CH_27

A few cats and over thirty mice—could they hold their own against two lions?

That was exactly the situation Tōji and the others were in. Tōji himself was essentially one of the mice.

The chūnin who had originally belonged to various squads had now voluntarily gathered together. Six chūnin had split themselves into two teams, each taking on one Iwa jōnin.

The rest of the genin were still holding position, ready—ready to charge in and fight to the death at any moment.

Not everyone was that brave. At least someone like Tōji—who wore a mask of shared indignation on the surface while internally calculating the best moment to escape—was probably not the only one.

When it came down to it and the chūnin really stepped up to fight, Hitsuchi Jakkō went into battle without hesitation… Tōji felt a little embarrassed. He'd been wary of Jakkō all along.

Though the two Iwa-nin claimed they were avenging their fallen comrades, Tōji suspected their real target was that large shipment of supplies.

Tōji had heard a saying many times before—war is logistics!

The final move that forced Iwa to surrender was cutting off their supply lines!

This was the same line of thinking—any commander would consider it.

Admittedly, without this shipment, the main Konoha forces up ahead could really fall into a difficult position… or even be forced to retreat their lines.

Tōji had figured out Iwa's plan—but that didn't help the situation at hand!

『Iwa really does have someone who understands military strategy! If Konoha doesn't bring in Nara Shikaku, they're not going to outplay Iwa's tactics.』

Iwa had maximized its own advantages—when overall strength was roughly equal, the side with fewer but more elite troops had far more flexibility to stir things up.

Not far away, the fight was already underway!

The two Iwa jōnin were using the traditional style of nin-taijutsu—their hands coated with 【Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique】—and they charged straight into the Konoha chūnin, relying on their speed advantage.

This was completely different from earlier, when a group of chūnin had worked together to restrict an enemy jōnin with jutsu. These Konoha chūnin simply didn't have the right combination of techniques for that.

One missed block from a Konoha chūnin—"Ah!"—and a good-looking guy immediately became the example, sent flying by a fist the size of a cooking pot! A single scream, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

The first to go down was Jakkō's temporary squadmate.

Tōji didn't flinch. 『The battlefield is no place for loyalty!』

He'd thought about it before—if Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had run into Zabuza and Haku in the Land of Waves and Kakashi just happened to be absent, Indra and Ashura would've had to keep reincarnating! The Sage of Six Paths only intervened because he happened to need someone to seal Kaguya!

"Should we support Jakkō?" Natchi asked Tōji, his tone suggesting a proposal.

『Bro… you're really putting me on the spot here! If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, can't we just let someone else go first?』

Tōji felt like he'd been set up.

But Natchi had only muttered that to Tōji quietly—he himself didn't charge in either.

The guy was dumb, but not completely dumb.

Still, Tōji couldn't bring himself to say "let's not help" out loud.

"Got any ideas? Rushing in blindly might just make things worse!" Tōji replied to Natchi's trap of a question.

Tōji did have one idea—use Exploding Tags and blow up the enemy along with the teammates! Kakuzu's method would actually work well in this situation… but there was no way he could suggest that out loud.

"How would I have any ideas! But if Jakkō and the others can't hold them off, we're not getting away either!" Natchi wasn't wrong.

He just didn't know that Tōji was confident he could escape on his own… though with so many people around, that wasn't convenient.

"Then… how about we call on everyone to rush the Iwa-nin together?" Tōji proposed tentatively.

With enough numbers and chaos, there was a chance they could catch the Iwa-nin off guard… and more importantly, with everyone charging in together, it'd be easier for Tōji to slip away in the confusion.