Chapter 154: Pre-dawn Raid
The group quietly left Niigata Town.
Even if those rogue Hidden Mist ninja had spies in the town, they wouldn't have noticed their departure.
After leaving, they traveled at an extremely fast pace. They quickly covered the initial thirty kilometers.
The ninja who had underestimated the kids now wore grim expressions, finding it difficult to keep up. This was a significant blow to their pride.
Renjiro looked at their expressions and chuckled secretly. In his experience, actions always spoke louder than words.
For the last ten kilometers, they proceeded cautiously.
Hodaka and Mieko used their dojutsu to check for traps and enemies.
Kaito didn't use his Chakra Field. If there were sensor ninja among the enemies, they would detect Kaito's Chakra Field, thus exposing their location and preventing a surprise attack.
Hodaka's Byakugan, however, didn't have such a flaw.
When they were about one kilometer from their designated location, Hodaka whispered, "Stop!"
Everyone stopped and looked at him. Hodaka moved to the left, and the others followed him.
After traveling about a hundred meters, he stopped. The others also stopped behind him. The area in front of Hodaka was stained red with blood!
Takeshita's assistant asked, "Did they fight here?"
Takeshita bent down and picked up a strand of hair from the bloodstain. He examined it and said, "Unlikely, they might have just been hunting wild animals. It seems they hunted a bear."
Kaito observed Takeshita, thinking, "He can identify the animal from bloody hair?"
Mieko activated her Sharingan, observing the surroundings. After a while, she said, "Found tracks!"
Renjiro said, "Good job, lead the way. Also, watch out for traps. Hodaka, you also need to watch for traps and keep an eye out for their base. Everyone else, don't make unnecessary sounds or movements."
Everyone nodded. Takeshita commented, "Having a Byakugan and a Sharingan in the same squad is very useful."
Renjiro nodded. They cautiously moved forward.
Mieko's Sharingan carefully observed every detail of the surroundings. She captured the most subtle clues, perfectly tracking their trail.
Surprisingly, they didn't encounter any traps.
They continued forward, out of the forest, and onto the beach! Mieko frowned. She said, "The tracks extend into the sea!"
Renjiro and Takeshita both frowned. If the base of these rogue ninja was in the sea, fighting them would become very difficult.
Takeshita's assistant said, "I don't think their base would be in the sea. The nearest island from here is about thirty-two kilometers away, and it would take a lot of time to travel from that island."
As he spoke, everyone looked at him. He continued, "So either their base is nearby, or they're all powerful jonin, moving at twice the speed of a chunin!"
Takeshita immediately shook his head and said, "It's impossible for all of them to be jonin. If so many jonin defected, the foundation of the Hidden Mist would be shaken."
Renjiro said, "There are two possibilities. One is that they have a temporary base here and a permanent base on an island. Or, they're simply moving in shallow water instead of traversing the forest, to avoid leaving any tracks."
Takeshita nodded and said, "Yes, I think the second is more likely. After all, they're rogue ninja and would be afraid of being hunted down."
Renjiro nodded. He also thought so. He said, "Let's go back into the woods. We'll move along the coast while Hodaka checks for any possible hidden bases."
Takeshita agreed, thinking at the same time, "The Hyuga Clan's observation range can reach one thousand meters. From the forest edge, he can check the sea hundreds of meters away. If their base isn't here, then we can only set up an ambush and wait for them to appear."
The group returned to the forest. Seeing the initial tracks, the group decided to walk in the same direction.
After walking a little over a kilometer, Hodaka stopped. He said, "Found it! They're hiding in a cave on a small mountain about one kilometer ahead."
The assistant laughed. "They think they're so smart."
Kaito wondered, "If they're all hiding in the cave, will Renjiro eliminate them all at once?"
Hodaka said, "There are two ninja guarding the entrance to the cave."
Renjiro said, "Keep going forward, I'll take care of both of them. Kaito, don't attack."
Kaito nodded, thinking, "My Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet is suitable for assassination, but once it hits, even a sleeping person would be alerted by the damage it causes."
They continued forward, and Hodaka said, "Besides the two guards, there are fourteen more ninja inside. Three of them seem to be jonin-level, and the rest are chunin-level. They're all sleeping."
Renjiro said, "Stop observing them."
Hodaka didn't understand. He was about to avert his gaze when he suddenly noticed one of them stand up. He said, "One of the jonin-level ninja just woke up."
Renjiro frowned. He said, "Some ninja instinctively sense when someone is watching them. Although they can't perceive the Byakugan, they can feel that something is wrong. Remember this."
After speaking, he suddenly dashed forward using Body Flicker! In an instant, Hodaka, Kaito, and Mieko also followed.
The nearby Yugakure ninja were all stunned!
One exclaimed, "What the hell was that?"
Takeshita's face showed a worried expression. He said, "Keep up."
He formed a few hand seals and also used Body Flicker. The others quickly followed him.
Inside the cave, the rogue leader was sleeping. But when Hodaka observed him, his eyes suddenly opened.
He immediately got up and checked his surroundings.
Seeing no one around, he thought, "What the hell is going on? I'm sure someone was watching me just now!"
Thoughts raced through his mind at lightning speed! He immediately came to a conclusion.
"Damn it, the Hyuga Clan! Those cowards must have sent a mission to Konoha!"
He got up, gathered chakra in his right foot, and then stomped on the ground.
An earth tremor passed through the ground. Although harmless, everyone in the cave felt it. All thirteen rogue ninja woke up.
The leader used Body Flicker beside one of the jonin. Upon arrival, he yelled, "Quickly check our surroundings!"
At the same time, the other rogue ninja also rushed over.
The leader's movements were very fast. However, there was one person whose movements were even faster!
Renjiro used Body Flicker three times in a row, arriving about one hundred and fifty meters from the guards.
Upon arriving, he noticed that some traps had been set near the cave.
However, he ignored these traps. He pressed his hands on the ground and disappeared underground using Earth Release.
The next second, eight Earth Release spears condensed from beneath the two unsuspecting guards, piercing them!
The guards were shocked! However, before they could even let out a scream, Renjiro emerged from underground and, with a fluid motion, cut them down with a kunai.
As he finished them, Hodaka, Mieko, and Kaito appeared behind him.
While running, Hodaka noticed the traps. Mieko led the way, avoiding the traps, and the other two followed her.
Upon arriving, they saw the cave. It was a small hill, about three stories high. There was a large opening at the bottom, which split into several passages.
This small hill was about two hundred meters from the beach. The rogue ninja chose this location to avoid being detected by those scouting from the sea, and also to have an escape route to the sea if needed.
As soon as they arrived, they felt an earth tremor pass beneath their feet.
Hodaka checked the interior of the cave. He frowned and said, "They're all awake."
Renjiro formed a hand seal and said, "I have an idea."
Kaito, Hodaka, and Mieko watched as their sensei gathered a large amount of chakra!
Behind Team Renjiro, the Yugakure ninja followed closely. However, without the Byakugan and Sharingan, they couldn't identify all the traps.
Takeshita was the first to discover the traps. He yelled, "Wait! There are traps ahead!"
However, they were moving too quickly. Three of their ninja triggered the traps. Immediately, hundreds of senbon rained down on them!
Takeshita frowned and formed a few hand seals.
Inside the cave, the sensor ninja unleashed his Chakra Field. Kaito felt his Chakra Field continuously expanding outside the cave. He quickly said, "They've sensed us!"
The sensor immediately detected the immense chakra Renjiro was gathering. He shouted, "Damn it! They're right outside the cave and are about to attack us!"
Immediately, the faces of all the rogue Hidden Mist ninja became grim.
Since they became rogue ninja, they had never engaged in combat with a regular ninja squad.
The Mizukage faction was busy fighting the rebels and had no time to deal with them.
Renjiro pressed his palm against the cave wall and performed Earth Release: Mountain Collapse Jutsu.
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