Chapter 267: The Early Bird Gets the Worm

In the northwestern border of the Land of Fire, an ANBU squad was resting, and this squad was led by Tatsuma. Leaning lightly against a tree branch, Tatsuma said casually:

"I didn't expect these people to be so impatient. It's been less than forty-eight hours since our movements were leaked. But attracting twenty people really surprised me."

At this moment, Minato, who had lifted half of his mask and was drinking water, speculated: "Maybe our sensing ability wasn't exposed. Caterpillar San also hid very well, not letting anyone discover his ability."

"Maybe if we appeared together, others would think we were a three-man squad; his presence is too low," Vulture said half-jokingly. Caterpillar adjusted his mask and replied, "You're talking about our Clan Head and the young Clan Head. I just look more common; there's a difference between that and having low presence."

Listening to Vulture's words, Tatsuma also remembered the young Clan Head of the Aburame family, who was his classmate. What was his name again, Aburame something.

Unable to recall, Tatsuma didn't dwell on it and instead asked, "You are all ninjas with rich experience in assassination and counter-assassination. In your estimation, when will they launch an attack on us at the earliest?"

"In two hours."

"Me too."

Vulture and Caterpillar gave their answers. Minato thought for a moment and said, "Considering their approach speed, two hours is a bit too short. The closer they get to us, the slower their approach will inevitably be. I estimate three hours, adding half an hour for travel and another half an hour for observation."

"Leader, what do you think?"

Vulture looked at Tatsuma. Tatsuma thought for a moment and said, "Two and a half hours. I support what Owl said—they'll add half an hour to their approach, moving slower to ensure a more cautious advance. 

However, I don't think they'll spend an extra half hour observing. After all, ANBU's rest time isn't as long as normal sleep; four hours is the maximum. We've already rested in place for half an hour, so in two and a half hours, it will be three hours total, which is the latter part of our rest period when our attention is at its lowest—perfect for them to launch an attack. Also, it will be close to five in the morning by then. If there are any Mist Village defectors among them, they'll definitely use the morning fog to cover their movements."

"Let's see whose guess is closest to the actual result then."

Vulture nodded with a smile and then stretched, saying, "By the way, Leader, Caterpillar, Owl, I'll leave the night watch to you. After all, I'm not good at sensing, so I'll rest more to prepare for the battle."

Though he spoke with a smile, his tone was somewhat serious. Being surrounded by numerous defectors, he couldn't really relax.

In fact, Tatsuma had explained everything to him long ago, analyzing the pros and cons. Tatsuma, as the leader, even clearly stated that if Vulture didn't want to participate in the operation, Tatsuma could find someone to expedite his retirement application.

However, Vulture didn't know what came over him at that moment; he suddenly agreed to Tatsuma's plan. At that time, he thought he wanted to end his ANBU career on a high note.

Vulture knew that his combat talent was actually not great; otherwise, he wouldn't have been assigned to a team that specialized in handling corpses. Unlike Caterpillar, who was assigned to corpse handling because of his talent and abilities suited for the job, Vulture's limited abilities meant he could only join some non-combat teams.

Vulture's retirement application had been submitted even before Tatsuma officially took over the team. However, retiring from ANBU has never been a simple matter. Except for special approvals, other ANBU ninjas must go through a series of rigorous reviews and undergo a series of confidentiality training before they can officially leave.

Vulture originally planned to just quietly get through his remaining time. When he previously went on missions with Tatsuma, he acted the same way—not seeking merit, but just trying to avoid mistakes.

Recently, Vulture's retirement application had made progress. His background check was approved, and after completing some more procedures, he would be able to arrange for the confidentiality training required for retirement. At this stage, Vulture could actually request for his ANBU files to be sealed and enter a non-mandatory duty status. However, facing a leader less than half his age, Vulture still agreed to participate.

Perhaps Tatsuma's plan had stirred a heart that had stopped beating fervently ever since Vulture accepted his own mediocrity. Yet, this resurgence of youthful spirit, like a last burst of life, couldn't last long. From the moment he stepped out of the village again, that sense of boldness began to fade.

Although his mission as a ninja would not let him back down, the fearless mindset he had before leaving the village had almost been worn away. Tatsuma sensed something was off but didn't point it out. Instead, he nodded and said, "Alright, but don't slack off during the battle."

"Of course not."

Vulture nodded, and Tatsuma continued, "By the way, stay close to me during the fight. I've just learned some Wind Release techniques. Watch carefully and give me some pointers when the time comes."

Vulture was momentarily stunned. His proficiency in Wind Release wasn't particularly impressive either. Although he was a ninja from the Shimura clan, not every Shimura ninja excelled in Wind Release. However, he quickly responded, saying:

"No problem. After I retire, it won't be convenient for us to interact much. During this time, I'll share more with you."

Their conversation was so natural that even Caterpillar didn't notice anything unusual. He was just puzzled that Vulture's Wind Release proficiency could actually instruct their genius leader. He didn't expect that after being teammates for so many years, Vulture had still held back some of his skills from them. Fortunately, he had done the same.

"Let's take turns every hour. I'll go first, then Caterpillar-san, and lastly, Leader, you take the final hour."

Minato didn't notice anything unusual either, especially since he knew Tatsuma had been practicing Wind Release recently, and it was from the Shimura clan. So it was normal for him to seek guidance from a Shimura clan ninja.

Hearing Minato's suggestion, Caterpillar nodded. He didn't like to stand out or give opinions and was quite content to quietly follow orders.

Tatsuma naturally didn't refuse, especially since the last hour was the most likely time for an attack, and he wasn't comfortable letting others keep watch then. They had been traveling for the past two days and needed some rest. The conversation stopped, and one person kept watch while the other three rested.

Two hours later, without needing Caterpillar to remind him, Tatsuma woke up and exchanged hand signals with Caterpillar, who was looking in his direction. Caterpillar then began to rest while Tatsuma once again sensed the surrounding area. The nearest chakra was now less than a kilometer away.

At this distance, it was already within ambush range for ninjas. Given their speed, they could cross this distance quickly and launch an attack. However, the defectors hadn't made this move yet, as they were both cooperating and competing with each other.

Admittedly, the bounty for Tatsuma and Minato was very substantial, even split among twenty people. But the defectors who arrived this early were all greedy individuals. How could they trust their temporary allies? While plotting how to kill Tatsuma, they were also scheming on how to eliminate their teammates. How could such a group have any real teamwork?

Therefore, a kilometer was still not safe enough for them. Tatsuma was not in a hurry and pretended not to notice anything unusual, continuing to wait.

800 meters... 700 meters... 500 meters...

Sensing those chakra clusters, Tatsuma didn't wake the others because the situation was still under control. However, fog began to form—natural mist mixed with mist that clearly had chakra reactions. As expected, there were defectors from the Hidden Mist among them.

Of course, it could also be defectors who had learned the Hiding in Mist Jutsu from somewhere, as it wasn't a particularly difficult ninjutsu to learn. Its learning difficulty could be considered the lowest level. However, the potential of this technique was high. According to Sakumo Hatake, some strong individuals in the Hidden Mist Village could even use Hiding in Mist Jutsu to obscure a sensing ninja's chakra sensing. This was a skill that required a thorough understanding of water nature chakra transformation.

300 meters... 250 meters...

A slight smile appeared under Tatsuma's mask. It was almost time.

"Bang! Boom boom boom~"

Suddenly, a series of explosions erupted. The three who were only resting and not truly asleep— immediately sprang to their feet and entered combat mode. Under Tatsuma's sensing, he realized that this wave of explosions only caused minor injuries to two of the defectors. These people, who lived underground, knew how to survive better than most ninjas.

Perhaps deterred by the explosions or due to injuries, Tatsuma noticed that six of the twenty defectors had fallen behind, with some even turning around to leave. As for the remaining fourteen, they accelerated toward their position. Soon, shadows emerged from the forest, surrounding Tatsuma and his team.

Tatsuma quickly observed the fourteen individuals. Although the dense fog obscured their appearances, he could still identify several of them based on certain characteristics. Even though the rest were hard to recognize, Tatsuma had already made some estimations about their strength.

The value of a sensing-type ninja, especially one like Tatsuma who relied solely on chakra sensing, extended far beyond just detecting hidden enemies.

The Inuzuka and Aburame clans have many sensing ninjas and each has their own Secret Jutsu advantages, but they also have shortcomings. For instance, they cannot estimate an enemy's strength based on their chakra levels. Although chakra levels don't equate directly to strength, most ninjas follow this pattern. After all, besides the nature of the jutsu, the most significant factor affecting a jutsu's power is the amount of chakra.

The more chakra one has, the more ninjutsu they can cast, and they can also increase the coverage and destructiveness of a single jutsu. Those with less chakra are always limited in this regard.

After easily assessing the strength of these individuals, Tatsuma found some of them to be troublesome, but not excessively so. As an appetizer, he was quite satisfied.

"Ding~"

At that moment, a notification sound rang in Tatsuma's mind. It was from the battle two and a half hours ago. After receiving it, Tatsuma immediately initiated another match:

"I thought only active ninjas would diligently carry out missions, but it seems even defectors like you are so driven."

"I've long heard that Sakamoto Tatsuma is sharp-tongued, and it seems to be true. But we have our reasons for coming early—after all, the early bird catches the worm."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma let out a low laugh, making his already somewhat comical Yaksha mask appear even more amusing. He looked at these people and said, "Indeed, but since we all got up early, who is the bird and who is the worm is still uncertain."

With those words, Tatsuma's figure vanished, a flash of silver-white light appearing in the dense fog.

---- 

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