Grind is My Ninja Way

The moon set, and the sun rose.

In the blink of an eye, it was the next day.

After a night of bloody battle, Konoha and Iwagakure, having paid equally heavy prices, finally stopped their mutual slaughter at dawn.

And afterward, just as Seimei had predicted, due to the lack of command, Iwa ninjas changed their usual aggressive offensive posture and turned to defense.

Logically speaking, this was the best opportunity for Konoha to counterattack.

Unfortunately, the continuous attacks from Iwa ninjas in the past period had caused Konoha to suffer considerable losses, making them unable to launch a counterattack.

The Konoha ninjas were also physically and mentally exhausted under the Iwa ninjas' relentless attacks and urgently needed rest.

Therefore, after some discussion, Omura Yuino finally gave up the idea of attacking and only ordered people to maintain necessary harassment, using the rest of the time for rest and recuperation.

Originally, Seimei thought that this peaceful time would last for at least ten days or half a month.

Unexpectedly, just a week later, the peace was broken.

...

This afternoon.

Seimei was using the Mystical Palm Technique within the western mountain stronghold to gather Yang Release chakra to strengthen his body when a figure suddenly rushed over.

*Knock knock knock~*

The simple wooden door was knocked on.

Seimei opened his eyes impatiently and said, "Come in!"

*Creak~*

The door was pushed open, and a Konoha Chunin walked in.

He hurriedly said, "Captain, news just came from the foot of the mountain. The Iwa ninjas are making moves. The headquarters wants us to be prepared for defense."

"The Iwa ninjas are making moves?"

Seimei frowned slightly and asked, "What's the specific situation?"

"Not very clear."

The Konoha Chunin shook his head.

Seeing this, Seimei waved his hand and said, "Alright, go and gather everyone. Also, inform the other Jonin to arrange defensive tasks."

"Yes, Captain!"

The Konoha Chunin responded and then left quickly.

As the commander-in-chief of this strategic stronghold, Seimei was the nominal captain of everyone. Under him, there were several other Jonin squad leaders.

Under normal circumstances, Seimei would delegate tasks like defense and patrol to these Jonin squad leaders.

As for himself...

He was either searching for 'Chakra Batteries' or cultivating and rarely managed specific matters. This time was naturally no exception.

Looking at the Konoha Chunin's departing figure, Seimei waited quietly for another minute or so.

After the Yang Release chakra in his body was completely consumed, he grabbed the short sword beside him and used a few Body Flickers to reach the top of a large tree not far away.

With a thought, Seimei activated his Sharingan.

The next moment, the scene at the foot of the mountain in the distance was reflected in his eyes.

Although the Sharingan couldn't compare to the Byakugan in terms of long-distance vision, in this situation with no obstructions, the Sharingan could still see quite far.

In Seimei's field of vision, the Iwa ninjas had already assembled.

At this time, they were divided into three groups. One group was heading straight for the Kaze no Sato stronghold, clearly intending to have a head-on confrontation with the Konoha ninjas.

Another group was diagonally heading north, seemingly preparing to attack the northern mountain stronghold.

As for the third group...

They were naturally heading towards their location.

It could be seen that these people bypassed the Kaze no Sato stronghold, followed the southern plain, and drew an arc, heading straight for them.

Seeing this familiar attack route, Seimei was a bit puzzled, "Didn't the Iwa ninjas change their commander? Why are they still using the same old tactics?"

If it was just changing one or two commanders, Seimei could still understand this situation.

But in the beheading operation a week ago, they almost wiped out the entire Iwa ninja command system.

Under such a major change, the team's style couldn't possibly remain the same, and the attack strategy couldn't remain unchanged.

After all, every commander had their own ideas and couldn't be exactly the same as the person in the original position. When combined, the changes would only be greater.

But the current situation clearly defied common sense.

"What's going on?"

Seimei muttered to himself, puzzled.

After a while, he withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and stopped thinking about it. With a leap, he returned to the ground and patiently waited for the Iwa ninjas to arrive.

As the saying goes, "Meet force with force, meet water with an earthen dam."

Since he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it. No matter what their conspiracy was, in the end, it would still depend on strength.

Without sufficient strength, no matter how many tricks they had, it wouldn't be of much use.

...

Twenty minutes later.

Seimei received news from his subordinates that they had engaged the enemy.

Furthermore, he also learned that the enemy was divided into three groups, advancing towards the mountaintop from three different directions: left, center, and right.

Seimei thought for a moment, let the other Jonin organize the defense, and he himself quickly rushed towards the denser forest on the right.

He planned to bypass the Iwa ninjas' left flank and launch a surprise attack from behind.

In this way, he could not only disrupt the Iwa ninjas' attack rhythm and delay their advance but also probe the Iwa ninjas' true strength.

However, things didn't go as Seimei expected.

He originally thought that the Konoha ninjas on the front line could at least hold on for a while, but unexpectedly, in less than five minutes, the central route was breached, and the left and right flanks also had to retreat; otherwise, they risked being cut off by the Iwa ninjas.

"What's going on? Why was the defense line breached so quickly?"

Seimei asked in his mind.

The Yamanaka clan Tokubetsu Jonin, connected to him through the Mind Transmission Technique, immediately replied, "It's the Four-Tails Jinchuriki. He's hiding within the attacking forces."

"What?"

Hearing this news, Seimei's expression changed, and he immediately asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Yamanaka Kiku replied affirmatively, "He broke through our defense line with an extremely powerful Lava Release ninjutsu. No one is his match."

Hearing this, Seimei fell silent. After a while, he said, "So that's their plan..."

Indeed, through Yamanaka Kiku's description, Seimei had roughly guessed what the new Iwa commander was up to.

The reason they used the previous commander's tactics was, firstly, to make them relax their vigilance, and secondly, to conceal their true intentions and confuse them.

Then, they would take the opportunity to send out the Jinchuriki hidden within the队伍, using swift and decisive means to capture the two strategic high points guarding Kaze no Sato.

That's right, two.

If he wasn't mistaken, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki should currently be among the Iwa ninja forces attacking the northern mountain stronghold.

Perhaps, like the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, they had already broken through the defense line.

However, it was useless to guess these things now.

The most important thing at the moment was how to stop them.

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi, was different from the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, Han. The Lava Release he mastered caused significant damage to flesh and blood.

Coupled with his Lava Release Chakra Mode protecting his entire body, ordinary methods couldn't hurt him at all. Unless, like Kisame Hoshigaki in the future, one could exhaust him to death, it would be very difficult to deal with him.

And coincidentally, among the ninjutsu that Seimei was good at, there was no Water Release to counter him, which was quite troublesome.

(End of this chapter)