**Chapter 29: Chaos and Departure**
It was just that it had not been carried out earlier due to various reasons.
Among those friends who were close to Masashi, most of them remained within the clan. Only one person, like Masashi, was put on the list of Uchiha to fight this time, but that individual was arranged by Chihiro to stay in the rear base.
Before coming to the Land of Hot Springs, Masashi briefly explained a few things.
"Don't be too aggressive."
Not only should other ninjas avoid noticing this, but even companions and elders in their own clan should be kept in the dark.
At this stage, the 'Masashi faction' still needed to lurk for a while!
It was definitely not the right time for a large action.
This included Uchiha Kiyoshi, who stood in front of him.
Even if he was the right candidate in Masashi's mind, Masashi planned to take it step by step. After all, this was the front line, not the village or the clan's residence. There would be plenty of opportunities. Verbal guidance was one aspect, but actions were more important.
Of course, death was another matter.
"Really..."
A flicker of strange color passed through Uchiha Kiyoshi's pupils, and he murmured in a low voice.
"Kiyoshi? Masashi, what are you still doing? Chihiro-san has called us over, and the combat mission will be assigned soon!"
The other Uchiha clan members who had gathered not far away saw Masashi and Kiyoshi lingering at the door of the tent and waved, shouting loudly.
"yes!"
The two responded subconsciously at the same time.
Then they trotted toward the gathering area.
What had happened with the Cloud Ninja attack the previous night? Almost everyone understood.
During this period, due to casualties, the Konoha ninjas in the Hot Spring Mountain area had been more defensive than offensive. With the reinforcements' arrival, after discussing last night, Suzaku and Ida planned to launch a large-scale counterattack.
It was essential to deliver a heavy blow to the Cloud Ninja in order to curb the aggressive momentum of the Hidden Cloud Village.
The most important point was that, according to intelligence gathered by scouts such as Aburame and Hyuga, the Hidden Cloud Village base across from them had only replenished logistical supplies once recently and had not significantly increased its personnel.
In other words, this was Konoha's best chance to counterattack.
Therefore, Suzaku, Ida, and the leaders of the Uchiha, Aburame, Ise, Gekko, and other major families that came to assist discussed an opportunity for a counterattack overnight. They used part of their forces to besiege and suppress the large Cloud Ninja force in the front stronghold, and then divided several small teams to eliminate the Cloud Ninja reconnaissance points in the nearest area and the two discovered logistical supply points.
The goal of this operation was to kill as many Cloud Ninja operatives as possible and destroy their nearest supply points. This way, not only could they quickly gain an absolute advantage in combat power, but they could also disrupt the Cloud Ninja's supply line, forcing them to invest more resources and manpower to supply their frontline troops.
It was a very simple and straightforward battle plan.
The key was to grasp the timing.
Konoha had the advantage of absolute quality and quantity at this moment.
As a wise man from the Nara clan, Suzaku could not miss this opportunity.
In the Uchiha clan, more than ten clan members, including Chihiro, were assigned by Suzaku to lead the frontal siege and attack on the Hidden Cloud Village's main base.
Among the remaining members, only a few stayed behind.
Masashi was assigned to the detachment targeting the elimination of the reconnaissance base in the eastern area.
Previous intelligence suggested that the number of Cloud Ninjas in these reconnaissance bases was roughly the same as Konoha's, with one or two teams stationed. However, they had good communication and could support each other at any time. Under normal circumstances, it was difficult to encircle and eliminate them, which was why Suzaku launched a multi-faceted attack at once.
In order to prevent the Cloud Ninja from gaining more room for adjustment and turnaround, it was almost at the moment the order came down that the Konoha ninjas in the entire Hot Spring Mountain stronghold took action, including the wounded who had resolved last night to retreat to the rear or even return to the village for recuperation. They also seized this opportunity to retreat since more than 90% of the Cloud Ninjas were preoccupied with the assault.
The members of the Konoha combat troops emerged one after another.
Masashi was also receiving his corresponding task.
Following his team, they left the stronghold and headed east. Although, in the Uchiha clan, Masashi was already at the level of a jounin with a three-tomoe Sharingan, in the broader context of Konoha, he was still considered only a chunin and thus could not serve as the captain of the action team. The leader was the jounin of the Akimichi clan—Akimichi Motoyasu.
It was said that he was the nephew of the most experienced elder, Akimichi Tofu, in the Akimichi clan.
Currently 32 years old, he had cultivated the family secret technique to a relatively high level.
He possessed the true strength of a jounin.
Knowing the original plot, Masashi was aware that the Akimichi clan had the "Three Color Pills," which could temporarily enhance the physical potential of the user, allowing them to exhibit extreme strength in critical moments, commonly known as the Akimichi clan's "Butterfly Transformation Mode."
A jounin of the Akimichi clan who could enter the butterfly transformation mode could be said to be at a quasi-shadow level, capable of suppressing ordinary elite jounin. This was also one of the key factors for the Akimichi clan's standing in Konohagakure. Their clan secret technique also involved the "Yang Release Chakra Attribute."
To put it bluntly, at this moment, the "boss" commanding Masashi was really at his peak. With the butterfly transformation mode, he was qualified to contend with a "shadow" for a few moves.
Like the other team members, they were all elites of considerable strength.
At the very least, they were all ordinary Chunin.
Additionally, there was an elite Chunin from the Hyuga clan branch as the "eyes" of their team to gather intelligence on the surroundings.
The moment he surveyed the team configuration, Masashi realized that the difficulty of his "first mission" would be significant.
The so-called Cloud Ninja reconnaissance base would not be so easy to eliminate.
Otherwise, there would be no need for such a configuration.
According to Masashi's information, four teams had been sent to eliminate the base, with personnel configurations being similar.
'It seems there will be a fierce battle!'
While running, Masashi glanced at the broad back of Akimichi Motoyasu in front of him, silently contemplating.
"Stop!"
As they continued running, everyone hurriedly made their way in silence.
Before almost reaching the target location of the mission, suddenly—
Hyuga Tenki, who had already activated his Byakugan at the front position, seemed to have discovered something, stopping abruptly and speaking in a low voice.
This made Masashi and the others, including Akimichi Motoyasu, pause.
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(End of this chapter)