The Raid

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Late at night, inside the valley.

A cool breeze swept through the guard post, making the two Kumogakure shinobi stationed there pull their cloaks tighter around themselves.

One of them suddenly asked, "Huh? Did you hear something?"

The other listened carefully for a while, then shook his head. "Just insects and birds. What, did you hear something else?"

At that moment, a black shadow darted into the guard post and pounced on the two Kumogakure shinobi with lightning speed.

"Who's there?"

The two Kumogakure shinobi only had time to let out a low cry before they fell beneath a cold flash of steel.

The shadow stepped forward and checked their breathing and heartbeats. Only after confirming both were dead did he slowly stand and turn his gaze toward the secret warehouse at the deepest part of the valley.

Moonlight fell over him, revealing his face.

The shadow was none other than Naoki, who was responsible for drawing away Kumogakure's outer guards.

After infiltrating the valley, he discovered that Kumogakure's defenses here were extremely tight. Even far from the secret warehouse, there were sentries every few steps and guard posts almost as frequent as the trees.

Such strict security made Naoki suspect that Kumogakure had stored a massive quantity of supplies here.

But after observing carefully with the Tenseigan for a moment, his brows drew tighter and tighter.

There were already between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and sixty visible guards inside the valley. If the hidden guards were included, the total number of Kumogakure shinobi in the valley was at least above two hundred.

That was far beyond Naoki's expectations.

When Team Eleven made its estimate, they had assumed the enemy force inside the valley would be between fifty and one hundred shinobi. Their entire strategy had been designed around that premise.

Suddenly, noise rose from another direction.

Shouts and the clash of battle were mixed into that commotion. In the silence of the valley, the sound was harsh and impossible to miss.

Naoki looked toward it and muttered, "That direction should be Guy's. He was discovered already?"

Team Eleven's plan was simple.

First, Naoki, Shisui, and Guy would infiltrate the valley separately and assassinate the Kumogakure shinobi guarding the perimeter. If discovered, they would immediately retreat and draw away part of the guard force, thinning the protection around the secret warehouse.

After that, Captain Kakashi would launch the raid, breaking straight toward the secret warehouse at the deepest part of the valley.

Finally, after the warehouse was destroyed, the four members of Team Eleven would regroup at the predetermined retreat point and return to Konoha together.

The problem was that the entire plan relied on the enemy numbering no more than one hundred.

Judging from the situation now, that condition clearly did not exist. A bad feeling rose in Naoki's heart.

Before long, the commotion began to move farther away.

Guy, whose presence had been exposed, had clearly followed the plan and drawn away part of the Kumogakure force.

But Guy's exposure also placed every Kumogakure shinobi in the valley on alert. Squads scattered in every direction and began searching the valley inch by inch.

Seeing that the search teams would soon reach his side, Naoki no longer hesitated. He immediately threw out more than a dozen kunai wrapped with explosive tags.

Boom, boom, boom...

A series of violent explosions rang through the valley.

Using the night and the smoke stirred up by the blasts as cover, Naoki rushed toward the panicked Kumogakure shinobi like a ghost, Kusanagi-maru in hand.

"Who is it?"

"Where..."

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Steel flashed again and again. Covered by smoke and dust, Naoki harvested the Kumogakure shinobi freely. In the blink of an eye, three or four had fallen to his blade.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

One of the Kumogakure chunin leading the search team reacted and immediately used Wind Release to blow away the smoke from the explosive tags.

Without the smoke as cover, Naoki's figure was exposed before the gathered Kumogakure shinobi.

The lead chunin shouted at once, "It's a Konoha ANBU! Stay sharp!"

This Kumogakure search team, made up of chunin and genin, sent a signal toward the main base deep inside the valley while surrounding Naoki from every side.

According to the plan, Naoki should have retreated at this point.

But the number of Kumogakure guards inside the valley was far greater than expected. He had no choice but to stay and attract even more enemies. Otherwise, Kakashi alone would never be able to pass through all the obstacles and reach the secret warehouse.

In another direction, Shisui also launched an attack on his own initiative.

After activating the Body Flicker Technique, he eliminated a four-man Kumogakure squad in a single flash. Then he pretended to break toward the secret warehouse deep inside the valley.

Along the way, Shisui did not entangle himself with the enemy. He simply left a large number of Kumogakure shinobi behind him. But just as he was about to approach the warehouse, a group of Kumogakure jonin intercepted him.

With Naoki and Shisui's fierce attacks, the entire valley erupted into chaos. Explosions, roars, screams, and cries for help rose and fell in every direction.

Hidden in the dark, Kakashi quietly watched everything unfold.

It was not time for him to move yet.

Before long, Naoki and Shisui were forced to withdraw from the valley.

The Kumogakure shinobi clearly had no intention of letting either of them go. Almost simultaneously, they sent two pursuit teams after them.

"Guy drew away eight. Naoki drew away sixteen. Shisui drew away twelve..."

Kakashi hid in the shadows, silently counting the number of enemies his teammates had drawn away while observing how Kumogakure's guard formation changed after the attacks.

Counting the enemies killed and lured away by his teammates, the total exceeded fifty, close to fourteen squads. No matter how he looked at it, that was already a strong result.

As for the enemy numbers far exceeding expectations, that did not frighten Kakashi.

On the contrary, it strengthened his resolve to raid the secret warehouse. Such strict defenses proved that the supplies stored here must be extremely important.

'Now.'

After letting out a soft breath, Kakashi brought his hands together and formed the seals in sequence.

Rat. Horse. Monkey. Horse. Rabbit.

Chirp, chirp, chirp...

A sharp, piercing sound like the cry of a thousand birds rang out.

Wrapped in lightning, Kakashi charged straight toward the deepest part of the valley without looking back.

Naoki, who was retreating, heard the familiar sound of the Chidori and knew Kakashi had launched the final raid.

He glanced back at the Kumogakure shinobi chasing him. There were sixteen of them in total, four squads. At least two were jonin. He did not know the exact number of chunin, but there had to be no fewer than four.

'I can't lead them to the retreat point. I have to eliminate them here.'

Having made up his mind, Naoki stopped in an open area and slowly drew Kusanagi-maru from his waist.

The Kumogakure pursuers immediately spread out and surrounded him. One of the jonin leading them laughed. "You're just a kid, but you've got guts. You actually dared infiltrate this place."

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