Chapter 206: Fortress

Accompanied by the greatly shocked Shisui Uchiha.

Before the sky brightened, he met up with his companions.

After handing over the explosive tags obtained from this transaction to Asahi Uchiha, Dong Shilang looked toward Yan.

The other party also understood his meaning, directly bit his finger, performed the Spirit Summoning Technique, and summoned a ninja cat with whom he had a contract.

"Yo, has Granny Cat prepared everything?"

Holding his spirit beast close, he rubbed it vigorously, and then Yuzhibo Yan spoke.

"Of course we're ready! As soon as you pay, we can start the transaction!"

Seeing the white-furred creature enjoying itself in Yuzhibo Yan's arms, upon hearing the mention of payment, Dong Shilang's heart inevitably twinged with pain.

For this mission, they really took a loss like going to their grandmother's house.

If not for that, with their team's strength, not to mention whether they could complete the mission, even if they did, probably no one besides him could return alive to the camp!

"This is the agreed-upon amount, and these are some materials we collected; please hand them over to Granny Cat!"

He handed over the money he had prepared in advance to that white cat, and also gave it another seal scroll.

These were some iron materials they had collected, gathered after battles while cleaning up the battlefield.

The purpose was to use these items to settle the debt with Granny Cat.

"The amount is fine, I've received the items! In a moment, let Yan summon my sister, and she will bring the things over!"

"Hmm! Thanks!"

"Goodbye!"

After greeting Yuzhibo Yan, the summoned white cat turned into a puff of white smoke and returned to the void.

Besides taking those iron materials, he also took the majority of his remaining money from this transaction.

This left the penniless Dong Shilang feeling intense pain.

The current arms trade is booming; take explosive tags for example—originally they were one or two thousand taels each, but now the price has skyrocketed to six thousand taels per tag.

Also, items like swords, kunai, ninja blades, and any war-related goods have seen their prices multiply severalfold.

Sometimes he can't help but think, what's the point of being a ninja!? Like Granny Cat, wouldn't dealing in arms be profitable?

But reality doesn't allow him to do that!

What frustrates him most is that they won't let him buy on credit; they demand cash payment, otherwise they won't deliver the goods!

The reason is also quite strong: a single sentence—'If you collapse, who will she go to for payment?'—leaves him speechless.

If you don't buy, after just a few battles your ninja blade, kunai, and similar gear will be exhausted, let alone explosive tags!

But just these expenses truly make his heart race.

Take this batch of explosive tags: 600 tags divided among so many people gives each person about 40. Adding the usual confiscated and village-issued amounts, it's still under 60.

These 600 explosive tags cost him 3.6 million taels, plus the consumption of ninja tools, medicines, and so on.

This time he really earned hardly anything left.

Most of it went into the pockets of those arms dealers!

As for the village's supplies, each delivery is only about ten or so explosive tags, plus some military provisions pills and the like. That's merely a drop in the bucket, especially in rear-area combat where resupply is slow.

Dong Shilang wasn't kept waiting long—just ten or so minutes—when Yan summoned his spirit beast again, and the other party brought a large quantity of pre-ordered weapons.

As long as the money is in place, Granny Cat's side still ships quickly~

"Let's go!"

He distributed the supplies in hand one by one. Dong Shilang then led his clansmen, hiding in the surrounding bushes, rushing toward this mission's objective.

……

One day later.

In an open plain of Grass Country, a yellow-brown earth-and-stone fortress stands silently here.

It contrasts sharply with the surrounding expanses of green grass.

This is a forward observation post of the Rock ninja here, intended to facilitate their reconnaissance units so they can carry out reconnaissance missions more conveniently.

At the same time, this place is an important node of the Rock ninja's main camp, serving a supportive role, and allowing the Rock ninja commanders in the main camp to better monitor Leaf Village's movements.

"Is this fortress our mission target this time?"

Five or six li outside the fortress, in a dense thicket, a group of over ten figures hid here, using binoculars to observe their mission target.

Even though they were far apart, they were still cautious, fearing to reveal any flaw that would let the opposing observers notice something.

Speaking of the Rock ninja's tactics, they are truly headache-inducing.

Take this fortress before us, for example: these Rock ninja built it to be remarkably solid. Not just solid—it should be said to be airtight.

Just a glance shows that, when constructing this place, they used their adept Earth Release Ninjutsu to strengthen it to some degree.

This leaves the Leaf ninja, when facing these strongholds, feeling like a dog biting a hedgehog with nowhere to bite.

"No wonder you bought so many explosive tags this time; without these, with just us few people, completing the mission would be nearly impossible!"

Gazing at the opposing structure, Yuzhibo Zhe said with a solemn expression.

Years of battlefield combat have caused this impulsive teenager to undergo a great change; having faced danger several times, he now dares not act recklessly at all.

Compared to before, he's practically become a different person.

"Even so, Dong Shilang! How confident are you?"

"'Confidence? I don't know either; I can only go by the situation!'"

Just like now, if it were the former Yuzhibo Zhe, he would absolutely not ask such a question; he'd only ask excitedly, 'When do we strike?'

At this moment, not only Yuzhibo Zhe, but everyone in their team looks solemnly at that distant building.

"Yan! You and Zhe go first to find a foothold, while also scouting the nearby terrain—be careful, don't leave any traces~"

He may be the team captain, but there's no need for him to do everything himself personally; otherwise, what's the point of having so many teammates?

He casually instructed Yan and Zhe, while in his heart he was thinking about how to complete this mission.