Chapter 360: Eagle's Beak Cliff

"Seimei, Tetsuka, over here!"

Command Center.

Meeting Room.

As soon as Seimei entered, he heard someone greeting him. Looking towards the sound, he saw Uchiha Shisui sitting at the table.

The injuries on Shisui had long since healed, but they weren't in the same battalion and were responsible for defending different areas.

Moreover, Uchiha Shisui was quite serious about his missions, attending to everything personally, unlike Seimei who often delegated tasks to his subordinates.

Therefore, the two didn't have many opportunities to interact.

On the other hand, Uchiha Tetsuka, due to his frequent missions, had met Shisui more often and naturally became closer to him.

So, before Seimei could speak, Uchiha Tetsuka pushed him towards Shisui.

Seimei didn't refuse and went along.

After sitting down, the three of them started chatting quietly.

Of course, most of the time, it was Uchiha Tetsuka and Uchiha Shisui talking, with Seimei mainly listening and rarely expressing any opinions.

...

Time passed by.

Soon, half an hour had gone by.

After everyone who was supposed to be there had arrived, Kuroiwa Naruki finally walked in.

Unlike back at the forward base, Kuroiwa Naruki didn't have Uchiha Takeo's decisiveness. Before the meeting started, he engaged in some necessary pleasantries.

Although Seimei felt this was a waste of everyone's time, no one raised any objections, so he could only patiently listen.

It was almost fifteen minutes later before Kuroiwa Naruki stopped his idle chatter, his expression turned serious, and he started talking about the main topic.

He said, "I suppose everyone has already heard that since noon today, various patrol teams have discovered traces of Kiri-nin."

Immediately, there was a buzz of whispers below.

Kuroiwa Naruki tapped on the table, and after the meeting room quieted down again, he continued, "This matter is true."

"Also, let me tell you another piece of news. Not only on our northern front, but also on the central and southern fronts, traces of Kiri-nin have been found."

"I believe everyone understands what this means, right?"

Upon hearing this, a Special Jonin immediately said, "It seems that Kirigakure has digested the forward base and is preparing to launch a second attack."

"Yes, what Tachikawa-Jonin said is right. Kirigakure is conducting preliminary reconnaissance." Someone echoed.

"That's right, we must quickly strengthen the configuration of our patrol teams and try our best to prevent their reconnaissance teams from getting close." Another person added.

"..."

For a while, the meeting room was filled with noise, and everyone was expressing their opinions.

After a long time, Kuroiwa Naruki finally summarized, "I've heard everything everyone said."

"In short, for the next period, everyone must be careful and cautious during missions, guarding against sudden attacks from Kirigakure."

"Yes, what the captain said is right. Kirigakure is particularly good at this, so everyone needs to be careful."

Someone said from below.

Hearing this, others nodded in agreement.

At this time, Kuroiwa Naruki said again, "To prevent surprise attacks from Kirigakure, the missions of some teams will change. Next, I will announce the latest arrangements."

Hearing this, Seimei suddenly had a bad feeling.

As expected, Kuroiwa Naruki mentioned him first.

He said, "Seimei-Jonin, your team will head to Eagle's Beak Cliff next. There's a stronghold there that needs heavy defense, and this task is assigned to you."

Eagle's Beak Cliff stronghold, the northernmost stronghold on the northern front, was located in a remote area, a protruding part of the continental shelf.

Because its shape resembled a giant eagle's beak, it was called Eagle's Beak Cliff by the locals.

That area extended directly into the sea, making it very easy to be attacked from three sides in case of an invasion.

The last two times Kirigakure broke through the northern front, it all started from there.

The danger involved was self-evident.

However, Seimei knew that Kuroiwa Naruki assigning him there wasn't due to any conflict or retaliation.

Instead, he wanted to use Seimei's personal strength to guard that weak point in the defense line.

That place had been breached twice already. If it were breached again this time, Kuroiwa Naruki might have to face an investigation from the Anbu.

After all, as the saying goes, there can be a first and a second time, but not a third or fourth.

If Kirigakure managed to break through the same place three times in a row, Kuroiwa Naruki's competence would be questioned by the higher-ups.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Seimei.

The reason he didn't raise any objections was because he had enough confidence in his own strength. He firmly believed that even if the stronghold fell, he wouldn't die.

So, he didn't care much.

Moreover, Kuroiwa Naruki also promised to provide him with three squads, totaling over fifty ninjas, to guard the stronghold together.

Therefore, Seimei agreed.

In this way, counting his dozens of subordinates and the personnel originally stationed at the stronghold, the number of ninjas there would exceed two hundred.

This was unprecedented on the entire northern front.

From this, it could also be seen that Kuroiwa Naruki was genuinely worried about Kirigakure breaking through from there again.

Seimei shook his head, no longer dwelling on it. After the meeting ended, he didn't linger. He immediately gathered his subordinates and the three squads assigned by Kuroiwa Naruki, and they set off for Eagle's Beak Cliff in the far north overnight.

...

That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Seimei and the others hurried on their way, finally reaching their destination around midnight.

Seeing the intact stronghold, Seimei secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was truly afraid of encountering some cliche situation.

For example, just as he arrived, Kirigakure had already captured the place.

In that case, a fierce battle would be inevitable.

Now it seemed that he was overthinking.

That's right, Kirigakure had only started their reconnaissance today. It was unknown how long it would be before they launched an attack, so how could they possibly take action tonight?

Even if they had successfully breached this place twice before, they wouldn't dare to be so aggressive.

If Kuroiwa Naruki could think of sending reinforcements here, they naturally could too.

Therefore, they wouldn't take the risk.

If this place turned out to be a trap, they would be in big trouble.

However, the geographical location here was simply too advantageous for the attackers.

So, even with the risk, Kirigakure most likely wouldn't give up. At most, they would just do more intelligence gathering.

And this was one of the reasons why Kuroiwa Naruki sent Seimei to guard this place.

Thump, thump, thump~

A series of footsteps sounded.

From within the stronghold ahead, a dozen Konoha ninjas, led by a Jonin, walked out of the stronghold and approached them.

Obviously, their arrival had alerted the people originally stationed here.

Fortunately, Kuroiwa Naruki had already sent the relevant information here in advance, so these people didn't appear too nervous.

The handover between the two sides went very smoothly. After verifying their identities, Seimei assumed the highest command authority in this place.

Subsequently, as usual, he handed over the matters within the stronghold to Uchiha Tetsuka, while he returned to his quarters to continue the training he hadn't finished today.

Compared to managing others, he still preferred training. This tangible progress made him unable to stop.

(End of Chapter)