The surging snakes hissed and roared, blocking the path of the Sunagakure ninjas under the lead of several giant serpents.
Naturally, they were no match for these Sunagakure ninjas, but their sheer numbers could always delay the enemy's progress.
In a pursuit battle where they were outnumbered, besides running away, they also needed to find ways to delay and split the enemy.
They couldn't face too many enemies at once; only then would they have a chance to turn defeat into victory.
The group moved quickly through the rainy night, specifically darting toward areas with complex terrain.
Counter-tracking, temporary traps, and various small tricks and gadgets.
Escaping and surviving was originally Orochimaru's forte.
Uchiha Gen and the others wouldn't dare say they had fully mastered Orochimaru's teachings, but they had learned at least a few tricks.
These endless small methods left the other members of the team dumbfounded.
They're that good at this?
But why are you all so skilled?
"Still haven't completely shaken them off. The enemy leader is still leading a seven-man squad right behind us."
Hyuga Hizashi widened his Byakugan and said loudly.
Still haven't shaken the tail?
Uchiha Gen frowned slightly and turned to observe the surrounding terrain.
They were currently in a forest overgrown with thorns and complex terrain, making it excellent for evading pursuit; otherwise, they wouldn't have plunged in here.
"There are no eyes around us now. How on earth is the other side managing to follow so closely?"
Maiko said, unable to understand.
She and Hyuga Hizashi had been in the same squad since they graduated as Genin.
Over the years, they had experienced many dangerous situations, but they had always escaped safely thanks to the Byakugan.
But being bitten so tightly like this was a first.
Could the other side also have a top-tier sensory ninja in the Ninja World?
"Hizashi, is there anything unusual about the opponent?" Uchiha Gen asked.
From the current situation, the opponent definitely had unknown reconnaissance methods.
If this continued, they would eventually be caught and held back, falling into an encirclement again.
If they hadn't relied on the small tricks Orochimaru taught to delay for a long time, they might have been entangled by now.
They had to know what the opponent was relying on to achieve this so they could find a way to counter it.
But they had too little intelligence on the opponent.
In this situation, the only way to directly obtain relevant information was the Byakugan.
"Right, I'll observe again."
Hyuga Hizashi nodded and proactively popped a soldier pill into his mouth.
The Byakugan also consumes chakra.
He was the main force for reconnaissance on this mission.
To save chakra while keeping the Byakugan active for a long time, he would turn it on and off periodically.
The group of six sped up and dashed forward once more.
A moment later, Hyuga Hizashi couldn't help but exclaim.
"I see it! There's something wrong with their leader!"
"Every so often, he uses Earth Release to dive into the ground or uses a strange ninjutsu to merge into the trees."
"It seems that guy's sensory ability is related to this."
"Moreover, once he merges into them, he almost completely blends with the earth and trees."
"If I hadn't happened to witness this scene, I'm afraid I would have found it very difficult to detect him!"
This was the first time in his life he had seen a concealment method that could bypass the Byakugan in such a way.
Hizashi's expression was grim, while Uchiha Gen's face had already turned ashen.
What's going on?
Able to merge into the ground and trees with extremely high concealment, even bypassing the Byakugan—
In the Ninja World, the only one with this ability is White Zetsu.
Besides their Mayfly Technique, who else could do this?
Damn, I've been targeted by old man Madara!
This is a setup that old geezer laid out for me!
Hiruzen Sarutobi treats me like Uchiha Obito, and Uchiha Madara also treats me like Uchiha Obito!
Phew—
Calm down.
Uchiha Gen took a deep breath, his mind racing.
No rush, calm down first.
I'm not that idiot Kenji; I have a brain.
Madara is already old.
Otherwise, with his personality of "Heaven is number one, Earth is number two, and I'll fight Hashirama for number three," he would have personally captured the nine Tailed Beasts to form the Ten-Tails by now.
Why would he need to spend so much effort cultivating a successor and manipulating Nagato?
He can't make a move himself!
All I need to deal with are these White Zetsu acting as Madara's henchmen!
"Map!"
Uchiha Gen fell back a step and jumped beside Hyuga Hizashi.
The latter hurriedly handed over the map.
Konoha Village already had maps of the Land of Rain's terrain, but sufficiently powerful ninjas or large-scale ninja armies were capable of altering the terrain to a certain extent.
On this trip, besides recording the defense intelligence of the Sunagakure teams, they would also update these geographical conditions.
"Go this way, we're leaving the forest!"
"Once we're out, we'll take the water route directly to the large lake at the edge of the mountains and escape from there!"
Only large rivers and lakes can isolate the Mayfly Technique.
The view over a large lake is broad, but once you dive underwater, as long as you avoid White Zetsu and swim for a distance, you can shake off the pursuit.
However, if they wanted to return to the camp, they would have to take a longer detour.
"They're about to catch up!" Hyuga Hizashi said anxiously.
"I'll stay behind to cover the retreat; it should buy you enough time to escape," Maiko suddenly spoke up.
"Are you sure?"
Uchiha Gen's gaze was somewhat complicated.
He actually—had also wanted someone to stay behind to cover the retreat, and the most suitable person for that was Maiko.
Before he could harden his heart, she had proactively suggested it.
Look at the identities of the others: Sarutobi Enjun, the son of the Hokage; Choji, the heir to the next head of the Akimichi Clan; Gen, the super genius of the Uchiha who appears once in decades; and Hyuga Hizashi, a member of the branch house but the second son of the clan head.
Even Uzuki Ruri, though from a small family, was Orochimaru's disciple and the Hokage's direct grand-disciple.
If any of them were missing, Uchiha Gen would find it hard to explain.
Only Maiko was truly of commoner origin.
The world has always been this cruel and cold.
Maiko smiled bitterly.
She naturally understood this logic as well.
If even Uchiha Gen felt it would be hard to explain, then it was even more so for her.
Even the slightest impact would be a weight her family could not bear.
No matter how small the possibility, she didn't dare gamble on the character of those high-ranking figures.
Commoner ninjas were merely tools cultivated by the Konoha higher-ups to weaken the proportion of ninja clan power and stabilize their own authority and status.
If one had good potential and could grow into a Jonin, that would be considered changing one's fate, granting some degree of influence.
Even extraordinary talents like Orochimaru and Minato Namikaze, who could meet a powerful teacher and inherit strong ninjutsu, might even look forward to the position of Hokage.
But everyone else was just cannon fodder.