Konoha's Hextech Ninja

Their exact whereabouts are unknown.

However, the primary mission of the Kumogakure ninjas, including the Magnet Release ninja 'Troy', who are based in the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Hot Springs, is not to infiltrate these two small countries.

Instead, they created the illusion of invading Konoha to cover the movements of their thousand-strong unit.

A thousand ninjas—that's a formidable force.

Each of the five great ninja villages has several thousand ninjas.

Villages like Iwagakure and Konoha, which have a large number of ninjas, each have over ten thousand.

If the war becomes intense, an emergency mobilization can significantly increase the number of troops.

Of course, the vast majority of them were either genin or chunin who had barely been promoted, with very limited combat power; they were essentially cannon fodder.

But this number is real.

However, the signal that a thousand ninjas had secretly gathered was very dangerous.

This number of ninjas is enough to wage a war of considerable scale.

It's certainly not enough to compare to a total war.

However, if a surprise attack is launched on a key area, catching the enemy completely unprepared, it is very likely to achieve significant results.

Even Konoha, if caught off guard by a surprise attack from thousands of Kumogakure ninja, could suffer heavy losses.

“These thousand ninjas, their target is definitely related to the Land of Fire,” Yagami Yoruichi said decisively.

The mission of the hundreds of Cloud Ninja in the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Hot Springs was to draw the attention of Konoha and cover the movement of this large force of one thousand people.

It's easy to imagine that Kumogakure was worried about them being discovered by Konoha.

Based on this conclusion, their target must be related to the Land of Fire.

"Minato-senpai, you want me to find the whereabouts of this large force?" Yagami Yoruichi asked.

“Yes.” Minato Namikaze nodded and said, “Only you have the ability. I will assign you several helpers who are good at sensing and tracking.”

Yagami Yoruichi's [Wind Perception] has a very strong perception effect.

However, in the vast ninja world, to find a ninja army whose whereabouts are unknown, a sensory radius of a few kilometers or tens of kilometers is simply not enough.

On the contrary, ninjas who are good at tracking are more suitable for this kind of mission.

Upon hearing Minato Namikaze's arrangement, Yagami Yoruichi immediately realized that his main role was to act as a 'bodyguard' for these tracking ninjas, protecting their safety.

With over a thousand Cloud Ninja, it goes without saying that there must be no shortage of experts in tracking and counter-tracking among them.

If they find something but the Cloud Ninja discover it, the members of the tracking team will be in great danger.

In the entire front-line camp, apart from Minato Namikaze, who was the overall commander, only Yoruichi Yagami had enough strength to protect the squad and help them escape unscathed from the pursuit of the Cloud Ninja Corps.

Or at least bring the information back.

"Any clues?" Yagami Yoruichi asked. "According to the intelligence, the main force of Kumogakure has been missing for half a month. In such a long time, even ninjas skilled in tracking will have a hard time locating them in a short period of time."

"What we can confirm at the moment is that this Cloud Ninja group was last seen here." Minato Namikaze stood up, pointed on the map, and said, "This is the squad in the Land of Hot Springs. Through the intelligence obtained by the leader of Hot Springs Village, we observed that the main force of the Cloud Ninja left ten days ago."

Yagami Yoruichi looked at the map.

The location pointed out by Minato Namikaze is in the easternmost part of the Land of Hot Springs, near the coast.

"This location... means we've set sail? Are we planning to take the sea route and land in the southeast of the Land of Fire?"

A thought popped into Yagami Yoruichi's mind, but immediately she remembered the course of the Third Shinobi World War in the original work: "No, they're not going to attack the Land of Fire, but rather they're going to sail around the Land of Fire and attack the Land of Wind!"

The advantage of having foresight and knowing the 'plot' information allowed Yagami Yoruichi to deduce the purpose of Kumogakure Village with only a few clues.

Of course, this is just Yagami Yoruichi's speculation.

Due to the series of impacts they have brought about, and amplified by the butterfly effect, Kumogakure may not choose to attack the Land of Wind as it did in the 'original work'.

It is also possible that they will target the Land of Fire.

However, if the goal is to attack the Land of Fire, an attack from the sea is not the best option.

The long supply lines would put these thousand Cloud Ninja in a very dangerous situation if they failed to break through Konoha's defenses in the shortest possible time.

While attacking from the northern land front would encounter greater resistance, the logistical pressure would be much less.

Only when attacking the Land of Wind, which is separated by half of the ninja world continent, would it be necessary to choose such a dangerous strategy as taking a detour by sea.

With the existence of 'Turtle Island', the supply capabilities of Kumogakure at sea are probably not as bad as imagined.

Fighting the powerful Konoha would be very difficult, but fighting the already weak Sunagakure village, which has lost its Third Kazekage, would offer a greater chance of obtaining huge profits.

Of course, in the original work, the raid by Kumogakure Village failed.

The specific details are unclear, but it was clear that the expected benefits were not achieved. In the end, they had no choice but to turn around and fight on two fronts with Konoha and Iwagakure, which resulted in the Third Raikage being killed by tens of thousands of Iwagakure ninja.

Yoruichi Yagami pondered for a moment, but didn't voice her guess directly. She simply nodded to Minato Namikaze and asked, "Who are my teammates?"

"Claw, you can come in now!" Minato Namikaze called out to the door.

Three ninjas, accompanied by a large black and white dog, entered the command room.

A female ninja with short hair, face painted with face paint, and a neutral appearance.

A ninja wearing sunglasses and a light green hooded trench coat.

There was also a ninja with a headband, a white robe, and pure white eyes.

Inuzuka, Aburame, Hinata.

Among all the ninja clans in Konoha, they are the most skilled at tracking and reconnaissance, and they have three different reconnaissance directions that complement each other. It is extremely rare in the ninja world to be able to evade their reconnaissance.

"This is Inuzuka Tsurugi, Aburame Keima, and Hyuga Ryota." Minato Namikaze introduced the three men, then said to Yagami Yoruichi, "Yagami Yoruichi, you are hereby appointed as the squad leader. Investigate the movements of the Cloud Ninja Force! The mission is S-rank, with a deadline of fifteen days. Regardless of whether you find anything, return immediately to report the situation!"

Upon seeing this setup, Yoruichi Yagami knew that Minato Namikaze didn't intend for Kurenai Yuhi to go with her.

Unfortunately, facing thousands of Cloud Ninja, including possibly the Third Raikage leading the charge, even Yoruichi Yagami wasn't confident she could guarantee Kurenai Yuhi's safety.

After thinking it over, Yagami Yoruichi didn't bring up Kurenai Yuhi's matter.

Kurenai Yuhi also carries Yoruichi Yagami's Flying Thunder God Technique mark, meaning that if she encounters danger, Yoruichi can use the Flying Thunder God Technique to rush back at any time.

With Yagami Yoruichi's chakra reserves, she could arrive instantly even if they were thousands of kilometers apart.

After a brief introduction, Yagami Yoruichi left a shadow clone to bid farewell to Kurenai Yuhi, and hurriedly led her team away from the camp, heading towards the eastern coast of the Land of Hot Springs.

……

"You come from ninja clans. Besides the clan's secret techniques, are you skilled in anything else?"

On the way, Yagami Yoruichi asked several of his temporary 'subordinates'.

“I am only skilled in the secret techniques of the Inuzuka clan, and my taijutsu is also not bad. I don’t know anything else. My strength is that of a Chunin.” Inuzuka Tsurugi was the first to speak.

"I only know how to use Parasitic Insects in combat. I'm a tracking-type special Jonin, and my combat strength is at the Chunin level." Aburame Keima's voice was somewhat muffled, and he didn't have much of a presence. He was easy to overlook if you weren't paying attention.

Finally, Hyuga Ryota spoke calmly: "The radius of my Byakugan's field of vision is three kilometers, and I have mastered thirty-two palms in Gentle Fist."

As for anything outside the Hyuga clan's heritage, he didn't mention it at all.

The Hyuga clan is notorious throughout the ninja world for its conservatism and rigidity.

Even clansmen with a natural talent for ninjutsu will not practice ninjutsu, but will instead focus all their energy on Gentle Fist.

Yagami Yoru glanced at Hyuga Ryota, above whose forehead was faintly visible a few bluish-green lines.

This is the mark of the 'Restoration B' seal.

But it makes sense, those who are sent to the battlefield must have been those who split up.

"I am skilled in ninjutsu, and my combat prowess... you'll see if we encounter an enemy. Also, don't worry about getting injured in battle; I'm quite confident in my medical ninjutsu, and I can save anyone from any injury that isn't fatal."

Yagami Yoruichi said, "My fighting style is not suitable for teamwork, so if we encounter enemies, I will try to divide the battlefield and let you deal with the weaker enemies. You only need to deal with your own opponents and don't need to worry about me."

To be precise, it's not that Yoruichi Yagami is bad at teamwork.

Rather, there are simply too few people qualified to cooperate with Yoruichi Yagami.

Without sufficient strength, one cannot even withstand the aftershocks of Yagami Yoruichi's ninjutsu, and would instead become a burden.

Several Chunin-level tracking and reconnaissance ninjas didn't really have much room to coordinate with Yoruichi Yagami in combat.

Upon hearing Yagami Yoruichi's words, Hyuga Ryota and Aburame Keima showed no reaction, but Inuzuka Tsurugi seemed somewhat dissatisfied, believing that Yagami Yoruichi looked down on people.

But she hesitated for a moment and swallowed her question.

Minato Namikaze was highly respected among the younger generation of ninjas, and Tsurugi Inuzuka also admired him.

Yagami Yoruichi was the captain appointed by Namikaze Minato, who also emphasized her great strength.

Inuzuka Tsuru decided not to question Yagami Yoruichi for now, but to wait until they encountered an enemy to see if Yagami Yoruichi was really that strong.

The squad advanced quickly.

If it weren't for her teammates holding her back, Yagami Yoruichi could reach the eastern part of the Land of Hot Springs within a day, given her speed.

However, the team members were only Chunin, and their stamina and speed could not compare with Yagami Yoruichi, which slowed down the team considerably.

However, it only took a little over a day to reach the location where the thousand Cloud Ninja troops were last seen, as indicated in the intelligence.

"According to the intelligence, this is the place."

Yagami Yoruichi looked at the ruins in the distance.

It's easy to tell at a glance that this used to be a small village.

But it has now been completely destroyed.

Judging from the traces of the battle, someone used martial arts and swordsmanship to massacre the villagers here, and the aftermath of the battle destroyed most of the houses.

"Was it done by the Cloud Ninja? To avoid revealing their whereabouts, they slaughtered innocent civilians..."

Yagami Yoruichi clenched her fist slightly.

Despite knowing about the profession of ninja, most people have very low moral standards.

But when she actually witnessed the massacre of civilians, Yoruichi Yagami still felt her emotions fluctuate.

An emotion called 'anger' rose in her heart, making Yagami Yoruichi wish she could find those Cloud Ninja as soon as possible and kill them all in the same way.

After taking a few deep breaths, Yagami Yoruichi composed herself and said to the three of them, "Let's go see if we can find any clues."

"Get to work, Kuromaru!" Inuzuka Tsuru patted his beloved dog's head and ran with the ninja dog toward the village ruins.

Aburame Keishin raised his hands, and countless tiny black insects emerged from his sleeves, scattering in all directions.

"Byakugan, activate!" Hyuga Ryota formed hand seals, activated his Byakugan, and observed his surroundings.

Yoruichi Yagami wasn't idle either; she walked into the village.

Yoruichi Yagami has good sensory abilities, but she is not particularly good at tracking traces.

It can only be said that they have reached a qualified level among ordinary ninjas, but compared with the Aburame clan, Inuzuka clan, and Hyuga clan, which are most skilled in tracking and reconnaissance, they are not in the same league.

Yoruichi Yagami didn't expect to find anything on her own; she just did a cursory look around the village.

"Judging from the degree of decomposition of the corpses, and considering the climate of the Land of Yu, the time when this massacre took place..."

As Yagami Yoruichi recalled the knowledge from the Ninja Academy's theoretical courses and the medical knowledge he had learned from Tsunade, he calculated and concluded: "About fifteen to twenty days ago, it matches the intelligence."

Yagami Yoruichi approached a severely decomposed corpse, examined it carefully for a moment, and then stood up.

After a cursory glance, Yagami Yoruichi had a general idea in mind.

Fifteen to twenty days ago, a group of Cloud Ninja came to this village and slaughtered hundreds of villagers with the most basic swords and knives before leaving triumphantly.

As for further clues, due to the passage of time and a heavy rain in between, Yoruichi Yagami was unable to find much valuable information and could only wait for the investigation results of his three teammates.

After a while, the three teammates finished their investigation and came to Yagami Yoruichi's side.

"Any clues?" Yagami Yoruichi looked at the three of them.

Over the past ten days, many key clues have been washed away by the heavy rain, and Yoruichi Yagami did not expect to be able to collect much valuable information.

If they really find nothing, Yoruichi Yagami can only try to find more clues overseas based on her own speculation.

But on the vast ocean, trying to track the enemy is like trying to find a needle in a haystack—a complete futile attempt.

However, to Yagami Yoruichi's surprise, after she asked the question, the three of them nodded in unison.

Chapter 164 The Fourth Generation Ai, whose Fists Were Faster Than His Brain