Chapter 58: The Operation Begins

The next day. Night. In the drizzle, a large group of Konoha ninja were rapidly advancing. Seimei raised his head and scanned his surroundings. There were densely packed figures everywhere, and he estimated there were at least a few hundred, if not a thousand people. Except for the ninja stationed at the main base and the front-line strongholds, Orochimaru had mobilized almost all the ninja he could. This showed the scale of this operation! It wasn't until noon today that Seimei received the mission notification and learned that the target of this mission was to attack an Iwa ninja stronghold. Orochimaru wouldn't expend so much effort just to attack an ordinary stronghold. In fact, this stronghold was Iwagakure's largest material transit center in the Land of Rain, responsible for providing various supplies to two-thirds of the battlefield. Once this stronghold fell, Iwagakure wouldn't be able to organize any decent attacks for the next one or two months. It was also at this time that Seimei vaguely understood why Orochimaru had asked them to launch an all-out attack before. Firstly, it was probably to create a situation of mutual losses, forcing Iwagakure to send reinforcements to the front lines, thus creating a void in their rear, paving the way for the current operation. This was an open strategy. Even if Iwagakure sensed something unusual, they had to send reinforcements to the front lines, otherwise, Orochimaru would definitely launch a second all-out attack. At that time, it was uncertain whether he would turn the feint into a real attack and push the front line towards Iwagakure. In that case, the situation would be even more unfavorable. Therefore, Iwagakure could only send reinforcements to the front lines to make up for the lack of combat power there. At this time, after some investigation, Orochimaru confirmed that the goal had been achieved. Then, he quietly withdrew some of his forces, temporarily creating a numerical advantage. This was the confidence behind his daring to launch this surprise attack. There was also the second objective of the all-out attack, which was the mission Seimei carried out - destroying the enemy's reserve supplies within the stronghold. This might be Orochimaru's foreshadowing for the supply shortage Iwagakure would face after this battle. In addition, there was also Sunagakure. To ensure they wouldn't take advantage of the situation, Seimei guessed that Orochimaru already had arrangements in place. 'Tsk tsk, it's really one scheme after another!' Sighing inwardly, Seimei quickened his pace along with the main force. According to the plan, once they reached the designated location, they would split into three teams. Two teams would be responsible for blocking the enemy's reinforcements, and the third team would be responsible for the frontal assault on the stronghold. What? You said the intelligence hadn't been leaked, so why block the enemy's reinforcements? Come on! With such a large-scale operation, as long as Iwagakure wasn't blind, they would definitely notice it. Even if they didn't discover it along the way, once the battle started, Iwagakure's command center would receive the news. There were countless ways for ninja to transmit information, let alone such an important stronghold. There must be emergency communication channels to headquarters. Therefore, it was almost certain that the enemy would send reinforcements. So, did all of Orochimaru's preparations go to waste? Of course not. Everything Orochimaru did was to create a time difference, preventing Iwagakure from making an effective response in the first place. And that was enough. Next, it was a contest of both sides' hard power. If the hard power wasn't sufficient, even the most cunning schemes wouldn't be of much use. It was just as the saying went, in the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy was futile. All Orochimaru could do was tilt the scales of victory slightly towards Konoha's side. ... Time flew by. More than ten hours passed. It was early morning the next day. The sky was dimly lit. Seimei and his group stopped in a dense forest. The route for this mission had been planned long ago, and there were no unexpected events along the way. Next, they would rest here for a day and continue their journey under the cover of night after nightfall. In this way, they would arrive at the designated location around tomorrow morning. After a short rest, they would launch a surprise attack before noon. This arrangement was a bit tight on time, but it was also unavoidable. If they delayed any longer, the risk of exposure would increase dramatically. To catch Iwa ninja off guard, they had to launch the attack as soon as possible. ... The next day. Morning. Seimei and the others successfully arrived at the designated location. After a short rest, the team was divided into three parts. Seimei and Mizutani Shizuko followed a 300-man detachment to the first blocking point. This was a river valley corridor, with mountains on both sides, a long river in the middle, and relatively wide sandy land on both sides of the river. This corridor connected to Iwagakure's headquarters in the Land of Rain and was the closest route to the logistics base. If Iwagakure's headquarters sent reinforcements, they would most likely take this route. And their mission was to delay the enemy's reinforcements here, buying time for the third team to attack the Iwa ninja stronghold. As Iwagakure's largest and most important logistics base in the Land of Rain, there were quite a few troops stationed there, and their combat power was also very strong. Coupled with the advantage of fighting on their home turf, even with their superior numbers, they wouldn't be able to break through in a short time. Therefore, the blocking mission was destined to be challenging. It was conceivable that this would inevitably be another fierce battle. With this in mind, Seimei said to Mizutani Shizuko beside him, "Don't stray too far from me later." "Okay." Mizutani Shizuko nodded obediently, not pretending to be strong and saying she didn't need protection, nor was she blinded by hatred, shouting about avenging Gu Chuan and Ryosuke. Seimei was very satisfied with this. Although he had said before that he wouldn't be anyone's babysitter, if his teammate was so understanding, he wouldn't mind protecting her. After all, only the two of them were left from Team 17. If she died too, he would truly become alone. ... Time passed by. Approaching noon, Seimei glanced at the time and muttered to himself, "They should have started over there, right?" Unfortunately, this place was some distance away from the other battlefield. Even if a battle broke out there, they couldn't hear it here. Just then, the team leader sent a message, asking everyone to be alert, pay attention to the surroundings, and be ready to face the enemy at any time. Hiding in the woods on both sides, Seimei, like the other Konoha ninja, held a kunai, carefully breathing the air, his eyes fixed on the river valley corridor, quietly waiting for the enemy to appear. However, one minute, two minutes... Five minutes, ten minutes... One hour... A full two hours passed, and the enemy still hadn't shown up. Seimei could clearly sense some subtle restlessness within the team. But it was quickly suppressed. In a daze, another half an hour passed. At this point, they had been waiting here for two and a half hours. It was unclear whether Iwagakure's reaction was slow, or Orochimaru's arrangements had worked, or they simply hadn't chosen this shortcut. In any case, the enemy's reinforcements hadn't appeared yet. But even if they had taken another route, someone was keeping an eye on it, and it was impossible for there to be no news at all. Just as everyone was feeling uncertain, a figure suddenly rushed from afar and directly into the forest. Then, after a while, the team leader sent a message saying that the enemy would arrive in three kilometers and told everyone to get ready.