"Almost there..."
At night, after Yubi had once again eliminated a group of pursuing Iwagakure ninja, he had an accurate understanding of his current strength, including the power of his ninja tools.
This time, he ventured deep into the Land of Birds, using the pretext of rescuing people to engage with Iwagakure forces.
Firstly, it was to test his current level.
Secondly, it was to experiment with the power of his ninja tools.
After all, on the battlefield, as a Medical Ninja, his primary focus still had to be saving lives.
He couldn't truly fight with his hands completely free.
Of course, the most crucial point... was to find a'source' for the origin of the ninja tools.
After gradually eliminating some of the personnel from the pursuing Iwagakure Strongholds, Yubi felt it was time to slip away.
Because judging by the situation, the number of people coming to hunt him down in the subsequent waves was increasing.
If he delayed any longer, he might very well end up like the future Raikage.
Fortunately, every time he acted, he swiftly and cleanly eliminated his targets... he didn't waste much time and was constantly on the run, keeping Iwagakure perpetually chasing after him, so those who found him were only small squads arriving one after another.
Otherwise, once entangled and surrounded, his current situation would be even more dangerous.
"The main Iwagakure force must have dispatched Jonin-level experts, and... possibly more than one."
Yubi speculated.
He glanced at his empty waist pouch.
Because he was the one running ahead, when he reached a certain location, he had some time to set up traps in advance to ambush the Iwagakure teams.
Items like exploding tags, Senbon or Shuriken, including his scalpel, were all things needed to design conventional traps. Yubi didn't carry that many things on him, only his scalpel and some exploding tags purchased earlier in the Village, but even those were used up in just this one day.
However, he had also gained a considerable amount of negative experience points.
The number of Iwagakure ninja who had died by his hand, from start to finish... had already reached sixty or seventy people.
If these people had appeared together, the situation would have been different again; he would definitely have had a hard time dealing with them.
Fortunately, after news about him spread, Iwagakure's desire to kill him seemed to have reached its peak.
Additionally, the incident was relatively sudden, and time was pressing. The other side obviously hadn't formulated any detailed battle plan... they came scattered, essentially delivering themselves to their deaths.
That's how he managed to make a profit.
"Everything should be done in moderation... if I keep playing around, I might end up capsizing in a ditch." Yubi thought, quickly leaving.
This last wave of Iwagakure that had found him had a relatively long time gap... clearly something was off.
This indicated that the Iwagakure side was most likely planning something specifically targeting him.
Yubi understood one thing very clearly.
The number of troops Iwagakure had sent to garrison the Land of Birds was comparable to Sunagakure's, and this was only a part of the Village's combat power... The entire border line of the Land of Birds was quite long. With this number of personnel, it was impossible to deploy forces to all areas in a short time; they could only focus on key points for defense, preventing him from escaping back to the Land of Wind.
Even if they could manage it, with the troops spread out over a certain distance, the number of Iwagakure ninja stationed at any point would be pitifully small. With his strength, breaking through... wouldn't be difficult.
This was also why Iwagakure was clinging to him so tenaciously.
They were afraid he would slip to the border and easily return to the Land of Wind.
Yubi kept moving, and the pursuing Iwagakure ninja were all silenced. Even if subsequent personnel could deduce his movement route through 'markers' or battlefield information, they couldn't pinpoint a specific coordinate... A few hours later, a sliver of dawn light appeared on the horizon.
Several Iwagakure Jonin team leaders looked at the cold corpses before them, their expressions extremely grim.
Just ahead was the territory of the Land of Wind.
And judging from the traces at the scene, undoubtedly... their comrades had been killed by that brat.
They had indeed predicted some of the routes Yubi might take to escape back to the Land of Wind and had arranged personnel... but the border between the Land of Birds and the Land of Wind was too vast; they couldn't station sufficiently substantial forces at every location.
They could only dilute the number of Iwagakure ninja, serving a reconnaissance purpose.
Hoping to buy some time... but ultimately, they failed.
From start to finish, in just one day and one night, nearly a hundred Iwagakure ninja had died by that brat's hands.
This was almost equivalent to the losses they would suffer in a small-scale battle with Sunagakure.
And now... all of this... was caused by Yubi alone.
"Sunagakure and we are well aware of each other's Stronghold locations... This Yubi must also be quite familiar with them; he knows where our defenses are weaker." one Jonin said in a deep voice.
"A Medical Ninja, killing nearly a hundred of our people..."
Someone gnashed his teeth, his words filled with hatred.
"To be able to achieve this level... putting aside that brat's strength, there are serious gaps in our intelligence. The reason for this is that we only considered him a Medical Ninja, not a major threat based on the battle situation. Clearly, our people simply don't understand his methods; this brat is not just a pure Medical Ninja... Judging from the injuries of our fallen comrades, it should be a Ninjutsu with extremely fast activation and formidable power. Additionally, the bodies of the deceased contain potent poison..."
Another Jonin added.
Poison again.
Truly fitting Sunagakure's style.
"It seems... this Genius from Sunagakure is even more terrifying than we thought. Although it's a bit embarrassing, we should report truthfully to the Village. Let the Medical Team examine the bodies, and based on the Analysis Team's previous observations of that brat on the battlefield, research his specific abilities."
The former suggested.
"Request that the Tsuchikage declare war on Sunagakure... After this Ninja World War ends, Sunagakure's situation is not optimistic. I've heard their Village's 'recovery' speed is quite slow; their weakened state is obvious. With our Iwagakure's strength, we can absolutely defeat them... We shouldn't drag things out like this anymore. If Sunagakure doesn't dare to clash head-on with us, then they should hand over that brat. Otherwise..." A young face in the Iwagakure team spoke with a sinister tone.
"It's not that simple... If it were during the early or Middle Stages of the Ninja World War, it might be feasible to do that. But now, the situation in several Villages is not optimistic. Although we are stronger than Sunagakure, we aren't that much stronger. Even if a real fight breaks out, Konoha might not intervene, but Kumogakure would definitely kick us while we're down. It's not easy for them to reach into the Land of Wind, but opposing us is quite simple... Kumogakure is holding a bellyful of anger from their dealings with Konoha and is just looking for a place to vent. Even if it's not a full-scale war with us, just harassment would be enough to give our Village a headache..."
"Not to mention... there's also the troublemaker Hidden Mist. They are the Village that suffered the lightest losses in this Ninja World War and are eager to take advantage of other Villages. Even if we ultimately defeat Sunagakure, do you think our Iwagakure would come out unscathed?"
The Jonin team leader sighed.
"Your idea isn't wrong, but... the timing isn't right."
"I can't swallow this anger."
"The battlefield... is like this. If you feel resentful, then find a way to make them pay a greater price on the battlefield."
"This grudge... we, Iwagakure, will remember it!"