The night sky was replaced by the light of dawn, and a new day finally arrived.
In front of the outpost guarded by Natsuki and the others, the scene was a mess.
Flames had engulfed everything, only to be quickly extinguished by the rain, leaving behind scorched black marks on the ground.
"Although this mission was dangerous, it was surprisingly easy."
Maruboshi Kosuke looked at the corpses of the Sunagakure ninjas in the distance and sighed emotionally.
First, a Sunagakure Jonin, then two Sunagakure Jonin and six Tokubetsu Jonin.
If it were a frontal battle, even though he and Natsuki had Jonin-level strength, they would be outnumbered.
Especially since Nawaki and Nonou's strength hadn't reached the Jonin level yet.
But Maruboshi Kosuke completely didn't expect Natsuki's archery skills to be so strong.
Relying on long-range strikes, they actually repelled the Sunagakure enemies without taking a scratch.
"It's just a pity I didn't get a chance to fight."
Nawaki said with some regret.
His only contribution in this mission was setting up explosive tag traps with Maruboshi Kosuke.
"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
Natsuki casually put away his bow.
"We have already repelled two Sunagakure attacks."
Nawaki's heart stirred. "Will there be even more people in Sunagakure's next attack?"
"Even if there are more, it won't be that many more."
Maruboshi Kosuke chuckled. "Like I said before, Konoha will hold them back elsewhere."
"If there really are too many, we'll abandon the outpost immediately."
Natsuki said in a deep voice.
"Abandon it?"
Nawaki was stunned.
Maruboshi Kosuke was also somewhat surprised.
After all, in this era, for a ninja, the mission came first, and personal safety came second.
Hatake Sakumo's mission failure was because he saved his teammates, but his teammates ended up blaming him instead.
This might also be one of the reasons that led to his suicide.
"Although this outpost is important, it's not enough to affect the outcome of this war."
Natsuki stated his reason. "If something happens to us, the impact might be even greater."
"A very good analysis."
Maruboshi Kosuke praised. "As a ninja, one indeed cannot just blindly follow orders."
He wasn't the kind of ninja who would complete a mission at any cost.
After all, he had caused the deaths of his teammates due to a mission error in his early years.
Since then, in his heart, teammates were more important than missions.
If Natsuki were to evaluate it, whether the mission or teammates were more important was a topic not worth discussing.
Because some missions could be abandoned, and some couldn't.
Just like Might Duy paying the price of his life to save Might Guy.
But guarding this outpost was far from reaching the point where it couldn't be abandoned.
Nawaki fell into deep thought.
After becoming a ninja, most of the things he experienced were beyond his expectations.
The Ninja Academy didn't teach these things, and he was gradually forming his own ninja way.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Sunagakure's main camp was extremely heavy.
"I underestimated my junior, Tsunade. In just two days, we've suffered heavy losses."
Chiyo rubbed her temples.
"Lady Chiyo."
A ninja with short brown hair spoke up. "They merely had the advantage of sneak attacks. We will defeat them soon."
"Rasa is right!"
Many Sunagakure Jonin agreed.
"Lady Chiyo, Lady Pakura requests an audience."
Right at that moment, the voice of an ANBU ninja came from the entrance of the main tent.
"She's back so soon?"
Chiyo was slightly taken aback, then smiled. "It seems she brought good news."
As the commander, she naturally knew Pakura had taken two ninja squads out on a mission.
Rasa couldn't help but frown.
Why did she get to earn merit again?
Pakura walked in.
Looking at her, Chiyo immediately noticed something was wrong.
Her expression didn't look like she had successfully completed her mission.
"Lady Chiyo."
Pakura took a deep breath. "I apologize. I failed the mission."
Many Sunagakure Jonin instantly showed expressions of astonishment.
Pakura was the cream of the crop among Sunagakure's younger generation, especially since she possessed the Kekkei Genkai Scorch Release.
In terms of strength, she was already stronger than most Jonin.
Moreover, before this, she had perfectly completed all her missions.
How could she fail a mission?
Besides his surprise, Rasa felt somewhat relieved.
At least she didn't earn any merit.
"What happened?"
Chiyo asked, confused.
One had to know that the weakest members of the two squads Pakura led were Tokubetsu Jonin.
With such a lineup, let alone attacking one outpost, attacking five outposts would be more than enough.
"We encountered a very special Jonin."
Pakura said in a deep voice. "His ninjutsu range reaches up to three kilometers, and his accuracy is very high."
"That's impossible!"
Rasa snorted coldly. "You've already failed the mission. Do you still need to make up excuses?"
"Whether it's true or false, you'll know if you go there yourself."
Pakura glanced at Rasa.
"Lady Chiyo, let me lead a team to capture this outpost!"
Provoked by Pakura, Rasa immediately said.
Of course, this was mainly due to his youthful vigor and confidence.
"Explain clearly."
Chiyo looked at Pakura, then waved her hand at Rasa, signaling him not to act impulsively for now.
Pakura immediately recounted the entire process of the mission in detail.
After she finished, Rasa also calmed down.
Because he found that Pakura didn't make any mistakes during the mission.
If it were him, he wouldn't have been able to do any better than her.
But she still suffered a crushing defeat, losing six Tokubetsu Jonin, with only her and the Earth Release Jonin escaping.
"This sounds very unreasonable."
Chiyo frowned deeply.
A ninja not only possesses an attack method with a range of three kilometers? But he can also clearly see targets within three kilometers?
One had to know that the vast majority of sensory ninjutsu had a hard time exceeding a range of three kilometers.
The most exaggerated part was that an attack from such a long distance actually had such great power?
But Pakura definitely wouldn't lie, nor did she have any reason to.
Furthermore, besides her, an Earth Release Jonin returned with her. Asking him would verify her claim.
"We will temporarily abandon this outpost."
After pondering for a long time, Chiyo said. "Investigate this Jonin first. His attack method is very disadvantageous to us."
Ultra-long-range strikes with such immense power could play a huge role in a war environment.
For example, he could hide in a safe place and shoot arrows at them from the shadows.
As for this outpost, with Konoha continuously advancing, it was no longer particularly important.
Even if they took it, they would quickly lose it again.
The main reason was—what price would they have to pay to take this outpost?
They had already sacrificed six Tokubetsu Jonin and three Chunin.
How many more would they have to sacrifice to capture this outpost?
And would this person foolishly wait to die?
As soon as he saw the situation was bad, he could completely just run away.
Three days quickly passed.
"These past two days have been excessively quiet."
Nawaki shook his head.
"Quiet is a good thing."
Natsuki said casually.
These past two days, he had been practicing Konoha Whirlwind, Konoha Great Whirlwind, and Konoha Strong Whirlwind.
After barely mastering them, a line of text appeared before his eyes.
[Congratulations, Host. You have unlocked Shuzo Template Ability 3: Shigan.]
It had to be said, the Shuzo template abilities were unlocking very quickly. In the blink of an eye, three had already been unlocked.
He had also mastered three of the Marine Rokushiki techniques.
In terms of pure taijutsu, his strength had skyrocketed.
Next, he could try to unlock the Shuzo template's Armament Haki.
Once he unlocked Armament Haki, he could go back and unlock Tekkai.
He had no choice. Tekkai required standing still and taking a beating.
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to withstand it.
"It shows that Sunagakure is very rational."
Maruboshi Kosuke smiled. "They didn't recklessly organize a third attack because of two failures."
"It's most likely because Konoha's battle situation has been good recently."
Natsuki guessed.
In the Second Shinobi World War of the original work, the war between Sunagakure and Konoha ultimately ended in Konoha's victory.
"But you have definitely been targeted by Sunagakure."
Maruboshi Kosuke reminded him.
"That's nothing."
Natsuki said carelessly. "I'll be targeted sooner or later."
Setting aside his strength, just his identity as Orochimaru's student would make Sunagakure pay special attention to him.
If Chiyo knew that her son and daughter-in-law were also captured by him, she probably would have sent people to capture or assassinate him long ago.
"Maybe you'll get a title soon."
Nawaki said with some envy.
Natsuki was slightly taken aback.
In war, ninjas with particularly outstanding performances were basically given titles.
For example, Konoha's White Fang Hatake Sakumo, the Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato, and Shisui of the Body Flicker Uchiha Shisui.
Not to mention the Konoha Sannin: Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.
What title could he possibly get?
Natsuki didn't think about it anymore because the ninja squad relieving them had arrived and was approaching them while making the agreed-upon hand signals.
Once they were close, Maruboshi Kosuke verified the countersign with them.
"We leave the rest to you. We'll be going ahead."
After Natsuki finished speaking, he left the outpost with Maruboshi Kosuke and the others.
After returning to Konoha's main camp, they were immediately called to the main tent.
"You guys caused quite a commotion these past three days."
Tsunade said with a face full of smiles.
"Sister, you know all about it?"
Nawaki asked curiously.
"I know the gist of it, but you'll have to tell me the specific details."
Tsunade nodded.
"I'll tell it!"
Nawaki volunteered and recounted what had happened over the past three days.
"No wonder Sunagakure used spies."
Tsunade looked at Natsuki after hearing the story.
"Spies?"
Natsuki asked with a smile. "Do I have that much face?"
"Just yesterday, we caught a spy. He infiltrated Konoha five years ago and had been quietly acting as a Chunin."
Tsunade explained. "The reason he was exposed was because he was trying to find a Jonin skilled in archery."
There was no Jonin in all of Konoha who excelled in archery.
But Tsunade happened to know a ninja with Jonin-level strength who used a bow, and that was Natsuki.
"To think your Projection Magecraft combined with Broken Phantasm, when changed to a long-range attack, could possess such terrifying power."
Tsunade smiled. "If I were Chiyo, I'd have to investigate it thoroughly too."
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