Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 51 End of Mission

Looking at the Sand Ninja who surrounded him with such solemn expressions, Uchiha Touyu chuckled:

"You've actually deployed such a formidable force against me; it seems you're quite determined this time!"

"I apologize for troubling you all; if my true form were here, I might actually be in some danger!"

As soon as he finished speaking, with a bang, Uchiha Hiyu, who was standing in the center, turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.

The group of Sand Ninja who had been surrounding Uchiha Touyu suddenly froze. They never expected that their elaborate and careful plan would end up only surrounding a single shadow clone.

Yekura's orange eyes turned to the sand-controlling ninja from the beginning, and she spoke with annoyance:

"Red Sand! What on earth is going on? You couldn't even distinguish between your shadow clone and your real body before calling us all here?"

The ninja named Red Sand was also stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses:

"No... we only went through one round of combat, he didn't even have a chance to use a shadow clone to replace his main body!"

"Unless... unless this guy used shadow clones to probe and fight from the very beginning!"

Three kilometers away, the seemingly ordinary sand dune had been completely hollowed out in the middle, and its structure had been reinforced by earth-burrowing to prevent it from collapsing.

In the cool cave, Uchiha Touyu was sitting cross-legged in the center when he suddenly opened his eyes:

"This ambush on the supply team failed. The Sand Ninja were well-prepared; they not only set a trap but also sent truly skilled fighters!"

"So what should we do next? Continue with the mission?"

Upon hearing his words, Uchiha Touyu's three subordinates had no doubts whatsoever, with Hyuga Ichiro being the first to ask.

For the past two months, the three of them have been following Uchiha Touyu around, helping him with a lot of trivial matters, such as determining the location of the enemy squad, digging and building a temporary base for rest, and... chatting to relieve boredom?

In any case, he didn't do anything related to fighting, and he didn't even use Ito Ryoma's medical ninjutsu. Uchiha Tou was so cautious that he didn't seem like a young ninja at all. Instead, he seemed like a seventy or eighty-year-old fox, and he always sent his shadow clones to take action.

Even though Uchiha Hiu always resolutely stayed at the base and assigned shadow clones to fight, for a high-speed ninja like him who could turn invisible, even shadow clones were no match for ordinary ninja squads.

The biggest problem with Shadow Clone Jutsu is its fragility. However, the key is that when it is invisible and moves at high speed, no ninja with the level of an elite Jonin or a sensory ninja can possibly harm it. Therefore, until now, no one has been able to figure out this move.

"What kind of mission is this? It's been over two months, and I've killed almost a hundred Sand Ninja. The mission's pretty much complete. If I don't run now, I might really have to fight those Sand Ninja to the death!"

Regardless, the Land of Wind is Sand Village's territory. If the other side is really determined and sends out a large number of people to search, it will be difficult for Uchiha Tou and the others to hide.

This is simply a matter of cost. If Uchiha Touyu continues to ambush them like this, even if a large-scale search is conducted with manpower diverted, which would have a significant impact on the front-line war, the enemy will definitely fight desperately to surround and kill them.

"Should we just retreat? Lord Orochimaru hasn't given us any instructions yet. If we retreat now, won't we be punished?"

Ryoma Ito was an ordinary civilian ninja, and he hesitated after hearing what Tou Uchiha said.

"If you want to wait for news, then go ahead! I'm leaving first!"

"If Orochimaru wants to pursue the matter, let him do it... although I don't think he would do something so stupid."

After saying that, Uchiha Hiyu began packing his things, preparing to retreat and leave. Yamanaka Seiichi and Hyuga Ichiro, the two clan ninjas, also began packing their things at the same time without saying a word.

Seeing the current situation, Ito Ryoma swallowed hard. Was he really going to stay in the Land of Wind alone to carry out the mission? Wouldn't that be suicide?

No matter how important the mission is, is it more important than one's own life? With that thought in mind, Ito Ryoma quickly ran over to help tidy up.

During this period, Uchiha Touya intercepted a large number of Sand Village supply transport teams, and the various supply rolls he obtained could be piled up into a small mountain.

However, most of the ordinary supply scrolls had already been sent to Ryuchi Cave by Uchiha Hiyu using the Summoning Jutsu, leaving only some scarce supplies such as explosive tags, ration pills, and various secret medicines behind.

The supplies sent to Ryuchi Cave will naturally be retrieved by Orochimaru and kept as public property of Konoha. These scarce resources will become the private spoils of Uchiha Tou and the others.

This practice of embezzling spoils is considered an unspoken rule in the ninja world; powerful ninjas, if they have the will, are never poor.

After leaving the cave, Uchiha Touya cast a Light-Heavy Rock Technique on himself and the other three, and then the four of them retreated towards the Land of Rivers.

……

Furthermore, even after the Sand Village's plan failed, they did not give up. Yekura led her men to search the supply routes, but after more than a month, they found nothing.

Not only that, but for more than a month, there have been no more attacks on the supply team, which made the search team members almost burst with anger when the search was over.

"Damn Konoha brat, he's like a turtle! He retreated so easily! Is he even a man?!"

In the Sunagakure camp command post, Yekura slammed her hand on the table in anger, almost cursing out loud.

Sitting in the main seat, Luo Sha frowned and said in a low voice:

"Alright, so be it! Now that the enemy has withdrawn, at least our supply routes won't be disrupted anymore."

"But what if they cut off our supply lines again? If we don't eliminate them, our supply lines will always be under threat!"

Yekura's words made Rasa's expression darken even more. This woman made it sound so simple, but if he really had a chance to kill that Konoha Ghost, would he still be sitting here?

The enemy has probably already returned to the Konoha camp. Are they going to attack the Konoha camp directly because of this?

Asking questions is always easy, but solving them is much harder!

"Alright, that Leaf Village Ghost is indeed very cunning, and now is not the best time to deal with him. For the time being, we can only focus on the more important aspect."

Ebizo stepped in to smooth things over, which finally made Rasa's expression look a little better. Yekura opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't say anything more.

(End of this chapter)