Breaking away from the squad, the three of them sprinted straight toward the Land of Wind.
Since Sunagakure was mobilizing in force, even their vanguard would be advancing slower than usual.
Soon, at the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, the trio saw a vast army stretching through the desert.
"Wow, that's incredible."
"Looks like Sunagakure is going all-in this time."
Gekko Chizan activated his Insect Eyes to scout from afar.
What they saw was only the vanguard—more forces were still in the rear.
Faces flashed past his eyes, one after another. He couldn't help but feel puzzled—none of Sunagakure's elite were present in the vanguard.
The stronger shinobi were noticeably absent.
"Number Six, what now? Do we get closer, or wait here for them to come to us?"
Knowing Number Six's identity, Haru asked him directly. After all, completing the mission would depend on this stealth expert.
"I'll leave a marker and check it out alone. If I go solo, it'll be easier to bail if things go south."
Chizan handed a marked kunai to Haru, who nodded seriously.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, your mark will stay intact."
Gekko Chizan nodded and dashed toward the Land of Wind.
For safety, he left behind two more markers in different spots—just in case he needed an emergency retreat.
"Chōmei, lend me your strength. I need to fly."
"Just to fly? Want me to prep some scale powder for you?"
"No. I'm only observing. Not engaging."
Chōmei sighed dramatically.
"Aw, come on~ You're flying into enemy territory and don't want even a little scale powder?"
"Listen, after what happened with Minato and that Uchiha kid, I got inspired and upgraded my formula."
"I made a brand-new blend—guaranteed diarrhea! You'll be on the toilet at least 10 times!"
Gekko Chizan shuddered. He had developed a trauma from the last time—just the word "diarrhea" made his stomach clench.
That pain—pure dehydration-level agony—he never wanted to experience again.
"Chōmei, you're getting more evil by the day."
"But not now. I need to figure out who's leading that vanguard."
"As for your powder—save it for later."
"Oh, and don't think I didn't notice you secretly storing some!"
Hearing that sharp warning, Chōmei hurriedly dispersed the condensed scale powder.
(How the hell did he know I was stockpiling it?)
Using his wings, Gekko Chizan soared into the sky, activating Transparent Release.
A perfect invisible recon drone—one of a kind in the entire ninja world!
As the saying goes: when you're up high, you see far.
Hovering above, he took in the entire battlefield below.
With the help of Insect Eyes, he got a full view of Sunagakure's vanguard.
"Something's wrong... Vanguard count is 200—normal."
"But not a single elite? That's impossible."
"Or... are they hiding?"
"Chōmei, can you sense their emotions?"
There was no way a vanguard had no commander. Gekko Chizan refused to believe that.
More likely, the leader was cloaking themselves somehow—too well to detect visually.
"Emotion sensing? I'll give it a try. But there are a lot of people..."
"Give me control of the body. I'll use chakra to scan them."
A moment later, red-tailed chakra surged inside Gekko Chizan. But under Chōmei's expert control, it dispersed evenly across his body.
This way, the chakra wouldn't form a visible cloak, but would still be fully usable.
It was clear Chōmei had practiced this method just to help Number Six carry out covert operations.
"Most of them are excited. A few are nervous."
"But... there's one. Strong emotions—hatred and rage?"
Gekko Chizan blinked.
Hatred and rage?
Sure, Konoha and Sunagakure clashed over resources regularly, but those battles rarely stirred deep personal hatred.
That kind of emotion... only came from the death of someone close.
Most shinobi accepted death as part of life—only personal tragedy could leave such a mark.
So what was this guy's story?
"Which one?"
"Middle of the formation, near the front. Not very tall. Wears a wide-brimmed hat."
Gekko Chizan zoomed in—and spotted the guy.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't identify him. The damn hat covered everything from above.
"Damn it. I can't see his face at all..."
"Alright. Time to head back."
Since he couldn't confirm the identity, lingering would be pointless.
Gekko Chizan folded his wings and activated Flying Thunder God.
"What did you find?"
Seeing him return, Haru and Kirin Horn rushed over.
Gekko Chizan shook his head.
"Two hundred men. No vanguard commander spotted."
"They're probably hiding. We have intel on Sunagakure's elites, and they likely know that—so they're staying low."
Haru nodded thoughtfully.
"If we really can't ID them, nothing we can do. Too many enemies to sneak close."
"Let's go. Time to report back."
"The rest... let the traps do their job."
The three retreated and quickly rejoined the main ANBU force.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke listened carefully to Gekko Chizan's report and fell into thought.
A 200-man vanguard, huh...
"Perfect. That's enough."
"Our traps should slow them down."
"Retreat!"
With a single command, everyone began pulling back toward the Land of Fire—leaving behind a field full of traps to welcome Sunagakure's advance.
ANBU might be strong individually, but when outnumbered, they knew when to withdraw.
Their mission was recon and delaying—not holding ground.
...
Meanwhile, Konoha's main army had already crossed into the Land of Rivers and was setting up defensive lines.
"Orochimaru-sama, ANBU should've pulled back by now."
"Our defenses will be ready in 1–2 hours."
Misono Yeba, commander of the defense corps, reported the current situation at Orochimaru's side.
Orochimaru nodded, eyes fixed on the distance, deep in thought.
At the same time, among the retreating ANBU, one figure suddenly vanished from view.
It was Gekko Chizan.
He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with that vanguard.
Full of questions, he chose to leave the squad and conduct another solo investigation.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke had approved it—after repeatedly warning him to be careful.
Like Gekko Chizan needed reminding. If there was one thing he was good at, it was running.
He activated Transparent Release again and stationed himself behind the trap zone, eyes locked on the incoming enemy.
The traps laid by ANBU were everything you could imagine—explosive tags, pitfall traps, kunai, senbon, poison gas—anything you could name.
The moment the vanguard stepped into the field—
The first traps triggered. Countless kunai and senbon launched into the air.
Several Sunagakure shinobi were down instantly.
"Stop! Traps ahead!"
A warning cry rang out from the front.
The hundreds-strong formation came to a sudden halt in the woods.
"Fast reaction, Konoha..."
"Setting traps this quickly? Damn it!"
One of the leading Sunagakure shinobi looked at his fallen comrades and growled angrily.
"Hmph, you think a few traps will stop us?"
"Move aside. Don't get in my way."
A cold, murderous voice came from deeper in the formation.
The wide-hatted figure Gekko Chizan had noticed earlier stepped forward.
As he removed his hat, Gekko Chizan's eyes went wide.
Damn it... why is he here?!
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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