Chapter 50: The Infiltration of the Raid Force Begins

Combining the faith link, naked-eye observation, and Mind Severing Realm sensing, Yamanaka Chujiu made a psychological assessment.

He determined that Shisui Uchiha had suffered severe psychological trauma, causing his Sharingan to advance to the three-tomoe stage.

This was not a good thing.

For the Uchiha Clan, awakening the Sharingan too early is not the realization of superior talent, but rather a depletion of one's foundation due to an unstable state of mind.

Shisui Uchiha advancing to the three-tomoe stage at nine years old meant he had awakened his eyes at least two years early, just like Itachi Uchiha.

As a result, while Shisui and Itachi were powerful, they always exuded a sense of physical frailty, as if their potential had already been exhausted.

In contrast to them, Madara Uchiha was already fourteen when he awakened his eyes, and he went on to grow into the strongest member of the Uchiha Clan.

Not just the strongest of his time, but the strongest across several generations.

That's right, the soul carrier of Indra had a great influence on Madara Uchiha; is it really hard to conclude that the timing of the Sharingan's awakening is irrelevant?

Especially in the case of the next soul carrier of Indra, Sasuke, who faced the tragedy of his entire clan being sacrificed at age nine and awakened the one-tomoe Sharingan in a rage—could it really be that his talent was poor?

No, it was precisely because his talent was so strong that he could suppress the Sharingan's determination, avoiding damage to his physical foundation and preventing his potential from being exhausted early.

Shisui Uchiha did not have the assistance of Indra's soul; his talent bloomed prematurely under intense stimulation.

This proved his talent, but it also destroyed the possibility of him reaching the pinnacle in the future.

However, Yamanaka Chujiu knew that this was not absolute.

A certain lunatic who awakened his eyes as a two-tomoe, skipped the three-tomoe upon seeing his crush die, directly opened the Mangekyo Sharingan, and was left with only half a body due to physical ruin, proved with his own experience: as long as one has Hashirama Cells, any damage to the foundation is no issue at all.

Now, all Yamanaka Chujiu had to do was adjust Shisui's heart, let him accept the sorrow, digest the negative emotions, and become even stronger.

Because of the existence of the faith link, he did not need verbal comfort; he only needed to lead by example and display a facade of strength, and that would be enough.

What?

Why did Yamanaka Chujiu have to pretend?

Naturally, because he himself was not actually strong!

Never mind comparing himself to the red sun or the shining stars; even compared to the excellent individuals he had direct contact with in his past life, he appeared insufficiently strong.

No, he was too weak!

Yamanaka Chujiu appeared very strong now, firstly because as a transmigrator he knew the trends of history, and secondly because of the setting provided by his fellow ninja, which highlighted the high heat of the lingering warmth of civilization he carried.

After Orochimaru announced the details of the raid mission, he distributed the Communication Snakes requested by Yamanaka Chujiu to the ten squad leaders.

"The Cloud Hidden Army has already pressed down on Sakurahara; you must complete the raid mission within one day."

"Infiltrating through the Cloud Hidden Army and striking directly at the Cloud's logistics transfer center is the only choice!"

"Everyone must obey the orders of Special Jonin Yamanaka Chujiu. Any disobedience or hesitation will inevitably lead to discovery by Cloud Ninja, and everyone will die in the enemy's lines."

Yamanaka Chujiu's expression was solemn as he ordered the thirty elite Konoha Ninja, who watched him with a mix of worship, belief, and suspicion: "Move out!"

Having said that, he turned and walked away.

Surprisingly, Shisui Uchiha immediately followed Yamanaka Chujiu, and his squad leader Yashiro and teammate Tekka had no choice but to follow.

With the most unruly Uchiha Squad being so obedient, the Ino-Shika-Cho Team did not hesitate any longer and followed as well.

Next were the Hyuga Byakugan squad, the reconnaissance squad, and the Genjutsu squad; it was the Fire Release and Lightning Release combat squads that reacted the slowest and were the last to join the formation.

With the first step not hitting a snag, Orochimaru felt completely at ease, a smile that he never showed others appearing on his face as he went to attend to his own affairs.

His mission was also very heavy: he had to deal with a jinchuriki and the Fourth Raikage.

And he had to fight for an entire day.

The Konoha defensive line centered on Sakurahara was only twenty kilometers away from the front line deployed by the Cloud Ninja, with both sides' ninja densely packed in between.

Just a few thousand meters away from Sakurahara, there was a possibility of encountering infiltrating Cloud Ninja.

When Yamanaka Chujiu sensed that the enemy was less than two thousand meters away, he issued an order through the Communication Snake:

"Everyone, hold a Senbon in your mouth."

"You are not allowed to take it out until we have passed through the Cloud Hidden Army's lines, or until you receive my order!"

As he spoke, he closed his eyes, carefully distinguishing the emotional feedback coming from the Mind Severing Realm, locking onto the enemy and friendly ninja within a wide range.

He sensed the elite Konoha Ninja behind him, judging their obedience from their emotions.

In the perception entirely fed by emotions, the unruly Uchiha Yashiro and Uchiha Tekka felt only awkward defiance, but had no intention of resisting.

The nameless Hyuga Branch Family ninja were calm and numb, the Ino-Shika-Cho were curious and nervous, while the other civilian ninja were full of wariness and defiance.

Hmm, that should be defiance toward the parachuting of Orochimaru's disciple, but the emotions were not severe.

Only the Genjutsu squad, composed of three Genjutsu ninja, showed strong resistance.

Yamanaka Chujiu said indifferently: "Genjutsu squad, obey my orders, or return to the camp now and report to Lord Orochimaru!"

His tone was not harsh, but the instruction was very serious.

But what surprised the Konoha Ninja even more was that they did not understand how Yamanaka Chujiu knew that the Genjutsu squad did not have the Senbon in their mouths.

Such a small movement in the night, even with the Sharingan and Byakugan, had not been clearly detected.

The unknown is the most terrifying; the three Genjutsu ninja felt a chill in their hearts and immediately took out Senbon and held them in their mouths.

Just after completing the action, Yamanaka Chujiu's voice came from the mouth of the Communication Snake: "Everyone, move forward."

The three Genjutsu ninja were startled, the last bit of defiance in their hearts suppressed, and they obediently followed the order.

Over the next half hour, Yamanaka Chujiu continuously issued orders, maneuvering the raid force into an infiltration formation.

The Hyuga squad served as the vanguard, two mixed reconnaissance squads as the left and right flanks, the Ino-Shika-Cho Team in the center, shielding the relatively fragile Genjutsu squad behind them, with the four combat squads following behind the Genjutsu squad, and finally the Uchiha Squad bringing up the rear.

Yamanaka Chujiu continued to walk at the very front of the entire team, using the Mind Severing Realm to precisely locate the positions and states of both enemy and friendly ninja.

In his mind, a map without fog was generated, where red light points representing enemies either remained stationary or wandered along dashed lines.

Yamanaka Chujiu confirmed that the Cloud Hidden Army was deployed in an offensive formation, with the ninja positions relatively concentrated, and there were insufficient patrol ninja and hidden sentries in the gaps between them.

Amidst the dense red dots and dashed lines, Yamanaka Chujiu planned a "safe" path, leading the thirty-man raid force to insert into it.

The Konoha Ninja followed the orders with trepidation, turning left and right, bypassing who knows how many Cloud Ninja, and arrived at the front line deployed by the Cloud Hidden Army.

On the final defensive line to prevent a counterattack from the Konoha Ninja, the Raikage deployed an extremely dense network of hidden sentries that could not be bypassed without engaging in combat.