"I'll take responsibility for Mito Kadoma Yuma. First, we'll use Ninjutsu together to clear a path. Qingshui, Ishido, you'll use your Puppets for a frontal assault. Pakura and Baki will provide long-range Ninjutsu support from the perimeter, and also prevent anyone from escaping."
After Kurokawa outlined the battle plan on the map Qingshui had drawn, everyone immediately sprang into action.
They needed to launch continuous attacks on four towns overnight. If they dragged it out too long, it would be dangerous if Konoha mobilized troops to surround and kill them, so they had to act quickly.
There wasn't much elaborate planning; they just moved in under the cover of night. Even if a sensory ninja detected them, it wouldn't matter. The combined combat power of multiple Jonin-level individuals was enough to conquer the stronghold in a short time.
"Wind Release: Hanging Net!"
"Wind Release: Great Hanging Net!"
Outside the Konoha stronghold, Qingshui and the other four stood in a line, jointly performing a combination of Wind Release Ninjutsu.
The difference between Hanging Net and Great Hanging Net lay only in whether Chakra Nature Transformation was integrated. The former was C-rank difficulty, while the latter was B-rank. These were Ninjutsu frequently used by Sand Village ninja in large-scale battles. They could reinforce and stack the released wind nets, making them incredibly powerful. In the original timeline, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Sand Hidden ninja, empowered by Nine-Tails' Chakra, jointly used this technique to temporarily block one of Ten-Tails' attacks.
The sharp wind nets mercilessly sliced through everything in front of them, destroying the buildings and alerting the Konoha ninja inside.
"Everyone, defend!" shouted a Konoha ninja with a small mustache.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide!"
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Several defensive Ninjutsu rose, but Qingshui and the others' attack wasn't over yet.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Fire Running Technique!"
Pakura and Ishido acted together, using Fire Release to enhance the power of the Ninjutsu.
With wind fueling the fire, a wave of unexpected combined attacks caused significant casualties among the Konoha ninja before the official engagement even began.
After all, among the few of them, except for Baki, everyone else had mastered a Chakra Nature Transformation, and when performed together, the power was astonishing.
"The battle is decided!"
Qingshui and Ishido simultaneously pulled out scrolls, summoning their respective Puppets, and cooperating to charge into the enemy ranks.
Kurokawa also charged towards the mustached man, under the cover of the Puppets.
That man was Mito Kadoma Yuma, the Special Jonin captain stationed there by Konoha.
More than ten minutes later.
All the Konoha ninja in the stronghold were killed. Even Mito Kadoma Yuma only managed to hold out for a short while longer against Kurokawa before being cut down.
"Keep moving! We need to reach the next location before eleven o'clock!" Kurokawa said, wiping the blood from his face with a murderous look.
The group quickly tidied up, then traveled through the night. They spent most of the rest of the night fighting their way through, taking out two more strongholds and destroying their stored supplies.
Konoha had at least ten logistics strongholds arranged along the border, making it difficult for the enemy to scout them all. Even this time, Sand Village had only managed to scout out four of them.
And once one of the strongholds was attacked, if word got out, the other strongholds would quickly react and strengthen their defenses.
"Whew… that took more effort than expected." Kurokawa wiped the blood from his Ninja Blade, letting out a long sigh.
This was the third Konoha logistics stronghold they had destroyed.
When they arrived here, Konoha had already increased its vigilance and was prepared, so it took a bit more time to deal with these people.
"It's 3:11 AM. At full speed, we can return to Horocastle before 4:30 AM," Qingshui said, looking at the self-made mechanical watch on his wrist.
"First, let's meet up with Baki and Ishido at Horocastle," Kurokawa said.
After taking care of the second stronghold, they had split into two groups.
Baki and Ishido went one way, heading to Horocastle.
This was a major city on the border of the Land of Fire, and naturally, it had an underground bounty exchange.
The group pooled over three million ryo and gave it to them, instructing them to go to the underground bounty exchange and, at the right time, post an urgent bounty to recruit some capable rogue ninja and wandering ninja.
Three million ryo was a considerable sum, but it wasn't an exorbitant amount; it certainly wouldn't buy a Jonin's head, for example.
The main purpose of this money was to find some cannon fodder to test whether Tsunade had developed hemophobia.
If she had, that would naturally be a good thing. If not, these people could, as Qingshui had said before, create a diversion, causing a commotion to draw Tsunade away, allowing for a surprise attack elsewhere.
It was still dark at around 4 AM, before the vernal equinox.
Because other logistics and storage strongholds had been attacked, Horocastle was now on high alert. Throughout the streets and alleys, samurai from the lord's manor, with Katanas at their waists, could be seen patrolling frequently.
These samurai weren't particularly strong. While some of the leading samurai did have Chakra, they were at most on par with ordinary Chunin/Genin.
Qingshui and his group were all highly skilled, and with their ability to sense sounds and pinpoint locations, unless there was a Hyuga Clan Byakugan ninja within a kilometer, they would generally go undetected. Thus, they successfully infiltrated the city.
"Next, we just wait for Baki's signal."
Inside the Sand Village ninja's secret hideout, Qingshui sat quietly by the window, casually forming a hand seal with one hand, and said while sensing, "..."
A dozen kilometers away, in a courtyard on the west side of the city.
"Boss, are we being used as pawns!?"
A rogue ninja with a scar on his face said to the bald, burly man beside him.
"Damn it, I knew that three million Ryo wouldn't be so easy to get! It's just about catching a girl who owes a few million Ryo from gambling, so why is the lord's manor making such a big fuss?!"
"Could these people be from Sand Hidden or Stone Hidden? If this involves Konoha, then we probably won't be able to stay in the Land of Fire anymore."
Several rogue ninja discussed for a while but couldn't come up with a conclusion.
Suddenly, the bald, burly man stiffened, clutched his chest, and collapsed to the ground.
The others also fell down a few seconds later.
"What... what's happening!?"
The scarred man cried out in terror.
"Ishido-senpai, you truly are thorough in your planning."
On the courtyard wall, a disguised Baki sat smiling on top of it, drawing everyone's attention. Beside him was Ishido, completely shrouded in a black cloak.
"You few, you were already poisoned by me when you left the bounty office."
Ishido took out a few antidotes from his怀 and flicked them next to the rogue ninja.
"The antidote's effects will last for one hour. Complete the mission, and after an hour, you can find me in the village ten miles outside the east side of the city for the real antidote."
While Qingshui's plan seemed good, it still had some loopholes. At times like these, experienced individuals were needed to identify and fill in the gaps, adding the necessary details.
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