boyutpedia Chapter 20 First Enemy Encounter
Chapter 20 First Enemy Encounter
Before they knew it, Hyuga Kanan's squad had been gone from the outpost for a whole morning, but they were not moving very fast.
Upon entering the Land of Rain, Hyuga Kanan sensed a suffocating atmosphere. A light rain was falling, and he didn't encounter many people along the way. After all, this was Konoha's supply line, a rather secretive route.
The Land of Rain, a powerful nation arguably second only to the Five Great Nations, has now become a battleground for three of the major powers.
With the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Konoha Village, which was originally the strongest shinobi village in the world, was at its zenith. However, with the death of the Second Hokage, it is now suffering repeated defeats in the face of the combined attack of the Sand Village and the Rock Village in the Land of Rain, which inevitably makes other shinobi villages see a weakness.
Has Konoha already exhausted most of its strength with the ninjas from the two villages?
Amegakure is also starting to stir, preparing to join the ranks of those dividing up Konoha and the Land of Fire.
The Rain Ninja, deeply troubled by the outbreak of war within their own country, now desperately want to push the battlefield out of their homeland and into the Land of Fire, while also reaping a hefty harvest from the Land of Fire, which has always been wealthy.
Konoha, who were focused on dealing with the attacks from Sand Village and Iwa Village, tensed up instantly after noticing the unusual movements of Amegakure.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, acted decisively, dispatching his prized disciples Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade to the Land of Rain to resist the Rain Ninja led by Hanzo of the Salamander.
The Third Hokage's plan was for his three most outstanding disciples to lead 2000 elite ninja to decisively defeat Hanzo's Rain Ninja in a direct confrontation. Meanwhile, Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha, would hold off the Sand Ninja and Iwa Ninja on the main battlefield. After defeating the Rain Ninja, the forces from both battlefields would merge to fight the Sand Ninja. The Iwa Ninja, on the other hand, would have his three disciples lead the newly dispatched army to slow down the Sand Ninja, buying time for the White Fang of Konoha to defeat them.
This tactic is extremely risky; it would put his three disciples in great danger.
Hanzo of the Salamander, hailed as a demigod, is not so easily defeated, and it is also unknown whether Sakumo Hatake, who has lost most of his elite troops, can hold back the Sand Ninja and Iwa Ninja with those remaining personnel.
Moreover, after defeating Hanzo of the Salamander, it would be extremely dangerous to lead a group of novices to hold off the main force of the Iwa ninja. They could very well be surrounded, given the vast difference in numbers and the disparity in quality.
The Third Hokage himself had to be prepared for an attack from Kirigakure at any time, as Kirigakure scouts had already been spotted at border outposts near the Land of Water. He also needed to send people to Kumogakure to discuss whether they could send troops to Iwagakure to hold off the Iwagakure ninja for Konoha.
Therefore, the personnel sent to the front line to escort supplies, such as Hyuga Kanan, were actually intended to hold off the Iwagakure cannon fodder troops for the three disciples of the Third Hokage. There was no way they were assigned the task of escorting the wounded back to the village, otherwise transporting supplies would not require such a large-scale joint escort mission.
As Hyuga Kanan continued forward, she was increasingly surprised to find many clusters of soul energy floating around. Most of them were being pulled towards one place by white matter, while only a small portion were floating very slowly.
Hyuga Kanan quickly mobilized his soul power to envelop the small portion floating in front of him and draw it back into the Qiankun Inheritance Jade in his mind. He couldn't help but feel very happy, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Yamanaka Ryuichi, who had been observing Hyuga Kanan along the way, was somewhat surprised. This guy had been expressionless the whole time, but now he showed a slight smile, indicating that he was happy.
Yamanaka Ryuichi immediately slowed down, approached, and asked, "What's up? You seem quite happy. Did you discover something good?"
"Uh." Hinata Kanan suppressed her smile and replied perfunctorily, "Aren't we about to reach our destination? After traveling for so long, we're finally about to reach the final destination of this mission. Nothing has happened yet, so of course I'm happy."
"This is my first mission, and it's incredibly lucky that I was able to complete it without any unexpected incidents." As he spoke, he was actually thinking about how much time the many soul orbs he had just acquired could save him.
"However, I never expected that such a large-scale B-rank war mission could be completed without any combat." Hyuga Kanan regained his composure and answered seriously.
As a newly graduated rookie genin, I'm participating in a large-scale B-rank mission. I can't even imagine how many people would die or be injured if we encountered a large-scale enemy attack.
Even though Hyuga Kanan possesses the Byakugan and soul power to observe distant enemies and avoid the risk of enemy ambushes or head-on collisions, she could still be surrounded on a large scale.
Although I am quite strong now, this strength is not enough on the battlefield, and I could be killed at any time.
Yamanaka Ryuichi looked at Hyuga Kanan, whose complexion had returned to normal, nodded slightly to him, and said softly:
"If you spot the enemy, just report to me immediately. We can change our route at any time. It's best not to engage the enemy recklessly. After all, our mission is not to fight the enemy, but to provide cover for the logistics transport teams behind us. In short, the principle is to avoid them if possible, understand?"
Yamanaka Ryuichi solemnly gave the instructions, while also looking at the other two. Seeing Yamanaka Ryuichi's serious expression and solemn tone, Hyuga Kanan subconsciously nodded.
"Relax, don't be so tense. Our escort route this time is very well hidden and won't be easily discovered. Even if we are discovered, you'll have no choice but to spot the enemy in advance, giving us more options."
Seeing his three teammates looking serious again, Ryuichi Yamanaka immediately comforted them to ease the tension between them.
Although this mission is only a reconnaissance and reconnaissance mission, if the enemy discovers and surrounds them, a group of people who have just come out of the ninja academy will still have to turn back to protect them.
Hyuga Kanan was still somewhat uneasy. Even though his team leader was a powerful Jonin with extensive mission experience, the battlefield was always unpredictable.
Looking at the scorched earth ahead.
Hyuga Kanan's face remained expressionless, but his heart grew increasingly heavy.
The road ahead was surrounded by scorched earth, proving that a fierce battle had taken place there. This was a specially chosen secret route, yet battles still had taken place here.
Yamanaka Ryuichi also saw the situation ahead and quickly made a warning gesture. The team immediately changed formation, with Jonin Yamanaka Ryuichi leading the way, Yuan Fei Quanxiong and Gekko Shinkaichi spreading out to defend the left and right sides, and Hyuga Kanan in the middle.
The group quickly reached the scorched earth. Yamanaka Ryuichi immediately went to investigate and soon returned to the group. He whispered his findings, "It looks like this happened not long ago, maybe a day at most."
“I just surveyed a five-kilometer radius around here and didn’t find anyone,” Hinata Kanan quickly added.
The scorched earth is less than 50 kilometers away from its destination, the Konoha Ninja Army's main camp in the Land of Rain. How come no Konoha personnel have come to investigate when a battle has broken out here? You should know that the camp's warning range is 20 to 30 kilometers. If a battle breaks out at such a close distance, the camp will definitely send people to investigate and keep watch.
Immediately, everyone in the team tensed up and slowly continued to explore forward, but at a noticeably slower pace.
"There's a large-scale battle on the right front; it's between Konoha and Amegakure," Hyuga Kanan suddenly shouted, issuing a warning.
"What is that thing? It's so huge!" When Hyuga Kanan turned his head, he saw a huge figure fighting with several other figures further to the right of the large group of people fighting.
The already tense team members were suddenly jolted awake and turned pale with fright.
"Hmm?" Yamanaka Ryuichi was also startled and immediately gave instructions: "Xinhuo, head back immediately and inform the transport team behind us of the situation. We'll slowly approach to assess the situation and gather intelligence. Jianan, continue to observe the enemy's movements and report any developments immediately. Move out!"
Upon hearing Yamanaka Ryuichi's instructions, the team immediately sprang into action. Moonlight Flame leaped and disappeared along the path they had come from. Yuan Feiquanxiong and Hyuga Kanan followed Yamanaka Ryuichi, slowly moving towards the right front.
A few minutes later.
"Two Rain Ninja squads of eight people each have broken away from the battle and are moving quickly in our direction. There's also a squad from our village chasing after them, about three kilometers away," Hyuga Kanan quickly informed, preparing to follow the instructions of the experienced Jonin leader, Yamanaka Ryuichi.
"Set up an ambush here and intercept these people to provide support for the pursuing team. Hide and lie in wait immediately, and attack as soon as I move." Yamanaka Ryuichi made the decision immediately and quickly arranged the tactics.
'Swish, swish.' The three moved immediately and lay in wait...
A kunai flew straight out of the bushes and swiftly pierced the throat of one of the figures who had just arrived. The force was so great that the tip pierced through the back of his neck.
His figure suddenly fell from the tree to the ground, his hands desperately covering his throat, his eyes helplessly scanning his surroundings for something, making a "hissing" sound, and then his head drooped weakly, and he fell silent.
"Enemy attack! Maintain defense! Rally towards me!" A tall figure immediately stopped moving, assumed a defensive stance, and alerted several figures around him.
Several figures quickly moved closer to the tall man to prevent being picked off one by one.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" A fireball with a diameter of 3 or 4 meters rushed towards their gathering direction. It was Yuan Fei Quanxiong who launched this ninjutsu, intending to scatter them and create a one-on-one opportunity for his captain.
"Water Release: Water Wall." Just as the fireball was about to reach them, the tall man instantly moved in front, creating a wall of water to block the fireball's attack.
The fireball and the water wall collided instantly, making a hissing sound and releasing bursts of water mist. The fireball was quickly extinguished. After all, in the rainy environment of the Land of Rain, fire-style attacks are difficult to counter water-style attacks. The previous attack was merely a preemptive strike, and the opponent easily defended against it once they reacted.
Seeing an opportunity, Hyuga Kanan produced several shuriken and hurled them with all her might towards the mist. The mist offered no protection against the Byakugan, and the shuriken quickly reached the group.
These men weren't novices; they drew their ninja swords and kunai, and with a few deft moves, deflected the shuriken in front of them. Only one person, who was a little slower to react, was grazed by a shuriken, but it didn't cause him much harm.