"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 156: Separation of Man and Dog
Although directly attacking the invading enemy seemed reckless, the Katō Clan leader had developed a path dependency on their past "successes"... This clan leader felt they should respond proactively.
There was no helping it—he trusted the clan's hiden technique too much.
Actually, after discovering the Fireflies' movements, there had been internal discussions within the Katō Clan about what response to take, but the results of those discussions weren't particularly wise.
"Clan Leader, if we're truly facing the Fireflies organization, then surrendering to them might not be an unwise decision."
There were indeed people within the Katō Clan with "surrender" tendencies... Well, these should be considered more rational, more discerning pragmatists.
The Katō Clan leader was named Katō Kyō. He wasn't so blind as to think their own strength could defeat the Fireflies organization... The current Fireflies were like a behemoth to them.
But he also didn't approve of direct surrender.
"The logic is indeed sound, however... we've moved too slowly. If we join the Fireflies at this stage, we can only become the lowest tier of this organization."
"Our allegiance comes too late—even under the threat of their military might... You can imagine what kind of treatment we'd receive."
This concern wasn't groundless. In fact, different ninja clans joining the Fireflies organization at different times did indeed receive different treatment—this was unavoidable, since absolute fairness inevitably breeds absolute unfairness.
Original shareholders and ordinary shareholders receive different treatment—no one can complain about that.
"The Clan Leader's meaning is..."
"At the very least, we should demonstrate our strength first, then discuss surrender separately."
Katō Kyō's mind was sound. Fighting for better surrender terms—this idea theoretically had strong operational potential.
"Then we must avoid large-scale conflict with the Fireflies at all costs, otherwise both sides will inevitably fall into a fight to the death."
"Of course. We should utilize our advantages for infiltration and 'decapitation' operations... just like we've always done."
"Such a plan does seem feasible, but Clan Leader... the distance between the enemy camp and our village is delicate. If we want to use the Spirit Transformation Technique to attack them, then due to distance limitations, our casting position must leave the village."
Leaving the village meant the casters couldn't receive the best protection and risked being attacked... The Spirit Transformation Technique required the caster's soul to leave their body, after which the unconscious body would fall into a coma with absolutely no resistance capability.
Some ninja in later generations could leave their bodies in the rear when using the Spirit Transformation Technique, with their spirits capable of crossing multiple battlefields, but current Katō ninja seemed unable to reach that level.
Clearly, this hiden technique also had a relatively complete developmental evolution path.
For Katō ninja currently capable of using the Spirit Transformation Technique, "body-soul separation" of a few kilometers might already be beyond their control.
"No problem. We can hide ourselves. Taking some risks is necessary to accomplish anything... I've decided to launch operations at dawn."
Hiding their main bodies while arranging some guards nearby should basically ensure the safety of their main bodies during casting. However...
They'd be lucky to stay hidden—the Katō Clan had no idea how many Byakugan were in the opposing camp.
How many? Over a dozen!
They were still suffering from intelligence disadvantages. They had no idea about the Senju alliance, much less the relationship between the Fireflies and the Senju alliance.
So just as these Katō ninja stealthily left their village thinking they were concealed, several pairs of Byakugan had already locked onto them.
Katō Kyō and two other ninja capable of using the Spirit Transformation Technique hid themselves, extracted their spirits, and charged toward the Fireflies camp. Simultaneously, a Fireflies special operations team also began moving according to plan.
This special team included two Hyūga ninja, five Yamanaka ninja, and three Nara ninja, with Nara Hideyuki leading the team.
They quickly located the position. The Nara ninja immediately controlled several Katō Clan guards, then three Yamanaka ninja each found their targets and simultaneously used the Mind Body Switch Technique.
The three Katō ninja, including clan leader Katō Kyō, couldn't mount any resistance and were directly taken by the Yamanaka ninja.
Their own ninja carried the bodies of the three Yamanaka ninja, while the three Yamanaka ninja controlled the three Katō ninja's bodies. The Nara ninja released control over the enemy guards, then they appeared and disappeared like smoke.
This scene left the Katō guard ninja dumbfounded—they even momentarily forgot to pursue.
"Cl—Clan Leader, why did he leave with the enemy? Did the Clan Leader defect?"
"Stop talking nonsense. The enemy controlled the Clan Leader and the others' bodies. Can't you see that?"
"Then... should we pursue them?"
"Pursue, pursue, pursue!"
However, there was an obvious strength gap between the two sides' ninja. They couldn't catch up to the Fireflies' people.
The Yamanaka ninja, carrying three bodies, sprinted toward the front-line camp.
Thus, the three spirits of Katō Kyō who hadn't yet found targets saw the scene of their "own selves" charging toward them.
One could only say this "base trade" tactic was both absurd and effective.
Katō Kyō's body completely ignored any danger, charging directly in front of Katō Kyō's spirit, and straightforwardly asked:
"Lord Clan Leader, do you have anything else to say?"
This was possible? A grown man having his corpse looted?
Katō Kyō was dumbstruck. The incomprehensible emotional impact made his spirit somewhat unstable. In an instant, countless thoughts surfaced in his heart.
Finally, he remembered something his teacher had said when he first learned the Spirit Transformation Technique... The Spirit Transformation Technique brings extremely high rewards, but don't forget its risks because of this—it will always be a double-edged sword.
The opponent had only controlled his body without taking other excessive actions—this was already quite respectful. Katō Kyō wasn't so ungrateful.
In a flash, he had recovered his rationality.
"I... we surrender."
For some reason, he felt a bit like he'd been too clever for his own good and brought humiliation upon himself.
Yūshin hadn't actually hidden as he'd said. In fact, he was just staying within a defensive barrier set up by the Uzumaki Clan, when he heard news of the Katō Clan's surrender.
"It went quite smoothly? Indeed, supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
The surrounding Uzumaki ninja looked at each other. They thought Lord Yūshin was indeed cunning—to have such a method of victory.
"Return their bodies to them and let them go back to Katō village. Let's see how they react afterward."
Yūshin didn't completely trust the enemy's surrender sincerity, but boldly released their clan leader... If you can win once, you can win a second time. The enemy was the type with one signature move, and after breaking this move, let's see what they could do.
The answer was nothing. The fact that his body had been looted severely damaged Katō Kyō's confidence.
In the past, only his spirit had been going in and out of other people's bodies. Now, after his body had been entered and exited by other consciousnesses, he finally understood what kind of pain this was.
There were no benefits left to fight for—what else could they do? Submit.
Once the thought of surrendering arose, he suddenly felt the world was vast.
The attack began at dawn, failure was confirmed five minutes later. Katō Kyō got his body back, returned to the village, and after recounting his experience, everyone had no objections to surrender.
In the afternoon, all Katō clan members left their village and came to the front of the Fireflies' front-line camp... Now Yūshin could believe their surrender sincerity.
Leaving three unfortunate ones at the front line and bringing the remaining Katō clan members back to Fireflies Village, this matter was concluded.
Wasn't the battle objective easily achieved? The enemy didn't die, their own side certainly didn't die, so the enemy became part of their own side.
Good thing, truly a great thing.
At this time, the other two combat battalions had just finished setting up camp, but Yūshin had already issued orders to march again... Damn, was there really such a thing as bloodless warfare?
Although they initially had resistance, after recognizing reality, the Katō Clan surrendered quite readily.
Setting aside the strength gap between both sides, Yūshin's reputation also played a huge role... Everyone knew he was someone who treated people equally, handled matters fairly, and kept his word.
Surrendering to him, as long as you didn't engage in any underhanded schemes afterward, you absolutely didn't need to worry about post-war reckoning.
This was a virtuous cycle. Yūshin's good reputation made other small and medium ninja clans trust him and willingly submit to him. The more small and medium ninja clans that pledged allegiance to him and were treated equally, the better his reputation became.
Although the Fireflies' "combat speed" was fast, Yūshin still adopted a steady, step-by-step strategy. After moving the camp northward for some distance, he didn't rush to deal with the next target, but quietly waited for the ninja "escorting" the Katō Clan to return.
After the team reassembled, the combat meeting regarding the next target began.
Since the next target and plan were very simple and clear, with no opportunity for others to shine, Yūshin took the stage himself, preparing to finish the matter in a sentence or two.
"The next combat target is the Inuzuka Clan. As the name suggests, the Inuzuka Clan raises ninja dogs and fights alongside them."
"Compared to the previous Katō Clan, the Inuzuka Clan has a larger scale and stronger average strength, but in a certain sense, they're easier to deal with than the Katō Clan."
Katō ninja without the Spirit Transformation Technique were vastly different from those who had mastered it, and their "awakening" rate was too low.
If you had to say what ordinary Katō ninja were good at, perhaps they had some talent for genjutsu?
Katō Kyō, attending the meeting, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. We seem to have received praise—so should I feel happy?
"Because the Inuzuka Clan has almost only direct combat power with no fancy tricks, and this direct combat power is far weaker than ours... Therefore, defeating them isn't difficult."
"But I still want to subdue them if possible."
"Considering that dog owners might pick up dog-like temperaments, I've devised a tactic for dealing with the Inuzuka Clan... which is to steal their dogs. Take away their ninja dogs, and they'll be declawed and powerless."
Uh...
You raise dogs so he steals dogs? Isn't this battle plan a bit too underhanded? Are you here to fight a war... Katō Kyō wondered what he would think if he were an Inuzuka ninja facing such tactics.
Well, dogs were equivalent to ninja tools. Having them stolen wasn't as humiliating as having your body stolen.
"St—steal dogs? Are we really going to do this, Lord Yūshin?" Someone felt this plan was somewhat frivolous and couldn't help asking.
"Really. Don't be deceived by the surface appearance of war, and don't forget our combat purpose for this northern expedition," Yūshin said. He indeed wasn't joking.
"Repeat it—what is our strategic objective?"
That ninja immediately stood up and said:
"Survey the territory of the Land of Fire, respond to neutral and hostile forces with steady, conservative purposefulness, seeking to maintain internal and external peace on both sides of the border for as long as possible after this battle."
"So, do you understand now?"
"I understand, Lord Yūshin."
"Good, sit down."
Yūshin's two battle plans seemed very dramatic, but actually highlighted an extremely tragic reality—facing the Fireflies organization, which already possessed considerable strength, small and medium ninja clans had absolutely no power to resist.
The Fireflies held an absolute advantageous position, occupying absolute initiative on the battlefield. Therefore, they could fight however they wanted, whenever they wanted.
This combat operation's purpose wasn't to kill, so the objectives had to be clear, the resulting situation had to be stable, and war strategies could be as flexible as possible.
Yūshin definitely wasn't here to play house.
...
Fireflies ninja advanced to the battlefield, threatening the Inuzuka Clan's village.
After setting up formation here, the Inuzuka ninja had no choice but to leave their village to meet the enemy.
Yūshin stood at the front of the formation with only thirty ninja behind him.
He signaled to a ninja beside him that they could begin, so this ninja shouted loudly toward the opposite side:
"Inuzuka ninja, want to talk first? There's still time to talk!"
"Fight first, then talk... Your Lord Yūshin is famous—I'd like to see how he'll treat us."
Yūshin frowned. Was this fearless defiance? Although his reputation was good, the opponent treating the enemy's mercy toward them as a weapon against that enemy—wasn't that somewhat wishful thinking?
"Indeed, someone has caught the dog temperament. This is a disease that needs severe shock therapy to cure."
Yūshin nodded to the ninja beside him. The ninja took a deep breath and shouted with maximum volume:
"Then let's fight... Come over here!"
Instantly, dog barks rose and fell. Inuzuka ninja, each with their ninja dogs, charged forward... Some brought more than one dog, others rode on their dogs' backs like dog knights.
Yūshin took the lead, transforming into a bolt of lightning and instantly charging out. He didn't perform any special attacks—coming before each dog, he just gave it a slap.
After the powerful lightning shocked the dogs until they foamed at the mouth and their limbs went limp, Yūshin's subordinates, led by Nara ninja, immediately transformed into a dog-catching squad, quickly tying up the ninja dogs one by one.
Under the man-dog separation strategy, the Inuzuka Clan's combat power was instantly halved.
After being electrocuted, the dogs suffered great psychological trauma, and their ninja masters' psychological trauma was no small matter either...
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