"Didn't see anything? Just an accidental achievement from my Wood Release research. It's not perfected yet and needs further refinement."
Kyōichi shook his head.
Having brought it out for use, he'd long been prepared. There was no need for Hayate to cover for him.
As for Mukai...
He smiled and said, "Everyone performed well in this battle. There's no need to report too much about our own people. Tsunade-sama and I are already aware."
"Yes!"
Hayate and the others stood at attention.
Asuma and his team, of course, did the same.
Naturally.
Asuma hadn't expected Mukai to be the topic. He had thought Kyōichi was referring to Shisui's Sharingan.
But Hayate wasn't like him.
Hayate could guess Mukai's situation.
Byakugan!
A member of a branch family separated for three or four generations had actually awakened the Byakugan again. If this were reported, the Hyūga clan would likely go crazy.
In the past, Hayate might have hesitated.
If such a thing were discovered, the consequences would be hard to predict.
However.
Tsunade was about to become the Yondaime Hokage, and Kyōichi had done a great favor for the Gekkō clan. If they could help, they certainly would.
As for the other two...
Shiranui Genma naturally agreed. Mukai had helped a lot and even saved his life. There was no reason not to help a comrade in arms.
Sarutobi Hiroki, being from the Sarutobi clan, was a bit hesitant.
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything to the Sandaime-sama and the Hyūga clan later. The concealment is only temporary."
"Yes!"
Sarutobi Hiroki bowed his head.
Asuma's expression was strange. He had always thought his teacher was talking about Shisui, but after observing for a while, it seemed the issue wasn't about Shisui's Sharingan but rather related to the Anbu ninja wearing a cat mask.
"Iwagakure's forces are truly troublesome. Their survival methods are too numerous, making kills exponentially harder. Unlike Kirigakure where they drop dead with one strike."
Kyōichi rubbed his temples.
Hayate nodded in agreement and then recounted their experience.
They had only taken out one team.
As Kyōichi said, Iwa-nin were too difficult to handle. With a plethora of defensive techniques, the initial ambush failed to kill them all, allowing the enemy to launch signal flares—
If it weren't for the first wave of surprise attacks, where Sarutobi Hiroki's Earth Spear caught them off guard, they might have been entangled with that team for much longer.
In the end, they only killed one team and immediately fled with the supplies.
Kyōichi didn't blame them.
Because his own side had also encountered numerous unexpected issues.
After finally infiltrating, the number of enemies around Gari was far beyond expectations.
And from the quality of the jōnin, it was clear that Iwagakure's strength was indeed above that of Kirigakure.
Fortunately, the results of this battle were quite fruitful. Four jōnin squads, with the lowest rank being chūnin—such teams were definitely elite squads in Iwagakure.
And on their side, not a single loss.
This result was already excellent.
After all, it was guerrilla warfare, not aimed at the enemy's leadership. Any gains were good.
"Let's go, back to rest."
...
"Sensei, are you sure this short time is enough?"
"Enough for them to escape."
The Sandaime nodded.
He wasn't sure what had happened over there, but it was certain that Kyōichi and his team had made their move.
Jiraiya was still worried.
This was the Land of Earth!
The Iwa ninja weren't pushovers. If they got surrounded, it would be dangerous.
If anything went wrong, Tsunade would kill him!
He paced back and forth, uneasy.
Just as he was hesitating, there was a commotion outside. He immediately ran out and then felt relieved.
They were back.
All of them!
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back... You brat, Think you're invincible? What if you encountered Ōnoki or a jinchūriki?"
Jiraiya walked over to Kyōichi and gave him two heavy pats on the shoulder.
Kyōichi coughed lightly: "Jiraiya-sama, if I don't die by Iwa-nin hands, I might by yours."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Jiraiya rolled his eyes.
Seeing him back, he felt relieved, and only then did he ask about the results.
Hayate and the others went to find Sarutobi Shinnosuke, leaving only Kyōichi and Asuma's team. Kyōichi sent them off to rest and then entered the tent to discuss the results with Jiraiya and the Sandaime.
Jiraiya gasped after hearing the report.
Damn!
This was dancing on knife edges. If exposed, they'd face hordes of Iwa-nin.
How did this kid come up with such a plan...
Truly, skill makes one bold.
His heart was pounding, but then he noticed something off.
Kyōichi's intelligence was a bit too precise!
As soon as they infiltrated, they found the enemy's weak spot, as if they had gone straight for it.
Jiraiya saw through it but didn't say anything, instead nodding in agreement and saying, "They have many defenses at the frontlines, but that area wasn't heavily patrolled."
"That Gari guy is quite cautious. My original plan was to lure away his subordinates and find a way to kill him, but he sent me out instead, so I had to settle for taking out two squads."
Kyōichi sighed.
Tearfully killing two squads.
This was the truth.
If Gari had given him a chance, he wouldn't have only taken out those two.
After hearing this, the Sandaime said, "Your results this time are already significant. Four elite squads are enough to save many of our ninjas' lives."
"Sensei is right."
Jiraiya nodded in agreement.
Seven or eight squads.
Such a stronghold was something even he wouldn't dare to provoke recklessly. Kyōichi dared to go in and came back unscathed, which was already quite remarkable.
"The Iwa ninja are much harder to deal with than Kiri ninja. Kiri's biggest defensive techniques are the Hidden Mist Technique, Mist Teleportation, and Water Wall. Although troublesome, they're not a major concern. But the Iwa ninja..."
To be honest.
Kyōichi felt what the Kiri ninja must have felt when facing him.
A steel shell, impossible to break!
Fortunately, he had the Raijin Sword and the Executioner's Blade. No matter what Earth Release they used, one slash and they were all dead.
The Sandaime also felt a headache.
The Iwa ninja were indeed troublesome, but the Uchiha couldn't be mobilized either. It wasn't out of distrust for the Uchiha, but because the Kirigakure wasn't currently fighting kumogakure
Between nations, what credibility was there?
They might surrender today and attack tomorrow.
Even if they could retaliate later and make the enemy pay a heavier price, the Land of Fire might not necessarily come out ahead.
The Sandaime didn't have a good solution either.
Konoha didn't have many Lightning Release ninjas.
After the conversation, Kyōichi left the tent. He hadn't slept for a day and a night.
However.
Someone was still following him.
"Kyōichi, Kyōichi..."
Jiraiya jogged over, a smile on his face.
Seeing Kyōichi stop, he leaned in and whispered, "Kyōichi-kun, did you get your intelligence from Amegakure?"
Kyōichi nodded slightly.
"Are they doing well?"
"Haven't you gone to see them?"
Jiraiya sighed and nodded gently.
Kyōichi was a bit surprised.
Jiraiya had been in the north for over half a year, just a stone's throw away from Nagato and the others, yet he hadn't gone to see them...
He didn't know what to say for a moment.
After a long while, he finally said, "They're doing well. Hanzo thinks highly of them and treats them like his disciples."
"That's good... Sigh."
Jiraiya sighed.
In the north, he had been busy gathering intelligence on Iwagakure and Kumogakure. He hadn't had time to visit Nagato and the others.
Later, he heard that Nagato and the others had joined Hanzo.
Then there was even less reason to go.
But he was still a bit worried.
"Don't worry too much. Maybe they really can achieve something great."
Kyōichi continued walking forward. "Jiraiya, if you don't have anything else, don't disturb my sleep."
"Aren't you going to eat something?"
"I'll eat after I wake up."
...
Land of Earth.
Ōnoki received the intelligence and was momentarily stunned.
Four elite squads.
Just like that?
Moreover, the most important thing was that he had lost a batch of ninja tools, explosive tags, and soldier pills, all of which had now fallen into Konoha's hands. These would eventually be used against the Iwa ninja.
Could anything be more infuriating?
Despite his calm and robust demeanor, he was so angry that he coughed repeatedly.
"Why do they know the Hidden Mist Technique? What does Kirigakure have to say about this?"
"According to Kirigakure, some of their people were captured, leading to the leak of their ninjutsu intelligence."
Kōmei reported from the side.
Ōnoki's face darkened.
Leaked?
They must be joking!
Everyone knew Kirigakure's rules. If there was a possibility of being captured, the surviving members would eliminate their teammates and then commit suicide, leaving no intelligence for the enemy.
Over the years, other villages had rarely captured live Kiri ninjas.
And yet...
When fighting Konoha, they just happened to be captured and had their techniques stolen?
To be honest, he didn't believe it.
"Also, Gari's report mentioned that the wounds on Mogura and the others looked like they were made by some kind of large sword, similar to Kiri's Executioner's Blade."
Kōmei continued to report.
Ōnoki was stunned for a moment.
"Isn't that one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades?"
"So for now, it's just suspicion. There's no concrete evidence."
Kōmei nodded.
Ōnoki sat there, thinking for a long time, then suddenly straightened up and said, "What if the ones captured were members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
Kōmei was shocked by his father's speculation, but then he found it hard to believe.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
They were Kirigakure's top ninjas, trained for many years.
Konoha had only sent a few unknown individuals to the east, not even one of the Sannin. How could such a group capture the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?
How stupid would they have to be!
They were still pondering this when a Iwa ninja ran in.
"Ōnoki-sama, we've received a message from the Kiri's Anbu."
"Bring it here."
Ōnoki immediately went over and took the intelligence scroll.
That day, they had been searching for Kiri's Anbu in the Land of Earth, killing several, and finally forced Kiri to send over the intelligence.
He opened the scroll delivered by a bird.
It contained a summary of some information.
"Konoha has an exceptionally strong shinobi undermining all our strategies."
Half-truths, huh?
Ōnoki tore the note to pieces, then took a deep breath, and finally pointed at Kōmei, saying, "Send someone to negotiate with Kiri. Ask them what they want."
"Yes!"
This Konoha ninja didn't play by the rules.
Given Kiri's intel, Ōnoki had reason to suspect that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen might truly have been eliminated by Konoha.
If true, Iwagakure must pay this price.
Otherwise.
More Iwa-nin would die gathering this ninja's intel.