"I'll take responsibility for Mon Yuma. First, we'll open the way with ninjutsu. Hardy, Ishido, you two use your puppets for a frontal assault. Pakura and Baki will provide long-range ninjutsu support from the flanks and prevent anyone from escaping."
After Heichuan laid out the operation on the map Hardy had drawn, the group immediately set their plan into motion.
They needed to blitz through four towns in a single night. If they took too long, and Konoha managed to assemble a team to encircle them, it would be extremely dangerous—they had to act quickly and decisively.
There was no need for elaborate planning; under cover of darkness, they would strike. Even if there were sensory ninja present, it didn't matter—multiple jōnin-level combatants could overrun the base in a short time.
"Wind Release: Net Cast!"
"Wind Release: Great Net Cast!"
Outside the Konoha base, Hardy and the others stood in a line, unleashing a combination wind-style ninjutsu.
The only difference between Net Cast and Great Net Cast was whether or not chakra nature transformation was incorporated—the former was a C-rank technique, the latter B-rank. These were wind-style techniques commonly used by Sunagakure ninja in large-scale battles. The released wind nets could reinforce and overlap with each other, greatly increasing their power. In the Fourth Great Ninja War of the original timeline, Sunagakure ninja, boosted by Nine-Tails chakra, joined forces to use this technique and managed to temporarily block an attack from the Ten Tails.
The sharp wind nets cut through everything in front of them, destroying buildings and alerting the Konoha ninja inside.
"Everyone, defend!"
A Konoha ninja with a small mustache shouted.
"Earth Release: Earth Return!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Several defensive ninjutsu rose up, but Hardy and the others' attack was not over yet.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Fire Running Technique!"
Pakura and Ishido acted together, using fire release to enhance the power of their jutsu.
Wind fuels fire. This unexpected combo attack inflicted significant casualties on the Konoha ninja before the battle had even truly begun.
After all, except for Baki, everyone in the group had mastered at least one chakra nature transformation. Their combined efforts were truly formidable.
"The battle is decided!"
Hardy and Ishido simultaneously pulled out scrolls, summoning their puppets and charging into the enemy ranks in coordination.
Heichuan, under the cover of the puppets, charged straight at the mustached man.
That man was the Konoha captain stationed here—Special Jōnin Mito Mon Yuma.
A few minutes later.
All the Konoha ninja at this base had been killed. Even Mito Mon Yuma, though he held out a bit longer, was ultimately slain by Heichuan.
"Keep moving! We need to reach the next location before eleven o'clock!"
Heichuan wiped the blood from his face, his expression murderous.
The group quickly gathered themselves and, traveling through the night, spent the rest of the night fighting their way through two more bases, destroying their stockpiled supplies.
There were at least a dozen Konoha logistics bases along the border, and it was difficult to locate them all. Even this time, Sunagakure had only managed to identify four of them.
And—
When one of the strongholds was attacked, as soon as the information was transmitted, the other strongholds would quickly react and reinforce their defenses.
"Phew... That took more effort than expected."
Kurokawa wiped the blood from his ninjatō and let out a long breath.
This was the third Konoha logistics base they had destroyed.
By the time they arrived, Konoha had already heightened their alertness. With the increased defenses, it took them more time to deal with the people here.
"The current time is 3:11 a.m. If we march at full speed, we can return to Huoluo City before 4:30."
Hardy glanced at the mechanical watch he had crafted himself as he spoke.
"Let's head to Huoluo City and rendezvous with Baki and Ishito first," Kurokawa said.
After destroying the second stronghold, they had split into two groups.
Baki and Ishito went ahead to Huoluo City.
This was a major city on the border of the Land of Fire, and naturally, there was an underground bounty office here.
The group pooled together more than three million ryo and gave it to them, instructing them to go to the underground bounty office and, at the right moment, issue an emergency bounty to recruit some capable rogue and missing-nin.
Three million ryo was certainly a sizable amount, but not enough to buy the head of a jonin.
The main purpose of this money was to hire cannon fodder to test whether Tsunade had developed hemophobia.
If she had, that would be ideal. If not, as Hardy had previously suggested, these people could serve as a distraction, causing a commotion to lure Tsunade away and enable a feint.
It was still before the spring equinox, so even after four o'clock, the sky had not yet begun to lighten.
Due to the recent attacks on several other logistics depots, Huoluo City was now under martial law. Throughout the streets and alleys, samurai from the city lord's mansion, swords at their waists, could be seen patrolling everywhere.
These samurai weren't particularly strong. Although a few of the leaders possessed chakra, at most they were only on par with ordinary lower- or mid-level ninja.
Hardy and his companions were all experts, and with their keen senses, unless there was a Hyuga with Byakugan within a kilometer, they were unlikely to be discovered. Thus, they infiltrated the city smoothly.
"Next, we just have to wait for Baki's signal."
In a hidden Sand ninja safehouse, Hardy sat quietly by the window, casually forming a hand seal with one hand as he sensed the surroundings and spoke.
Several kilometers away, in a courtyard on the west side of the city—
"Boss, do you think we're being used as pawns?"
A rogue ninja with a scar on his face asked the bald, burly man beside him.
"Damn it, I knew that three million ryo wouldn't be so easy to earn! All for capturing some little girl who owes a few million ryo in gambling debts—does the city lord's mansion really need to make such a big deal out of it?"
"Could these people be from Sunagakure or Iwagakure? If this involves Konoha, we probably won't be able to keep operating in the Land of Fire."
The rogue ninjas discussed for a while but couldn't come to a conclusion.
Suddenly, the bald man's body stiffened, and he clutched his chest, collapsing to the ground.
A few seconds later, the others also fell one after another.
"W-what's going on?" the scar-faced man cried out in terror.
"Senior Ishito, you really are thorough," Baki, disguised and sitting atop the courtyard wall, said with a grin, drawing everyone's attention. Next to him was Ishito, shrouded in a black cloak.
"You were all poisoned by me as soon as you left the bounty office," Ishito said, taking out several antidotes and tossing them beside the fallen rogue ninjas.
"The antidote's effect lasts for one hour. Complete the mission, and after an hour, you can come find me at the village ten miles east of the city for the real antidote."
Hardy's plan seemed solid, but there were still some loopholes. At times like this, it took an experienced hand to patch up the details.