"Captain, I will continue to work hard in the future."
After another round of Sasuke's "motivational training," Ryo quickly realized the limitations of his own analytical skills and admitted that he still had much to learn from his captain.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
At that moment, Akimaru's barks snapped Ryo, who was still processing the lesson, back to reality. Immediately, Ryo sniffed the air again, analyzing the biological pheromones to perceive any new information about the approaching enemy.
Sasuke, for his part, had already formed a Tiger seal with one hand and, with the other, was touching his water bat, activating the resonance amplification of his sonar radar to enhance his own perception.
"Captain, the trap is set."
Tekudō, who had been busy all this time, had just finished placing the last trap.
It was then that Ryo's expression completely changed, as if he had seen a ghost. His face paled, and he said in a tense voice, "Bad news! Besides the three puppeteers, I can smell six other unfamiliar ninja scents in the air."
The color drained from Ryo's face. A torrent of guilt and despair washed over him. It was his mistake, his failure of perception. He had led them all to their deaths. The elite Sand ninja infiltrating were not a simple three-man team, but nine. Exactly the number of a standard elite battalion from Sunagakure.
Those nine scents were foreign, permeated with the unique aroma of the Land of Wind's sand and air, and with an evident trace of blood and rust. There was no trace of the familiar scents of the four Aoba Squad members. They had surely been effortlessly annihilated by this full battalion. An elite battalion meant three teams, with members who were at least chūnin, and three captains who were likely jōnin.
On their side, there was only one chūnin and three genin. Forget about stopping the enemy; they would probably crumble at the first touch, without even a chance for a tactical retreat.
"What? Ryo, did you say nine elite Sand ninja are coming?"
Tekudō turned towards Ryo, his eyes bloodshot. "Nine?" he hissed, and the veins on his thick neck bulged like ropes about to snap, pulsing violently with his held breath.
"Yes!" Ryo confirmed. His right hand had unconsciously gripped Akimaru's mane, his knuckles so white from the pressure that the ninja hound whimpered softly. They were downwind, which sharpened his sense of smell. There was no mistake.
"Heh!" Sasuke let out. At first glance, his face looked terribly grim, but inwardly, he was laughing secretly.
'Although the Inuzuka clan's sense of smell is good, its precision is far inferior to the Hyūga clan's Byakugan. The Byakugan has a 360-degree field of view, can see for a kilometer, and perceive chakra flow. It's a walking X-ray machine. My ultrasonic radar technique isn't far behind. While it doesn't reach the terrifying five-kilometer range of a high-purity Byakugan like Hinata Hyūga's, it far surpasses the ordinary one-kilometer range, reaching an impressive three kilometers. I also have a 360-degree field of view and some perspective ability; the only thing I lack is chakra vision. For intelligence gathering, my technique is almost equivalent to the Byakugan.'
Ryo's perception was, in a way, correct: the Aoba Squad had been wiped out. But what was approaching was not a full battalion. His radar clearly showed him three Konoha ninja fleeing for their lives, pursued by six Sand ninja. The original Suna brigade was likely nine strong, but an entire squad had been held up by the Konoha intel team's captain, or they had perished together. The fact that six Sand ninja still couldn't finish off the three from Konoha indicated that the latter were not weak; they had to be elite chūnin, at least.
Considering the real situation, if they joined the fight alongside those three Konoha elites, the situation was not as pessimistic as Ryo thought. Even in a direct confrontation, they could hold out until support arrived. And if the traps worked well, they might finish off all the enemies before reinforcements even got there.
"Captain, what... what do we do now?" Chōmi asked, grabbing Sasuke's sleeve, her face pale and so frightened she didn't know what to do.
At that moment, Sasuke seemed to be possessed by an inexplicable Will of Fire. He stood tall and said righteously, "You all retreat first, I'll cover you!"
'A battle between jōnin carries too many risks. It's better for these three little ones to stay away so they don't get in the way.'
"No way!" Ryo protested loudly, his heart wracked with guilt. This intelligence failure was his fault. In such a dangerous situation, how could he abandon his captain and live in disgrace?
"I'll stay with the captain to cover the rear! Tekudō, you take Chōmi and retreat first!"
Ryo seemed to have made a fatal decision. He took one last, deep look at Chōmi, silently etching her figure into his heart forever. Then, he stood firmly beside Sasuke, facing forward. Though his eyes reflected an acceptance of death, his body overflowed with unshakeable determination.
"Huh?" Sasuke's eyes lit up, genuinely surprised. He knew Ryo's personality well. 'Isn't this the Will of Fire?'
No, to be more precise, it was something more fundamental. It was a Ninja Will.
It was a unique spiritual will, a self-awakening that emerges when facing the cruelty of battle. The Third Hokage, despite his flaws, was a political genius. He had managed to combine this innate "Ninja Will" with the ideology of the "Will of Fire," creating an extraordinary motivational tool. Other villages tried to imitate it, like Iwagakure with its "Will of Stone," which proved its effectiveness.
Now, Ryo had awakened that will. His path to becoming a chūnin was practically inevitable. As long as he didn't die young and kept that flame alive, with his clan talent, it was almost a certainty that he would reach the rank of jōnin in the future.