vncnus Chapter 254 The Hidden Clouds' Counterattack
Chapter 254 The Hidden Clouds' Counterattack
Chapter 254 The Hidden Clouds' Counterattack
The northern border of the Land of Fire.
As soon as Taiichi entered the camp, he realized that something was wrong.
Perhaps because they had been suppressed so severely during this period, the atmosphere in the camp always seemed particularly oppressive, completely lacking the joy of having just won a battle.
Seemingly noticing Taiichi's confusion, Orochimaru, who was walking beside him, explained, "Over the past month, we have retreated from almost completely occupying the Land of Hot Water to the border of the Land of Fire. Although it was to preserve our strength, it has ultimately dealt a heavy blow to morale."
Coupled with the heavy losses from the several major battles over the past two days, the atmosphere in the camp was naturally not good.
Taiichi nodded in understanding. Jiraiya was in the same boat, almost collapsing from a sneak attack by a tailed beast. Orochimaru had been facing tailed beast attacks for so long, and his performance was already quite impressive.
Orochimaru led Taichi back to the central army camp.
At this moment, there were already more than a dozen ninjas sitting in the tent. These were all Jonin who were still in the camp. They had gathered together for two reasons: first, to hold a post-battle meeting, and second, to get to know this rising star of Konoha who had turned the tide of the battle as soon as he arrived on the battlefield.
Orochimaru took his seat at the head of the table and pointed directly at Taichi beside him, saying, "Matsushita Taichi, many of you should know the Jonin that the village sent to provide support this time. As for his strength, I don't need to say anything more. I suppose you all saw it just now."
"Hello everyone, I'm Taichi Matsushita. Please take care of me from now on."
Taiichi bowed politely to everyone, and all the Jonin present returned the bow politely. This was not just a matter of politeness, but also a respect that came with strength.
After everyone finished their greetings, Orochimaru stopped wasting time and briefly summarized the results of today's battle before getting straight to the point.
"Taiyi's strength is evident to all. Some time ago, the Cloud Village used the destructive power of the Jinchuriki to keep forcing us to retreat. Now we also have a master who can restrain and even suppress the Jinchuriki. So I have decided that starting tomorrow, we will switch from defense to offense and take back all the places we have lost."
Orochimaru truly lives up to his name; compared to Jiraiya's gradual encroachment, his strategic approach is far more aggressive.
When Taiyi was on the southern battlefield, there were only two large-scale battles since the start of the war. However, on the northern battlefield, since Yunyin declared war, there have been more than ten battles with a combined scale of thousands of people on both sides.
Basically, there's a small skirmish every two days and a big one every three days; these are completely different command styles.
"Alright, I've wanted to beat up those bastards from Kumogakure for a long time. They come here every day to show off, just because they're Jinchūriki."
"Lord Orochimaru, this should have been done a long time ago. The previous battles were too frustrating."
Taiichi looked down at each of the Jonin below, all of whom were filled with righteous indignation and full of agreement. He couldn't help but admire Orochimaru's methods of managing his subordinates.
The fact that no one raised any objections in this situation, whether out of anger or agreement with Orochimaru's orders, demonstrates Orochimaru's personal charisma.
"Taiichi, do you have anything to say?" Orochimaru turned to look at Taiichi. He would no longer treat Taiichi as a child; with such strength, even a child would earn his respect. Orochimaru had always been a pragmatic person.
"Lord Orochimaru, you flatter me. I've only been here for one day and I don't even know the situation here yet. Of course, I'll follow your orders." Taiichi wasn't a troublemaker, so why would he contradict me at this time?
Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction. Seeing that everyone was in agreement, he began to issue tasks one by one.
One by one, the Jonin received their respective missions and left the central command tent. In the end, apart from the strategist, only Taichi and Orochimaru remained in the tent.
"Taiyi, I'd still like to trouble you to check on the medical camp. There are a lot of wounded there lately, and we're starting our counter-offensive tomorrow. The more wounded we heal, the more fighting strength we'll have. What do you think?"
Orochimaru spoke very politely, in a tone that sounded like he was negotiating, which made Taichi feel a little uncomfortable.
"Lord Orochimaru, you are the commander, and I will naturally obey your orders. I will go to the medical camp now and do my best to treat the wounded."
Taiyi was equally unambiguous. He believed in treating others with the utmost respect, and since Orochimaru spoke to him in this way, he certainly couldn't let Orochimaru down.
After Taiyi left the central military camp, a staff officer handed over the compiled intelligence to Orochimaru for review.
Seeing his hesitant expression, Orochimaru said calmly, "Speak up if you have something to say. Aren't you busy enough with so many things? Why are you stammering?"
"Lord Orochimaru, I don't understand. Aren't you being too polite to this Matsushita Taichi? Here, he is ultimately just your subordinate."
Orochimaru paused in his work, glancing briefly at the subordinate. Seeing that he wasn't one of the participants in the previous battle, he returned his attention to the document.
"If you had his level of ability, I would treat you with the same respect. Respect is not given by others, but earned by yourself."
He has such power, so he naturally deserves such treatment, understand?
The strategist ninja seemed to understand but not quite, but he was someone who listened to advice. Since Orochimaru had explained it that way, he would remember it and think about it slowly when he got back. Right now, he should focus on doing his own thing first.
Watching his trusted subordinate leave, Orochimaru shook his head almost imperceptibly. He was a bit lacking in strength, but he was loyal and could listen to advice, so he was still a promising talent.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have said these things to a subordinate with no future. Once you reach a certain level of strength, you'll naturally understand this principle.
In the days that followed, Konoha changed its defensive stance and became more aggressive, with various teams constantly infiltrating into the Land of Hot Springs and attacking all the Cloud Village ninjas they could see.
The Hidden Cloud Village was not to be outdone. If Konoha could attack the Hidden Cloud Village, the Hidden Cloud Village was not to be trifled with either. The battle between the two sides intensified, with neither side giving way to the other, and almost every day ninjas lost their lives in the struggle.
But gradually, the Cloud Village noticed something was wrong. A month had passed, and the Cloud Village ninjas were clearly showing signs of fatigue, but the Leaf Village did not seem to be in the same boat.
Not only did their number of participants in the attack not decrease significantly, but their morale also grew stronger with each battle.
Inside the central command tent of the Cloud Hidden's frontline camp.
"Can anyone tell me what's going on? This fight is getting more and more frustrating."
Ai angrily questioned them from the head of the tent, but the tent was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone looked at each other, and no one could give a coherent answer.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you always look down on Konoha ninjas? Now that you're facing them head-on, you've been forced to retreat all the way to the central part of the Land of Hot Springs. Isn't that embarrassing enough?"
After a long silence, a handsome Jonin seemed to have thought of something, "I've made a discovery, and I'd like to share it with everyone."
All eyes turned to them. Regardless of whether what you said was right or wrong, the fact that someone stood up and spoke up at this moment was a relief to them.
"Oh, hope, if you find anything, just tell us so we can all take a look."
Ai was overjoyed to finally hear someone speak, and when she saw that it was hope, she became even more eager to hear what he had to say.
"About 10 days ago, I wounded a Konoha ninja on the battlefield. He was badly injured. Although he escaped back, with such injuries, even if our best medical ninjas do their best to treat him, he will probably need to rest for a month before he can fight again."
But to my surprise, just five days later, I saw him again on the battlefield. By then, his injuries had fully healed, and there was no trace of his previous injuries.
Do you think this is why Konoha suffered so few casualties?
A brown-skinned Cloud Ninja said incredulously, "hope, you mean the medical ninjas of Konoha healed all the wounded in a short time and then sent them back to the battlefield?"
"That's right, that's exactly what I mean." hope nodded and said without hesitation, "We all know that only a minority of ninjas actually die on the battlefield. Most ninjas can escape back to the rear even if they can't win. If Konoha has such a group of powerful medical ninjas, then all of this makes sense."
"Now that hope has reminded me, it seems I've encountered a similar situation before, but I didn't think about it in that way at the time."
After the first one started, several more Jonin recalled encountering the same situation.
The case is now solved. Everyone can be certain that everything is going on because Konoha has a highly skilled medical ninja covering for them, which is why they are in such a passive position in the current battle.
"Big brother, didn't you say that Matsushita Taichi is a medical ninja, and a very skilled one at that?" Killer Bee said, delivering his information in a strange rhythm.
The mention of Matsushita Taichi immediately silenced the tent; they had been thoroughly thrashed by this guy.
In the past month, about 80% of the Jonin present had been beaten by Taiichi. If they weren't usually in groups of several, or working together with Killer Bee to restrain Taiichi, there would probably be half as many people here.
As for why we can draw such a conclusion, it's because those who don't believe in superstitions no longer have the chance to sit here.
"This Matsushita Taichi, who has been fighting us every day for the past month, still has the energy to treat others."
hope is one of the few people here who has never fought Taiichi, and her understanding of Taiichi is still based on hearsay, so her questions are rather subjective.
However, with Killer Bee's reminder, the other Jonin who had been paying attention to Taichi's information also realized what was going on, especially A, who knew more about Konoha and Matsushita Taichi because he had previously stayed in the Land of Wind.
"It could very well be him. With space-time ninjutsu combined with the Shadow Clone Technique, it's not impossible for him to appear in multiple places at the same time." Ai frowned, but still explained to hope.
This left all the Jonin present speechless. What was originally a fairly even match had unexpectedly turned into a power gap due to the difference in medical expertise between the two sides.
How could these ninjas on the front lines possibly reason with them?
"Hey, let's ask the village for help. If this continues, the gap between us will only widen. By the time the other side gains enough strength, it will be too late." At this moment, Xi made the most rational analysis.
As Xi finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Ai, who was sitting at the head of the table. Although no one spoke, Ai understood the meaning in their eyes and agreed with hope's suggestion.
However, the frustration in his heart was indescribable. Since becoming a Jonin, everything he had done had gone smoothly. Even leading 100 people on a long march to the Land of Wind was quite successful. The only two setbacks he suffered were both because of Matsushita Taichi.
How do you think Ai, such a proud person, feels? Right now, he wishes he could grind Taiyi to dust.
"I will report to the village and request new support," Ai reassured everyone first, then added, "but I'm not willing to give up."
He looked around at all the Jonin present and roared, word by word, "Are you all willing to be beaten by such a little brat and have to ask the village for help?"
The group exchanged bewildered glances. After a moment, one of the Jonin, who had also not been disciplined by Taiichi, roared, "We're not satisfied! We must take revenge!"
Once someone took the lead, others followed suit.
At this moment, Ai raised his hand to silence everyone and said in a deep voice, "I plan to change our strategy. Instead of focusing on seizing strategic points, we will organize elite troops to annihilate Konoha's remaining forces."
This was a strategic shift, and these frontline Jonin had nothing to say. For them, being able to kill Konoha ninjas and vent their pent-up frustrations was already quite satisfying.
Among the Jonin, only a few who used their brains expressed concern. After all, if you do one thing, someone else will do another. Normal warfare methods are fine, but once they start using any means necessary, you usually end up losing in a disadvantageous situation.
However, their faint voices were quickly drowned out by the crowd's fervor and failed to attract anyone's attention.
Soon, the Cloud Village's strategy changed, and they stopped seeking to occupy the various strongholds that Konoha had taken over.
Those strongholds that could be dealt with were destroyed directly with powerful ninjutsu. Those that couldn't be dealt with in a short time were quickly reported, and a powerful ninja squad would soon arrive to provide support.
Those Konoha ninja in the wild are more likely to be targeted by Cloud Ninja, often resulting in a Konoha squad facing attacks from two Cloud Ninja squads.
Konoha Front, Outpost No. 9.
"Has the distress signal been sent out?"
The newcomer nodded, then looked at his companion who was still constantly monitoring the outside world through the sensory barrier, and said with some concern, "Captain, is what we're doing appropriate? We don't even know the number of enemies. If we rashly request reinforcements like this, and our judgment is wrong, we'll be reprimanded!"
The captain's expression was solemn. He stared at the perception barrier in front of him and said without turning his head, "This is the most important stronghold in this area. Because of the terrain, once this place is cut off, all the strongholds to the east may be cut off or surrounded."
Therefore, while other outposts only have one squad stationed here, this place has three squads stationed here, including a Jonin like myself leading one of them. You can imagine how important this place is.
Even if you're just being reprimanded or punished, you must seek help immediately when necessary, without the slightest hesitation.
"Yes, Captain, you're right." The team member immediately admitted his mistake.
Just as the captain was about to say a few more words, his heart suddenly pounded faster, a sense of impending death washed over him, and at the same time, a bright crimson light appeared on the perception barrier in front of him.
"Damn it, at this intensity, everyone evacuate the base immediately."
Without a second thought, the captain immediately issued the order.