"Excellent! Don't stay and fight! Burn the supplies and retreat immediately!"
Kurokawa shouted, cutting down a Konoha ninja with a single strike.
He had no idea Tsunade suffered from Hemophobia; he just thought the assassination attempts by a few bounty ninjas would slightly tie her up and delay them for a bit.
*Splat!*
After landing, Qingshui clapped his hands together, quickly formed hand signs, and unleashed the Wind Release with full power, combining it with Turbulent Dance.
"Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane!"
A massive amount of stamina and Chakra was consumed, but the results were astonishing.
Endless strong winds surged, sweeping away everything in their path.
The dark clouds in the sky were churned, forming a giant tornado that stretched from the ground directly into the clouds.
"A Ninjutsu of this scale…"
Baki stared at the scene before him, dumbfounded.
It wasn't just him; the others were equally surprised.
Even Jonin specializing in Wind Release within their village rarely possessed such an ability.
To create a Ninjutsu of this magnitude, comparable to a natural disaster, it would either require multiple Wind Release ninjas working together, or a Kage-level expert to achieve such destructive power.
Despite their astonishment, they were all highly skilled ninjas.
Pakura and Ishido immediately used Fire Release, integrating it into the tornado.
Meanwhile, Qingshui was already breathing slightly heavily.
A considerable amount of Chakra had been expended, but he hadn't reached his limit yet.
Even if he couldn't perform it again, he could continue to strengthen this tornado.
Like a Weather Wizard with a Weather Wand, the tornado created at full power possessed enough force to destroy a large city like Central City.
Weaker ninjas and ordinary civilians had no chance of survival against such a natural disaster.
Their objective for this mission was to disrupt Konoha's logistics system. A large-scale combined Ninjutsu like this was certainly sufficient, and there was no need to complicate matters further.
"Retreat!"
After releasing the Ninjutsu, Kurokawa decisively ordered their withdrawal.
Several raids on Konoha's outposts tonight had already caused Konoha to heighten their defenses. With such a massive disturbance this time, next time they could expect at least a medium-sized force of over a hundred, or even more, to surround and attack them.
They had to hurry and leave this place as soon as possible, crossing the border of the Land of Fire to ensure their safety.
Moreover, after two days of continuous travel and a night of rushing between multiple areas, their Chakra was running low, and their supplies of ninja tools, Military Ration Pills, and other provisions were stretched thin.
After leaving the city.
"Senior Kurokawa, Captain Ishido, I believe there's important intelligence I need to report."
During their journey, Qingshui proactively addressed the two Jonin in their team.
"Speak," Kurokawa replied without turning his head.
"Based on my reconnaissance, I've discovered that Princess Tsunade of Konoha has likely contracted Hemophobia, losing most of her combat and medical abilities."
Kurokawa involuntarily stopped in his tracks.
Everyone else also halted, their eyes filled with shock and suspicion.
That was Tsunade!
The famous Sannin, Konoha's Slug Princess, afflicted with Hemophobia.
That truly was…
Excellent!
"Are you sure?"
"I'm over ninety percent certain."
Kurokawa carefully recalled recent intelligence about Tsunade.
Since the last major war, Tsunade had indeed disappeared for a long time. She hadn't appeared on the battlefield, and there was little other information about her.
Konoha had no reason to sideline such a strategically important figure, and the Third Hokage and others certainly didn't have the power to sideline Tsunade.
She was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the representative figure of the Senju Clan in this era in the eyes of the Ninja World, and a medical saint who had saved countless Konoha ninjas' lives.
Konoha ninjas wouldn't agree to sidelining Tsunade.
Combined with the fact that even for such an important battle, Tsunade hadn't appeared, but was instead hidden in a city in the rear, gambling all day…
It was likely that Qingshui's intelligence was true.
"Tsunade has Hemophobia. Should we…"
Baki made a throat-slitting gesture.
"No need," Ishido said, shaking his head. "Tsunade is certainly being protected by Konoha forces in secret. We just caused such a huge commotion that if I were Tsunade, I'd move locations immediately. We just need to bring this information back, and that'll be a major accomplishment."
"You're right, let's keep moving. Qingshui, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to scout from above again. We need to avoid Konoha's people and get back as soon as possible."
"Understood!" Qingshui calmly nodded. He and Kurokawa ascended into the sky again, just as they had before.
The rest of their journey was uneventful.
Konoha did send pursuers, but with Qingshui's flying and sensory abilities, they were able to avoid almost all of them. Even if enemies occasionally set up ambushes or unexpected situations arose, as long as the enemies weren't on the level of Orochimaru or the Third Hokage, the squad's strength allowed them to retreat safely.
Furthermore, on the current battlefield in the Land of Rain, Konoha and Rain Hidden were jointly launching a large-scale engagement against Sand Hidden and Stone Hidden. They couldn't spare a large army to completely blockade the border, nor did they have extra high-level experts to intercept and entangle them. Therefore, after spending most of the day, making several detours, and evading Konoha ninja searches, Qingshui and the others finally returned to the Land of Rain around two in the afternoon that day.
Chiyo was not at the camp. Most of the Sand Hidden shinobi were fighting Konoha ninja under Chiyo's leadership.
Only Fukami Senran and two other Jonin were left at the camp, along with a small number of personnel, to secure the rear and prevent Konoha from attacking their base.
"Fukami-kun, what's the situation now? Do they need our support at the front?" Kurokawa asked Fukami Senran in the camp's main conference room. Their squad had two elite Jonin, and Qingshui could function as a Jonin as well; they could play a significant role in a localized battle.
"No need. Rain Hidden ninja have suffered heavy casualties, and Hanzo has already withdrawn his troops. Konoha probably won't push on either; they'll likely retreat soon." Fukami Senran said to Ishido. "Moreover, the impact of your mission has already begun to show. With their supplies under attack, Konoha absolutely cannot continue large-scale operations for long. In fact, for a certain period, they will lose the ability to launch offensive attacks. If they don't want to suffer a rout, they can only tighten their defenses and fall back."
"That's a relief," Ishido nodded.
But Fukami Senran wasn't finished. He slapped a brand-new commission certificate onto the table.
"Also, this mission served as Qingshui's Special Jonin promotion assessment. Since the mission was completed successfully, congratulations, Qingshui-Jonin." Fukami Senran said with a smile to Qingshui. Whew, that was close, I almost didn't finish writing today's six thousand characters.
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