Chapter 11

On the sixth day of Shisui's request for reinforcements, the Mist ninja ceased all movement; the scale of their harassment was even less than that of a normal mission's ninja skirmish.

On the seventh day, the scout ninja dispatched by Shisui reported that reinforcements had reached eighty li outside the camp.

At ninja speed, with full effort, they could cover that distance in just a few hours.

"At their pace, I estimate we'd still need another two days to cover this distance!"

Hearing the report, Hui Uchiha laughed angrily and sneered.

Shisui nodded; even he had to admit Hui was right, but he didn't mind and instead took out a prepared letter from his bosom.

"It's fine, let them go. Hui, big brother, I have a letter here; you personally make a trip to deliver it to the Nara Commander and request new orders, making sure to bring the letter back by tomorrow."

"No problem, leave it to me; I'm not one of those weak-legged shrimps who can't walk!"

Hui took the letter without further question, grinned, and immediately set out.

"Have you thought it through? Once we act, we will surely provoke their hostility."

After Hui left, Sima Yi, who had been reading beside him, slowly spoke.

"Yes, teacher, I've thought it through; to save my clan I must act for the Village—the Leaf cannot remain in their hands."

The reinforcements' delay let Shisui see these people's true faces once more; if the Mist truly sent reinforcements, who would care about the Uchiha's life or death, who would worry about the front line's safety?

Sima Yi nodded in relief; Shisui finally saw his proper stance. Thus, the upcoming Leaf campaign would have a chance of success! "If that's the case, then do as you think."

"Yes, teacher."

Late at night, Hui Uchiha ran hundreds of kilometers, bypassed the reinforcements, and raced all the way to the Wu Zhen camp, where he met Nara Zhuque.

Seeing the late-night visitor Hui Uchiha, Nara Zhuque's scalp went numb and his heart pounded.

"Could the Mist really have made a big move, breaking the front line?" "Nara Commander, this is the letter Captain Shisui asked me to deliver; please open it and reply promptly." Hui Uchiha's solemn expression further confirmed Nara Zhuque's judgment.

His heart sank, and he hastily took the letter to read.

He saw the letter roughly say: "We have confirmed that the Mist has no reinforcements, but the Mist Elite Forces have been harassing the front line day and night for several days."

Our forces are insufficient to withstand the harassment, and with reinforcements delayed, we cannot defend the entire line.

We now request to fall back to the rear to await reinforcements, and we ask the Nara Commander to decide.

"That's it?"

"Since the Mist has no successors, sending a token reinforcement is just meant to annoy them; it's utterly insignificant."

After reading the letter, Nara Zhuque stood frozen, unable to believe his eyes; he reread it carefully to confirm he hadn't misread, then turned his gaze to Hui Uchiha.

After a long while, he suppressed the urge to strike, gathered the senior ninja of each unit for discussion, and then made a decision.

"Allow Shisui Uchiha to lead his people to withdraw to the second line for standby, then return to the Leaf after the follow-up troops hand over!"

The senior ninja of each unit nodded in agreement; since the front line didn't need reinforcements, they could also set out for the Leaf with peace of mind.

Only Zhuanqin Xianghui was dissatisfied; her nephew had already been sent to the front line, so he could only return with the Uchiha's people, and the Leaf villagers would not remember his appearance.

But calculating the time, the reinforcements are expected to arrive soon, and there's no time to recall them now.

Hui Uchiha didn't care what Zhuanqin Xianghui thought; after receiving the order, he turned and left, rushing back to the front line overnight.

At the same time, inside the camp of the Land of Vortices, Qing also received a secret intelligence.

"Reinforcements from the Leaf? Where did you get this information?"

The intelligence was brought by his aide, but their scout ninja are all dead—how could they have obtained such information.

"Someone deliberately sent it, probably the same as after the last night raid on the camp, perhaps even the same person." The aide didn't care about the source; since he couldn't find it anyway, he was more concerned with whether the information was accurate.

"Although the last night raid yielded some results, we also suffered heavy losses; this time we should be more cautious."

Another aide felt grief-stricken; the loss of over ten squads was no small number.

Qing wore a solemn face; he finally understood why the previous commander had agreed to the last night raid—it turned out that since then the Mizukage had had this plan.

"Finances."

He sighed, burned the intelligence, and then said: "The intelligence should be true."

"So what if it's true? With the Uchiha's people watching the front line, we can't get through either."

"That's true, but let's forget it; our manpower is already insufficient, and the Mizukage's order might"

At this point they really didn't want to seize any Copy Wheel Eyes; they just wanted to return to the Village as soon as possible, and the resentment of those bloodline ninja below was almost uncontrollable.

Although Qing had an idea in mind in disagreement, he had no choice but to give up.

However, the next morning.

"What did you say? The Uchiha have withdrawn?"

【47 mind, seeing everyone disagree, he had no choice but to give up.

【45】 However, the next morning.

【46】 "What did you say? The Uchiha have withdrawn?"

The three in the tent were greatly startled; why withdraw forces for no reason?

Qing found it even harder to believe; he immediately took personnel to personally go to the front line to operate the Byakugan for observation.

"They really have withdrawn; are they pulling back to the second line or returning to the Leaf?"

"If they're returning to the Leaf, that's too disrespectful—they haven't even left yet!"

"They're probably heading to the second line."

The Uchiha camp's front and back fifty li constitute the first line; beyond fifty li is the second line.

Qing stared with the Byakugan, pondering last night's information.

"Hahaha, a heaven-sent opportunity—it seems the Leaf's internal strife is no less than ours."

He understood the other's meaning; although such betrayal of comrades disgusted him, he now had no choice but to act as they wished.

Who made them our kind! "Gather everyone, we move tonight!"

"Captain Lidou, it's almost dark; we have thirty kilometers left to the camp—should we speed up to arrive before nightfall?"

Several squad leaders grimly stared at the youth before them; even if they didn't want to support the Uchiha, they didn't want to make things so ugly.

As ninjas, marching less than thirty li in a day, and almost every few steps they'd scout the surroundings— their purpose was all too obvious.

"No need; the closer we get to the front line, the more cautious we must be—night marching is too dangerous, and if we thus let the Mist ninja slip through, who would be responsible?"

Zhuanqin Lidou's expression remained calm; he had a ready excuse for days, sufficient to deal with these civilian ninjas.

"If there are Uchiha people guarding the front line, how could there possibly be Mist ninjas here?"

"Nobody dared to offend him; hearing this, everyone remained silent. Only the young people in their team were very dissatisfied, constantly muttering, but they were quickly stopped by them."

"At night, Zhuanqin Lidou had someone light a campfire to cook; although he spoke of caution, his actions showed no caution at all."

"To actually start a fire here, they really don't take us seriously!"

(End of chapter)