Chapter 154: The Mission Begins

*The next day.**

**Morning.**

Seimei, along with a group of prepared Konoha Jonin, led hundreds of Konoha Chunin and Genin, rushing towards the front line stronghold against Iwagakure.

In team, there were also a dozen or so flatbed carts, mostly loaded with standard ninja tools such as kunai and shuriken.

Obviously, these were all prepared by headquarters for this counteroffensive.

However, to be honest, Seimei was not very optimistic about the outcome of this counteroffensive.

As for the reason... It was very simple. The war had been going on for two years, and Konoha's forces were already severely depleted. Even if they captured some strongholds this time, once Iwagakure's reinforcements arrived, they most likely wouldn't be able to hold them.

As for annihilating the enemy's effective forces... This could perhaps be achieved, but Iwagakure had many ninjas and simply didn't care about the deaths of some cannon fodder ninjas.

In this way, after the exchange, it would definitely be Konoha who suffered the loss in the end.

However, they couldn't afford not to fight, because if they continued to delay, Iwagakure would transfer all the more than 10,000 ninjas who had besieged and killed the Third Raikage to the front line.

Although it was impossible for all of them to face Konoha, even if one-third were allocated, it would be enough to put pressure on Konoha's front line.

At that time, the situation would return to what it was before—Iwagakure using its superior forces to gradually erode Konoha's defense zone.

Obviously, this was a slow death.

Orochimaru must have also seen this, which was why he planned to gamble.

If they could take advantage of the emptiness of Iwagakure's front line this time to eliminate a large number of their effective forces, then it wouldn't matter even if they were pushed back later.

At least, the front line would be stabilized.

However, Seimei, with his memories of his past life, knew clearly that things would definitely not go according to Orochimaru's plan.

Otherwise, a few months later, Konoha wouldn't be pushed to its doorstep.

Thinking of this, Seimei couldn't help but secretly warn himself in his heart that he must be careful when he went to the battlefield this time and must always be vigilant against accidents. Maybe Iwagakure had prepared some secret weapon.

If he died on the battlefield by any chance, he would regret it to death.

The wheels rolled and rolled, and a group of Konoha ninjas, like ghosts, surrounded the carts tightly and moved forward in silence.

······

Sunrise and sunset.

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

The march of a large force was different from a single person carrying out a mission. It would probably take Seimei only about a day to return from the front line.

And this trip, according to the plan, would take about three days.

And this was because everyone was a ninja and could support high-intensity marching. If it were an army composed of ordinary people, don't even think about arriving in less than ten days or half a month.

Seimei glanced at the surrounding environment and estimated that in another half a day, they should be able to reach the target stronghold.

At that time, after two days of rest, they would immediately launch an attack. Time was very tight.

Fortunately, in the past two days, there had been no harassment incidents. Otherwise, in two days, they might not have been able to recover.

Swaying and swaying, half a day passed quickly.

Before Seimei and the others arrived at the stronghold, the people there had already received the news and sent someone to contact them.

However, this had little to do with Seimei. This aspect was mainly handled by a Jonin from the Nara clan.

At the same time, the other party was also the commander-in-chief of this mission.

After the two of them finished communicating, everyone set off again.

About ten minutes later, Seimei and the others arrived at the target stronghold.

This was a small village. Hundreds of people poured in, instantly filling the entire village to the brim. It was not very convenient to rest.

However, no one complained, or rather, there was simply no time to complain.

The attack would be launched in two days, and they had to seize the time to rest.

After everyone was settled, the Nara clan Jonin held a Jonin meeting to specifically arrange the work of each Jonin.

Seimei was assigned to the combat group, and the main task was to deal with high-value enemy targets, which was actually to deal with enemy Jonin.

Obviously, compared to other abilities, the Nara clan Jonin believed more in his frontal combat power.

Seimei had no objection to this, because he also needed some 'equally matched' battles to hone his 'swordsmanship'.

'Swordsmanship', after all, was used to kill people. Although simple practice could also increase proficiency, it was much worse compared to progress in battle.

Just like during that time in the Land of Earth, although he didn't have extra time to practice swordsmanship, after a few battles, his proficiency still increased rapidly.

Of course, this was also due to the help of shadow clones, but it was undeniable that battle could indeed accelerate the growth of 'swordsmanship'.

It just so happened that after the Three-Tomoe Sharingan evolved to its limit, ordinary Jonin were no longer his opponents.

And without any worries, Seimei could completely use battles to hone his 'swordsmanship'. This was a win-win choice.

······

In a flash, the time came two days later.

This evening.

After Seimei and the others finished dinner, they began to check their equipment.

During this period, no one spoke, only the "clanging" sound of ninja tools colliding.

For a time, the entire stronghold was filled with a depressing atmosphere.

Ten minutes later, everyone finished checking, and the Nara clan Jonin announced the departure of the team.

A group of Konoha ninjas were divided into four teams and, led by more than twenty Jonin, rushed towards the Iwagakure stronghold in a fan shape.

According to the plan, they would officially launch the attack at eight o'clock in the evening, and now they had to set off in advance.

The reason for this time limit was because it was not just their stronghold that was attacking this time. All the strongholds on this front line that were confronting Iwagakure would launch an attack at the same time.

However, those strongholds were mostly feints, and only their stronghold was the main force.

And after they achieved clear results, the other strongholds would follow up depending on the situation, thereby forming a comprehensive suppression of Iwagakure.

It could be said that they were the "spearhead" of the entire front line. Only when they broke through the Iwagakure defense line on the opposite side could the subsequent major counteroffensive plan be carried out smoothly.

From this, one could know how heavy their task was.

Taking advantage of the cover of night, Seimei and his party arrived at a location less than five kilometers away from the Iwagakure stronghold.

According to the intelligence that had been ascertained in the past few days, the Iwagakure stronghold in front would actively shrink its defense circle every night.

As for the reason, it seemed to be because the stronghold was empty. The other side did not dare to spread their manpower too far at night and could only concentrate on defense.

In this way, next, as long as they dealt with the sentries along the way, they could go all the way to within one kilometer.

At that time, they could launch a full-scale attack.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The four teams of Konoha ninjas advanced side by side, making no noise along the way.

The Iwagakure sentries were all discovered in advance by the Byakugan, and then dealt with by special Jonin who were good at assassination, just like an assembly line operation, simple and efficient.

About half an hour passed, and everyone finally reached within the one-kilometer defense circle of the Iwagakure stronghold.

At this time, it was no longer easy to approach quietly.

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, a team of people exposed their whereabouts.

(End of chapter)