After leaving the village, Hyūga Yū bypassed the main road on the eastern side of the Land of Fire and turned onto a narrow, cramped path.
Following it to its end, he arrived at a dense, trackless forest.
Once Yū leapt onto the canopy, a route entirely different from ordinary roads appeared before him. It was a "tree-path" designed for the rapid maneuverability of shinobi.
Through Hyūga Tetsu, Yū had already learned the general route the Head Family's procession would take. They would head east from the Land of Fire along the main highway, passing through the Kusunami Coast to reach the frontline camp. Relatively speaking, this was the safest route; it consisted mostly of plains with an open field of vision, making it easy to scout the road ahead.
If I put myself in the enemy's shoes...
The known target is the Hyūga clan. They possess the Byakugan, can scout the terrain, and it is almost impossible to hide one's tracks from such an enemy.
So, how does one attack such a team and ensure the capture of a Head Family member to obtain the Byakugan?
It's simple.
One must set up a perimeter outside the Byakugan's range and tighten the noose from all directions the moment the Byakugan first spots the hidden shinobi.
Furthermore, to prevent the Hyūga Head Family members from destroying their own eyes via suicide, the attackers must ensure the element of surprise. They must make the enemy let their guard down until they are completely trapped.
The most critical question for this battle plan is: exactly how far can a single Byakugan see?
Only then can one determine the shape and range of the encirclement.
Through continuous training, the range of a Byakugan can steadily increase. Taking Hinata from the Shippuden era as an example, by narrowing her field of vision, she could see things ten kilometers away in a single direction, with a standard bird's-eye range of at least two kilometers.
However, Yū was not worried about the enemy being ignorant of the Head Family guard's detection range.
After all, he already knew the final outcome—a Head Family Byakugan would be stolen by Ao of the Hidden Mist. The Mist's hunting plan had been a massive success.
Reasoning backward, it wasn't hard to deduce the cause. Either Root had leaked the intelligence regarding the guard detail, or a Mist spy embedded deep within Konoha had gathered it.
Yū leaned toward the former.
Regardless of which it was, it didn't change Yū's current course of action. Standing at a higher vantage point with "god-like" knowledge of the future, he intended to break into the encirclement ahead of time—moving much faster than the Head Family's group—bypass the "unexpected" enemies, and reach the enemy's rear first.
When the conflict erupted, he would find Hyūga Natsu and hammer a hole right through this encirclement!
With that thought, Yū stood atop the forest canopy and leaped downward, accelerating at full speed along the path of branches.
Meanwhile, in a clearing about one kilometer away from the woods, a group of shinobi wearing various masks and ANBU attire were assembling.
Soon, one of the shinobi—who was weaving hand signs and wearing a bird mask, constantly sensing the surroundings—suddenly looked up in surprise toward the direction Yū had gone. He immediately hurried to the front of the line to find Aburame Ryōma, who was crouching by a thicket observing something.
"Vice Commander," the bird-masked ninja hesitated. "That brat... he didn't follow the Hyūga clan. Instead, he headed toward the Hidden Mist's ambush point ahead of schedule."
"Will this... affect the plan?"
Crouching by the clearing, Aburame Ryōma raised an eyebrow. After a moment of thought, he roughly guessed Yū's intentions. A look of surprise crossed his face.
"Oh? This kid actually figured out the plan we arranged for the Hidden Mist?"
"We... arranged?" The bird-masked Root ninja was stunned. "Vice Commander, aren't we here for a patrol?"
"Heh." Ryōma glanced at him and shook his head with disappointment, not bothering to answer.
As a member of Root—the very center of Konoha's intelligence—to not even know why he was there meant he was either faking it or truly an idiot. Ryōma had no desire to speak with fools.
The bird-masked ninja realized he might have overplayed his "ignorance" and quickly offered a sheepish apology. "Ah... my mistake, Commander. I know, I understand. But aren't we here to stop the Mist from intercepting the Byakugan? If we let that kid act, won't it alert the enemy?"
"Wrong." Ryōma shook his head, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he spoke indifferently. "The life or death of the Hyūga clan has nothing to do with us."
"The Byakugan brat leaving the village early is the fault of the Hokage's secretarial office. Lord Danzō never gave an order to secure the Byakugan."
Pausing for a moment, Ryōma continued calmly and heartlessly, "Terai... we are only here to confirm one thing: that the Hidden Mist is acting according to the intelligence we gave them. Regarding everything else, we are mere spectators. We will not interfere, lest the big fish that finally bit the bait slips off the hook."
"As for that Byakugan brat... let him go."
Having lost interest in giving further instructions, Ryōma turned his gaze back to the ground.
Down in the bushes, a mantis crouched among the branches, silently eyeing a grasshopper below and wordlessly raising its scythe. Just outside the thicket, a siskin with golden tail feathers watched the predatory mantis with greedy eyes.
And from a higher vantage point, Ryōma pushed up his sunglasses, a cryptic, twisted smile playing on his lips.
At the same time, much further away, in front of a crescent-shaped cliff, a brown-haired shinobi running at full speed arrived. He looked around cautiously and wove hand signs to trigger a barrier at his feet.
Soon, ripples appeared on the cliff face. A young Jōnin with a Four-Mist headband and spiky blue hair stepped out, his face commanding natural authority.
"Lord Ao!"
Seeing the young man, the brown-haired ninja immediately knelt on one knee and held up a scroll with both hands. "The final piece of intelligence from within Konoha!"
"Understood." Ao took the scroll and unrolled it immediately.
After a moment, he shouted toward the desolate, rocky slope below the cliff:
"The Hyūga Head Family has departed. As per previous intelligence, this Head Family member is equipped with three guard units. There are three Jōnin, six Chūnin, and two Genin. The strength of the Head Family member, Hyūga Genkō, is unknown."
"The Vanguard unit consists of Jōnin Hyūga Hiroya, and Chūnin Hyūga Tetsu, Aburame Shikiteru, and Inuzuka Hana. Hyūga Hiroya's detection radius is 1.6 kilometers. Hyūga Tetsu's detection radius is 1.4 kilometers. Aburame Shikiteru controls Parasitic Insects with a sensing radius of 0.4 kilometers..."
"The Middle unit consists of Jōnin Hyūga Hideki, and Chūnin Hyūga Natsu and Yamazaki Sumiko, accompanying the Head Family member Hyūga Genkō. Hyūga Hideki's detection radius is 2.1 kilometers, with vertical sensing capabilities reaching a maximum of 7 to 8 kilometers. Hyūga Natsu's detection radius is 1.99 kilometers..."
Quickly, Ao finished reading the detailed information and detection ranges of the guard members. He looked up and surveyed the area.
"Now, according to the pre-arranged squad formations, everyone! Proceed to your designated positions immediately and wait for the signal to complete the encirclement!"
He narrowed his eyes, his voice turning heavy. "This intelligence is extremely precious. We only have one chance. Therefore, there is no room for error!"
As Ao's voice fell, a unified shout rang out from the seemingly empty, rocky beach:
"Understood!"
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