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Chapter 175 is a trap!
Chapter 177 is a trap!
"Captain Orochimaru, are we really not going to cooperate with the Land of Iron in launching an attack tonight?" Lan Wu asked, somewhat worried.
"Why should we care what they do? These samurai sold all of their chakra metal quota for this year to the Land of Lightning—they should be supported by the Hidden Cloud Village." Akaishi was very disdainful of the Land of Iron's plight.
"But we do need the warriors of the Iron Kingdom to hold the north—" Lanwu retorted.
Of course, Lan Wu's main reason was that she had witnessed the tragic state of the Iron Country villages and wanted to reduce the casualties in the Iron Country.
Lanwu and Chishi usually agree on the same point of view when facing enemies or friends. However, there is one situation in which their thoughts will be completely different: when the other party is neither an enemy nor a friend!
The Uchiha's "sentimentality" rarely extends to people who are unrelated to them.
If an Uchiha were to bestow their innate ability to love upon everyone, including strangers, then—
The world will witness the most twisted form of "love".
However, both Akaishi and Lanwu were mistaken about this matter.
Before Orochimaru could say anything, Jiraiya said, "It's not just about cooperating; it's more like—being prepared to pull off a cunning counterattack."
"?" Akashi and Lanwu still didn't understand.
"It should be said that they turned the tide," Orochimaru corrected from the side.
Akaishi then realized what was happening and quickly asked, "Could it be—Hanzo hasn't left yet?"
If the Land of Iron is to be defeated, it will be because of this move!
"Most likely, we sensed it when you chased after that fleeing Rain Ninja—this heart-pounding feeling is definitely not something an ordinary ninja would experience. There shouldn't be another one like that in Amegakure," Jiraiya explained.
Just as Akaishi and his two companions were chasing after them, Jiraiya and Orochimaru were also keeping a close eye on the other side.
At this moment, a silent sense of crisis spread from the Rain Ninja's position.
It wasn't some kind of sensory ninjutsu, but rather it triggered their instinctive reactions—
The samurai only noticed that Jiraiya and Orochimaru were both very quiet at the time, but they didn't pay much attention to what was happening here. Instead, they were watching the reactions of the Rain Ninja.
Otherwise they would notice —
Jiraiya's throat trembled, like a toad facing its predator, standing motionless on guard, ready to croak at any moment. Orochimaru's snake-like eyes narrowed, and his lips trembled slightly—his tongue trembled like a snake flicking its tongue.
Although they didn't detect anything on a sensory level, they were now certain that there was something in the Rain Ninja that could threaten—no, something that could absolutely kill them!
"Then—" Akaishi was a little nervous when he heard that Jiraiya-sensei had almost admitted that Hanzo was also there.
After several encounters, Akaishi has basically "demystified" the Jonin of Amegakure—he's nothing special, far inferior to the Jonin of Konoha.
but----
Whether judging from the rumors circulating in the ninja world, or from the current reactions of Captain Orochimaru and Jiraiya, this Hanzo—
They are all genuine beings, on par with the "Shadows" of the Five Great Hidden Villages!
"Don't worry, of course we won't confront Hanzo directly," Orochimaru said matter-of-factly.
Jiraiya looked reluctant, but still said, "Since it concerns the Land of Iron, I believe they are prepared to make sacrifices."
That's right, Orochimaru and Jiraiya made their decision instantly upon realizing that Hanzo was still there.
People of the Land of Iron, if you've been fooled, just go and charge!
"That old salamander is hiding here like a turtle; he must have a much bigger plan—it's definitely not just about luring those samurai away," Jiraiya emphasized.
"That's right, we'll definitely give them some initial benefits, and we won't show our full strength right away. The Rain Ninja who stopped you today don't seem to be many, and they give the impression that most of them have already retreated. So—then, the Rain Ninja who give the impression that they've retreated will most likely not be in the same place."
"Instead, they should lie in ambush at a distance and wait for Hanzo to make his move, hold back and trap those samurai, and then the other Amegakure ninjas will rush out and annihilate them in one fell swoop!"
"So what we need to do is to attack this Rain Ninja ambush while those samurai are fighting Hanzo. As long as our results are significant enough, those samurai will have died a worthy death."
Orochimaru's tone was very calm.
The current Duan Yue City has gathered half of the warriors' strength from the Land of Iron!
If three-tenths of the original strength were lost before, and another half were lost now, the Land of Iron would only have 30% of its original strength remaining.
but----
If Orochimaru's team can deplete most of the Rain Ninja who are ambushing them, then the Land of Rain's expedition will still be a failure.
Of course, Orochimaru made meticulous arrangements regarding how to implement these plans, from how to efficiently kill the enemy to what to do when "the battle results cannot be effectively expanded," "encountering Hanzo," or "Hanzo's reinforcements."
Then Orochimaru's team rested for most of the day at the accommodations arranged for them in Duan Yue City. They didn't come out until night. They ate "soldier ration pills" to fill their stomachs. Although eating too many pills had side effects, the advantage was that they didn't have to go to the toilet!
"Those Konoha ninjas went back and started resting, without even eating lunch or dinner. It seems they will definitely provide assistance later." Sanmu breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little smug.
"But they definitely won't come to the main battlefield, so we still need to prepare for a tough battle—" Mifune was interrupted by Mitsuki halfway through his sentence: "Hmph, Mifune, do you think you're more impressive than us just because you killed a Jonin from Amegakure?"
"I wouldn't dare," Mifune said, bowing his head.
"Give me your Kurosawa, and you can stay here and guard the city!" Sanmu said irritably, stretching out his hand to him.
The other great swordsmen and sword masters were all just watching from the sidelines.
Mifune tightened his grip on Kurosawa's hand, then said, "I'm sorry, I cannot obey your orders."
Demanding a samurai's sword is not a legitimate order in the Land of Iron, and Sanmu could only stare helplessly at this point.
That evening, Sanmu borrowed a famous sword from another swordsman. Although it wasn't a grass sword, it was still usable.
After nightfall —
The warriors of the Land of Iron are ready for a night raid.
Although no Konoha ninjas appeared, Sanmu wasn't prepared to wait any longer; clearly, the Konoha ninjas didn't want to...
Take action.
"Extinguish the city tower lights, and do not alert the Rain Ninja!" Sanmu ordered.
Mifune:————
Although Mifune knew that Sanmu disliked him and had even been left to guard the castle, he couldn't help but remind him, "Great Swordsman Sanmu, let's just do it as usual—otherwise, wouldn't it be easier to alert the Rain Ninja?"
When Sanmu heard Mifune's voice, he instinctively wanted to curse, but after thinking about it, it seemed to make sense.
"Shut up! That's exactly what I meant. I'm afraid you'll start something else just to bluff!" Three Eyes snapped.
Mifune:————
Mifune watched as over a thousand samurai departed from Duan Yue Castle and headed towards the Rain Ninja camp not far away. For some reason, an ominous premonition arose in his heart.
At that moment, a samurai came to report: "The swordsman Mifune, the ninja of Konoha—has disappeared."
"Yes, we don't need to worry about him." Mifune nodded.
As expected, the ninjas of Konoha still made their move.
only----
Mifune's unease did not lessen; on the contrary, it became even more intense.
Soon after, shouts of battle echoed in the distance, and as the poisonous fog rose and fell, the shouts gradually faded into the distance.
Clearly, even under the cover of the "poisonous fog," the Rain Ninja could no longer withstand the onslaught of sheer numbers and began to retreat!
The warriors of the Land of Iron, including the Three-Eyed Warrior, were all holding their breath and naturally wanted to beat the dog when it was down and pursue it all the way.
Meanwhile, on a nearby hillside, Orochimaru's shadow clone, concealed, watched the battle between the samurai and the Rain Ninja from afar.
At this distance, without the Byakugan, it's not really possible to see anything specific. All you can see is that the general situation is that the samurai are chasing the rain ninja!
A hundred miles away, in a valley —
More than 300 Rain Ninja are hiding here!
Ninjas rarely appear in such large groups. Even during the Ninja World War, battlefields with hundreds of people were very rare, with only a few key battles. However, due to the unique terrain of the Land of Iron and the large number and close-knit nature of the samurai, the Rain Ninja had no choice but to do so.
The entire Orochimaru squad was also waiting outside the valley at this time.
-
Jiraiya and Orochimaru had already located the ambush site of the Rain Village, but they were still unsure whether Hanzo was among them.
Therefore, the first step of Orochimaru's plan was to wait for Hanzo to appear before launching a sneak attack on the Rain Ninja lying in ambush here!
However, a long time has passed since the night raid on the Land of Iron, and there has been no movement from Orochimaru's side, so it is clear that his shadow clones have not sent back any messages.
"Captain Orochimaru, could Hanzo be among the Rain Ninja lying in ambush?" Akaishi asked worriedly.
The key to Orochimaru's plan's success lay in Hanzo not being with the Rain Ninja lying in ambush; otherwise—
They dare not attack the Rain Ninja who are lying in ambush!
Although more than 300 Rain Ninjas, half of whom were below the level of Konoha Chunin and the other half were only barely at the level of Konoha Chunin, it was still very risky for five people to attack 300 ninjas.
If Hanzo were also there, there would be absolutely no chance.
"Given Hanzo's personality, he'll most likely be with the decoy force," Jiraiya echoed Orochimaru's earlier guess.
"What about Hanzo's personality?" Akaishi was still a little worried.
"Hanzo may seem bold and generous, with ambitions to conquer the world, but deep down he is still petty and narrow-minded. He is afraid to risk his life for great things, but he will risk his life for small gains. Even in this situation of feigning defeat, he certainly will not watch the bait be given away for nothing."
Orochimaru paused for a moment, then smiled slightly and said, "Of course, if I'm wrong, we'll retreat to Mount Sanlang immediately."
In any case, Orochimaru will only take action against the Rain Ninja after confirming that Hanzo has appeared over there.
What if I guess wrong?
Even if the Land of Iron suffers a setback, Orochimaru will go to Mount Sanrou, the stronghold of the Land of Iron samurai, to assist them in their final defense.
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