The Kumogakure Ninja Squad, acting on Senju Touka's orders, adopted diversionary tactics and showed no mercy to the enemies they could eliminate.
However, these Kumogakure Ninja were elites, while only a small portion of the Konoha Ninja Forces possessed formidable combat power; others had specialties in Ninjutsu, so they could only use Genjutsu or other Secret Techniques to delay them, leaving very few enemies they could eliminate head-on.
This anomaly was quickly detected by the Kumogakure Ninja. Although they felt something was wrong, solving it was not a matter of a day, so they immediately transmitted the intelligence to their unit leader and awaited orders.
The leader of this Kumogakure Ninja Squad was named Hahn. He had followed the First Raikage for many years and was a trusted companion of his. Although this route was not the main one, it had a certain purpose, so he was the one leading it.
Hahn was experienced and did not blindly rush forward when leading the troops. During the raid, he did not forget the importance of intelligence and ordered his squads to monitor the situation around them at all times and report any abnormalities immediately.
After receiving the intelligence from his squad, Hahn immediately realized that the opponents were people from Konohagakure. This was to be expected; after all, it was the first Ninja Village to be established, so it was unlikely they would not have reacted by now. It was just that the opponents' combat methods were giving him a headache.
At the same time, Hahn noticed an anomaly on the other side. While other squads were sending in intelligence, only one squad in a certain direction had not sent any. He did not think it was because that squad had not encountered an attack; Konohagakure should not have ignored that side.
Therefore, he ordered the squads near that area to pay attention to the situation. Not long after, a warning signal flare was fired from there, clearly indicating that they had been attacked by Konoha Ninja.
"It seems that the ones there are not simple guys," Hahn thought to himself.
The enemies encountered by the other squads could only be handled by Genjutsu or Secret Techniques, but the squad there could not even send out a signal at the beginning. After he issued the warning, they could only throw out a signal flare without even being able to report specific intelligence, which showed that they were capable.
Hahn then issued an order for the other squads to try their best to break through the influence of the Genjutsu and wipe out the enemies—those Konoha Ninja could only use Genjutsu to delay them and could not even stop the transmission of intelligence, so they posed no threat. It was the Konoha Ninja on this side who could eliminate squads one by one who were truly dangerous.
Therefore, regarding the Konoha Ninja on this side, Hahn decided to lead his team personally to meet the Konoha Ninja there. Facing strong enemies was the desire of the men of the Land of Lightning; he did not want to fight with those weaklings who could only play delay tactics.
Hahn waved to his subordinates and hurried towards the direction of the Konoha Ninja, which was the direction of Senju Touka's squad.
At the moment he saw his signal flare being thrown out, the dying Kumogakure Ninja breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes unfocused, and he gradually stopped breathing.
Senju Touka looked at the signal flare that represented a danger warning and said, "The silent battle ends here. Now we have to fight the Kumogakure Ninja Squad head-on."
"Lady Momoka, a Kumogakure Ninja Squad is rushing here. Looking at the Chakra on their bodies, they should be very formidable opponents," Hyūga Kei said, staring with his Byakugan as he looked at the Kumogakure Ninja entering within a one-kilometer range.
"They came really fast," Senju Touka said. This was to be expected; although Ninja units were scattered and infiltrating, they would not be too far away, and once they realized where the problem was, rapid support was inevitable.
Senju Touka immediately took her people away from there to change positions, avoiding being captured by the opponent, while thinking about the next countermeasures in her heart.
"Lady Momoka, what should we do next?" someone asked.
"What to do? Of course, we have a fight with them. If Kei is right, they might be the main figures in this unit. If we can take them down, that would be for the best," Senju Touka smiled lightly.
Senju Touka was not a stunning beauty; rather, her appearance seemed quite cold, reminding one of a thorny flower. She also had a ruthless streak in her heart. If it were other squads, she might have taken them to adopt delay tactics, but those here were all good fighters from the Third Unit, so there was no reason to run away without even fighting.
"Kei, are they chasing us now?" Senju Touka asked Hyūga Kei.
"The opponent does not seem to have a proper Sensing Ninja and is still groping for our location, but it won't take long for them to find us," Hyūga Kei said while observing the opponent's position.
"It seems we can think about how to deal with these guys first," Senju Touka said.
"I have a suggestion. Since the opponent does not know our position yet, we can ambush them," Fūmori Masaki said at this moment.
This was a traditional combat method for Ninja, and the others had no objections. Senju Touka said, "Masaki, since you said so, you must have some ideas. How do you think we should ambush the opponent?"
"I heard that the people of the Land of Lightning excel at swordsmanship. Although it is an ambush, we should avoid close contact with them at the beginning. So I want Lady Momoka's Genjutsu to confuse the opponent first, and then we use Ninjutsu for long-range strikes. Taking advantage of their panic from the Ninjutsu, we will then engage in close combat," Fūmori Masaki said.
Senju Touka nodded and said, "A good method. Then, I will leave it to you and Danzo. Wind Release is the only thing that can threaten them. The others should prepare to support."
"No, Lady Momoka, I think the others can also use Doton together. Even if it is a different Doton, it can exert great power," Fūmori Masaki said.
Danzo, who was on the side, heard this and immediately said, "Are you trying to say Compound Ninjutsu?"
"Exactly," Fūmori Masaki nodded.
Senju Touka remembered. Compound Ninjutsu had not been unused in the Sengoku era, but people who cultivated multiple attributes were rare, and there were few who could use multiple attributes for combination at the same time. As far as she knew, the one who had really used this method was that guy Sarutobi Sasuke.
And Danzo had also seen the usage of Compound Ninjutsu from Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi inherited his father's aptitude, mastered multiple Chakra attributes, and effectively utilized the Shadow Clone technique learned from his teacher, so his use of Compound Ninjutsu was already beginning to take shape.
Fūmori Masaki had, of course, seen Hiruzen Sarutobi's Compound Ninjutsu, and this time, he accidentally discovered that the Konoha Ninja Forces were very suitable for using Compound Ninjutsu. The styles of other Ninja Villages were very obvious; Iwagakure excelled in Earth Release, and Kumogakure excelled in Lightning Release. Even if they could practice a second attribute, their entire Village basically excelled in the same attribute, while Konohagakure did not have a clear specialty attribute.
Although this situation made it impossible for Konohagakure to directly pull out a unit with the same attribute like other Ninja Villages, Konohagakure could pull out a unit with all five attributes under the same formation, which other Ninja Villages might not be able to do. This was simply a good condition prepared for Compound Ninjutsu.
"Good, let's use this method," Senju Touka thought for a moment and said, "Regarding Compound Ninjutsu, Masaki, do you have any combination methods?"
"First, I need to know the Chakra attributes that the people here excel at," Fūmori Masaki said. Soon, he learned that the others excelled in Earth Release, Fire Release, and Water Release.
"Then, let's use my and Danzo's Wind Release as a lead to promote the power of Fire Release, and then add the impact of Earth Release," Fūmori Masaki thought for a moment and said.
"What about me?" Satomi said hurriedly. The Doton she excelled at was Water Release.
"In this environment, using Water Release consumes too much Chakra, and the opponent excels at Lightning Release. If you use Water Release, it might be a bit disadvantageous; lightning will spread through water, causing us some trouble," Fūmori Masaki said.
Satomi frowned and gave a somewhat depressed "Hmm." Although she heard that what Fūmori Masaki said made sense, it felt like she was useless.
"Satomi, since that's the case, you come and help me set up the Genjutsu," Senju Touka said when she saw Satomi's expression.
"Okay!" Satomi's spirits lifted.
After formulating the battle plan, everyone immediately began to act. Under Hyūga Kei's Byakugan, the movements of Hahn and others were completely exposed, so they had plenty of time to prepare.
The Kumogakure Ninja Squad led by Hahn was struggling with the whereabouts of the opponent. They were clearly chasing the opponent closely, but the opponent seemed to know the direction they were walking, and they could not catch up no matter what.
Hahn was a little angry and ordered the squad to speed up, telling them not to be toyed with by the opponent. The people in the squad were the same, responding to Hahn's voice and moving forward quickly.
When passing through a forest, Hahn saw people appearing in front. Identifying these people as the target, he was overjoyed, and a powerful Chakra surged through his whole body, condensing on the surface of his body like armor. This was the Lightning Release Armor developed by the Raikage, which could not only stimulate muscles and enhance strength but also possessed armor-like defensive power.
Hahn kicked hard and rushed to a person who was lagging behind in an instant, smashing his fist into the other's back. Under this massive force, the other person immediately folded their body and fell down; even if they didn't die, they were definitely crippled.
However, at this moment, Hahn felt a trace of anomaly; the scene in front of him seemed to be shaking, and the feeling of the attack was also a bit wrong.
Hahn looked back and saw some subtle changes in the surroundings. He had not left his squad, but the others' bodies were leaning in other directions. At this time, their expressions were also a bit confused, colliding with Hahn's line of sight.
—This was Genjutsu!
Compared with Hahn's sudden realization, Senju Touka, who was hiding on the side, felt a little puzzled. How did these guys break free from her Genjutsu so quickly? And when she saw the lightning coat condensed on the other party's group, her eyes tightened slightly, and she seemed to understand the reason.
The principle of Genjutsu is to disturb the Chakra in the opponent's body, thereby affecting their senses. On the other hand, as long as one can re-disturb their own Chakra, they can make the affected senses return to normal.
Genjutsu is cast using the five senses as a medium, but what really disturbs the opponent's Chakra is their own Chakra. In other words, if one's own Chakra cannot disturb the Chakra in the opponent's body, it is naturally impossible to make the opponent fall into Genjutsu. Although she did not know what Ninjutsu these Kumogakure Ninja were using, it looked like they were using powerful Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate cells, and the flow of Chakra in their bodies would obviously be abnormally active, so it was not easy to influence.
Fortunately, Senju Touka's own Genjutsu level was very strong. In the situation where she did not anticipate the Lightning Release Armor, she could still make the opponent have illusions. The time gained by this was not very good, but it was not bad either.
Fūmori Masaki and others knew that the plan had changed when they saw the opponent's expression, so they had to act immediately. Fūmori Masaki and Danzo used Wind Release: Pressure Damage without hesitation, and then the others in the squad used Fire Release and Earth Release. Under the powerful effect of Wind Release, the Fire Release expanded at an incredible speed, and then hit the rising Earth wall, shattering it into pieces, and a large number of fragments with flames smashed towards Hahn and others.
All of this happened too fast. Hahn and others noticed it and tried to dodge, but even with the Lightning Release Armor, it was not enough to avoid it completely. And these flaming rock bombs fell overwhelmingly, causing a violent explosion in this enemy area, and a large amount of flame spread in all directions—
And when the opponent was distracted by the Ninjutsu strike, Fūmori Masaki and others immediately attacked, trying to inflict heavy damage on the opponent before they could recover.
When Fūmori Masaki jumped out, he happened to see a person rushing out of the storm. He did not have time to choose an opponent and rushed over directly.
After getting close, Fūmori Masaki found that the opponent was a blonde, white-skinned woman. In the Land of Lightning, people were either brown-skinned or white-skinned, and this difference was very obvious. Fūmori Masaki would not pity her just because she was a woman, and the short blade in his hand swung out quickly.
This woman was obviously not a weakling. Even though she rushed out in a hurry, she also raised her blade to block the attack when she saw Fūmori Masaki's strike coming.
Very strong, Fūmori Masaki thought to himself. Among his fellow disciples, his attack speed was very fast. She could block it in this situation, which showed that she was extraordinary, but his attack was not over.
At the moment the blades collided, the blonde woman saw the surface of Fūmori Masaki's blade seemingly distort, and she was slightly stunned. Then she felt a burst of expanding wind pressure, which blew her away heavily.
Wind Release Chakra is inherently suitable for attachment to weapons. Fūmori Masaki's family Secret Technique was this kind of combat method. This family heirloom short blade was made of metal that could absorb Chakra. After absorbing Chakra, the nature of the Wind Release would be more obvious.
And after learning Sage Art, he went a step further in this technique. Mimicking the Uchiha flame fan's reflection, he covered the surface with compressed Wind Release Chakra. It could increase sharpness, and when fighting with others, he could also detonate the compressed Wind Release Chakra, thereby causing a counterattack effect similar to the flame fan.
Although it sounded simple, if his control had not been doubled in the Sage Art state, he would not have been able to do this easily. Even if he could do it, it would not be as undetectable as it was now. Looking at it now, the effect was very significant.
Fūmori Masaki did not stop, and immediately chased after her. When the woman was hit against a tree by the wild wind that exploded, he had already arrived at the woman's side, and the blade drew a white light, stabbing at her vital point.
The woman's eyes widened. She had no way out now. Even with the Lightning Release Armor, she was not someone with very powerful Chakra, and the armor could not block this level of Wind Release Ninja.
—To actually die so miserably.
She felt hatred in her heart, but she could only watch the tip of the blade approach. At this moment, a figure rushed over, shielding the woman with his body and taking the stab from Fūmori Masaki head-on.
Fūmori Masaki was stunned. Although his blade pierced the Lightning Release Armor on the person who came, it only left a small wound on his body surface, and the bead of blood that seeped out evaporated in the active Lightning Release Chakra.
The opponent took the stab while raising his arm to sweep back. He did not hit, and Fūmori Masaki retreated after seeing that the blow was unsuccessful.
Looking at this big man, Fūmori Masaki's eyes narrowed slightly. Although he had only seen him in the manga, the characteristics on his body still made him recognize the person in front of him. He did not know the person's real name, but this person's future name was Third Raikage A!