After a short period of Chapter 53: Movements of the Byakugan and reorganization, everyone began checking their equipment, adjusting their condition, and applying camouflage.
A reminded them while checking his ninja tool pouch, "Let me remind you again—be careful to hide your identities."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
At this moment, everyone's appearance had changed drastically. They were dressed like ordinary wandering ninja. Their clothes were worn and somewhat tattered, and some even wore masks.
Asuka also put on a mask, and his clothes had patches sewn onto them.
This disguise was meant to deceive the Konoha ninja. Although their goal was to impersonate Iwagakure and provoke a war between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth ahead of schedule, they still had to respect the intelligence of both sides.
If they attacked openly while wearing Iwagakure uniforms, it would immediately arouse Konoha's suspicion. After all, no one about to commit an attack would conveniently reveal which faction they belonged to.
Asuka's mission was to make Konoha believe that Iwagakure was preparing to officially start a war. This would force Konoha to send out large numbers of scouts to gather intelligence in advance.
In essence, they were "beating the grass to startle the snake."
By alerting Konoha early, they hoped to pressure Iwagakure into launching the war sooner than planned, thereby reducing the pressure on the Hidden Mist.
Asuka led the team as they openly infiltrated the Land of Fire.
Soon, they encountered their first Konoha patrol squad.
The Konoha ninja were briefly stunned when they saw the appearance of Asuka's group, but they quickly reacted. With the ninja world already engulfed in war, no wandering ninja would dare appear so brazenly at the border between two countries.
Without hesitation, the Konoha ninja fired a signal flare to alert their allies.
Moments after the flare shot into the sky, the patrol squad was wiped out by the Hidden Mist team.
After all, the strength of Asuka's squad was overwhelming. An ordinary Konoha patrol team was no match for them.
The only reason the signal flare had been fired successfully was because Asuka had allowed it.
Seeing the signal flare rise into the sky, Asuka knew their plan had officially begun.
He then spread out his sensory perception and began searching for other Konoha squads.
---
A few days later, the actions of Asuka's team successfully attracted the attention of Hyūga Yūya, the Konoha commander stationed at the Fire–Earth border.
After reading the intelligence report, he set it down and spoke thoughtfully.
"The movements of this squad suggest they are scouting our Konoha base. Based on the traces we've discovered so far, they are steadily approaching our position."
A staff officer beside him spoke up.
"That's correct. Their combat strength is also very high. They must be an elite squad. An ordinary ninja village could never assemble a team of this scale. Lord Yūya, do you think they might be from Iwagakure?"
"We can't jump to conclusions," Yūya replied.
"The ninja world is far too chaotic right now. They might be scouts from another village. Without solid evidence, we can't assume they belong to Iwagakure. If we misjudge the situation, it could trigger a conflict between the two countries."
"As expected of you, my lord. Your judgment is very thorough."
"Increase the number of sensory ninja and expand the search area. I want to know their movements as soon as possible."
"Yes, Lord Yūya."
The staff officer paused before continuing.
"There's one more matter. Your clansman, Hyūga Hayama, arrived at the front line yesterday. He's insisting on going to the front. How would you like to arrange it?"
Hearing this name immediately gave Hyūga Yūya a headache.
As everyone knew, the Hyūga Clan was divided into the Main House and the Branch House.
Yūya himself was an outstanding member of the Branch House and had become an Elite Jōnin at a relatively young age.
Hyūga Hayama, on the other hand, was a member of the Main House and was considered a genius. He had already reached the jōnin level at just nineteen years old.
However, despite his strength, he had never experienced a real large-scale war.
That was why he had insisted on coming to the front lines.
The elders of the Hyūga Main House couldn't persuade him otherwise, so they eventually allowed him to travel to the Fire–Earth border, where the war had not yet officially begun, to gain some experience.
After all, the commanding officer here was a member of the Hyūga Branch House who could help protect him.
(Author's note: In canon, it's only known that A obtained the Byakugan during the Third Great Ninja War, but the exact time is never mentioned. When A later encountered Shisui, he already possessed the Byakugan. Therefore, I arranged for a poorly judged Hyūga from the Main House to provide the opportunity for A to obtain the Byakugan. Of course, the main purpose is to give the protagonist a path to acquire the Byakugan.)
What troubled Hyūga Yūya the most was Hayama's identity as a member of the Main House.
The Hyūga Clan guarded the Byakugan extremely strictly.
Normally, members of the Main House were not allowed to participate in war. Branch House members had the Caged Bird Seal, which could destroy their Byakugan if necessary. The Main House, however, had no such safeguard.
That was why the clan rarely allowed Main House members to take part in dangerous missions.
But Hyūga Hayama was highly favored by the Main House elders. They also hoped that real battlefield experience would further strengthen him.
Combined with Hayama's persistent requests, they finally agreed to let him come to the front line.
To ensure his safety, the clan arranged for five Hyūga Branch House jōnin to accompany and protect him.
Hyūga Yūya sighed.
"That young master is truly troublesome."
He thought for a moment before deciding.
"Arrange for two patrol squads to accompany him on a patrol around the front lines."
Two patrol squads combined with five Hyūga jōnin would be more than enough to handle most dangers.
Even if they encountered a powerful enemy, they could still ensure Hyūga Hayama's safe retreat.
This was already the best protection Yūya could provide.
After all, a patrol around the front lines wouldn't take them into truly dangerous territory.
The staff officer quickly carried out Yūya's orders and personally selected two patrol teams with strong members to act as escorts.
When Hyūga Hayama learned that two patrol squads would accompany him, he still complained unhappily. He insisted that Hyūga Yūya was underestimating him and claimed he didn't need any protection at all.
In the end, after some persuasion from the clan's jōnin, he reluctantly accepted the arrangement.
That very day, he set off excitedly on patrol.
---
However, the daily patrols soon became exhausting and monotonous.
Before long, the young master of the Main House began to grow bored.
That evening, after finishing their patrol, everyone sat around a campfire.
Hayama complained loudly.
"What the hell? Patrolling every day is so boring. Why haven't we encountered any invading ninja yet? My hands are itching for a fight!"
A Hyūga Branch House member who was warming food over the fire handed him a freshly roasted fish and tried to comfort him.
"Master Hayama, those little rats must have heard you were coming and were too scared to show themselves."
Those words pleased Hayama greatly.
"Hahaha! Of course!"
"It must be exactly like that. Those rats know this young master is here, so they're too scared to stick their heads out!"
What he didn't know was that, more than a dozen kilometers away, Asuka and his team were hiding in the shadows.
In fact, Asuka had already noticed this unusually large team earlier that day.
Their numbers were far greater than those of an ordinary patrol squad, which immediately caught his attention.
So he had been quietly following them from a distance, waiting for the perfect moment to launch a surprise attack.
More importantly, Asuka could clearly sense that the number of jōnin-level chakra signatures within the group was unusually high.
There might be a very valuable target among them.
He shared this observation with A, who agreed with his assessment.
A was also an excellent sensory ninja. Although his detection range wasn't as wide as Asuka's, after hearing the description, he could vaguely sense several powerful chakra sources in that direction as well.
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