"Recently, don't send out any ninjas from the Blast Team," Rekiseki remembered and instructed.
Since he's still serving as the battlefield commander, Rekiseki basically delegated the authority of the Blast Team to Iwakura, the deputy captain of the Blast Team.
The death of fellow village ninjas is certainly heart-wrenching, but if the casualties are elite members of his Blast Team, Rekiseki would feel even worse.
The ninjas of the Blast Team are the true elites of Hidden Rock, and each member was cultivated with a great deal of resources.
Iwakura nodded.
On the other side, Jiraiya had just returned from the Land of Rain to the battlefield not long ago, only to encounter something that gave him a headache.
"Without looking at the forehead protector, I'd think we're battling the Hidden Mist Village; how come Hidden Rock's assassinations have become so formidable?" Jiraiya couldn't understand after looking at the recent battlefield intelligence.
It makes sense for Hidden Rock to launch a counterattack, and harassment in small squad forms is normal battlefield strategy, but the level shown was unfamiliar to Jiraiya.
It's not his first day battling Hidden Rock on the Land of Grass battlefield, he knows what assassination tactics Hidden Rock is good at and their level.
Compared to squad assassinations, Hidden Rock is more skilled in legion battles.
Even ninjas of Jiraiya's level face great danger in a siege by the Hidden Rock Ninja Squad.
During the Second Great Ninja War, Jiraiya almost died at the hands of the Hidden Rock Squad, leaving a profound impression of their legion combat capabilities.
"Could it be that reinforcements from Hidden Rock have arrived?" Namikaze Minato speculated after contemplating.
"Maybe Hidden Rock specifically cultivated a squad of ninjas adept at Earth Release to carry out assassinations during the truce period."
Jiraiya showed a thoughtful expression.
What Namikaze Minato said made sense; Earth Release has unique advantages for ambush assassinations, after all, Earth Release allows burrowing.
"In that case, we have to consider the possibility of a large-scale offensive by the Hidden Rock Squad," Jiraiya put down the intelligence and said.
With the appearance of Hidden Rock reinforcements, the attitude of the Hidden Rock Village becomes evident: Hidden Rock intends to fight with Konoha to the end.
According to conventional thinking, harassment is followed by a full-scale attack on the fatigued enemy.
"Next, I'll join the patrol squad to clear away the approaching Hidden Rock," Namikaze Minato volunteered.
With the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, he possesses great mobility, and Namikaze Minato also has strong perception abilities. Even if he doesn't arrive in time to save Konoha Ninja, he's likely to avenge them, making him the best candidate to resolve the harassment crisis.
"I'll leave it to you, Minato," Jiraiya trusted Minato to handle the situation.
Immediately, Jiraiya hurried to contact the top management of Konoha, reporting the latest intelligence while applying for a Perception Squad to head to the battlefield.
A major battle might occur soon on the Land of Grass battlefield; he needs to prepare thoroughly.
...…
Early morning, Konoha Village.
Shisui got up and first dealt with breakfast for himself and Zoroark.
Due to the sudden increase in body size post-evolution, Shisui worried Zoroark wouldn't have enough food, so he greatly increased the portion of Zoroark's breakfast.
After the one person and one fox finished breakfast, as usual, they went to Obito's house, ready to invite Obito to the Southern Border Forest for cultivation.
Before arriving at Obito's house, Zoroark deliberately used genjutsu to maintain the appearance of Zorua.
Obito and Charizard didn't notice anything unusual.
"Hey hey, old flame, why don't you fly me over? I'm too lazy to move after eating," Zoroark chuckled and requested.
"Your wings are so cool and handsome, flying must feel amazing."
Hearing Zoroark compliment its handsomeness, Charizard instinctively puffed its chest and raised its head, swallowing back the words it had originally planned to refuse.
Those who compliment its handsomeness are insightful good people, destined to live meaningful lives.
"Roar!"
Charizard stood in front of Zoroark, flapped its wings to fly, and then gestured with its paw to indicate Zoroark should jump on its back.
Zoroark lightly leapt onto its back.
The moment Zoroark landed on Charizard's back, Charizard's expression changed slightly, and even its wings paused for an instant, almost causing it to fall.
Feeling the weight on its back, Charizard was puzzled; how could such a small Zorua be so heavy?
"Roar."
Charizard took off with effort, implying that Zorua should lose weight.
It had carried Zorua before, but that time felt light, completely different from now.
Charizard was curious how Zorua managed to maintain its figure, being that much heavier but not looking round.
"Damn it, you're my Summoning Beast!" Watching Charizard take Zorua flying, Obito was envious.
Obito had long wanted to ride Charizard and fly in the air.
But Charizard had always resisted, stating it's not the kind of dragon to be ridden, so Obito had to temporarily give up.
Forcing Charizard to carry him too dangerous; Obito suspected Charizard might deliberately fly high and then throw him off.
Even if it might catch him in mid-air to prevent him from dying, the experience was definitely unpleasant.
"Shisui, you pamper Zorua too much; you should use genjutsu to hypnotize it to train more." Upon reaching the Southern Border Forest, Obito deliberately shared his cultivation insights with Shisui in front of Zoroark.
Obito knew Shisui wouldn't do that; he just wanted to annoy Zoroark, who always caused trouble for him and rode Charizard, which he couldn't.
"No, thanks," Shisui declined, looking at Obito with a hint of pity.
Zoroark isn't a forgiving fox; Obito is sure to be played with by Zoroark for saying that.
"You evil Obito, trying to corrupt kind-hearted Shisui, you want a beating!" Zoroark couldn't sit still.
If Obito infected Shisui with his notion of not taking it seriously, that's just unacceptable.
"By you?" Obito was indifferent.
If he got serious, Zorua's genjutsu would almost have no effect on him.
And besides genjutsu, Zorua has no other notable abilities.
"Can't call Charizard to join," Obito added.
If Zorua invited it, his flying dragon might eagerly want to join the fight against him.
"No need to trouble; I can handle it solo," Zoroark said confidently.
Zoroark's attitude raised Obito's suspicion.
Obito knew Zorua's strength, where's this newfound confidence coming from?
"Could it be a breakthrough in strength?" Obito thought suspiciously.
Cautious Obito activated the Three Tomoe Sharingan.
If he faltered against Zorua, it'd be humiliating; after all, it's an unevolved Pokemon.
And Kakashi, who had just arrived, heard the man-fox conversation and showed a contemplative expression.
Although Zorua might seem goofy at times, overall it's clever enough not to pick fights out of the blue.
"Obito's going to have a hard time," Kakashi was certain.
Thinking this, Kakashi nonchalantly took out his camera, hoping to capture some new interesting photos to use against Obito.
But to Kakashi's disappointment, during the opening salvo, Zoroark's surprise and genjutsu interference combined with high-speed movement, tackling Obito into submission in under a minute, didn't result in any interesting scenes.
"Huh? No, how come..." Obito was baffled.
Sure, he was a bit careless, but Zorua's strength was extraordinarily abnormal.
With that strength unevolved, evolving would be overpowered.
Obito wanted to complain to Mokgetsu, there's a cheating Pokemon here!
"Stop teasing Obito," Shisui showed a helpless smile, asking Zoroark to take it easy.
"He's trying to corrupt you."
Zoroark lifted the genjutsu, revealing its evolved appearance.
Obito: ...
Those who play with genjutsu have deceitful hearts, except Shisui.
"Just as expected," Kakashi wasn't surprised.
Zorua had the guts to take on Obito directly, obviously had evolved.
Adding Zorua's proficiency in genjutsu, Kakashi figured out it was Zoroark disguising itself with genjutsu.
PS: There's another chapter coming up later, but it'll be a bit late; I suggest reading it tomorrow.
Starting a new month, striving to set a good pace for updates!