Chapter 127 Rescue Operation

"What? Three hundred Cloud Village ninjas?" Hiashi's voice trembled with shock.

"They're less than three minutes away," Seiki added urgently.

Without questioning where Seiki had obtained this intelligence, Hiashi immediately returned his awareness to his physical body. Activating his Byakugan, he scanned forward, instantly seeing everything within a one-kilometer radius ahead.

"I can't see anything! Dammit, is it beyond the Byakugan's detection range?"

Without hesitation, Hiashi immediately ordered, "Everyone, enter combat alert status now! Clean up all traces and retreat to Sector 45 immediately!"

Although they didn't understand why their clan leader issued such an order, the Hyuga maintained strict hierarchical discipline—no one would ever question commands from the Hyuga Main House.

Without protest or hesitation, everyone sprang into action. Within just a dozen seconds, they completely erased all traces of their presence and quickly evacuated through the valley on the right side.

Shimaseki couldn't help but admire their efficiency and speed—though he also knew there was always a downside to blind obedience.

If the Hyuga Main House made a wrong decision, the entire group could be led straight into disaster.

Fortunately, in Hiashi's eyes, Shimaseki was absolutely trustworthy.

If even someone like him—a direct bloodline descendant of the Hokage and pure-blooded Konoha ninja—were to betray the village, then Konoha might as well disband early.

Meanwhile, at the front of the forest...

"According to information from our spies, Konoha has divided its border zones into one hundred sectors. Each camp monitors five to six surrounding areas, and these surveillance zones overlap—meaning one sector might be simultaneously patrolled by multiple camps..."

"Get to the point!"

"Yes sir, Toroi-sama. We are responsible for Sectors 40 to 50, and we should destroy some of their outposts before Konoha realizes what's happening!"

Just then, a Cloud Village ninja suddenly cried out in alarm, "Toroi-sama, my ninja hawk brings news! At ten o'clock position ahead, there seems to be a group of Konoha ninjas rapidly fleeing. They number about thirty!"

"We finally found Konoha's ninjas!" one Cloud ninja exclaimed happily.

"Be careful—it could be a trap set by Konoha!" another warned nearby.

As Toroi hesitated between continuing with the original plan or seizing this unexpected opportunity, a voice full of surprise and excitement made the decision for him.

"My ninja hawk just received additional intel—the fleeing ninjas have completely white eyes!"

"It's actually the Hyuga clan!" Toroi's eyes lit up.

As one of Konoha's two noble houses, the Hyuga naturally attracted much attention. Especially on the battlefield, the Byakugan could play an even more important role than the Sharingan.

"Continue tracking them with your ninja hawk!" Toroi decisively issued orders. "Everyone else, follow me and chase them down!"

In the valley...

As they raced forward at top speed, Hizashi couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is going on? Was it because of that sudden flash of white light earlier?"

Hiashi didn't intend to hide anything. "It's Tsunade-sama's disciple."

Shocked, Hizashi exclaimed, "Seiki Shimaseki? The genius who subdued the Cloud Village jinchuriki?"

Hiashi nodded. "He used the Spirit Transformation Technique to relay intel, informing me that a unit of three hundred Cloud Village ninjas is waiting just ahead."

"Three hundred troops!" Hizashi was first stunned by this "massive" number, then exclaimed in shock again, "Spirit Transformation Technique? He actually mastered another S-rank ninjutsu!"

Hiashi shook his head in admiration, "Back when we were in school, people always said my brother and Fugaku Uchiha were prodigies. But compared to him, we both truly dishonored the title of 'prodigy.'"

Hizashi nodded deeply in agreement, "Makes sense."

Hiashi couldn't help but smile bitterly, "You really..."

Suddenly, a Hyuga clansman came running over in panic.

"Lord Hiashi, there's a Cloud Village ninja hawk following us from above. Also, it seems like someone is tailing us from behind."

"What?" Hiashi immediately looked up, indeed noticing an eagle circling continuously overhead.

"Damn it! We've been discovered after all!"

Seeing Hiashi frowning with concern, Hizashi instantly understood his older brother's predicament, "You want to split your focus communicating with him, right? Hmph, he's always dragging others into his mess," Hizashi muttered coldly.

Hiashi didn't pretend to be modest, nodding decisively, "I appreciate it."

The next moment, his consciousness sank into his Consciousness Space again.

Within the Consciousness Space.

"Seiki, I…"

"There's no need to explain. I can perceive everything happening outside through you."

Seiki asked solemnly, "Senior, what are you planning to do? Destroy that ninja hawk?"

"No time!" Hiashi shook his head firmly before staring at Seiki, "When you noticed Cloud Village's trail, you must've already reported to Central Command, right?"

"That's correct."

"It might trouble you again, but could you run one more errand? Find out which camps can send reinforcements. If their forces are sufficient, we might even launch a counterattack. However, if the reinforcement isn't strong enough..." Hiashi took a deep breath, "Please inform the village—before I die in battle, I'll destroy my own eyes!"

"I understand."

"Thank you…" Hiashi spoke gravely, only to realize the spirit form hadn't disappeared, "Uh… Any other words of caution?"

Seiki blinked, "My main body has already started inquiring about this."

Hiashi couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief, "Splitting soul? Your spiritual form has reached such power?"

Meanwhile, back at the camp.

When Seiki suddenly opened his eyes and stood up, those around quickly asked, "Seiki, how is it going?"

Shaking his head grimly, Seiki replied, "Still got found out…"

"Curse that Cloud Village!"

"What should we do? Should we go rescue them?"

At this moment, Kosuke Maruboshi asked, "Seiki, who exactly are the ones being pursued?"

"It's the Hyuga clan's reconnaissance squad, including their clan leader himself."

As his words fell, a wave of panic swept across the surroundings.

"This is serious. The Hyuga clan is extremely important combat power!"

"If the eyes of the Hyuga Main House fall into Cloud Village's hands, we'll be placed in a very disadvantageous position!"

"We absolutely must find a way to rescue them!"

Such concerns were reasonable, yet reality remains pragmatic during war—as valuable as lives are, so too are strategic considerations.

If they had been ordinary ninja, they might have hesitated over whether it was worth the risk. But the Hyuga Clan's importance on the battlefield clearly tipped their internal scales.

Seiki couldn't help but sigh to himself—Konoha didn't win those last two wars for nothing.

These people knew very well that if they didn't reinforce the position, nothing would happen to them. Once they decided to move ahead, even if everything went perfectly, there were bound to be some losses. Yet they still resolutely made their decision.

"27 from Camp 41, 15 from Camp 46, 33 from Camp 47, plus our 17 here..."

Kosuke Maruboshi was analyzing numbers when Asuma suddenly called out, "Wait a minute! Weren't there supposed to be 20 of us here?"

The surrounding ninja exchanged glances and laughed.

"Heh heh, you rookies should just stay at the camp!"

"You're all *such* geniuses; it's more valuable for you to stay alive than for us to go!"

Kurenai's face flushed red. "You don't even know if your strength matches mine!"

Asuma also shouted angrily, "What good is strength if a genius isn't brave enough to step onto the battlefield?"

The veteran ninjas exchanged surprised glances—they hadn't expected these kids to be this serious.

Seiki calmly analyzed, "Actually, there's no need to be so pessimistic. Ninja from the Hyuga Clan are all elites. Not to mention this team bears the important mission of protecting the Hyuga Main House—it definitely possesses formidable power. Even facing Cloud Village ninja, they could probably take on three opponents each."

"Plus the numbers we have across several camps, the gap really isn't that big anymore. If we pull off a good ambush, we might even turn the tide on them! Most importantly—we simply don't have time to hesitate anymore!"

As Seiki spoke this far, the older ninja felt a surge of excitement and stopped focusing on the youths' issue.

Seeing no opposition, Seiki continued, "Now we must discuss potential ambush locations. Seniors, what's your opinion?"

While experienced, these veteran ninja were mostly used to following orders and found themselves momentarily unable to make decisions.

"Uh...Seiki, you decide then."

"There's only one spot close to all our camps and right on their escape path—the Lightning Canyon!" Seiki recalled the border map and asked, "What do you think?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

"Me too!"

Seiki became serious again. "Then I'll leave contacting the other camps to you seniors."

"No problem, we'll inform them right away." As Kosuke Maruboshi said this, he sighed, "Sigh, I hope our ambush doesn't get discovered by the Cloud ninja."

A faint smirk crossed Seiki's lips. "Don't worry—I've got that covered."

(Author's note: Details about reconnaissance and sensing abilities are explained in my supplementary notes. Feel free to read the official version if you have any questions.)

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