Naruto: Hyuga Warlord

"Bang!"

Hyuga Soushu smashed the head of the Sunagakure prisoner once again. The man had been subjected to a forced mental scan through Yamanaka Jonin's secret technique and was now little more than an idiot.

Following this brief but intense skirmish, all thirty-nine members of Suna's interception squad were either dead or captured. Yet the cost had been steep—seven Konoha Reinforcement Unit soldiers had been killed in action, with three seriously injured and five lightly wounded. For a unit consisting of only thirty-two personnel, this represented a significant and painful reduction in strength.

Analysis based on intelligence extracted from the minds of prisoners interrogated by Yamanaka Jonin suggested that the situation for the remaining members of the Advancing Unit was equally dire.

"If we calculate based on this intelligence," the Yamanaka Jonin reported to Yechame Hamako and Hyuga Soushu after completing the forced interrogation, "the Advancing Unit should have fewer than one hundred members remaining. Sunagakure had committed as many as seven hundred troops to the battlefield."

"If Sunagakure could spare forces specifically for ambushes and snipers, then they must be holding an absolute advantage," Yechame Hamako said, fully understanding this principle.

Sunagakure clearly intended to deliver a decisive annihilation battle to mark the beginning of war between their Hidden Village and another. Their strategy and deployment were indeed formidable.

Furthermore, the covert infiltration units they'd deployed behind Konoha's Advancing Unit had already infiltrated the Land of Rivers before officially launching attacks, precisely to eliminate any potential retreating ninja from the forward unit and intercept reinforcements possibly arriving from the Land of Fire.

Judging just from this interception encounter alone, despite Konoha having experts like Yechame Hamako and Hyuga Soushu present, and despite capturing the battlefield initiative, the Konoha Reinforcement Unit still suffered nearly fifty percent casualties, particularly problematic being eight injured ninjas.

According to diagnoses by accompanying Medical Ninjas, even those among the eight with minor injuries could no longer sustain high-intensity mobile warfare, because all had been poisoned by Suna's potent toxins. Due to the limitations of the medical ninja, the effects of the poison had only been temporarily suppressed using antidote pills. If they continued fighting, the poisons would inevitably erupt suddenly, potentially transforming minor injuries into serious conditions or even fatal poisoning.

This reinforcement mission likely wouldn't have ended well without Shirakawa Namiko assigning Hyuga Soushu for support and personally taking charge of long-range reconnaissance and assault operations. Otherwise, this Konoha Reinforcement Unit, composed of elite members drawn from her First Squad, would probably have faced certain doom.

"The vultures are still circling above like harbingers of death," Hyuga Soushu said, pointing to three small black dots in the clear sky. "And Suna's interception unit probably maintains communication with their main force. So we can assume they've already reported back."

"I know," Yechame Hamako replied with a helpless tone.

And this was exactly his biggest headache.

There was no doubt that Suna's main force was already aware of this small but elite group of theirs.

"Do we have any rough idea where Sunagakure's primary battlefield and our Advancing Unit might be located?" Yechame Hamako asked.

"Perhaps due to rank limitations," the Yamanaka Jonin responded, "no such intelligence could be retrieved from the brain of the interrogated Sunagakure ninja."

Yamanaka Jonin shook his head decisively. "Currently, what we can confirm is that other covert infiltration units from Sunagakure have already been recalled via signal to participate in the encirclement operation."

"Sigh."

Yechame Hamako appeared quite helpless.

This was also why he couldn't make a decisive move.

Theoretically speaking, considering the quality of Suna ninja forces deployed, even if Konoha's Advancing Unit still retained some fighting capability, they'd be helpless if completely surrounded—then the Reinforcement Unit wouldn't be able to do anything either.

Even if the Advancing Unit still had some strength left and elite members of the Reinforcement Unit managed to break through Suna's blockade line, it wouldn't matter much if they couldn't keep up during the retreat and ended up hunted down like a snake chasing its own tail.

After all, unless every single one of them were jonins, there was no way for twenty or thirty people to directly confront dozens upon dozens of Suna ninja with numerical superiority.

"We already know our Advancing Unit has suffered more than fifty percent casualties. Even if Suna's offensive proceeds smoothly, they must have lost at least fifty personnel as well. Considering the covert Suna ninja we've eliminated along the way, their total losses should be at least over a hundred. In other words, roughly around five or six hundred remain."

Based on the simplest mathematical principles, Soushu Hyuga made his judgment: "Unfortunately, whether we keep pushing forward or not, our positions are already fully exposed."

Yechame Hamako once again raised his gaze toward the sky. Three vultures circling overhead were descending lower and lower, now and then letting out piercing cries—clearly signaling the current situation to the pursuing Sand forces.

The most annoying part was that Konoha's Reinforcement Unit had absolutely no countermeasures against these flying summoned raptors used by Suna.

"Has there been any movement from the Suna side yet?"

Yechame Hamako asked.

[Byakugan]!

Soushu Hyuga widened his eyes again, activating the visual technique to look into the distance. After observing for a while, he shook his head: "Still haven't found any traces."

This was precisely what troubled Yechame Hamako the most.

He didn't know what kind of enemy his Reinforcement Unit might face if he charged in blindly.

Soushu Hyuga no longer bothered with the self-tormenting Yechame Hamako. Silently activating his shopping interface through willpower, he began searching for suitable equipment.

Calculating based on the Coins he'd earned, in this battle alone he had killed three Sunagakure Jonins, five Chunins, and three Genins, bringing him a total of 1047 Coins altogether. Adding his previously owned 164 Coins brought the total to exactly 1211 Coins!

Without hesitation, he immediately spent 750 Coins to synthesize [Radiance] from [Dust Glitter], further enhancing his combat power!

After a moment of thought, Soushu also spent 400 Coins purchasing a [Ruby Crystal], which would boost his HP by 150.

This component could later be used to synthesize [Combustion Gemstone], an essential component of the [Tri Force]. Thus filling up his equipment slots satisfactorily.

"Turns out war really *is* the best way to strike it rich,"

Soushu Hyuga felt extremely satisfied with his current state.

Recalling the past, he had been stuck on the battlefield of the Land of Rain for two and a half years due to lacking sufficient power, barely managing to grind out level five and a [Vampire's Scepter]. However, since transferring to the western front line, he could finally fill up his equipment slots completely. Although aside from footwear, everything else was just scraps or consumables, this clearly showed that the Ninja World's economic structure was entirely determined by one's core strength!

This snowballing advantage that grew stronger with every kill further boosted Hyuga Soushu's confidence.

"Keep pushing forward!"

After hesitating for about a minute, Yechame Hamako finally made his decision.

If he gave up on this reinforcement mission just on a hunch, even if his subordinates could understand, Shirakawa Namiko and even the village itself would definitely get him into serious trouble.

Yechame Hamako still wanted to advance in rank; therefore, his mission record couldn't afford any stains—at the very least, no blemishes for abandoning allies in need.

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