Chapter 183: Mist Ninja Camp
The Land of Whirlpools was located southeast of the Land of Fire, while the Land of Earth was to the northwest. The directions were completely opposite, so Ishiro spent a full day on the road.
After all, although Ishiro could fly, he didn't dare to cut straight across the skies of the Land of Fire. That would truly be seeking death. Ishiro flew in a large circle around the Land of Fire, passing over neighboring countries, before finally reaching the skies above the Land of Whirlpools.
He had never been to the Land of Whirlpools on missions before. Ishiro had thought that after the fall of the Land of Whirlpools, it would be uninhabited. The truth was, the Land of Whirlpools had only lost its original rulers; the civilians were still there. Now, the Land of Whirlpools had been rebuilt, just with new masters.
Moreover, without the jade annulus, (metaphor for something precious that invites trouble) that brought misfortune due to its value, the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools had actually lived better lives in recent years than before.
If not for the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War, with Kirigakure placing the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools, then with the fertile lands of the Land of Whirlpools, the lives of its civilians would likely be envied even by major powers like the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind.
But now, Kirigakure and Konoha had each invested several thousand ninjas into the Land of Whirlpools. Furthermore, both sides had engaged in a prolonged war of attrition over a wide area using small squad formations.
The Land of Whirlpools had bid farewell to its brief period of peace and had fallen into a desperate abyss.
Ishiro saw civilians, from time to time, dragging their families along, heading towards the Land of Fire.
It was estimated that the number of Land of Whirlpools civilians migrating to the Land of Fire in recent years would not be small.
Iwagakure had basically no influence in the Land of Whirlpools. In fact, apart from Konoha whose influence radiated throughout the entire ninja world, the influence of the other major powers was mostly limited to their respective surrounding areas. For the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools, far from the Land of Earth, Iwagakure ninjas were inherently a rare species.
Therefore, when operating in the Land of Whirlpools, Ishiro dared not swagger through the streets wearing an Iwagakure headband.
Additionally, the Hyūga were the foremost reconnaissance-type ninja clan in the world. Ishiro didn't know how Kirigakure managed to launch a sneak attack on the Hyūga, but Ishiro felt he himself couldn't do it.
Ishiro's so-called concealment techniques couldn't even deceive the Sharingan, let alone the Byakugan, whose reconnaissance capabilities surpassed the Sharingan.
So, although Ishiro knew the location of the Hyūga camp, he didn't even dare to approach it, only able to observe from a high altitude more than 5km away.
However, Ishiro's eyesight was far from sufficient to see the situation clearly from over ten li away; he couldn't even make out a general picture.
"Sigh, at this distance, even if the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were fighting the Hyūga main family down there, I probably wouldn't be able to see clearly."
"Unless the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist could create a commotion like Kisame Hoshigaki's. But according to the descriptions in the original story, the strength of each member of the first generation of Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was only that of an Elite Jōnin, not enough to create such a large commotion."
"It seems I still have to go down."
Ishiro returned to the ground, put on a Konoha Anbu uniform he had prepared, and only then did he slowly make his way towards the Kirigakure camp.
The Hyūga camp was a forbidden zone for Ishiro, but the Kirigakure camp was different. Ishiro felt that as long as he was careful and didn't get too close, he probably wouldn't be discovered.
The structure of the Kirigakure camp was different from what Ishiro had imagined. The Kirigakure camp was actually surrounded by a ring of dense fog. Looking at the Kirigakure camp enveloped in thick fog not far away, Ishiro frowned slightly.
With this layer of dense fog, it was very difficult for outsiders to discover the entrances and exits of the Kirigakure camp.
Ishiro even guessed that the Kirigakure camp might not even have fixed entrances and exits. Anyway, with the fog as cover, others wouldn't know the internal layout of the Kirigakure camp, so Kirigakure could frequently change its entry and exit points.
And at Ishiro's current distance from the Kirigakure camp, Ishiro didn't dare to fly into the air for observation. Although Kirigakure, like Iwagakure, was at the bottom in terms of combat power among the five great ninja villages, a base used for war would definitely have all sorts of talents. Ishiro didn't think he had the capital to be careless.
So, in the end, Ishiro could only circle around the Kirigakure camp from a distance.
To avoid leaving footprints or other traces, Ishiro used the Light/Heavy Rock Technique. While carefully avoiding various traps, he also had to be mindful of patrol ninjas who might pass by at any time.
This was where the usefulness of "Mind's Eye" became apparent.
The terrain of the Land of Whirlpools was similar to that of the Land of Fire; there were many tall trees near the Kirigakure camp. Ishiro slowly roamed around the Kirigakure camp in this manner.
"This is a good opportunity to train 'Mind's Eye'," Ishiro thought to himself. Just as he sensed several chakra fluctuations a hundred meters away, Ishiro quickly floated to a densely leaved area and hid.
Fortunately, that squad of Kirigakure ninjas didn't head in Ishiro's direction but went away from the Kirigakure camp.
"This is the fourth squad of ninjas I've encountered. Kirigakure activity in this area is a bit frequent," Ishiro pondered Kirigakure's deployment while once again carefully approaching ahead.
Ishiro's "Mind's Eye" ninjutsu had a theoretical perception range of about 200 meters, but Ishiro was far from proficiently mastering it. Never mind ninjas appearing 200 meters away; even if they appeared 100 meters away, Ishiro couldn't notice them in time.
The reason he was able to detect the enemy's chakra at a hundred meters just now was mainly because Ishiro knew there was danger nearby. For this reason, while slowly advancing, Ishiro sacrificed some of the attention he originally placed on his vision and focused more of his mental energy on the "Mind's Eye" ninjutsu.
That was why Ishiro could barely detect enemies at a hundred meters.
After walking forward for a while longer, three more chakra fluctuations appeared within the perception of "Mind's Eye." Ishiro, as usual, hid himself well.
"Hmm? There are four people?" Just as he hid, Ishiro discovered that the chakra fluctuations in the distance had changed from three to four.
"Clone Jutsu? No, the four chakra fluctuations are completely different." Thanks to the sensory ninjutsu he had learned before and his ability to use it proficiently, Ishiro was very good at distinguishing the chakra attributes of enemies.
"This is? Ice Release!" After careful observation, Ishiro frowned. The chakra that had initially escaped his "Mind's Eye" perception was precisely the Ice Release he had encountered before.
"But the intensity of this Ice Release doesn't seem very strong." Now that Ishiro himself possessed a Kekkei Genkai, his perspective was naturally different. The Ice Release ninja he sensed, in Ishiro's judgment, was the type who, despite mastering a Kekkei Genkai, should be at the bottom among Kekkei Genkai users.
This "bottom" referred not to strength, but to the level of the Kekkei Genkai. The ninja world didn't have a grading system for Kekkei Genkai, but there were definitely stronger and weaker versions of the same Kekkei Genkai. The most direct example was Kimimaro; his Shikotsumyaku was far superior to that of other clan members who had awakened Shikotsumyaku.
Yet Shikotsumyaku had no grading system whatsoever.
And among all Kekkei Genkai, only one had a clear grading system: the Sharingan. The Sharingan had single tomoe, double tomoe, triple tomoe, and then Mangekyō and Eternal Mangekyō.
While other Kekkei Genkai didn't have clear grading, they too varied in strength.
The feeling this Ice Release gave Ishiro was far inferior to that of Minazuki Kyō whom he had encountered several years ago.
"This person should be one of the unlucky ones from a conscripted Kekkei Genkai family mentioned in the intelligence reports."
"It seems 'Mind's Eye' is slightly less effective at sensing Kekkei Genkai compared to ordinary chakra. I'll have to be careful in the future not to be targeted."
"However, I can't go any further now. Kirigakure ninjas are coming and going more frequently. Ahead should be a commonly used entrance/exit for Kirigakure."
Ishiro did his best to suppress his chakra fluctuations and began to search for a suitable hiding place in the surrounding woods. Ishiro had to find the whereabouts of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to make targeted plans.
After all, the original story didn't describe the process of the Byakugan being lost in detail. Without a plot advantage, all intelligence had to be gathered by himself.
For the rest of the day, Ishiro searched for traces of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist near this Kirigakure camp. But unfortunately, Ishiro found nothing.
Quite a few ninjas entered and exited the dense fog area, but most were Chūnin and Genin. Ninjas at the Elite Jōnin level were rare. An entire day passed, and Ishiro only encountered two such individuals. Based on Ishiro's judgment, neither of them was a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
"Could it be that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist have already taken action?" Ishiro couldn't help but think this. When Ishiro set out from the village, it had already been five days since the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had shown unusual activity. Ishiro spent a day on the road, and now he had wasted another entire day near the Kirigakure camp.
Judging by the timeliness of ninja operations, it was highly possible that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had already made their move.
"I can't wait any longer." Ishiro decided to leave this area and take the risk of scouting the Hyūga camp. The Hyūga were mostly close-combat type ninjas. Ishiro felt that even if he was discovered, escaping shouldn't be a big problem.
However, if Ishiro used his flight ninjutsu to escape, his identity would likely be exposed. There weren't many ninjas in the entire world who could fly without relying on summoning beasts.
If his identity was exposed, it would cause disputes between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. After all, Konoha and Iwagakure had already ceased hostilities.
As Ishiro slowly retreated about several dozen meters from his original position, a sudden change occurred.
"Swish, swish, swish!" A dense barrage of kunai, accompanied by the sound of tearing air, attacked Ishiro.
"What's going on? I didn't trigger any traps!" Though startled, Ishiro was not flustered. With the help of the Light/Heavy Rock Technique, these traps targeting ground-based ninjas were easily avoided by Ishiro.
However, this disturbance definitely exposed Ishiro's whereabouts.
Sure enough, within his "Mind's Eye" perception, several chakra sources brazenly approached Ishiro's location.
Ishiro's gaze hardened. If that's the case, then let's do it the hard way. Then, while running in a direction away from the Kirigakure camp, Ishiro dodged the surrounding Kirigakure ninjas.
That's right, Ishiro was running. Although Ishiro hadn't deactivated the Light/Heavy Rock Technique, to avoid revealing his intelligence too early, Ishiro pretended to be fleeing using taijutsu.
Although Ishiro was very fast, there were too many Kirigakure ninjas in the vicinity. In a short while, a squad of ninjas appeared directly in front of Ishiro.
"Just in time." Within Ishiro's "Mind's Eye" perception, this squad of ninjas was led by one Jōnin with three Genin.
The other side had clearly also detected Ishiro's rapid approach. They didn't rashly close in but began a long-range attack under the cover of their Jōnin captain.
"Hmm?" Ishiro was slightly surprised. A single Kirigakure squad actually had two members who could use ninjutsu?
However, with Ishiro's current strength, the speed at which two Genin cast ninjutsu posed no threat at all. While advancing, Ishiro performed his still unmastered Lightning Release stimulation method.
The Light/Heavy Rock Technique was astonishingly fast for long-distance travel, but in a direct confrontation, it didn't have much advantage. For this kind of short-distance burst, the best options were the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) and taijutsu enhanced by the Lightning Release stimulation method.
Ishiro's acceleration took the opposing squad of four by surprise. Seeing that they couldn't complete their ninjutsu release before Ishiro closed in, the opposing Jōnin captain directly chose to engage in close combat.
However, Ishiro's charge was too sudden, and the opponent was responding hastily. So when Ishiro unleashed a close-range sword ki slash, it was already too late for the opponent to mount an effective defense.
In the end, this Jōnin only managed to hastily place his kunai in the path of the sword ki.
Then, as expected, this Jōnin, along with the kunai in his hand, was sent flying. However, this obstruction still had some effect; at least he shielded his subordinates behind him from a fatal attack.
But that was its only effect. The three Genin, having lost their Jōnin's cover, were like three lambs waiting to be slaughtered in Ishiro's eyes.
Easily dodging the senbon thrown at close range by one of them, Ishiro used Shunshin to appear at his side, then swung his longsword horizontally, slitting a large wound across the Genin's neck.
After finishing off this taijutsu-using Genin, Ishiro didn't retract his longsword but unexpectedly followed the momentum to slash out a sword ki backwards, once again forcing back the Jōnin who was attempting to attack Ishiro from behind.
However, at this moment, one of the two remaining Genin had finished his hand seals and was about to cast a ninjutsu.
Unfortunately for him, Ishiro had been observing their hand seals all along, so before this person's ninjutsu was even released, Ishiro already knew what ninjutsu he was about to cast.
"Hehe, Water Trumpet, is it? A very familiar ninjutsu," Ishiro chuckled inwardly. Then, under the opponent's horrified gaze, Ishiro slashed his sword at the origin point of this Genin's Water Trumpet, directly dispersing the jutsu before it could fully form.
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We've hit 400 Power Stones goal As promised This week, here's the bonus chapter. Thank you for your support—please keep it coming!