A Thorn in Their Side

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After a short rest, the four members of Team Eleven recovered a little of their strength. What they should do next became the urgent question in front of them.

They spread the map on the ground and sat around it to discuss their next move.

Pointing at the map, Shisui spoke first. "Kumogakure has infiltrated the Land of Hot Water heavily. They have a lot of eyes here, so we cannot keep staying in this area. It would be best to move immediately and retreat along this route."

The route Shisui pointed out followed the eastern coastline of the Land of Hot Water all the way back into the Land of Fire.

Judging from the map, this route lay between the spheres of influence of Konoha, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure, which made it look very unsafe.

In reality, that was exactly why it was the safest option. No village held absolute control over that area.

Over time, it had become a no-man's-land where many retired shinobi and wandering ninja with nowhere else to go chose to hide.

Guy nodded immediately. "Yeah. This route looks good."

With Team Eleven's current strength, as long as their luck was not terrible enough for them to run straight into Kumogakure's main force or Kirigakure's main force, crossing that lawless region should not be a problem.

Kakashi, as Team Eleven's captain, stared at the map without speaking.

Seeing that Kakashi seemed to have another plan, Naoki said, "If you have something to say, say it. We have been through life and death together. There is nothing we cannot discuss."

Kakashi had hidden the details of the previous secret mission from everyone and led Team Eleven into danger.

But that secret mission had been personally issued by the Third Hokage. Kakashi had no room to question or refuse it. In the end, he had also taken on the most dangerous part of the mission himself and nearly died in the attempt. Because of that, no one blamed him.

Kakashi pointed to Team Eleven's current location on the map and slowly said, "Under normal circumstances, we have already completed the mission and should return to Konoha as quickly as possible. But think about our current position. We are right between Kumogakure's forward raiding force and Kumogakure itself. This is a critical location."

Naoki picked up where Kakashi left off. "Yes. This position means danger for us, but our presence is like a thorn in Kumogakure's side. As long as they do not eliminate us, they will not dare attack the Land of Fire without holding something back. In terms of delaying effect alone, the four of us in Team Eleven can rival an entire shinobi force."

Team Eleven had just destroyed one of Kumogakure's secret warehouses, along with more than three hundred Kumogakure shinobi who had been stationed there or arrived as reinforcements.

No matter how arrogant Kumogakure was, they would not dare ignore Team Eleven's existence.

And once Kumogakure discovered that Team Eleven was still active inside the Land of Hot Water, their offensive in the Land of Fire would inevitably weaken. It might even be forced to stop entirely.

After thinking for a moment, Shisui said, "That's true. Although all of us are wounded and our combat strength has dropped sharply, Kumogakure does not know that. As long as we hide well and show ourselves occasionally to scare them, they will not be able to commit all their strength to the main battlefield."

At present, Kakashi's body was extremely weak. Even moving was difficult for him, and he had basically lost his combat ability.

Guy had only recovered enough to move. With multiple fractures still in his body, he did not have much combat strength either.

Shisui had overdrawn himself badly from using the Mangekyo Sharingan several times in succession. On top of that, he was the youngest member of Team Eleven, and his body's recovery and chakra recovery were weaker than the others. His combat strength had fallen to around thirty or forty percent.

The only one who still had real fighting ability was probably Naoki, whose chakra had recovered to seventy or eighty percent.

Of course, that was not because Naoki's constitution far surpassed everyone else's. It was because, during the battle in the valley, the immense chakra of the giant Tenseigan had healed all his injuries. Naturally, he had preserved the most combat power.

The members of Team Eleven quickly reached an agreement. They decided to stay temporarily in the Land of Hot Water and harass the rear of Kumogakure's force attacking the Land of Fire.

Naoki agreed because, based on the memories from his previous life, he knew Kumogakure had no real intention of expanding this conflict without limit. Once the battle situation became deadlocked, Kumogakure was very likely to propose peace talks.

And if Team Eleven was the reason Kumogakure and Konoha returned to the negotiating table, then for all four members of the team, that would become tremendous honor and political capital.

The Fourth Hokage was the best example. Nothing built reputation faster than achievements in wartime.

Inside Kumogakure's raiding-force camp in the Land of Fire.

After active communication with the village in the rear, Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki on the front line, Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails jinchuriki, and Aida, the Storm Release user, finally learned why the Fourth Raikage had issued the order to suspend the attack.

Killer B stared at the message from the village, and even his usually carefree face turned uncharacteristically dark.

The Raikage's message mentioned that four secret warehouses on the border had been attacked by Konoha ANBU almost simultaneously. One warehouse had been completely destroyed, and more than three hundred Kumogakure shinobi stationed around it had all died in battle.

Yugito stood nearby with her arms folded and said coldly, "Hmph. Konoha only knows how to use dirty tricks from behind."

Deputy Commander Aida looked worried. "It is not strange that Konoha could discover the locations of the secret warehouses. Supplies move back and forth, so hiding them completely is difficult. But wiping out more than three hundred of our garrison shinobi is another matter entirely."

Yugito was proud, but she also understood that eliminating a force of three hundred shinobi was not easy. Her mouth tightened. "Which of Konoha's experts have not appeared yet?"

A Kumogakure jonin serving as secretary inside the command post stepped forward and answered, "Based on all compiled intelligence, among Konoha's famous experts, only a few powerful figures have not appeared, including the head of the Uchiha Clan, the head of the Hyuga Clan, and the Third Hokage."

Aida analyzed the situation. "The Hyuga main family rarely goes to the battlefield in person. Even during the Third Shinobi World War, they only appeared on the front lines a few times at the most critical moments. So we can rule out the Hyuga clan head. The Uchiha are indeed acting strangely this time. Their figures are almost absent from the entire battlefield. It is highly possible that what happened in the rear was their doing. The one leading them may even be the Uchiha clan head."

Yugito said, "If it was not the Uchiha clan head, then the one leading the team was probably Konoha's Third Hokage."

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