Chapter 71: A Thorn in the Throat

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: A Thorn in the Throat

After a brief rest, the four members of Team 11 had recovered some of their strength. The question of what they should do next now became the most pressing matter before them.

They spread the map out on the ground and sat around it to discuss their next move.

Pointing at the map, Shisui was the first to speak. "Kumogakure has infiltrated the Land of Hot Water pretty extensively. They have plenty of informants here, so we can’t stay in this area any longer. It’d be best if we set out immediately and retreat along this route."

The route Shisui was pointing to followed the easternmost coastline of the Land of Hot Water all the way back into the Land of Fire.

Judging from the map, this route lay within the overlapping spheres of influence of Konoha, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure, making it seem extremely unsafe.

But in reality, that was precisely what made this chaotic route the safest option. None of the three villages possessed absolute control over the region.

Over time, the area had effectively become a lawless no-man’s-land. Many retired shinobi, as well as wandering shinobi who had nowhere else to go, chose to hide themselves here.

Guy immediately nodded. "Yeah, this route looks good."

Given Team 11’s current strength, as long as their luck wasn’t terrible enough for them to run straight into the main force of either Kumogakure or Kirigakure, crossing this lawless region shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

As the captain of Team 11, however, Kakashi remained silent, his eyes fixed on the map.

Seeing that Kakashi seemed to have something else in mind, Hyuga Kagami said, "If there’s something you want to say, just say it. We’ve all been through life-and-death situations together. There’s nothing we can’t discuss."

Although Kakashi had kept the details of the previous secret mission from the others and led Team 11 into a dangerous situation, no one blamed him for it.

After all, the secret mission had been personally issued by the Third Hokage. Kakashi had no room to question or refuse it. Moreover, in the end, he had voluntarily taken on the most dangerous part of the mission himself and had nearly died because of it.

Kakashi pointed to Team 11’s current position on the map and slowly said, "Normally, now that we’ve completed the mission, we should withdraw to Konoha as quickly as possible. But think about where we are right now. We’re positioned directly between Kumogakure’s forward assault force and Kumogakure itself. This is an extremely critical location!"

Hyuga Kagami picked up where Kakashi left off. "Right. This position means danger for us, but our presence is also like a thorn lodged in Kumogakure’s throat. As long as they haven’t eliminated us, they won’t dare launch an all-out offensive against the Land of Fire without worrying about what we might do behind them. In terms of delaying their advance alone, the four of us in Team 11 are practically equivalent to an entire shinobi force."

Team 11 had only just destroyed one of Kumogakure’s secret supply depots, along with more than three hundred Kumo shinobi between the troops stationed there and the reinforcements that had rushed over.

So no matter how confident Kumogakure was, they couldn’t possibly ignore Team 11’s existence.

And once Kumogakure discovered that Team 11 was still active within the Land of Hot Water, their offensive in the Land of Fire would inevitably weaken.

It was even possible that their entire offensive would be forced to grind to a halt.

Shisui thought for a moment before saying, "That’s true. The four of us might all be injured and our combat strength has dropped considerably, but Kumogakure doesn’t know that. As long as we hide ourselves well and occasionally show our faces just to scare them a little, they won’t be able to commit all of their forces to the main battlefield."

At present, Kakashi was in terrible physical condition. Even moving around was difficult for him, and he had essentially lost all combat capability.

Guy had only recovered enough to move around. With multiple fractures throughout his body, he likewise had little fighting strength left.

As for Shisui, the repeated use of his Mangekyo Sharingan had severely overtaxed his body. On top of that, he was the youngest member of Team 11, so both his physical recovery and chakra recovery were inferior to the others. As a result, he had only thirty to forty percent of his combat strength remaining.

The only one who could still truly fight was probably Hyuga Kagami, whose chakra had recovered to around seventy or eighty percent.

Of course, this wasn’t because Kagami’s constitution was vastly superior to everyone else’s. Rather, during the previous battle in the valley, the enormous amount of chakra from the Giant Tenseigan had healed all of his injuries.

Naturally, that meant he had retained the greatest amount of combat strength among them.

The members of Team 11 quickly reached a consensus. They decided to remain in the Land of Hot Water for the time being and harass the rear of Kumogakure’s forces invading the Land of Fire.

The reason Kagami agreed with the plan was because, based on his memories from his previous life, he knew that Kumogakure had never intended to escalate this conflict indefinitely in the first place.

Once the fighting reached a stalemate, there was a very real possibility that Kumogakure would propose peace negotiations.

And if Team 11’s actions were what ultimately forced Kumogakure and Konoha back to the negotiating table, it would be an enormous achievement—and a tremendous addition to the records of all four members of Team 11.

The Fourth Hokage was the perfect example.

There was simply no faster way to build prestige and reputation than by earning great merit in war.

Land of Fire — Kumogakure Assault Force Encampment

Through continuous communication with the village behind the front lines, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer B, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki Yugito, the Storm Style shinobi Aida, and the other commanders at the front finally learned why the Fourth Raikage had issued the order to "halt the offensive."

Staring at the message sent from the village, even Killer B’s usually carefree face had taken on a rare gloomy expression.

The message from the Raikage stated that four secret supply depots near the border had been attacked by Konoha ANBU almost simultaneously. One of those depots had been completely destroyed, and more than three hundred Kumogakure shinobi stationed around it had all been killed.

Standing nearby with her arms crossed, Yugito snorted coldly. "Hmph. Konoha only knows how to pull these little tricks behind our backs."

Aida, the deputy commander, said worriedly, "It isn’t particularly surprising that Konoha managed to discover the locations of our secret supply depots. With shipments constantly moving in and out, it’s nearly impossible to conceal them completely. But for them to wipe out more than three hundred of our shinobi... that’s another matter entirely."

Yugito might have been proud, but even she understood that annihilating a force of more than three hundred shinobi was no easy feat.

She curled her lips. "Which of Konoha’s experts still haven’t shown themselves?"

A Kumogakure Jonin serving as a secretary in the command center stepped forward and answered, "According to all the intelligence we’ve gathered, among Konoha’s renowned experts, only a handful have yet to appear—the head of the Uchiha Clan, the head of the Hyuga Clan, the Third Hokage, and a few others!"

Aida analyzed the situation. "The Hyuga main family has always rarely gone to the battlefield personally. Even during the Third Shinobi World War, they only appeared on the front lines a few times when the situation was at its most critical. So we can rule out the Hyuga Clan Head."

He paused before continuing.

"The Uchiha, on the other hand, have been unusually quiet this time. There’s been almost no sign of them anywhere on the battlefield. So there’s a very good chance that what happened in our rear was their doing. The one leading the operation might even have been the head of the Uchiha Clan himself!"

Yugito said, "If it wasn’t the Uchiha Clan Head, then the one leading them was probably Konoha’s Third Hokage!"