Chapter 197: Arranging Real Combat
There was only one thing Ishiro could be certain of: this group of ninjas of unknown origin was probably not targeting him. However, this didn't mean Ishiro would let them be.
As an advisor of Iwagakure, if Ishiro chose to turn a blind eye when encountering ninjas from other countries or rogue ninjas causing trouble in his own country, then Ishiro could forget about ever becoming Kage.
Although the configuration of this group of ninjas was quite formidable by conventional standards, for a ninja of Ishiro's level, dealing with them wasn't difficult.
The reason Ishiro didn't use overwhelming force to eliminate this group was that he wanted to use them to give his three disciples some combat experience.
However, his three disciples were too weak.
If it were Chiko Tomoe and her two companions, it would have been simple. Ishiro would only need to hold off most of the enemies, leaving a few for Chiko Tomoe and the others.
But Ogura Saki and her group were far too weak. The individual combat power of all three was far from reaching Chūnin level.
Ishiro felt that having the three of them team up against one Chūnin was probably their limit.
But how could he make this group split their forces without alerting them?
The opponent had three Jōnin, after all. If Ishiro went up alone, he was very confident of annihilating them all. But if he brought Ogura Saki and the other two, Ishiro truly wasn't sure he could prevent any accidents from happening to the three of them.
After thinking for a moment, Ishiro decided to wait and see. Since these people were hiding here, they must have some scheme; they couldn't possibly stay put indefinitely.
Regardless, regular reconnaissance and patrols were always necessary. Even if they had a sensory ninja like Ishiro among them, they couldn't possibly forgo other forms of reconnaissance.
Because this was the heartland of the Land of Earth. What if an Iwagakure ninja discovered them first and then gathered ninjas to encircle them? Ishiro didn't believe this group would dare to take such a risk.
Ishiro personally found the employer for this mission and briefly explained his intentions. The official immediately agreed.
If it had been any other ninja, this official probably wouldn't have agreed so easily. It was mainly because of Ishiro's status.
Ishiro was already an advisor officially appointed by the Daimyō. His status was much higher than this official's.
At the same time, as a member of the Land of Earth, he had also heard of Ishiro and believed that with Ishiro's strength, he could protect him thoroughly.
Otherwise, if another Jōnin had told him that three Jōnin were lying in ambush ahead, this official would probably have turned and fled immediately.
Ishiro arranged for this official and his retinue to rest temporarily in a relatively hidden place, while he himself led his three disciples somewhat closer to that hiding spot.
About one kilometer from where the group of ninjas was hiding, Ishiro and his three disciples stopped. While Ishiro activated his sensory ninjutsu to observe, he made a hand gesture to Matsutani Shinya.
Matsutani Shinya understood and once again began his reconnaissance.
After a while, Matsutani Shinya learned from the animals that the group of ninjas had made no unusual movements for the time being.
Ishiro nodded. He naturally knew this outcome. His purpose in doing this was merely to train Matsutani Shinya.
Matsutani Shinya did not disappoint Ishiro. Although this was arguably the first time he had used his special ability for reconnaissance, he didn't recklessly command the small animals to directly observe those ninjas.
Instead, he had the small animals pretend to engage in normal activities near that hiding place.
All of this was naturally within Ishiro's perception. Ishiro nodded at Matsutani Shinya's performance. Then, the group of four silently waited for the enemy to make a move.
As Ishiro expected, after about half an hour, there was a change at the hiding spot. One Jōnin, leading three Chūnin, left the hiding spot and cautiously began to scout the surroundings.
Ishiro didn't move but continued to wait for Matsutani Shinya's feedback.
After a few minutes, Matsutani Shinya also received the information.
"Ishiro-sensei, those people have split their forces. Four of them have left their original position. However, I can't determine their direction of travel in time," Matsutani Shinya whispered to Ishiro.
Ishiro nodded, not surprised. Using animals for reconnaissance had a drawback: it wasn't timely enough.
If the enemy was traveling long distances with a fixed direction, then it was fine. But the current situation was that the enemy was scouting the surroundings without a fixed route, and Matsutani Shinya didn't dare to let the small animals make too much contact with the enemy.
Therefore, Matsutani Shinya could only obtain intelligence that the enemy had split their forces, but he couldn't get more detailed information.
Ishiro nodded, signaling Matsutani Shinya not to act rashly and to leave the rest to him.
Matsutani Shinya's performance was already sufficient.
After a while longer, the enemy's four-man reconnaissance team entered the perception range of Ishiro's "Mind's Eye," which was about two hundred meters.
After confirming again that the other enemies one kilometer away had made no unusual movements, Ishiro began to use hand gestures to assign tasks to Ogura Saki and the other two.
Ishiro's arrangement was simple: the three of them would deal with one Chūnin, and he would handle the rest.
After waiting a little longer, the four-man squad, originally 200 meters away, approached to about 100 meters. Ishiro immediately gave the command: "Move out!"
Ninjas were not like ordinary people. Ambushing ninjas was too difficult and could easily backfire. As the party with the advantage, Ishiro didn't want to take risks.
The first to strike was naturally Ishiro. Ishiro used the A-rank area-of-effect ninjutsu, Great Raging Water Shockwave.
There were two purposes for using Great Raging Water Shockwave. The main purpose was to disrupt the enemy's formation, giving his three disciples an opportunity to face one Chūnin.
The secondary purpose was to confirm whether these people were indeed enemies. Ishiro's sensory ninjutsu could only sense chakra; the identities of these people were still based on what the small animals communicating with Matsutani Shinya had conveyed. If he accidentally injured his own people, Ishiro's culpability would be great.
Ishiro and his group were clearly dressed as Iwagakure ninjas. As long as they showed themselves, Ishiro could easily distinguish friend from foe by the changes in the opponents' expressions.
The moment Ishiro rushed out from his hiding place, he confirmed that these people were not Iwagakure ninjas. Not only because they lacked even the most basic disguise and were all in the standard attire of rogue ninjas, but also because of their horrified expressions – the guilty look of a secret plot being discovered.
The chakra fluctuations caused by Ishiro's Great Raging Water Shockwave were not small. These four had clearly sensed something. After Ishiro revealed himself, the four had already adopted a combat formation.
However, the opponent hadn't expected Ishiro to start with an enhanced A-rank large-area ninjutsu. So, although they were vigilant, their preparations were clearly insufficient, and their formation was immediately scattered.
At this moment, Ogura Saki and the other two also emerged from behind Ishiro. After briefly identifying the individuals, Matsutani Shinya made the call, and they charged towards one of the Chūnin.
Seeing that his three disciples had made their choice, Ishiro no longer held back. Taking advantage of the fact that the four opponents were now separated, he activated his Lightning Release stimulation method, rushed to the side of a Chūnin, and a sword ki slash directly inflicted heavy injuries on this Chūnin, who hadn't yet recovered from the A-rank ninjutsu.
Ishiro frowned; this Chūnin's reaction was somewhat beyond his expectations.
"Very fast reaction speed." If it had been an ordinary Chūnin, they definitely wouldn't have been able to dodge Ishiro's slash just now. For this person to still have the strength to dodge Ishiro's slash while under the influence of an A-rank ninjutsu meant he was definitely an elite among Chūnin.
This level of skill wouldn't be considered weak even within Iwagakure's Anbu. It absolutely couldn't be a rogue ninja.
This series of thoughts flashed through Ishiro's mind in an instant, and then he delivered another slash.
This time, the Chūnin could no longer dodge Ishiro's attack. Already heavily injured by Ishiro's previous slash, facing Ishiro's renewed strike, he only managed to slightly turn his head.
Ishiro's slash, originally aimed to behead, only took off half his head. Although he still successfully killed this Chūnin, Ishiro had a very bad feeling.
This person was definitely an Anbu elite from a major ninja village. If for no other reason, just from his resolute expression when facing a desperate situation just now, and his utmost effort to survive, it was clear.
Thinking of this, Ishiro didn't immediately proceed to kill the other two according to his original plan. Instead, he turned to look in the direction of his three disciples.
The performance of the three was conventional; they didn't rashly choose close combat but adopted long-range offense and defense.
Ishiro hesitated for a moment, then created an earth clone to monitor the Chūnin fighting his three disciples. Only then did he refocus his attention on the two enemies on the other side.
Due to the delay just now, these two had regrouped, and the Chūnin had already sent a rescue signal.
Actually, he didn't need to send a signal; Ishiro's A-rank ninjutsu, Great Raging Water Shockwave, had caught the attention of those in the hiding place from the very first moment.
Recalling the resolute look of the Chūnin from before, Ishiro no longer waited but chose to attack with all his strength.
While accelerating with the Lightning Release stimulation method, Ishiro also activated his Porcelain Release.
Since there were reinforcements, the remaining two chose to engage in a hit-and-run tactic. Their objective was clear: to tie down Ishiro as much as possible and wait for reinforcements.
Before launching the surprise attack, Ishiro had anticipated that the opponent might make this choice, which was why he had rushed towards the opponent with all his strength from the very beginning.
The strategy of these two ninjas was very correct. When Ishiro launched a surprise attack on the first Chūnin, he had displayed strength beyond their ability to cope. Choosing delaying tactics was very correct.
However, Ishiro attacking with full force was not something they could have predicted, especially when the Porcelain Release slurry enveloped them from a wide area. The Jōnin was the first to cry out in alarm, "It's mud! This person is Iwagakure's Kekkei Genkai user, Ishiro!"
After saying this, the Jōnin shouted again, "Signal a retreat! I'll hold him off!"
Ishiro was stunned for a moment, then realized. The retreat he was talking about was for the approaching reinforcements to retreat.
How could that be allowed? He hadn't even figured out this group's purpose for hiding here.
Ishiro's body flashed, avoiding the Jōnin who was attempting to entangle him. Then he fully controlled the slurry to surge towards the Chūnin from all directions.
The Chūnin, having heard the Jōnin's command, was about to take out a signal flare but now had no choice but to do his best to dodge.
However, as he dodged with all his might, he soon discovered something was wrong. The slurry that was pressing towards him with imposing momentum seemed to have lost its flexibility. After one pounce missed, it lost its power, appearing to move forward solely on inertia.
"This mud seems to have lost control?" This thought flashed through the Chūnin's mind, immediately followed by a sense of foreboding.
Just as this Chūnin realized something was wrong, the Jōnin's urgent voice also came over: "Be careful!"
But it was too late. Ishiro, having dispelled the Porcelain Release just now, had instead cast the Water Pressure Line technique.
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