"I want to help as well!"
Apparently, Tenki had just now decided that he too, wanted to provide help, just as the Land of Iron trio were doing.
He certainly had the chakra level to be of use and his Weather Manipulation Jutsu was powerful enough for direct use in battle but . . .
"Tenki-dono . . . This battle will involve several Jonin, some of them Elite, from the Five Great Villages." Inori started.
"While you are not weak, your combat experience is . . . not quite adequate." She spoke with so many euphemisms one could be forgiven to think she was cajoling a child.
In the end, with further convincing from Rinha Maya and, more important Ema who was the very reason he wanted to participate in the battle, Tenki gave up.
With the unit heading into battle finalized, they broke off from the main caravan, just a bit so they could discuss the rest of the battle plan in private.
Shiki, Mei, Beni and Fugaku would be the main attackers as they were the strongest of the group when it came to direct combat.
Mei's strength in particular was surging more and more.
Awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan meant more than just a cool new dojutsu, spiritual energy would surge, becoming colder, stronger and more abundant, physical energy would increase in response as well, even if to a lesser degree.
All this resulted in greater physical strength and stamina but, far more importantly, a massive boost to chakra quality and capacity.
Mei had been around chunin level before that fateful mission but, since awakening her Mangekyo then, she was firmly in the ranks of jonin in terms of raw stats when she fought Dodai.
The tough battle had pushed her even further and the bespectacled girl was now entering the realms of Elite Jonin.
In terms of stats, she had completely surpassed Shiki if he did not use his amps.
If she were to recklessly abuse her Magekyo abilities, the bespectacled girl could demonstrate Kage level prowess before her still developing body and chakra gave out under the strain of her dojutsu.
Shiki and Beni had their secrets and could fight at Elite Jonin level if they went all out and Fugaku was stably around that level of strength even if his shinobi rank was not there yet.
Inori, while an Elite Jonin, possessed abilities more suited to disruption and support. She could handle high level direct combat if need be but with four powerful fighters to hold the front she could be much more effective by sticking to the backline.
While Inori focused on support and control, Shinka, Makoto, Tomoe and Ema would take the role of secondary attackers.
Picking off weaker enemy combatants, holding off enemies to allow the main attackers to go in for the kill, harassing the enemy main attackers using hit and run tactics, etc.
They all shared the basics of their abilities and limits in order to plan out possible combinations and decide how to handle the battle.
Plans would have to be adapted based on the enemy they actually encountered but figuring out which members meshed well and how they could mount attack and defense combinations was best done ahead of time.
*
Soon enough, the caravan had entered deep into the Land of Bears.
Tsunade and Kanata's shadow clones remained inactive inside one of the carts, this was done to preserve their chakra so they lasted as long as possible in order to keep up the ruse for the Kumo observers.
Just like the plan, they were still being steadily tracked.
Everything was going so seamlessly it was downright worrying.
Fortunately, small trouble soon arrived. Easy enough to solve but enough to assuage the worries of the more superstitious.
This trouble took the form of a toll in the area around Hoshigakure.
"Hold!" A Hoshigakure shinobi, easily identified by the star mark on his forehead protector, shouted before stepping forwards to speak with the caravan.
His features were hidden by a gas mask and he wore the typical gear of Hoshigakure, a light grey flak jacket and dark blue shinobi pants.
"Identify yourselves." The man spoke again.
Tenma, as the caravan's leader, stepped forward and identified himself.
"I am called Daikin Tenma, head of the Daikin Merchant Group. We would like to request entry into Hoshigakure." He declared his intentions.
Apparently, the name Daikin Merchant Group was not unknown to the shinobi, making his attitude more cordial.
"Do you have a shinobi escort?" The Hoshi shinobi inquired in the interest of safety.
"If they can't sense us despite the fact we're not even masking or suppressing our chakra, they can't be too impressive." Mei whispered to Shiki.
"Hoshigakure is a really minor village, their shinobi tend not to be most capable with a few exceptions. They are prideful though so make sure not to make those kinds of comments within earshot." The boy replied.
The bespectacled girl nodded and passed the message along to make sure no one inadvertently offended the hosting village's shinobi.
Meanwhile, the conversation between Tenma and the Hoshi guard continued.
"We have a squad of Konoha shinobi as our escort." The caravan leader informed.
The Hoshi shinobi nodded.
"You must wait a while. I need to inform the village before letting you in." He responded.
The cordial attitude remained since a shinobi escort was reasonable for a merchant caravan and Konoha was technically allied with Hoshi.
After a good half hour, the permission to enter the village finally came, only the last step remained, crossing the dangerous ravine surrounding Hoshigakure, which was filled to the brim with toxic gases.
A shinobi quickly crossing the suspended bridge could make it through just fine but for the slow caravan the people could borrow gas masks but the animals were another story.
In fact when trade came to Hoshigakure, it was usually settled outside the village borders.
"We can provide a select few of you with gas masks to make the journey but I'm afraid the rest will simply have to remain behind." A newly arrived Hoshigakure shinobi, leading a squad from the village, declared in a slightly arrogant tone.
'Looks like the holier than thou attitude from the anime has a long history.' Shiki thought to himself.
In the anime, the Hoshi shinobi claimed they would surpass the Five Great Villages and even believed their greatest genius, a kunoichi named Natsuhi, could match any Kage . . .
Delusional was putting it mildly.
A single top Elite Jonin from Konoha would likely wreck the whole village by themselves, for get about a Kage.
Leaving such musings aside, the boy turned towards Uchiha Fugaku.
"Fugaku-san, can you use the Earth Flow Wall?" He inquired.
The Uchiha immediately realized the boy's plan.
"Want me to create a makeshift bridge?" He asked.
"Is it possible?" The boy questioned.
"I can do it but what about the gas?" Fugaku questioned back.
"Leave that to me." Shiki responded and with a nod, the future head of the Uchiha clan got to work.
He walked up to the edge of the ravine and, before the Hoshi shinobi could even question, Fugaku weaved a sequence of hand seals and slammed both hands on the ground.
'Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall'
A B rank jutsu also known as Earth-Style Wall, with its power, the Uchiha made a thick rock bridge jut out from the cliff side, rapidly extending to the other side, a feat requiring a significant amount of chakra considering the width of the ravine and how solid the bridge needed to be.
"Alright folks! Move along the bridge, I'll keep the gas away."
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -