Chapter 9: The Ninja Will
"Captain, I will continue to work hard in the future." After another round of Sasuke's subtle psychological training, Ryo quickly became aware of his own processor's shortcomings and declared that he still had much to learn.
Woof, woof, woof!
At that moment, the ninja hound Akimaru barked, startling Ryo from his daze. Ryo quickly sniffed the air, analyzing the biological pheromones carried on the wind, perceiving the approaching enemy. Sasuke also formed a Tiger seal with one hand, his other resting on the water bat, activating his sonar radar's resonance amplification to enhance his own perception.
"Captain, the trap is set," Tekudō called out, having just finished his work.
Just then, Ryo's face went pale, as if he had seen a ghost. "This is bad!" he said grimly. "In addition to the three puppet masters, there are six other strange ninja scents in the air!" He immediately slumped, blaming himself for the intelligence failure that had just plunged his squad into a life-or-death crisis.
The enemy wasn't a three-man puppet team. It was a full, standard nine-man Sand Village elite battalion. The scents were foreign, carrying the unique wind and sand of their homeland, tainted with the unmistakable stench of blood and rust. There was no familiar scent from the Aoba Squad; they had clearly been annihilated.
A full elite battalion. Nine ninja, at least chūnin, with three squad leaders who were likely jōnin.
And on their side? One chūnin and three genin. They couldn't stop them. They'd be crushed at the first touch, without even a chance to retreat.
"What?" Tekudō's eyes went red as he stared at Ryo. "You said nine elite Sand ninja are coming?" The veins on his thick neck pulsed violently.
"Mmmph," Ryo grunted, his knuckles white as he unconsciously gripped Akimaru's mane, causing the hound to whimper. There was no mistake. They were upwind; his sense of smell was at its peak.
"Haha!" Sasuke's face looked terribly grim, but inwardly, he was laughing.
The Inuzuka sense of smell, while excellent, was far less precise than the Hyūga clan's Byakugan, which was like a walking X-ray machine. His own ultrasonic radar, however, was nearly on par with it. While it couldn't see the flow of chakra, its three-kilometer range and 360-degree perspective far surpassed Ryo's olfactory perception.
And his radar told a different story. The Aoba Squad hadn't been wiped out. Ryo had detected the scents of three Konoha intelligence ninja fleeing for their lives, pursued by six elite Sand ninja. One of the Suna pursuit squads had likely been held up or killed by the Konoha intel captain. The remaining six hadn't yet managed to defeat the three Konoha elites, which meant those three were powerful, at least elite chūnin themselves.
If they chose to support them, their combined forces could hold out until the mobile patrol arrived. And if their traps were well-placed, they might even be able to wipe out the Suna pursuers themselves.
"Captain, what do we do now?" Chōmi asked, pale and grabbing Sasuke's sleeve, unsure of what to do.
At that moment, Sasuke seemed to be possessed by an inexplicable will. He stood tall and said righteously, "You three retreat first! I will cover the rear!"
"How is that possible!" Ryo protested loudly, his heart wracked with guilt. This was his mistake. How could he abandon his captain to face such danger alone? "I will stay with the captain to cover the rear! Tekudō, you take Chōmi and retreat first!" He looked deeply at Chōmi, silently engraving her figure into his heart forever. He then stood beside Sasuke, his eyes full of the determination to die.
Huh? Sasuke's eyes lit up. He knew what this was. Not the Will of Fire, not exactly. It was more fundamental. A unique spiritual will, an self-awakening in the face of a cruel battle. He decided to call it the Ninja Will.
He now understood the Third Hokage's political genius. He had masterfully blended this raw Ninja Will with the political ideology of the Will of Fire. A creation so brilliant, other villages had tried to copy it.
Ryo had just awakened his. As long as he didn't die young, with this newfound will and his clan's bloodline, his promotion to jōnin was almost a certainty.