Uchiha Akaishi Tour

March 15th, 3 PM, Shizuaran Mountain, Land of Rain, Konoha's temporary wounded soldiers' recuperation station.

At this point, security at the site was at its maximum...

One of the two patrol teams didn't return on time, and... it was already an hour late!

Akaishi, Minato, and Claw were already waiting at the exit of the sanatorium.

Akaishi's expression was very serious—the other patrol team consisted of Mawa, Shinnosuke, and Shii.

Kiki, the commander of the sanatorium, approached Akaishi and the other two. Upon seeing them, Akaishi quickly said, "Captain Kiki, Shinnosuke and the others haven't returned yet..."

"I understand. Lan Wu is coming too. The four of you will search for the missing patrol team. Report back immediately if you find anything... Whether you find anything or not, be back before 10 PM!"

As Mu Mu spoke, Lan Wu also rushed over.

"You all know the current situation at the sanatorium... Remember, if you don't return, the sanatorium will arrange for the wounded to be evacuated to the Land of Fire overnight," Kōdō Mokumei emphasized to the four, including Akaishi.

After the medical station moved away, the number of wounded and the guards at the original site decreased day by day, so it shouldn't have been attacked by the enemy!

Currently, there are only three Jonin and twenty Chunin on duty at the base, including six medical ninjas: one medical Jonin, five Chunin, and so on.

If Akaishi and the others don't return, it's roughly equivalent to having only three standard B-rank mission teams consisting of "1 Jonin + 3 Chunin," while there are still forty-one wounded here.

Of course, there is some slightly better news: about half of the wounded are still capable of fighting, just much weaker than when they were healthy. If they really have to evacuate, they can at least help carry the other wounded.

Because the headquarters has already moved, and Yamanaka Miichi left the sanatorium a day ago, it is no longer possible to directly and quickly call for help from Shizuoyama—it is beyond the signal range of the Yamanaka clan.

With Shinnosuke and the other two out of contact, Akaishi and his group of four were already considered top-tier combatants at the sanatorium...

"Don't worry, Captain Moku, if we find anything, I'll have Raccoon come back and let you know!" Akaishi emphasized.

Mokume became even more worried...

His meaning was clearly that if he discovered anything, he should "come back" to report, but Akaishi misinterpreted it as using a summoning beast to transmit a message before he even set off!

Clearly, they weren't planning to come back after finding any clues...

"Wait, Minato..." Kime wanted to appoint Minato as the captain instead—this kind of cautious task wasn't suitable for the Uchiha. Especially since the people they were searching for were his friends and clansmen.

However, Minato immediately interjected, "Captain Kime, I'll warn Akaishi if there's any danger."

Seeing this, Mumu had no choice but to nod.

Akashi had no objection to Minato's suggestion that he would warn him if there was danger. The main force in this search was Minato's sensory ninjutsu! After setting off, Minato used the "Thousand Realms Awakening Technique" every now and then to search the surroundings for familiar or unfamiliar chakra fluctuations.

However, it was already nine o'clock, and the four members of the Red Stone Group still hadn't found anything.

"Red Stone, it's nine o'clock," Claw said after looking at the moonlight.

"We still have time, let's explore that mountain valley again... We've been searching all the way here, so we'll get back even faster!" Akaishi said with a grim face.

Just as Akaishi was getting a little anxious...

Woo-woo!

Blackie suddenly barked.

"Watch out, everyone! Something's there!" Claw shouted immediately.

The three, including Akaishi, immediately stopped and stood ready. Akaishi asked, "What did Kuromaru discover?"

Akaishi was also puzzled. Minato hadn't said a word, so why was Kuromaru barking like a dog first?

In the next instant, Claw didn't even have time to translate the details...

swish swish

A series of dense, faint whooshing sounds rang out...

As Akaishi stopped, his pupils began to turn blood red, and his pupils twisted and revealed patterns. Therefore, even in the darkness of night, he immediately discovered the source of the sound: palm-sized "ants" frantically spraying tiny senbon needles from their mouthparts!

These thousand books, only the length of a finger and as thin as cow hair, were extremely well hidden in the darkness of night.

However, it could not escape Akaishi's Sharingan. The next moment, Akaishi reacted almost instinctively and directly drew the Uchiha fan... Although he did not have time to form hand seals, he used his physical strength and the burst of wind chakra to form a strong wind that was not enough to hurt people, but enough to disrupt the trajectory of these senbon needles. These senbon needles were mainly for concealment and their power was not strong.

These ferocious "ants," after emptying their bellies of cow-hair needles, kicked off their hind legs like grasshoppers, sending them hurtling towards the four people and the dog like kunai...

As for the purpose of doing this?

The moment they left the treetops, Akaishi knew that each of them still had "explosive tags" stuck to their bellies!

At the same time, as they jumped, Akaishi fully understood what these things were—puppets.

As their grasshopper-like hind legs kicked out, the Sharingan clearly revealed their mechanical structure...

However, just as they approached, Minato had already completed the hand seals—the moment Akaishi grasped the fan, Minato ignored the countless sages and handed them over to Akaishi, beginning to form the hand seals for the "Summoning Technique" himself!

Seeing these suicidal ant puppets rushing towards him, Minato slammed his hand down where he had landed...

Bang

The next moment, a giant toad tongue appeared, instantly wiping out all twelve suicidal ant puppets before disappearing... Croak!

Only a faint cry of pain could be heard...

Akaishi immediately looked at Minato, who, without saying a word, summoned his spirit again.

The giant toad tongue reappeared, this time scattering some parts in front of Minato, and incidentally... the tip of the tongue even tapped Minato's head with a knot!

Judging from the fact that several pieces of his tongue were blown black, it's clear that even this enormous toad, which Minato could only partially communicate with, was not comfortable with its tongue being blown up by "explosive tags."

Of course, the body of a ninja beast is much more defensive than that of a ninja with high attack and low defense. If a ninja were to be directly blown up without any defensive ninjutsu, the outcome would be the same regardless of whether they were a Jonin or a Genin.

"It's Sunagakure!" Akaishi immediately realized what was happening when he saw the broken puppet parts.

Since the Second Kazekage created the Puppet Technique, "puppetry" has become a major school of thought in Sunagakure.

"No chakra threads, and no chakra fluctuations normally... It's a self-sustaining, trigger-activated puppet!" Minato immediately judged. Usually, the "puppets" of Sunagakure are controlled by chakra threads, with the puppeteer nearby. The combat power of a puppet depends not only on the strength of the puppet itself but also on the ability of the puppeteer.

A few mechanical puppets, such as the most typical "puppet watchtower", come with their own puppet core and can be easily operated or even automatically defend against attacks.

These ant puppets, no bigger than the palm of a hand, had no puppet strings and no puppeteers nearby. They were triggered; once the four approached, they would automatically spray out tiny senbon needles and then launch a self-destruct attack.

This is not something an ordinary puppeteer could do...

"Ebizo!" A look of hatred flashed in Akaishi's eyes as he stared at the parts with his Sharingan, the tomoe markings spinning.

Among the puppetry schools of Sunagakure, Ebizo is known for his miniaturized, self-sufficient puppets!

Because the chakra fluctuations were negligible when not activated, Minato overlooked them, while Kuromaru smelled their scent. The reason Akaishi paid special attention to Ebizo was precisely because... it was this Ebizo who led the Mirror Clan elders into the ambush.

Although everyone has their own perspective on this matter, the conflict between Konoha and Sunagakure is already very close, and Kagami only took the initiative to investigate Sunagakure's secrets, which led to him being outmaneuvered. However, none of this affects the Uchiha clan's vengeful nature!

"Not good! Akaishi, immediately notify Jonin Kogure!" Minato said immediately.

Although Akaishi felt that the clues he had found were far from enough, since Minato had said so, Akaishi still summoned the monstrous hamster. After Akaishi formed the summoning hand seals, the character "空" (empty) appeared in front of him, and then the monstrous hamster wearing the "空蛇" (empty snake) mask "swam" out from it.

The serpent swam in the air as if it were swimming in water.

The Sky Serpent form cannot be ridden like the Vermilion Bird form, but it has unique spatial abilities and is more difficult to intercept.

After quickly scribbling something, Akaishi sent Tanuki off. The Sky Serpent soared into the air, its form appearing and disappearing intermittently. Then, Minato seemed to realize something, his expression changing as he said, "Let's retreat... the enemy's sensory abilities are likely superior to mine!" "Superior to you?" Akaishi was taken aback.

"These ant puppets are blocking our way, and they've been lying in wait for a long time, just waiting for us to get close enough to launch their attack... In other words, the enemy must have known our movements in advance to be able to make these arrangements!" Minato said immediately.

Akaishi realized what was happening after hearing that...

Indeed, these ant puppets did not surround us from all sides; they merely blocked our way from the front.

Because Kuromaru discovered it a step ahead, Akaishi and the others stopped in advance; otherwise, they would have been caught off guard even more.

If these puppets have sufficient kinetic energy or even move extremely fast, and are tracking them down to intercept them, the chakra fluctuations will be very obvious, and Minato would not be able to miss them.

In this situation, it is clear that someone had prior knowledge of Akaishi and the others' movements and had set a trap in advance!

In other words, now the Akaishi Squad will have to experience the helplessness of being outmatched by the enemy in terms of perception...

Minato then touched the ground with his fingers and activated the "Thousand Worlds Awakening Technique".

However, the other party locked onto their location even though they were outside of Minato's perception range, and Minato couldn't sense them...

"Don't panic! Since the enemy is using this tactic, they must not be confident in fighting us head-on!" Akashi immediately reassured everyone.