Have we been found?
Haseo was certain his team hadn't exposed themselves during the operation. But whether the enemy had some special method of reconnaissance remained unclear, so there was always a chance their movements had been noticed. Otherwise, why would they activate radar scanning over an empty forest?
"Fall back!"
Whatever the case, Haseo made the right call at the right time—deep inside enemy territory with the situation ahead unknown, retreat naturally became the top priority. They'd have to abandon that enemy supply squad they were watching. Actually, it wasn't even about whether they should keep troubling the enemy anymore; the real problem now was how they could successfully escape from here.
If the enemy had plans or intentions, how could they possibly let them just leave?
Sure enough, as soon as Haseo's squad began covering each other and retreating step by step, before moving any significant distance, they ran straight into a "wall."
"What is this...?"
Haseo reached out and tapped the air in front of him, where ripples spread across its surface like water.
"I believe it's a barrier, Captain," Renjiro said, placing one hand against the wall. He tilted his head upward, letting raindrops strike his face while his eyes looked toward midair.
If his guess was correct, they were now trapped beneath a bowl-shaped isolation barrier.
There was no ninja in Haseo's squad specialized in Barrier Ninjutsu techniques, meaning they were effectively imprisoned at this moment. The intense chakra surge they'd sensed earlier probably wasn't some scouting jutsu either—it must've been what came with activating the barrier itself.
Then, Haseo curled his fist and smashed it against the barrier. But all that did was send stronger ripples across its glass-like surface—no real effect whatsoever.
Barrier Ninjutsu was different from other techniques. No matter how many powerful jutsu Haseo mastered, unless they carried spatial-cutting or space-damaging properties, he wouldn't be able to break through this barrier.
At this moment, everyone focused their gazes on Haseo, silently urging him—"Haseo, use your unstoppable Water Dragon Blast and think of something!"
Still, they needed to try regardless.
Taking a deep breath, Haseo stepped backward several paces before concentrating chakra and launching his strongest offensive technique directly at the barrier… but again, it produced absolutely no effect.
The high-pressure water blade of the Water Dragon Blast seemed to plunge into quicksand—the curtain of the barrier split slightly, then quickly healed itself.
Even though it was incredibly powerful, the Water Dragon Blast was just a pinpoint strike against something as vast as this barrier. Even if this barrier was nothing more than a soap bubble, poking a needle across a diameter measured in kilometers still offered little chance of breaking through.
Haseo's attack attempt was like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
He could only shake his head and give up. Of course, things wouldn't be that simple. After a moment of thought, he continued, "How about we dig a hole through the ground and charge straight out?"
This idea stunned his teammates immediately. Seriously? Breaking through a barrier by digging a tunnel? That approach felt way too extreme.
"Erm, I think...probably not," Nagisa Nara replied awkwardly while scratching the bridge of her nose.
Well, even Haseo himself didn't think it was practical. The enemy had gone to great trouble setting up this barrier. If all it took was digging a hole to escape, that'd be completely ridiculous.
The four crouched low, huddling together as Haseo continued speaking. "Obviously, this is an enemy strategy specifically designed to capture us infiltrators within the Land of Rain. Their response has been faster than expected, and their methods have proven effective enough.
We currently don't know the exact range of the barrier, though I suspect it won't be overly large. Otherwise, that'd give us more than enough room to move around. Amegakure probably wouldn't make such a generous mistake.
Since they've launched a surround-and-kill operation, we must assume the enemy forces within this barrier outnumber and overpower us. Worse still, we currently lack any means to break through the barrier itself. This means we'll have to fight under extremely unfavorable conditions against enemies superior in both number and strength.
Depending on how this barrier works, its supporting unit might either be positioned outside or inside. Right now, we can only hope it's the latter—then we can destroy the barrier by taking out its supporting ninja unit. Even if destroying them doesn't drop the barrier immediately, without continuous chakra support from the ninja, it won't last very long.
Regardless, the upcoming battle will be extremely dangerous. Everyone needs to mentally prepare themselves."
This was a battlefield, where fairness had no place—there was no rule ensuring Konoha could strike while enemies were forced to hold back. Yet even so, he hadn't expected Amegakure's countermove to come this quickly and decisively.
Haseo's squad had become like birds trapped in a cage.
Still clinging to a sliver of hope, Haseo turned toward Renjiro, the Sensor ninja in the team, asking, "Renjiro, based on your sensing ability, can you distinguish which of them are the ninja maintaining the barrier?"
"I cannot. When enemies approach my sensing techniques, I can only confirm their numbers and approximate locations. To precisely differentiate their chakra signatures? My abilities simply aren't capable of that," answered Renjiro, shaking his head—just as expected.
"Fine..."
There wasn't really room to blame him for that situation, yet Haseo couldn't help internally grumbling. This guy's sensor abilities were genuinely weak—not at all like a professional Sensor ninja...Was he even here for a reason, or just someone the author added to the team to pad out the roster?
Just as Haseo pondered how to determine whether the enemy's Barrier Unit was still inside the barrier, suddenly—a loud explosion erupted from the direction they'd just evacuated.
What happened?!
A fight had broken out? One side was certainly Rain shinobi, but who was the other party?
"No way," Haseo suddenly realized. He'd thought the barrier ahead was meant to trap them. But thinking about it now, would fishermen really cast a net for just one fish?
"Come on, let's move closer. There might be other Konoha squads trapped inside this barrier too." Saying that, Haseo rushed back toward the spot they had just left.
The remaining squad members exchanged glances and immediately followed him without hesitation... Obviously, after Haseo's reminder, they had come to the same realization.
The infiltration teams sent by Konoha into the Land of Rain worked separately, without any means of communication between them. Therefore, their operational areas could easily overlap unknowingly.
Haseo raced back to his earlier position at full speed, so fast that he became separated from his own squad. In only moments, the sounds of battle reached his ears with startling clarity.
Suddenly stopping his footing on a thick branch extending across his path, Haseo pushed aside soaked leaves blocking his view with one hand. The battlefield spread out before him in full view.
Sure enough, two opposing forces were locked in combat, and the besieged side belonged to Konoha's ninja squad.
Half of one Konoha ninja's body was already drenched in blood, and in the next instant, a gleaming blade threatened to pierce through his throat.
But in the blink of an eye, [a palm glowing with brilliant blue lightning] grabbed the back of his collar. With tremendous force, he was yanked backward several paces, narrowly dodging the enemy attack.
Before he even fully understood what had happened, he saw the enemy spinning through the air as he flew backward.
With a loud "Crash!" the enemy smashed violently into a sturdy tree trunk more than ten meters away.
Life and death had parted in a flash. What had transpired in an instant felt like an eternity to the Konoha ninja.
Between him and the enemy now stood a figure whose radiant lightning chakra spread wildly even amidst the torrential rain.
Then, this person spoke:
"Hanzo, let's talk! Please, don't shoot! I'm actually Diva."
First of all, the one who got kicked through the air couldn't possibly be Hanzo — there's no way he'd be that weak.
And as for shooting? No way. After being sent flying like that, the enemy could barely push himself up from the mud.
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