Chapter 61: The Raid
After a year of fierce fighting, most of the towns within the Land of Rain lay in ruins.
Hiiro Rinko and his squad, cloaked in mottled capes of an indescribable hue, slipped silently past a town whose very walls were riddled with holes.
Their figures vanished in the rain in the blink of an eye, making one wonder if they were merely an illusion. Only shallow footprints left in the soaking-wet, muddy ground proved their passing before the rain washed them away.
At their destination ahead, an Amegakure unit was moving in the opposite direction.
Clearly, this Amegakure unit was targeting the Sunagakure encampment.
Even for shinobi, who possess far greater leg strength than ordinary people and have mastered techniques like Tree Walking and Water Walking, most terrain is not an obstacle. However, when ambushing an enemy, shinobi do not choose to waste too much stamina rushing through difficult, rugged landscapes.
This is the fundamental defensive logic when shinobi armies clash.
The more people who are forced to march quickly over hard-to-navigate terrain, the easier it is for mistakes to occur, leading to early detection. Furthermore, you cannot assume the enemy's formation is entirely without Sensor-type shinobi, and rugged terrain does not impede Chakra sensing—unless the area contains massive energy sources like a Ryuu-myaku (Dragon Veins) or a Gelel Stone.
As for a solo attack on an enemy formation... well, if someone has the power or the guts to charge in alone, the path they take makes no difference.
As the natives of the Land of Rain, it was entirely normal for Amegakure shinobi to possess secret routes that Sunagakure and Konoha had yet to discover.
For example, this small path hidden in the ruins outside the town. If Hiiro Rinko hadn't detected the Amegakure unit's movement through his continuous scouting with flying puppets, Suna would still be unaware of it.
To be honest, it wasn't that he was overly sensitive. It was normal for Suna and Konoha to maintain a low-intensity, small-scale probing engagement. But why were the Amegakure shinobi, whose homeland was being repeatedly ravaged, fighting more and more timidly?
You clearly haven't been beaten down to that extent yet, have you?
As the saying goes, "The quiet child is always up to mischief." Amegakure must be preparing a big move.
"..."
Hiiro Rinko, mid-sprint, flashed a hand sign behind him. The Sunagakure shinobi following him silently dispersed, quickly heading toward the target location according to the predetermined plan, while Rinko himself gradually slowed his pace.
The weather in the Land of Rain was perfect, and what made it perfect was that Hiiro Rinko was a Sensor-type shinobi who had mastered Water Nature Transformation. Using the thick, enveloping mist as a medium, the radius of his already expansive sensory range had increased by nearly 30% compared to when he was in Sunagakure.
Thus, he could easily detect the direction, number, and Chakra level of the enemy before making contact.
'Five Jōnin, twenty-two near-Jōnin, one hundred eighteen Chūnin, Genin... none.'
He confirmed the count again. The number was somewhat awkward. It was overkill for a squad, but too few for a large-scale operation.
No, considering that Amegakure was a village specializing in assassination missions, it was a recognized fact that they pushed the limits of every shinobi's ability. This number was enough for them to accomplish a great deal.
But no matter how he looked at it, this didn't seem like Amegakure's big plan...
Thinking this, and calculating that his subordinates should already be in position, Hiiro Rinko once again burst into a sprint.
The reinforcement tattoos etched along his Chakra pathways and muscle fibers activate the seals inscribed on his flesh when Chakra is released through the tenketsu. They have various effects, but the most basic is physical reinforcement.
Leg strength, temporarily released.
The markings on his legs, wrapped beneath the Chakra-suppressing bandages, glowed faintly. Hiiro Rinko, in the guise of the 'Heavenly Restriction Incarnate,' violently stomped the muddy ground, kicking up a large chunk of mire as he became a gust of wind, roaring past.
The distance to the Amegakure unit closed rapidly in his senses, nearing the point where they would be detected—
Since I'm borrowing this guy's look, I should at least show off a comparable physique, right?
A slight thrill of excitement, an appreciation for the unrestrained use of physical ability, seemed to make Hiiro Rinko's thought process a bit more frivolous.
All of the previously concealed reinforcement tattoos lit up. The seals, activated by Chakra, further boosted his Yang Release. Every muscle in his body tensed, and even the veins became distinctly visible.
Physical strength, full boost!
The three-section staff at his waist was yanked into his hand by a Chakra thread. With an infusion of Chakra, the chains linking the sections instantly tightened, transforming it into a staff over four meters long.
A dull thud sounded as he charged. The narrow irises he'd faked shrank even further. The Heavenly Restriction Incarnate suddenly twisted his body, spinning the staff and unleashing a fearsome attack. His ferocious smile blurred into a comical afterimage.
The speed of the spin combined with the strength burst from his muscles, turning into immense kinetic force that hurled the staff, wrapped in a pulsing, unstable Chakra, straight ahead.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
The reaction speed of the Amegakure shinobi was indeed well-earned. Even when attacked at such speed, they managed a response. The Jōnin and Special Jōnin at the front and sides of the unit jointly performed the defensive Ninjutsu. Water walls rose up one after another, attempting to disrupt the trajectory of the "unidentified flying object" with turbulent currents.
However, the unstable Chakra composition wrapped around the staff, which mimicked a 'runaway Tailed Beast Bomb,' possessed a wildly destructive power. The hastily constructed layers of Water Release were utterly shredded, proving useless.
The screech of air being torn apart and the exploding rain curtain masked the shouting of the Amegakure Jōnin, all of which was drowned out by a deafening boom.
Old, crumbling buildings collapsed in sections, turning into pathetic wreckage. Thanks to the increasingly heavy rain, the scene of near-demolition didn't kick up much smoke or dust.
Yet, the few shinobi who had half their bodies blasted away, or were splashed with the fragments of their comrades, were likely in no mood to be grateful for the clean air.
"Yo, everyone. Where are you all rushing off to for a feast?"
The Reverse Summoning Jutsu engraved on the staff's body activated. Hiiro Rinko appeared amidst the crowd, smoothly snatching the sansetsukon as it flew forward. He dipped his waist, spun, and swung the staff, 'slicing' a dozen Chūnin around him at the waist, like grass blades shattered by a branch.
The soft lower abdomen, with only a segment of the spine, along with the internal organs, burst into a filthy mist of blood. The upper torsos were flung high into the air by the savage force.
A hint of confusion remained in their eyes; they hadn't realized what had happened to them. The conscious remnants of the bodies instinctively reached for their waists, trying to draw a kunai to counter the enemy, only to have a kunai thrown by Hiiro Rinko pierce their heads, killing them completely.
"Ah... how about I join in?"
He tugged at his collar and rotated his neck, then swung the sansetsukon from top to bottom, shaking off the bloodstains cleanly. This action, combined with the 'Fushiguro Toji' appearance, lent his voice an air of ineradicable, brutal cruelty.
It was the stench of rusted steel, dry grass, and a field soaked in blood, chilling to the bone.
"Fushiguro...!"
But stronger still was the hatred in the voices of the Amegakure shinobi. Just biting out the surname of the person Hiiro Rinko was impersonating, the word felt like a bloody curse.
Hiiro Rinko completely understood this hatred. After all, they were the bastards who had run into someone else's homeland, caused all this chaos, and created this wasteland. As people who had committed such atrocities, being hated to this extent was only natural.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm right here~"
But what did it matter? In this twisted world, one's available moral stances were few.
As the name was screamed with hatred, the figures of two Amegakure Jōnin dissolved into puddles of water. The next moment, they reappeared on either side of Hiiro Rinko, kunai in hand, thrusting them in a reverse grip.
This was the renowned Water Body Flicker Jutsu of Amegakure. Though it had the limitation of requiring a water source, in the torrential rain of the Land of Rain, that condition was effectively non-existent.
Simultaneously, a third Jōnin drew the ninja blade from his waist and slashed down savagely at Rinko from behind.
From the synchronized three-way pincer attack and the swift, clean movements, it was clear that Amegakure's Jōnin were not on the same level as the second-rate Jōnin from other small villages.
A shinobi's physique is strong; they can easily perform actions that ordinary people cannot achieve.
Yet a shinobi's physique is also fragile; shuriken, kunai, blades... the same weapons that kill ordinary people can easily take a shinobi's life. The assassinations that Amegakure shinobi excel at are, in most cases, accomplished using Taijutsu and Ninja Tools.
Having anticipated this natural attack, Hiiro Rinko's figure vanished with a poof from beneath his cloak, replaced by a log plastered with Exploding Tags.
"Tch!"
Though they knew of the fake tags that wouldn't explode, in such a critical moment, no one had the luxury of checking. One or two could be withstood, but this many would seriously injure even a specialized Taijutsu Jōnin.
The sword-wielding Jōnin and another used the Body Flicker Jutsu to retreat, while the dark-skinned Amegakure Jōnin raised his hand to make a seal, seemingly intending to use the Water Prison Jutsu to seal the log.
However, as he subconsciously raised his hand, he realized something was wrong. The murderous man had not fled after using the substitution; he was standing right behind him!
'Water Prison Jutsu, already seen it.'
Hiiro Rinko's movement was unbelievably fast. The man, wreathed in a black-blue Chakra aura, spun his staff to knock the Jōnin's head off, then kicked the headless corpse and the log toward the cluster of Amegakure Chūnin...
Boom—!
This time, all the Exploding Tags he used were real. Even in the pouring rain, the tags covering the log were enough to ignite a magnificent flash of fire.
Taking this as a signal, layers of a blue 'curtain' rose up around the ruins, tightly surrounding the entire battleground.
"A Sealing Barrier?" The Jōnin directing the Chūnin to evacuate this untouchable zone was utterly confused. They, as neighbors, knew exactly the level of Sunagakure's Sealing Jutsu skills. A barrier like this clearly wasn't something Suna could produce on their own.
Of course, no one would answer that question for him.
Hiiro Rinko's subordinates, after setting up the barrier, quickly arrived at the scene, slaughtering the Amegakure below with large-scale Wind Release Jutsu.
As long as the target area didn't contain their own people, they could carpet-bomb without scruples. This was one of the reasons, besides setting up the barrier, that Hiiro Rinko had them disperse beforehand.
A shinobi with low Chakra is not necessarily weak, but a shinobi with high Chakra is certainly strong. As everyone knows, the rank of a Ninjutsu is only determined by its difficulty to learn, while its power is directly correlated with the amount of Chakra poured into it. Pour in enough Chakra, and any Ninjutsu can be powered up to a super-sized version.
This principle is especially true for the Five Great Nature Releases.
There is no inherent counter relationship between Water and Wind, but Water Release, which tends toward 'solid impact,' does suffer a 'physical' disadvantage when facing Wind Release, which specializes in cutting.
The formation had already been shattered by Hiiro Rinko. The scattered Jōnin and Special Jōnin were unable to protect all the Chūnin. Caught completely off guard, Amegakure instantly suffered heavy casualties in the whistling gale.
As for Hiiro Rinko, who was also within the range of the Wind Release bombardment?
His burst of Chakra aura wasn't just for ambushing that one Jōnin.
"I wouldn't want to waste them like this if I had a choice. After all, the medical team is always short on corpses for dissection, but you guys are a little too numerous for just a few of us to handle~"
Amidst the flying blood and flesh, Hiiro Rinko tapped his back with the sansetsukon, sneering provocatively at the Jōnin in front of him, who was shielding his subordinates from the Wind Release.
"Come on, we're only a dozen people in this squad. You guys have the overwhelming numbers advantage, you know~"
This was a lie. As the temporary commander of the Suna forces against Ame, there was no way he would bring just one squad after discovering the enemy's movements. In fact, even with the ambush prepared, his twelve subordinates couldn't possibly annihilate all these Amegakure shinobi here. If the Jōnin and Special Jōnin were willing to abandon the Chūnin, escaping would be no problem.
But when they first encountered just Hiiro Rinko alone, why would five-Jōnin-led teams ever consider fleeing? Even now, ambushed and surrounded by a squad, they still had the advantage in numbers.
The option of fleeing was simply not a consideration for the Amegakure shinobi.
And that was Hiiro Rinko's goal.
Killing is much easier than capturing. Even with a difference in strength, trying to capture a Jōnin alive is incredibly difficult. The ambush, the barrier, and even this provocation were all designed to keep these Amegakure shinobi here until the Sealing Squad he had arranged could arrive and capture them alive.
Then, he could interrogate them for Amegakure's plan.
After all, drawing memories from a corpse is too random. That method is generally reserved for reverse-engineering the enemy's body modification techniques or other secret Jutsu.
"You bastard—!"
But for now, the provocation seemed to be working quite well.
"Don't yell so loudly. It makes you sound like you lack confidence!"