Chapter 91: Cloud Hidden Finally Catches Up to Konoha

After walking for a while, the Fourth Raikage suddenly froze in his tracks.

He remembered.

Wasn't the situation before his eyes the exact same scene from back then, when the Rock Hidden Army pursued and wiped out the Cloud Hidden, ultimately forcing the Third Raikage to be exhausted to death?

No wonder he hadn't been able to recall it for so long; it was because this wasn't from the perspective of their Cloud Hidden.

The Fourth Raikage laughed, a ferocious grin: "The Third Tsuchikage was arrogant, thinking a ten-thousand-man army could surround and kill Cloud Hidden ninja, and he sat safely in the rear waiting for news, which led to a crushing defeat."

"I won't follow that shorty's example; I will always be on the front line. As long as you, Orochimaru, dare to appear, I will immediately crush you and force you to abandon the Konoha Ninja and flee."

"If you aren't willing to flee and want to follow my father's path, then I'll just kill you!"

But the Fourth Raikage miscalculated one thing: he could catch up to the Konoha Ninja, but he could never surround them or catch them.

Previously in the Land of Fire, he had felt the same sense of helplessness he had as a child trying to catch fish with his bare hands when facing the Konoha Ninja commanded by Yamanaka Chujiu.

At the time, he could still deceive himself, thinking it was the plains and forests of the Land of Fire, the environment most familiar to the Konoha Ninja, and that he had suffered a loss due to environmental adaptation.

But today was different; he was in the Land of Lightning, in the steep, mountainous terrain he was most familiar with, yet he was still being played in circles by the Konoha Ninja.

Konoha's three decoy battalions were like master illusionists, at times taking turns harassing the Cloud Hidden ninja, at times gathering together to surround and kill the fastest Cloud Hidden squads, and at times splitting into three, leaving the pursuers at a loss.

They also used the mountain terrain to set traps, using themselves as bait to lure the unfamiliar Moon Ninja into ambushes.

They would also detour to the rear of the Cloud Hidden Army to raid supply transport teams, not killing anyone but just setting fires.

Instead, traditional ninja harassment tactics like releasing Explosive Tags at night to create chaos or disguising themselves as Cloud Hidden ninja were tactics the Konoha Ninja basically no longer used.

Many other Konoha Ninja felt their hands itching to do so, but Yamanaka Chujiu strictly forbade them from taking risks.

He said: "What's the point of taking risks? One person, or a three-man squad, harassing hundreds or thousands of enemies—isn't that just pure suicide?"

"Just honestly follow my orders. As long as everyone maintains unified action, no matter how many enemies there are, I can guarantee that every battle we fight will be with superior numbers against inferior ones, and with strength against weakness."

"We can win the war properly and go home alive; is your brain broken to want to trade your own life for the enemy waking up startled once at night?"

But did Yamanaka Chujiu really not engage in night raids?

Of course not; he just didn't engage in ineffective, harassing-style surprise attacks.

When the Cloud Hidden ninja were able to sleep soundly for three consecutive nights, by the night of the fourth day, even the Fourth Raikage subconsciously relaxed his vigilance.

Yamanaka Chujiu thus caught a glimpse of a strategic opportunity; he suddenly assembled the three decoy units, converging into a thousand-man army, and launched a surprise attack on the Moon Ninja camp.

The Konoha Ninja's attack was extremely resolute, without any entanglement or delay. Under Yamanaka Chujiu's command, they thrust directly along the defensive weaknesses, beheading the Moon Ninja leader and some of the Moon Ninja high-ranking officials.

While beheading the high-ranking officials, the Konoha Ninja set a great fire, ignited the supplies in the camp, and then retreated cleanly and decisively.

When the Fourth Raikage Ai learned the news, he was furious, but he didn't dare to rashly assemble the Cloud Hidden ninja to rescue them.

There was no help for it; he had been "besieging a point to strike reinforcements" by Yamanaka Chujiu, and he had developed a psychological shadow.

By the time dawn broke, all the Cloud Hidden ninja could save was a group of Moon Ninja who had lost their supplies and were waiting for rescue, looking disheveled and dejected.

The Moon Ninja asked aggrievedly: "Why didn't you come to save us?"

The Cloud Hidden ninja explained helplessly: "The Konoha Ninja are cunning. They definitely didn't go far after retreating; they must be lying in ambush nearby, waiting to ambush reinforcements."

The Moon Ninja were speechless.

They appeared to be convinced, but in reality, they didn't believe it at all; they just didn't dare to clash head-on with the powerful Cloud Hidden.

And the Cloud Hidden ninja also felt that the Moon Ninja were, after all, a small ninja village with little combat power, and their willpower was even more contemptible.

The two sides developed a rift because of this, laying the groundwork for the crushing defeat that followed.

The Fourth Raikage instinctively gave the order for all units to strengthen vigilance, dispatch a large number of patrol squads, and enhance search capabilities to prevent being raided by Konoha Ninja.

But these patrol squads became prey for the Konoha Ninja.

The Konoha decoy battalion possessed three hundred Konoha Ninja; surrounding and attacking a patrol squad of only three Cloud Hidden ninja allowed them to do so without the enemy even being able to send out a signal.

Many times, when the Cloud Hidden ninja saw Konoha Ninja a hundred times their number, they couldn't even muster the heart to resist; they simply closed their eyes, stretched out their necks, and waited for death.

The Fourth Raikage had a splitting headache.

Scattered patrols would be eaten by Konoha, concentrated pursuits would be toyed with by Konoha, and they still had to be careful of night raids.

He could only summon the high-ranking officials of the two ninja villages to hold a brainstorming session, thinking about how to catch the Konoha Ninja and subsequently wipe them out completely.

In the end, it was the Moon Ninja leader, eager for revenge, who proposed: "If there are too few people, we get surrounded; if there are too many, we can't catch up. Then let's divide them into groups that are neither too few nor too many, so we can maintain flexible speed while having sufficient combat power."

The Fourth Raikage's eyes suddenly lit up: "Good, let's do that!"

The eighteen thousand pursuers were divided into six groups, each with three thousand ninja, maintaining a distance that was neither too far nor too close, like a giant net to scoop up the Konoha Army.

This move was indeed effective.

On the second day after changing tactics, the Fourth Raikage received intelligence: "Raikage-sama, we have discovered the tracks of the Konoha Ninja!"

A flash of killing intent crossed Ai's eyes: "How many people, and what is the distance?"

"About three thousand, definitely the Konoha Ninja army, and they are retreating in the direction of Thunder Canyon!"

Thunder Canyon was an important pass on the outskirts of Kumogakure. On both sides of the canyon were towering cliffs, and in the middle was a narrow valley passage, which was also split in two by a river.

The terrain here was dangerous, easy to defend and hard to attack, and it was an important node for Kumogakure's external defense.

If the Konoha Ninja retreated toward Thunder Canyon, unless they were willing to abandon the supplies they were carrying, they would inevitably be blocked by the narrow passage.

But in the barren Land of Lightning, abandoning weapons was, for the Konoha Ninja army, also seeking their own death.

"Good! Very good!"

The Fourth Raikage jumped up in excitement: "Pass on my order: the nearest Fourth Pursuit Force is to pursue, and they must drag down Orochimaru's pace."

"I will lead the First, Second, and Third Pursuit Forces to rush over and rendezvous at the fastest speed!"

"The Fifth and Sixth Pursuit Forces should not go directly to Thunder Canyon; have them detour to the other end of the canyon to block the Konoha Ninja's retreat route."

"This time, I will definitely annihilate all the Konoha Ninja in Thunder Canyon!"

"Yes!"

The joint army of Cloud Hidden and Moon Ninja began to move; some pursued urgently, others detoured, forming a encirclement with Thunder Canyon as the center.

And the Konoha Army was right inside this circle.