Kitsuchi felt utterly drained, both physically and mentally, after chasing Uchiha Akira for a full two hours. The exhaustion weighed heavily on him. Now, as they made their way back, the thought of the return journey was overwhelming. They had run for two hours while chasing Akira, but now, who had the energy to run all the way back?
If they didn't run, it would take at least four or five hours to walk back. By the time they returned to the base, it would likely be dawn.
But running back like they had chased Akira? After several sleepless nights and the exhausting chase, the idea seemed impossible.
As a result, the Iwa-nin, who had been driven by frustration during the pursuit, now trudged along with their heads down, looking like a group of defeated warriors.
After about half an hour, they had only covered a few miles. Finally, one of the Jonin spoke up, "Lord Kitsuchi, if we keep this up, it'll be dawn before we return. Everyone's exhausted. How about we set up camp for the night?"
As soon as he spoke, the other Iwa-nin looked up, their eyes filled with hope and anticipation as they turned to Kitsuchi.
Kitsuchi glanced around at the five hundred Iwa-nin surrounding him. He was well aware of their condition since he himself was just as tired.
"Alright, let's rest for the night," Kitsuchi agreed after a moment's thought. "But make sure to assign a few teams to keep watch."
With Kitsuchi's approval, the Iwa-nin visibly relaxed. They quickly set to work using Earth Release techniques to construct simple shelters, raising walls from the earth with their Doton jutsu. Skipping the need for beds or blankets, they crawled into these makeshift earth huts and immediately fell asleep. Of course, they organized shifts for standing guard, with each team taking an hour.
In just a few minutes, most of the Iwa-nin were sound asleep. The quiet of the night was soon filled with the deep, rhythmic snores of the exhausted shinobi.
Those on guard duty couldn't help but feel envious as they listened to the thunderous snores. Everyone was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. If they had all stayed up together, they might have managed to keep each other awake, but hearing others already fast asleep made it even harder to stay alert.
Hidden in the shadows, Uchiha Akira observed the Iwa-nin with his Sharingan. The three tomoe in his eyes glowed ominously in the darkness, his cold killing intent evident.
Though he had been chased for two hours and had used considerable chakra—especially after opening several of the Eight Gates—Akira was still in much better shape than the Iwa-nin. Unlike them, he had been sleeping well in recent days and was far from exhausted.
He silently swallowed a Military Ration Pill, feeling his energy quickly return. After waiting for about half an hour, he saw that the Iwa-nin had fallen into a deep slumber—even some of the guards were dozing off. Akira carefully took note of the sentries' positions.
With a swift series of hand seals, Akira created several shadow clones, which silently moved toward the sleeping Iwa-nin. Being true shadows, these clones made no sound as they approached their targets.
One clone crept up behind a dozing guard, swiftly covering his mouth and slashing his throat with a kunai. Akira held him down, waiting for several minutes until the man's body went limp and the blood stopped flowing before releasing his grip. His real body then merged into the shadows and moved on to the next target.
Akira's mastery of silent killing was on full display. He moved like a ghost through the camp. In the dark night, only the whispering wind and the rumbling snores of the Iwa-nin could be heard.
The Iwa-nin had chased Akira for two hours and eventually lost him, never imagining he would circle back for a counterattack.
In just a short time, Akira had silently eliminated all ten guards. Even those who weren't asleep couldn't make a sound before they were killed.
After finishing off the guards, Akira quietly slipped into the crude earthen shelters to continue his deadly work.
In the darkness, Akira became the Grim Reaper, taking the lives of the Iwa-nin one by one.
Miles away, Jiraiya and his team were rushing toward Akira's location. Having seen Akira being chased by five hundred Iwa-nin, they had chosen not to reveal themselves.
But after Akira led the Iwa-nin far away, the Konoha shinobi had quickly decided to follow him. Although they hadn't planned it out beforehand, Shikaku Nara believed that Akira would launch a counterattack against the Iwa-nin.
After all, what had Akira said about the essence of guerrilla warfare?
"Harass when they settle, retreat when they advance. Attack when they're exhausted, pursue when they retreat."
Shikaku analyzed the situation and concluded that the Iwa-nin couldn't keep up with Akira's speed. Since they couldn't catch him, they would eventually give up.
Once they gave up, they would be exhausted, which was the perfect opportunity for Akira to strike back. Shikaku was confident that Akira would launch his counterattack as soon as the Iwa-nin stopped pursuing him.
Since Akira would be facing five hundred Iwa-nin alone, Jiraiya and the others had followed Akira's trail.
Although the five hundred Iwa-nin were numerous, they were all physically and mentally exhausted. Perhaps the situation could still turn in their favor.
Would Jiraiya and his team catch up? Akira believed there was an eighty percent chance they would. Shikaku was too smart not to realize Akira would strike back.
So, Akira continued his assassinations without hesitation. If he were discovered early, he could simply run away. But if he managed to kill enough Iwa-nin before Jiraiya's team arrived, they might be able to take down all the remaining enemies.
Every enemy he killed now would reduce the pressure when the real fight began.
And so, in the blink of an eye, an hour had passed. In that time, including the ten guards, Akira had assassinated over a hundred Iwa-nin.
On average, Akira had killed two Iwa-nin every minute.
At this point, time seemed to lose all meaning. Akira felt like a machine—cut, kill, and move on. He methodically worked his way from the east side of the camp to the west, never once blinking.
"Mmm…"
Kitsuchi, who had been asleep for an hour and a half, suddenly woke up feeling an urgent need to relieve himself.
After sleeping for over an hour, Kitsuchi felt slightly more rested, but he was still exhausted. It was like pulling an all-nighter and then only sleeping for an hour—it left you feeling even more drained.
"How long have I been asleep? Did anyone switch shifts?" Kitsuchi muttered to himself as he got up and walked out of his earthen shelter. As soon as he stepped outside, his nose twitched as the scent of blood hit him, making his heart race.
Scanning the area, Kitsuchi saw several of the guards lying in pools of blood, their bodies cold and lifeless.
The sight sent a shiver down his spine, and any lingering sleepiness vanished instantly.
Looking around the dark camp, Kitsuchi couldn't shake the growing sense of dread.
How long had he been asleep? How many of his men had been killed?
Quickly forming hand seals, Kitsuchi slammed his hand onto the ground, shouting, "Earth Release: Earthquake Slam!"
The ground around him shook violently as his jutsu took effect, sending tremors through the camp. There was no better way to wake everyone up.
The earth trembled as if a real earthquake had struck, and the once-sleeping Iwa-nin were jolted awake, one by one.
Uchiha Akira, who had just entered another makeshift shelter, bloody kunai in hand, felt the tremor disrupt his balance.
The Iwa-nin inside the shelter, who had just woken up, found themselves staring into the red, three-tomoe Sharingan of Uchiha Akira, their hearts gripped with fear.
Instinctively, the Iwa-nin raised his hand to strike Akira.
"Earth Release: Split Earth Turnaround Palm!"
Their attacks clashed, and Akira's kunai pierced through the Iwa-nin's arm.
The Iwa-nin let out a scream, rolling away from Akira and crashing through the earthen wall of his shelter.
"Uchiha Akira! He's here!" the Iwa-nin shouted, clutching his bleeding arm.
In the stillness of the night, the shout echoed clearly through the camp, drawing everyone's attention.
"Sigh, I've only managed to kill just over a hundred," Akira thought to himself, realizing his position had been compromised.
Taking on three hundred Iwa-nin alone?
Forget it, Akira wasn't on Uchiha Madara's level.
With retreat on his mind, Akira didn't wait for the Iwa-nin to surround him. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to escape into the distance.
"Chase him! We have to kill him tonight!" Kitsuchi roared as he saw Akira's swift retreat, his fury ignited by the loss of so many of his men.
"Found him!"
From another direction, Hiashi Hyuga, using his Byakugan, detected Akira's presence and shouted, "Akira is being chased by those Iwa-nin! It looks like they've lost over a hundred men!"
Jiraiya, who had been waiting for this moment, grinned. "Looks like we got here just in time. Let's move in and finish this."
P/S: What do you think of this quality? It only includes English terms, so there's no need to deal with Chinese terminology. However, it took me a lot of time to make adjustments and finalize everything. What do you prefer: higher quality or greater quantity?