Traveling through Naruto with Heroes of Might and Magic.

"Alright, it's getting late." Kakashi glanced at the sky.

"Go back and rest. We'll set off early tomorrow morning and devise our tactics along the way. Disperse!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kakashi disappeared first, just like always.

Yugao followed closely behind, leaving the scene as if "escaping".

"..." Tianzang stared intently at Qingwu for a long while before asking, "Are you alright?"

"Are you worried about your landlord?" Qingwu joked, then turned and waved his hand. "Relax, get some rest. We're about to have a tough battle."

……

The next morning.

Four white Pegasus horses soared into the sky.

Xi Yan clung tightly to the elven knight in front of her, "How many more spirit creatures like this can you conjure up?"

She clearly shared the same idea as Kakashi and the Third Hokage.

Qingwu pouted: "That's all, only these four."

Many soldiers did spawn in the barracks, but he didn't have enough gold or resources, or rather, he wasn't in a hurry to recruit them all.

For him, the primary goal at present is to find a way to upgrade the Tree of Life.

After flying for a while, Xiyan and Tianzang gradually got used to high-speed travel.

The three of them, including Kakashi, were secretly amazed at how fast the Pegasus was, making it a "divine tool" for traveling.

Four winged horses galloped straight northward.

It used to take almost a week to travel from the southern part of the Land of Fire to the border of the Land of Grass in the northwest.

With the tireless Pegasus at their backs, Kakashi estimated the speed... two days would be enough. (What he didn't know was—to accommodate them, Qingwu hadn't allowed the Pegasus to run at full speed...)

Of course, in Kakashi's view, even if summoned creatures don't need rest, humans still do.

After all, in order to avoid causing a sensation below, the planned route was a route with almost no human habitation, so resupply was a problem, and it was no longer a low-altitude flight.

Chakra can provide some protection against the raging winds, but the continuous consumption of chakra will leave them exhausted.

Most importantly, you should definitely take a break when you're close to your destination to get back to your best condition.

Three days later—

Qingwu and his three companions landed near a Konoha stronghold on the border of the Land of Fire.

Kakashi told the three of them to wait where they were, and then he teleported to the base.

An hour later, Kakashi arrived with a Konoha Jonin with a resolute face.

"I am Shirakumo Zaojian!"

The man introduced himself, saying, "If your squad doesn't return within the allotted time, I will lead my troops across the border to meet you."

Qingwu suddenly realized that Kakashi had gone to find a "way out".

Reliable!

As a senior Jonin of Konoha, Shirakumo Hayato not only possesses strong individual combat abilities but is also a rare commander-type ninja.

The defense line on Konoha's northwestern border was designed by the Operations Department, but all temporary command adjustments were made by this person.

After Baiyun had coordinated the time and location of the battle plan with Kakashi earlier that morning, he nodded to the remaining three and left.

Kakashi took out a storage scroll. "This is food we got from the base. Eat and get some rest. Tonight... it's time to move out!"

Qingwu picked up a piece of unidentified meat and started gnawing on it.

For the past three days, we've been constantly on the move, subsisting on soldier's rations, and our mouths have become so bland.

……

Outside the dense forest of the Grass Country at midnight.

The wind whipped up snowflakes, turning the world into a blurry gray-white.

The first target outpost is hidden deep in the canyon.

The exterior consists of just a few ordinary stone houses, but intelligence indicates that there are three underground facilities inside.

The key to this operation is how to destroy the stronghold while preventing the news from getting out, or... how to get it out slowly!

Chapter 76 Raid on the Iwagakure Stronghold

The dark combat uniforms blended into the dense shadows of the trees.

Kakashi repeated, "Quickly finish this! Move out!"

Whoosh, whoosh!

After speaking, he led Tianzang around to the left.

The plan was for him and Tenzo to create chaos first, then Yugao to assassinate from the shadows. Once all the Iwa ninja in the stronghold were exposed, Qingwu, who had the widest killing range, would then make his move.

"stop!"

Kakashi stopped two hundred meters from the base. "There's a barrier!"

Ninjas are professionals skilled in assassination, and to deal with more assassinations, some important strongholds would set up barriers to provide alarms.

Kakashi's Sharingan spun rapidly as he analyzed the weak points in the chakra barrier.

A short while later, Kakashi, who possessed all types of chakra, silently broke the barrier using Earth Release chakra.

Infiltration successful!

"Tenzo!" Kakashi shouted in a low voice.

"Understood!" Tianzang concealed his aura and approached the stronghold.

His target was the watchtower above.

Having found a suitable spot, Tenzo formed hand seals: "Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding Technique!"

Several concealed wooden strips extended from the watchtower, binding the Iwa ninja so that he could not move at all, and his mouth and nose were also sealed with wooden strips so that he could not make a sound.

Kakashi appeared silently and finished off the two unlucky guys on the left watchtower with a kunai.

The plan is going very smoothly.

However, just as Kakashi was thinking this, the lights on the right-hand watchtower suddenly lit up: "Spy! Enemy attack!!"

The piercing alarm still went off.

Kakashi's mind raced slightly, and he realized that there must be some connection between the two watchtowers that he was unaware of.

It doesn't matter anymore, even though it didn't cause greater damage before it was discovered.

However, Kakashi did not believe that he and Qingwu, two "Jonin", would face any challenges at the first stronghold.

"Switch to a full-scale attack!" Kakashi ordered.

Tianzang no longer concealed his presence, unleashing "Earth Release: Earth Flow Spear!"

He knows not only Wood Release, but also Earth Release and Water Release.

However, due to his young age, he has not mastered many techniques yet.

Techniques like Earth Release: Earth Flow Spear are more chakra-efficient in the current environment.

If a direct attack is launched, Tianzang's primary objective is to create chaos, while his secondary objective is to protect himself.

Kakashi, however, is different.

With his experience, he created two shadow clones, which flashed with lightning and drew the attention of most of the Iwa ninja.

"Lightning Release, is it from Kumogakure?"

"Quick, it's over there!"

"There are people here too!"

Chaos erupted instantly inside the base, with people constantly running out of the underground facilities.

"Pfft!"

Xiyan also made her move.

Her stealth ability was originally the best among the four, but later... she was surpassed by Qingwu, who had mastered natural energy.

However, at this moment, the chaos within the Iwa ninja stronghold, coupled with the darkness of night, provided her with the perfect environment for an assassination.

"puff!"

Another Iwa ninja has fallen.

The graceful figure of Yugao blends into the shadows.

"Tu Dun·Tu Liubi!"

Kakashi used Earth Release to block the dense barrage of Rock Cannons.

He then created chaos while rapidly forming hand seals.

He takes a particularly long time to form this hand seal. Firstly, he's not very skilled in Water Release techniques; he only uses the hand seal method he copied with his Sharingan.

Secondly, in such an environment, water-style techniques require more chakra.

But Kakashi still decided to use this technique.

"Rustling sound—"

The lengthy hand seals finally came to an end: "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Kakashi spewed out a huge stream of water.

The water's target is—the stone house within the stronghold.

Kakashi didn't know how many Iwa ninja were in the underground facility, so he simply used Water Release to "irrigate" them and force them all out.

The strongholds of the five great ninja villages on the border are usually divided into three types: large, medium, and small.

Small outposts are guarded by small teams of about 10 people.