Chapter 62: Surprise Attack

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Surprise Attack

Late at night, deep within the valley.

Whoosh...

A cool breeze swept past, causing the two Kumogakure shinobi stationed at the sentry post to instinctively pull their robes tighter around themselves.

One of them suddenly asked, "Huh? Did you hear something?"

The other listened carefully for a moment before shaking his head. "Just insects chirping and birds calling, isn’t it? What’s wrong? Did you hear something else?"

Just then, a dark figure suddenly darted into the sentry post, lunging toward the two Kumogakure shinobi with lightning speed.

"Who’s there!?"

The two Kumogakure shinobi barely had time to cry out before they collapsed beneath the flash of a cold blade.

The figure stepped forward and checked their breathing and heartbeats. Only after confirming that both were dead did he slowly straighten up.

Standing within the sentry post, he turned his gaze toward the secret supply depot located at the deepest end of the valley.

Moonlight spilled down upon the dark figure, revealing his features.

It was none other than Hyuga Kagami, who had taken responsibility for drawing away Kumogakure’s outer perimeter guards.

After infiltrating the valley, Kagami discovered that Kumogakure had established an extremely tight defensive perimeter. Even a considerable distance from the secret supply depot, there were already sentries and guard posts every few steps.

Such stringent security led Kagami to suspect that Kumogakure must have stockpiled an enormous quantity of supplies here.

However, after carefully surveying the valley with his Tenseigan for a while, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

There were already around one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty guards stationed openly throughout the valley. If the hidden guards were included as well, there had to be at least two hundred Kumogakure shinobi in the entire valley.

This was far beyond Kagami’s expectations.

According to Team 11’s estimates, there should have been somewhere between fifty and a hundred enemies inside the valley, and their entire battle plan had been devised on that assumption.

Suddenly, a burst of commotion erupted from the other end of the valley.

Mixed within the noise were shouts and the sounds of fierce fighting, particularly jarring in the otherwise silent valley!

Kagami turned toward the sound and muttered, "That should be Guy’s direction. He’s been discovered already?"

Team 11’s battle plan was very simple.

First, Kagami, Shisui, and Guy would infiltrate the valley separately and assassinate the Kumogakure shinobi guarding the outer perimeter. If any of them were discovered, they were to immediately retreat and lure away a portion of the guards, thereby thinning out the Kumogakure forces stationed around the secret supply depot.

Then, their captain Kakashi would launch the actual surprise attack, charging straight toward the secret supply depot located at the deepest end of the valley.

Finally, after destroying the secret supply depot, the four members of Team 11 would rendezvous at the designated extraction point and return to Konoha together.

However, the entire battle plan had been based on the assumption that there were fewer than a hundred enemies in the valley.

Judging by the situation now, that assumption was clearly wrong.

An ominous feeling welled up in Kagami’s heart.

Before long, the commotion gradually faded into the distance.

Guy, having been exposed, had evidently followed the plan and drawn away a portion of the Kumogakure shinobi.

But Guy’s discovery had also put every Kumogakure shinobi in the valley on high alert. Squad after squad scattered throughout the area, beginning a meticulous search of the entire valley, inch by inch.

Seeing that the Kumogakure shinobi were about to reach his position, Kagami hesitated no longer. He immediately hurled more than a dozen kunai wrapped with explosive tags in every direction.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A violent chain of explosions immediately thundered throughout the valley.

Using the cover of darkness and the clouds of dust and smoke kicked up by the explosions, Kagami wielded the Kusanagimaru and swept toward the panicked Kumogakure shinobi like a ghost.

"Who’s there!?"

"Where is he...?"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Flashes of steel flickered through the smoke as Kagami, concealed by the swirling dust, mercilessly cut down the Kumogakure shinobi around him. In the blink of an eye, three or four had already fallen beneath his blade.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

One of the Kumogakure chunin leading the search party finally reacted, immediately unleashing a Wind Style technique that blew away the smoke and dust created by the explosive tags.

Without the smoke to conceal him, Kagami’s figure was exposed before the surrounding Kumogakure shinobi.

The chunin squad leader hurriedly shouted, "It’s a Konoha ANBU! Everyone, be careful!"

The Kumogakure search party, composed of chunin and genin, sent a signal toward their main force deeper within the valley while simultaneously surrounding Kagami from all sides.

According to the plan, Kagami should have retreated by now.

But the number of Kumogakure guards in the valley far exceeded their estimates, forcing him to stay behind and draw even more of the enemy toward himself.

Otherwise, there was simply no way Kakashi could break through layer after layer of defenses alone and reach the secret supply depot.

In another part of the valley, Shisui also launched an attack of his own accord.

Activating the Body Flicker Technique, he wiped out an entire four-man Kumogakure squad in a single instant. Immediately afterward, he feigned an assault toward the secret supply depot deeper within the valley.

Along the way, Shisui avoided getting bogged down in prolonged fights with the enemy, leaving large numbers of Kumogakure shinobi trailing far behind him. But just as he was about to reach the secret supply depot, a group of Kumogakure jonin intercepted him.

With Kagami and Shisui launching their fierce assaults, the entire valley descended into chaos.

Explosions, furious shouts, agonized screams, and cries for help rang out one after another.

Hidden in the shadows, Kakashi silently observed everything.

It was not yet time for him to make his move.

Before long, Kagami and Shisui were both forced to withdraw from the valley.

However, the Kumogakure shinobi clearly had no intention of letting either of them escape. Almost simultaneously, they dispatched two separate pursuit forces to hunt them down.

"Guy drew away eight... Kagami drew away sixteen... Shisui drew away twelve..."

Still concealed in the darkness, Kakashi silently calculated the number of enemies his teammates had drawn away while carefully observing how Kumogakure’s defenses had shifted after the attacks.

Counting both the enemies his teammates had killed and those they had lured away, more than fifty Kumogakure shinobi—nearly fourteen squads—had been removed from the valley’s defenses.

No matter how he looked at it, that was already an excellent result.

As for the fact that the enemy’s numbers far exceeded their expectations, Kakashi felt no fear whatsoever.

On the contrary, it only strengthened his determination to raid the secret supply depot.

After all, such extraordinarily tight security could only mean that the supplies stored here were extremely important.

"It’s time!"

Letting out a soft breath, Kakashi brought his hands together and rapidly formed a sequence of hand seals.

Rat, Horse, Monkey, Horse, Hare!

Chii-chii-chii...

In an instant, a sharp, piercing sound like the cries of countless birds rang out!

Accompanied by the shriek of the Chidori, Kakashi, wreathed in crackling lightning, charged fearlessly toward the deepest part of the valley...

While retreating, Kagami heard the familiar sound of the Chidori and knew that Kakashi had begun the final assault.

He glanced back at the Kumogakure shinobi pursuing him.

There were sixteen of them in total, divided into four squads. Among them were at least two jonin. The exact number of chunin was unclear, but there could not be fewer than four.

"I can’t lead these guys to the extraction point. I’ll have to eliminate them!"

Having made up his mind, Kagami came to a stop in an open clearing and slowly drew the Kusanagimaru from his waist.

The pursuing Kumogakure shinobi immediately spread out around him, surrounding him from all sides.

One of the Kumogakure jonin leading the pursuit grinned.

"You’re just a brat, but you’ve certainly got guts. To think you actually dared infiltrate this far!"