Analyzing the Ninja World Starting from Konoha

Chapter 162 Rescue

After a night of forced march.

Before dawn, Aoba, leading a hastily assembled group of thirty elite ninjas, finally arrived at the border area between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.

I thought I was about to face a fierce battle, an encirclement or a trap, but the border was surprisingly quiet.

The scene before them stunned everyone.

There was no stronghold, nor a large force of Sand Village troops.

"Lord Aoba, something's wrong!"

A member of the Hyuga clan, activating his Byakugan, reported with a grave expression, "Within my field of vision, I haven't detected any large-scale chakra accumulation, not even a force of a hundred!"

Qingye frowned, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Since that guy Rasa came out in full force under the banner of avenging Yekura, bringing out most of Sunagakure, how could so many people just disappear into thin air?

They did encounter Sunagakure spies along the way, but they all kept their distance when they saw so many of them.

They were all in a hurry to get on their way, so they simply ignored one or two rats.

It now appears that their assessment of the intelligence was flawed!

"Expand the search area!"

Aoba commanded in a deep voice, "Don't just focus on the main force, pay attention to those scattered chakra reactions!"

"yes!"

The veins around the Hyuga members' eyes bulged, and the Byakugan's ability to see into the distance was pushed to its limit.

A moment later, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Captain! A small squad of Sand Village ninja has been spotted with chakra in a village ten kilometers to the southwest! They—they are slaughtering civilians and looting supplies!"

"A Sand Village squad has also been spotted attacking a caravan 15 kilometers to the southeast!"

"Twenty kilometers to the south, Sand Village ninjas are burning down a granary—"

As the intelligence gathered, Aoba's expression gradually darkened.

"Follow me!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Aoba unleashed his chakra, transforming into a blur as he led his team straight to the nearest attacked village.

When they arrived, the once peaceful village had already been ravaged by Sunagakure.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of blood.

Several Sand Village ninjas put away their sealing scrolls and prepared to leave. The leader of the ninjas was preparing to set fire to the village, attempting to burn it down.

"court death!"

A cold glint flashed in Qingye's eyes, and his figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

boom!

With a muffled thud, the leading Sand Village ninja was sent flying by Aoba's Painful Heaven Kick before he could even see who it was.

The terrifying force smashed through three or four large trees, and the Sand Village ninja was already dead when he stopped.

"Enemy attack! It's Konoha ninja!"

The remaining two were subdued before they could even resist.

Aoba walked expressionlessly to a Sunagakure corpse, picked up a seal scroll that had fallen to the ground, and untied it.

Splash—

It didn't contain any strategic materials or ninja tools at all; it was just ordinary food and various other foodstuffs, and even some money and valuables stolen from civilians' homes.

"These guys—are they desperate for money?! They're even stealing this kind of stuff?!"

A Konoha ninja looked at the pots and pans scattered on the ground and cursed through gritted teeth.

Soon the informant reported the information obtained through interrogation to Aoba.

The intelligence was simple; they received only one order: to rob within the Land of Fire's borders, and take whatever was valuable!

Aoba looked at the things on the ground, her mind racing, connecting the known plot with the existing information.

He seemed to understand what Luo Sha was planning.

This isn't a war, it's clearly a plundering expedition!

Sunagakure had no intention of engaging Konoha in a direct confrontation. Instead, they scattered everyone into numerous small teams, which swarmed into the border region between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire like locusts.

Their goal was very clear—to steal things without fighting the Konoha ninjas!

Food, cloth, medicine, money—anything that could be carried away was looted!

That guy, Luo Sha, seems to be really desperate for money.

Aoba speculated that the Daimyo of the Land of Wind might have already started cutting Sunagakure's military budget, otherwise he wouldn't have forced Rasa to do such a thing.

It seems the conflict between Sunagakure and the Daimyo has begun.

No wonder Rasa dared to disregard his own daimyo's reputation and resolutely tear up the alliance agreement.

"Lord Aoba, what should we do now?"

The special ninja standing to the side frowned deeply.

They completely replicated the harassment tactics that Iwagakure had used on the border of the Land of Fire. However, Iwagakure's tactics were small-scale, while Sunagakure mobilized its entire regular army, turning it into countless bandit gangs to carry out large-scale, net-like plundering along the borders of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire!

Aoba rubbed his temples, feeling a headache he had never experienced before.

"This is troublesome—"

This kind of rogue tactic of breaking up the whole into smaller parts is even more disgusting than a direct confrontation!

In addition, the ninjas of Sunagakure are skilled at stealthy operations in deserts and harsh terrains. Now they are scattered into hundreds or thousands of small teams, running around the Land of Fire.

He only has these thirty men under his command, which are not enough to defend against him.

You go to rescue the east side, but the west side is already being looted; you rush to the west side, but then the south side catches fire.

What should I do?

What can he do?

Faced with this kind of large-scale, dispersed looting, unless he could create thousands of shadow clones to provide support like Jin Ming, he simply couldn't stop it.

Aoba took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and then issued instructions in her mind.

"The chip analyzes the current situation and calculates the best course of action."

[Ding! Building battlefield model ————]

Analysis complete ————

Recommendation: Abandon a full-scale defense, consolidate troop strength, and protect large towns and important supply depots.

Listening to the emotionless, mechanical voice from the chip in his mind, Aoba sighed helplessly.

Reason told him that the chip's suggestion was the most correct one.

In this situation, how many of the people he sends out can he actually save?

The Sand Village's goal is plunder; the large towns are the most lucrative. To stop the Sand Village, the first step is to protect these areas, and then wait for reinforcements.

At this moment, Qingye also realized that even transmigrators have times when they are powerless.

Aoba took out a map from his ninja tool bag, unfolded it, and pointed heavily at three locations on the map with his finger.

"All personnel, listen up! Immediately divide the team into three groups, abandon the search and rescue of the surrounding villages, and proceed at full speed to these three towns and supply depots to establish a defensive position!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, all the Konoha ninjas around were stunned.

Several Konoha ninja were horrified. "Lord Aoba, what about the civilians on the outskirts? Are we just going to stand by and watch them be slaughtered by Sunagakure?"

All eyes were on Aoba.

Aoba's gaze swept over these young faces, still brimming with youthful passion, and he sighed helplessly in his heart.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. His voice was calm, but also cold.

"Sunagakure's objective is supplies, not killing. As long as we hold the major towns and supply depots, we can minimize our losses and hold them off until reinforcements arrive. Dispersing our forces before then will only cause greater losses!"

silence.

A suffocating silence.

Aoba's words were like ice water poured over everyone's heads, instantly sobering them up.

Yes, thirty people are simply a drop in the ocean compared to the thousands of Sunagakure soldiers scattered throughout the village.

Although they were still frustrated, reason told them that Aoba's decision was the most correct choice at present.

"Execute the command."

"Hyuga Seisuke, you take a team to Shusui Town in the south. Sarutobi Kenji, you take a team to Maple Leaf Town in the west. Remember, all operations should be defensive; do not linger in battle, and especially do not pursue them too deeply!"

After speaking, Aoba formed a hand seal.

boom!boom!

Two plumes of white smoke rose, and two puppet shadow clones appeared beside him.

"My shadow clones will follow you individually, just in case. Remember, survive, hold onto the supplies, and wait for reinforcements!"

"Qingye's true form said in a deep voice."

Hinata Seisuke and Sarutobi Kenji nodded emphatically, then led their respective squads and sped off in the designated direction.

As Aoba watched them leave, his heart was not entirely unmoved.

He is not a savior and cannot save everyone.

After everyone left, Aoba took out another scroll and unrolled it.

A grenadess appeared on the scroll, and he quickly wrote down the latest intelligence on the scroll and stuffed it into the grenadess's mouth.

"Croak!"

The nectarine croaked once and vanished into thin air in an instant.

Aoba knew that he had done all he could.

As for how Jiraiya and the Konoha leadership will respond, he can no longer interfere.

He now finally understood why, in the original story, after the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was in his prime, chose to step down so quickly, handing over the Hokage position to the younger Minato Namikaze.

Aside from the unparalleled prestige that Minato had accumulated during the war, the main reason was probably this major strategic blunder.

Such a large-scale invasion caused enormous losses to the Land of Fire. First, the Daimyo would not be able to explain it, and as the Hokage, he could not escape responsibility.

His abdication was the only explanation he could give to the daimyo, the village, and all the ninjas and nobles who died in battle.

As expected.

When they arrived at Kazamatsuri Castle, the largest town in the western part of the Land of Fire had already been attacked by Sunagakure.

Several thick plumes of black smoke rose from the southeast corner of the town, and the distant sounds of shouts and clashing weapons could be faintly heard.

The streets were filled with panicked citizens fleeing in disarray.

"Start from the outskirts of the town and clear out the Sand Village ninjas from the outside in! Kill any lone ones, and surround and deal with groups of them!"

After Qingye gave the order, the sand beneath his feet surged, and the sand cushion lifted him into the air, where he began to sweep directly from above.

He took out a scroll, and a large amount of sand gushed out from it, sweeping downwards.

>