*Tap, tap, tap…*
The heavy footsteps echoed in Kozo Onoga's ears. Dragging his injured right leg, he struggled to look up in the direction of the sound. There, he saw Seii approaching, step by step.
A wave of fear washed over him, and Kozo Onoga instinctively tried to back away, gripping a kunai tightly in his right hand as if it could offer him so sense of security.
Seii noticed the small, defensive gesture but had no intention of wasting ti on a re pawn. In a flash, he appeared before him.
Before Onoga could launch a desperate last attack with his kunai, Seii locked eyes with him, casting the Genjutsu: Sharingan to seize control of his mind.
With a swift kick, Seii knocked the kunai from his hand, then activated the genjutsu to draw out the information he needed from Onoga's mories.
Monts later, Seii's brow furrowed.
After a brief pause, he ford a hand seal, using the Chakra Absorption Technique to drain every ounce of chakra from his captive. Once Onoga was lifeless, he moved on to another Mist ninja, this ti a chūnin, and used the Sharingan technique once again to probe his mories.
It turned out that Kozo Onoga wasn't the only one left behind as a pawn by the Mist. In the recent battle, Seii had either incapacitated or critically injured several other Mist ninjas.
After the retreat order from Tanabe Tomohiko, only a few were taken away by their comrades, while the rest were abandoned on the battlefield.
This left Seii with a wealth of potential sources for intelligence—and for chakra replenishnt.
In terms of intelligence, since these ninjas were all part of the sa squad, the information each held was mostly consistent.
However, there was an abundance of chakra, more than his body alone could absorb. He had to split into a few shadow clones to not only keep watch on the periphery but also practice so low-profile skills to use up the excess chakra.
After Seii had drained the chakra from all surviving Mist ninjas, he began piecing together the information he had gathered.
At first, he'd thought the Mist ninjas were on a routine mission and had only encountered his team by coincidence.
But from Onoga's mories, he realized this was no accident—or at least, not a simple one.
One of the purposes of their presence here was specifically to intercept the Leaf's incoming reinforcents.
The Mist had sohow caught wind of their reinforcent plans.
According to Onoga's mories, earlier that day, he had received orders from his superiors to accompany Tanabe Tomohiko and several other jōnin to set up an ambush here.
Several other squads received similar orders but were stationed at different ambush points.
This all pointed to the fact that there was definitely a spy from the Mist Village within the Leaf's front-line encampnt.
The only silver lining was that their precise route hadn't been compromised.
In other words, encountering Seii and Uchiha Shisui was a stroke of chance.
This confird Seii's earlier assumption: the ambush hadn't specifically targeted him and Shisui; otherwise, the Mist would have sent a much larger force.
And so, they were able to turn the tables.
"As expected, strength is always the most important factor!" Seii muttered, setting aside further thoughts and waiting for Shisui.
From Onoga and the others' mories, Seii knew the Mist squad's overall strength.
Based on this knowledge and his understanding of Shisui's capabilities, he figured that while Shisui might not be as swift and clean as he was, he would face no real danger, only a bit more trouble.
There was no need for Seii to assist; he could wait patiently.
Sure enough, about ten minutes later, Shisui returned.
Seii saw that Shisui's breathing was steady, with no visible injuries, indicating he had won without much difficulty. In contrast, Seii's uniform was torn in several places from his initial use of Earth Release: Hardening Technique to block attacks, giving him a slightly worn-out appearance.
Fortunately, there was no blood.
Seeing this, Shisui breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Seii, did you discover anything new?" he asked.
He asked about new discoveries because he, too, had used the Genjutsu: Sharingan.
When the Sharingan's genjutsu mastery reaches level 4, it allows for precise control, guiding targets into specific mories for mory-reading effects.
With Shisui's talent, even without proficiency aids, he could easily exceed level 4 in using the Genjutsu: Sharingan.
In other words, Shisui was also able to extract relevant intelligence from the minds of the Mist ninjas.
However, since Seii's Sharingan skills were more advanced, with a stronger ocular power, he could access even more detailed information.
Seii had no intention of hiding anything. He shared the intel he had gathered and so of his speculations.
After hearing Seii's account, Shisui's expression turned grim.
He, too, understood that it didn't matter whether the Mist ninjas had co specifically for them.
What mattered was that they were here at all.
This alone was enough to illustrate the dire state of the current situation.
Seeing Shisui still deep in thought, Seii said, "All right, let's not dwell on it. Let's go!"
With that, he released his Shadow Clones, quickly absorbing the experiences and mories they had accumulated.
Shisui glanced at the abruptly disappearing clones and, without further thought, acknowledged with a nod. Together, they continued toward the rendezvous point.
Having just been ambushed, they remained vigilant on their journey.
Although their combined strength made it unlikely that the Mist ninjas could pose a serious threat, they didn't dare to let their guard down.
After all, the Mist chūnin and genin level enemies knew limited information. Who knew if the Mist Village had planted a smokescreen and was planning a more calculated attack?
When it cos to survival, you can never be too cautious.
Thankfully, the worst didn't happen.
The remainder of their journey went smoothly, without any threats.
Ti passed.
About an hour later.
The two left the forest.
Shortly afterward, they encountered a Leaf patrol team.
After verifying their identities, they entered the Leaf's defense zone.
Following a series of additional checks, they finally arrived at the rendezvous point, the forward camp on the southern defensive line.
Beyond this camp lay the battlefield.
Standing within the camp, Seii could faintly sense the tumult of the battlefield beyond.
Clearly, things ahead were anything but peaceful.
*End of Chapter*
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