain military merits.
In this process, gathering a group of loyal subordinates is naturally an essential task.
"As you all may have heard, we successfully raided Iwagakure's supply lines a couple of days ago, destroying all of their supply points in the Land of Birds. This loss is enough to put their logistics under strain for the foreseeable future."
Kazekage's words immediately sparked whispers among the Jonin below. Some of them already knew about the matter and were able to remain calm, while others had just received the news and were immediately overjoyed.
After everyone had processed the news, Rasa continued, "We must not let such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by. That is precisely why I came here—to work with you all to drive Iwagakure out of the Land of Wind and make them pay a heavy price for their foolish actions."
Upon hearing this, the Jonin below immediately understood that a major battle was about to begin, and the Kazekage's intention was also clear: to fight alongside everyone on the front lines and thoroughly defeat Iwagakure.
This immediately excited all the Jonin present. This is the difference between leaders who lead from the front and those who lead from the rear; the morale boost that the Kazekage, who can lead by example, provides is unprecedented.
"Tomorrow, at 8 o'clock tomorrow, all the ninjas will be assembled, and we will officially launch a counterattack to drive those clowns from Iwagakure back to the Land of Earth."
"yes!"
All the ninjas were excited. One by one, they hurriedly left the camp to inform their subordinates and prepare for the decisive battle the next day.
Before long, only the Third Kazekage and Ebizo remained in the arena.
"What are the elders' thoughts on tomorrow's battle?"
"Victory is assured!"
Ebizo answered decisively, without the slightest hesitation. But this only aroused the Kazekage's curiosity.
"Elder, what makes you so confident? What are you relying on?"
Ebizo smiled and looked at Kazekage, "A head-on confrontation is nothing more than a matter of timing, location, and people."
"The timing is the same for both of us, so neither of us can gain an advantage."
The terrain is entirely in our favor, especially for you, Lord Kazekage, where you can unleash your full potential.
As for the people, the Sand Village was united in their hatred of the enemy, and with the Kazekage personally leading the charge, their morale was soaring.
In contrast, Iwagakure was already in chaos due to its logistics being cut off, and there was no news of any powerful figures arriving.
Therefore, how could there be any reason for defeat in this battle!
"Haha, Elder, you're absolutely right!" Feng Ying laughed heartily, but then his laughter subsided, and his eyes turned serious. "But why do I get the feeling that Elder has something on his mind?"
Ebizo was taken aback, looked at Rasa, and noticed the seriousness on his face. He then smiled with satisfaction, "It seems that Lord Kazekage has also noticed the problems in the reports of those squads that attacked Sunagakure's logistics."