Chapter 154: The Mission Begins

The next day, in the morning, Seimei and a group of prepared Konoha Jonin led hundreds of Chunin and Genin toward the frontline base to combat Iwagakure. Alongside the group, several carts carried standard ninja tools like kunai and shuriken. These supplies were clearly provided by the main camp for the upcoming counterattack.

To be honest, Seimei wasn't too optimistic about the success of the counterattack. The reason was simple: after two years of war, Konoha's forces were severely depleted. Even if they managed to capture some strongholds, once Iwagakure's reinforcements arrived, Konoha likely wouldn't be able to hold them.

As for wiping out the enemy's combat forces, that might be achievable, but Iwagakure had no shortage of shinobi. They didn't care much about the loss of some lower-ranking ninja, often treated like cannon fodder.

In such an exchange, Konoha would be at a disadvantage. However, they couldn't afford not to fight. If they delayed any longer, Iwagakure's forces—especially the ones currently encircling the Third Raikage—would eventually be redeployed to the front. Even though not all of those forces would be directed at Konoha, just a fraction of them would be enough to put immense pressure on the frontline.

At that point, the situation would revert to its previous state, with Iwagakure slowly chipping away at Konoha's defenses with their superior numbers—a slow death.

Orochimaru, recognizing this, decided to take a gamble. If they could take advantage of Iwagakure's current vulnerability and eliminate a significant portion of their forces, then even if they lost the ground later, the frontline could still stabilize.

However, Seimei, with the knowledge from his previous life, knew things wouldn't go as Orochimaru hoped. Otherwise, Konoha wouldn't find itself pushed back to its doorstep just a few months later.

With these thoughts in mind, Seimei reminded himself to stay cautious on the battlefield, ever alert for the unexpected. There might be a hidden weapon Iwagakure was preparing, and if he were to die on the battlefield, he'd have plenty of regrets.

The wheels of the carts clattered as the Konoha ninja moved like ghosts, silently advancing around them.

Days passed, and after two days of travel, the large group had almost reached their destination. Unlike a solo mission, moving with a large group took more time. While Seimei could return from the frontlines alone in about a day, the current mission was scheduled to take three days.

That was only because they were all ninja capable of enduring high-intensity marching. If they were a regular army, it would take at least ten days to two weeks to cover the same distance.

Seimei glanced at the surroundings, estimating that they were about half a day away from reaching the base. Once there, they would rest for two days before launching the attack—time was tight.

Fortunately, no ambushes or attacks had occurred over the past two days. Otherwise, their schedule could have been delayed.

Soon enough, half a day had passed. Before they even reached the base, scouts from the base had already received word and sent someone to coordinate.

This task wasn't Seimei's responsibility but was handled by a Jonin from the Nara clan, who also served as the commander for this mission. After a brief exchange, the group continued on its way.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at their destination.

It was a small village. The moment the group of several hundred entered, the place was instantly overcrowded, making it difficult even to rest comfortably.

However, no one complained, or rather, they had no time to. The attack was set for two days later, so they needed to rest while they could.

Once everyone was settled, the Nara clan Jonin convened a meeting with the other Jonin to assign specific tasks. Seimei was placed in the combat group, tasked with dealing with high-level threats, essentially the enemy's Jonin.

Clearly, the Nara Jonin had more confidence in Seimei's combat prowess than in his other skills.

Seimei didn't mind. He needed battles with equally strong opponents to hone his swordsmanship. Swordsmanship, at its core, was meant for killing. While practicing could improve his skills, nothing accelerated growth more than real combat.

During his time in the Land of Earth, despite having little time to train, a few intense battles had still caused his swordsmanship skills to soar.

Of course, his Shadow Clones had also played a role in helping him train, but it was undeniable that battle experience sped up his progress.

Now that his three-tomoe Sharingan had reached its peak, regular Jonin wouldn't be much of a challenge for him. Without worrying about serious threats, Seimei could use these battles to sharpen his swordsmanship, a win-win situation.

Two days later, it was the evening.

After finishing dinner, Seimei and the others began checking their equipment. No one spoke. The only sounds were the clinking of ninja tools. The atmosphere in the base was heavy with tension.

A few minutes later, once everyone had checked their gear, the Nara Jonin gave the order to move out.

The Konoha ninja, divided into four squads, moved in a fan formation under the leadership of over twenty Jonin, advancing toward Iwagakure's base.

According to the plan, they would launch the attack at 8 p.m. sharp. They needed to start moving early to get into position. The reason for the strict timing was that they weren't the only group attacking. Every base along the battlefront that was facing off against Iwagakure would be launching attacks simultaneously.

However, most of the other bases would be launching feints. Their squad was the main force. Once they achieved a clear victory, the other bases would decide whether to follow up and push, aiming to pressure Iwagakure from all sides.

Essentially, Seimei's squad was the spearhead of the entire line. If they broke through Iwagakure's defenses, the larger counterattack could proceed smoothly. This made their mission all the more crucial.

Shrouded by the night, Seimei's group arrived within five kilometers of Iwagakure's base. According to the intelligence they had gathered over the past few days, Iwagakure tended to pull back their defensive perimeter at night.

This was likely due to their base being undermanned, leaving them wary of spreading their forces too thin. As a result, the plan was to neutralize the scouts along the way, allowing them to sneak within a kilometer of the base.

Once that was done, they could launch the full-scale attack.

Time ticked by. The four Konoha squads advanced in perfect silence, avoiding any unnecessary noise. The Iwagakure scouts were detected ahead of time by the Byakugan users and quickly dispatched by the special Jonin trained in assassination techniques. The process was efficient, like clockwork.

After about half an hour, the group successfully moved to within a kilometer of the Iwagakure base's defenses. At this point, sneaking closer would no longer be easy.

Sure enough, within just a few minutes, one of the squads was spotted.

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