Mobilization was complete, and Team 121 set out.
Nara Yoshito followed directly behind his captain. He looked at the tall, broad silhouette of Tetsumaru's back and rubbed his smooth, chin—thinking curiously.
Is Sensei a true practitioner of the Will of Fire, or a calculated egoist?
Technically, Tetsumaru's decision to directly confront the massive Suna army wasn't the "optimal" choice. From the perspective of Konoha's overall interests, Team 121 should have sent the intelligence back immediately and then focused on harassing the enemy to buy twenty-four hours.
As long as the intel reached the village in time, the Hokage could mobilize a fresh force to wait at the border. Three days later, they could ambush this exhausted, overextended Suna army. It was common knowledge that ambushing an army in "attack mode" was even easier than hitting one on a standard march. A crushing, morale-boosting victory would be guaranteed.
However, that would mean Team 121 was shifting all the risk onto the shinobi back at the village. Konoha would have to undergo an emergency mobilization, suspend all ongoing missions, and commit everything to the ambush.
If the village's response was too slow and the enemy actually managed to infiltrate the Land of Fire, Konoha would be in deep trouble—and the blame placed on Team 121 would be immeasurable.
Even if the ambush was a spectacular success, resulting in the annihilation of the Suna force and the capture of the Kazekage, Team 121 wouldn't necessarily get the credit. Their fate would depend entirely on what the higher-ups chose to believe.
If the leadership approved, Team 121's actions would be hailed as "Flexible and decisive, adapting to the situation to secure a brilliant victory—meritorious."
If the leadership disapproved, it would be "Unauthorized abandonment of mission parameters, placing the village and nation in jeopardy and forcing unnecessary risk—guilty."
Tetsumaru was mostly worried about the three Elders. His relationship with them was non-existent at best and hostile at worst. Those Elders who had been recalled to the village one after another—either due to defeat, injury, or sheer futility—had lost significant face. They had returned to the village in disgrace.
Once the war was won, would they try to pick apart Orochimaru's record?
Absolutely.
Tetsumaru was certain that with the Third Hokage's protection, Orochimaru would be fine; at worst, he'd just be sent back to his research labs. But Tetsumaru? If he were the "nail" they decided to hammer down, things wouldn't go so well.
A transmigrator's life was worth more than gold. Tetsumaru had no intention of handing his destiny over to three pieces of "garbage."
The sixteen Suna companies were fanned out in a line from north to south; Tetsumaru had numbered them all. He did the same for the second row of battalions.
After a thorough analysis, Tetsumaru, Yoshito, and Hiro chose their first target: Company 4 in the first row, followed by Battalion 1 in the second row, before circling back to wipe out Companies 1 through 5.
They chose a canyon for the engagement. At the start of the battle, the ridges would block the line of sight between the companies and the battalions, buying them precious minutes.
After debating their assault, lure, and interception tactics, the discussion ended. Tetsumaru began shifting the swarm into position, finalizing the preparations.
A Suna Genin crested a ridgeline, scanning the area with professional paranoia. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he signaled his teammates and began a slow descent.
As he entered the forest at the valley floor and leapt onto a fallen trunk, he suddenly realized the back of the log was covered in massive insects. Their oil-black carapaces shimmered with a lethal, metallic sheen.
Without thinking, the Genin threw himself backward, simultaneously firing a red danger flare into the sky.
His teammates were veterans. Seeing his movement, they didn't hesitate to weave signs. In perfect unison, they unleashed a C-rank Wind Style: Wind Cannon.
The black-backed insects didn't move. They simply exploded. Individually, the bugs were small and their self-destruct was weak, but the ten explosive tags tucked under each carapace carried massive force.
This trap was Yoshito's brainchild. He had calculated the most likely footpaths and identified the perfect "stepping stone" location. Tetsumaru had hollowed out a log, packed the center with crushed stones, and moved it into position. Yoshito had spent hours camouflaging it to ensure a perfect "first strike."
The Landmine Insects triggered the tags, shattering the hollow log and sending the stones screaming toward the Suna ninjas like shrapnel.
However, the hailstorm of wood and stone was met by the incoming spheres of compressed air from the Wind Cannons. Aside from the first Genin who had been too close and was pelted by debris, the explosion caused no further casualties.
Watching from a distance, Nara Yoshito was stunned. These ninjas were nothing like the ones from the logistics units yesterday. Their quality was in a different league. No wonder Sensei didn't want to rely on traps today.
At that moment, several more Suna squads rushed forward. Under the command of an elderly Chunin, they began weaving signs in a synchronized rhythm.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
A titanic blast of wind was unleashed by nine Suna ninjas simultaneously. Tetsumaru, hidden on the opposite slope, blinked in surprise. Suna's Legion Jutsu.
Legion Jutsu had originally been pioneered by the Hidden Stone—a method of using coordinated strikes under an experienced commander. A combined jutsu could merge the chakra of all participants into a single, "super-sized" spell with power far exceeding the sum of its parts.
Legion Jutsu demanded extreme discipline. The participants had to be experienced, possess a deep rapport, use identical techniques with similar power levels, and maintain perfect timing.
In the Hidden Stone, the Explosion Corps were the masters of this art, having used it to secure legendary victories. Konoha, Suna, and Kumo had all studied the technique after suffering at its hands.
Among the three, Konoha's ninja attributes were too diverse to coordinate, and Kumo's Lightning Style was too volatile to synchronize. Only the Sand—having been beaten by the Stone more than anyone else—had "suffered enough to learn" and mastered this style of warfare.
Of course, not every Suna ninja could do it. Only the most elite Wind Style specialists were trained in Legion tactics.
Tetsumaru watched as more Suna ninjas gathered, smoothly unleashing a second, even more powerful Wind Style: Super Great Breakthrough. He immediately identified this company as a hand-picked unit of elite Wind users.
The Suna response was devastatingly efficient. Three consecutive waves of wind not only neutralized the explosion damage but also swatted down the incoming Flight-Locusts and Poison-Needle Beetles.
Seeing the ambush stall, the three Genin grew uneasy. They looked toward their teacher.
Tetsumaru offered a small smile and a slight shake of the head, indicating it was fine. He kept his eyes glued to the shifting battlefield.
The insects pre-deployed at the site were being found and destroyed, leaving Yoshito's initial trap as the only "success."
However, as the subsequent waves of the swarm began to pour into the theater, the fighting grew fierce. The Suna ninjas were forced to focus entirely on the crawl of the swarm. Tetsumaru seized the opening to deploy Scent-Moths and Dragonflies high above, making his awareness of the battlefield more complete and crystalline.
Through his remote signals, Tetsumaru monitored the position and velocity of every Suna company, silently counting down.
Finally, the moment arrived.
Tetsumaru exhaled slowly. "Let's begin."
He commanded the swarm to launch an attack on Company 8. Three minutes later, he triggered an assault on Company 10.
After a brief pause, Tetsumaru launched a third strike—targeting Company 1 at the far southern end of the line. This time, the swarm was twice as large.
Soon, Tetsumaru noticed Battalion 1 in the second row beginning to move toward the southeast. He counted to a hundred in his head and then launched the fourth wave against Company 16 in the north.
The swarm attacking Company 16 numbered 300,000, supported by three Scythe-Mantises acting as the core.
With the fourth wave, the entire Suna deployment fell into a brief state of confusion. Battalion 1 halted its southern march. The other Suna battalions and the main force in the third row began shifting toward the north.
Tetsumaru checked the first-row companies again. He confirmed that all units from Company 11 and above were rushing to reinforce Company 16, while the southern companies were clustering together for mutual defense.
The opening was here.
Tetsumaru signaled his three students to retreat to the reverse slope of the ridge. The valley behind them was packed with combat insects and thirty Scythe-Mantises.
He summoned ten Mantises. He and the three students each mounted one. Armor Beetles swarmed over the riders and their mounts in three dense layers, followed by Flight-Locusts and Poison-Needle Beetles, layering over them until they were encased in a massive, bristling black sphere.
As Suna Companies 3 and 5 rushed to reinforce the center, Tetsumaru issued the final order.
The non-flying Poison-Needle Beetles surged forward first, followed by the leaping Flight-Locusts. The swarm tide began to roll.
As the tide crest the ridge, its density increased, the sound of chitinous legs grinding against the earth growing into a deafening roar.
When the swarm poured down the slope like a black flood, the locusts took flight, their wings buzzing like a thousand chainsaws. They formed a cloud of insects over thirty meters thick, pouncing toward the Sand.
The shell game was over. Tetsumaru was finally playing for keeps.
Ten minutes earlier, at the Suna Command Center:
"Suna-Bee Company reports a massive insect attack!"
"Order the neighboring companies to reinforce!"
Hearing the sensory report, the Third Kazekage calmly issued his pre-planned orders. "Tell all units to halt their advance."
A moment passed with no new updates.
"It looks like a feint," a young ninja whispered, only to be glared into silence by everyone in the tent.
"Inoue Company under attack!" "Sankei Company under attack!"
Two more reports arrived. A messenger hawk followed with more details: the swarm sizes were growing.
The Kazekage paused. "Still feints. Not enough mass."
He thought for two minutes, then commanded: "Move the Storm-Sand Battalion and the Senbon-Moto Battalion forward. Tell all adjacent companies to support the engaged units."
The Suna movement didn't cause the fighting to intensify. Another feint.
Is the next one a feint, or the main strike? the Suna officers wondered, their hearts pounding.
"Daiso Company under attack! Massive scale!"
The far south.
The Kazekage grew tense. He stepped toward the sensory ninja. "Focus. I want every detail."
The sensory ninja's weathered face was slick with sweat. He kept his eyes closed, pouring everything into his perception.
The Kazekage hesitated, then made his move. "Move all battalions south. All unengaged companies are to converge on the southern flank."
"Slowly. Do not break formation."
Under the Kazekage's command, nearly a thousand Suna ninjas began to shift. The entire battlefield was in flux.
Yesterday's total loss of supplies and nearly two hundred men had left the Sand feeling stifled and humiliated. No Suna ninja had even seen a Konoha shinobi yesterday; wherever they went, they found only giant bugs. They didn't even have a target for their hatred. Were they supposed to hate the bugs they could swat like flies?
It was absurd.
Fortunately, the presence of giant insects was a distinct calling card. The Intel Division had quickly identified the culprit: "The Giant Bug," Aburame Tetsumaru.
However, the intel ninjas had added a caveat: it likely wasn't just one person. The scale was wrong. Suna had counted 700,000 giant insect corpses yesterday alone. They estimated the attacker had lost over a million bugs. According to their records, the highest recorded number of insects controlled by this man was in the tens of thousands.
The discrepancy was a factor of ten. The Intel Division suspected the Kazekage wasn't facing Tetsumaru alone, but a specialized "Giant-Insect Company" led by him.
The Suna officers, including the Kazekage, found this logical. Thirty elite Aburame would explain yesterday's results; those people were masters of stealth and ambush.
Aburame [Redacted] sneezed: Someone is dissing my presence again. I'll f#@ing kill...
This morning, the "Giant-Insect Company" had arrived. Within minutes, attacks were reported from one end of the line to the other. Everyone knew most were feints, but they couldn't tell where the hammer would fall.
The atmosphere in the command tent was suffocating until the fourth wave hit.
The sensory ninja yelled, "Strike! Massive strike in the north!"
"Maeda Company is being overrun! At least 200,000 summoned insects—no, more!"
The officers gasped, but the Kazekage felt a secret surge of relief. He had felt the southern attack wasn't heavy enough; he'd suspected the real strike would be next.
The Kazekage wasn't normally this indecisive, but he had been thoroughly "disgusted" by the unseen Aburame yesterday. He had spent an entire day being jerked around by tactical deceptions and double-bluffs, and he hadn't even managed to have a proper fight.
When messenger hawks returned with more details—confirming the massive scale and the appearance of those "giant-type" insects—every eye in the command center turned to the Kazekage.
He had made his decision. He stood and issued his orders.
"Engaged companies are to hold their ground! Neighbors continue rescue operations!"
"All other companies: Reinforce Maeda Company in the north immediately!"
"Senbon-Moto Battalion: Halt! Prepare to support the southern flank if anything changes!"
"The other three battalions: Full speed to reinforce the north!"
As each order left his lips, Suna ninjas scrambled to relay the commands.
"Shadow Guard! We move..."
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