Chapter 536: Famed Hope of the Ninja World

"Lord Iwaku, our Anbu has obtained the latest major intelligence on the Leaf's ninja forces!"

A Rock jōnin entered Iwaku's tent with a delighted expression to report the latest results.

"Major intelligence?" Iwaku, who had already fallen asleep, quickly sat up.

What could be called major intelligence was usually information that could significantly impact the battlefield. The last time the Rock had achieved a surprise victory was because they learned the location and deployment of the Leaf's main forces.

"That's right. We've not only obtained news of the Leaf's reinforcements but also their upcoming battle plan," the Rock jōnin said excitedly.

With this intelligence, it was as if he could see an unprecedented great victory right before him.

"Quick, let me see." Iwaku's curiosity was piqued.

Because Retsuseki was heavily injured and sent to the rear after emergency treatment, Iwaku was now commanding the Rock forces.

Of course, he was only the acting commander; once Retsuseki recovered and returned to the battlefield, he would have to step aside.

Taking the intelligence scroll, Iwaku quickly opened it to read the information.

"The Leaf reinforcements' vanguard, led by Hanyu Muzuki, has rendezvoused with the Leaf's Grass Country forces. The total reinforcements dispatched by the Leaf amount to one thousand shinobi. Apart from the elite vanguard that arrived first, there are still nine hundred and fifty shinobi advancing toward the Grass Country..."

With each line Iwaku read, the light in his eyes grew brighter.

After carefully reading all the intelligence, Iwaku could barely restrain himself from laughing uproariously.

This was practically a godsend. Just as his superior Retsuseki had left, he happened to obtain major intelligence on the Leaf forces.

"Even eliminating just a thousand shinobi would be a victory worth celebrating!" Iwaku's lips curled up.

Jiraiya's remnants plus the Leaf reinforcements must total at least sixteen hundred shinobi. If he could kill two-thirds of them, that would be a great victory to announce throughout Iwagakure.

Moreover, with such outstanding performance, he could naturally have the "acting" removed from his commander title.

Without the "acting" tag, he could continue commanding the two-thousand-strong Rock forces on the battlefield and earn merits.

In the end, his status in Iwagakure might surpass Retsuseki's, and he might even be nominated as a candidate for the Fourth Tsuchikage.

Thinking of this, Iwaku's upturned lips could no longer be suppressed.

Tsuchikage—one of the Five Kage—was a truly formidable existence that no one could ignore.

"Assemble all the jōnin in the unit and start a strategy meeting!" Iwaku ordered the messenger.

If it were Retsuseki, a single order would have sufficed, but Iwaku's prestige among the Rock forces wasn't that strong; he needed to hold a meeting to gain support first.

Although it was currently sleeping hours, the shinobi had undergone special training and didn't sleep deeply. Some Rock jōnin didn't even need to be called; they naturally woke up upon hearing the commotion outside.

Inside the meeting tent, after all Rock jōnin had arrived, Iwaku started the meeting.

First, Iwaku had a Rock ninja read out all the intelligence, then he spoke:

"Everyone, share your views."

"Prepare for battle! With intelligence like this, we should seize the momentum and wipe out all the Leaf forces!" Firelight said directly.

Knowing even the color of the Leaf's underwear—it would be a waste not to strike.

"Of course we attack," the other Rock jōnin responded in succession.

Iwaku nodded inwardly. As he had thought, with such vital intelligence grasped, no one would choose to avoid combat.

"My thoughts are the same as yours. Not only should we fight, but we should also use this opportunity to completely break through the Leaf's Grass Country defense line and enter the Land of Fire itself," Iwaku said with a smile.

His status in Iwagakure was not low, and he knew that the Rock's high command favored a conservative, low-key approach.

Invading the Land of Fire itself was certainly not low-key, but this great war was ordered by the Rock high command, letting them go all out. Iwaku could confidently rack up military merits.

"But we must fight methodically. Even if their reinforcements arrive, we'll still have the numerical advantage, but picking them off one by one would be better.

We need to eliminate the Leaf's Grass Country forces before the main reinforcing unit arrives, then take out the support unit." Iwaku began explaining his attack plan.

The submitted intelligence contained the detailed plan for the Leaf's Grass Country ninja forces to rendezvous with the Leaf support unit.

Iwaku's plan was approved by most of the Rock ninja, so they began discussing to fill any gaps.

Some Rock ninja even came up with a bold idea, suggesting to immediately assemble the forces for a surprise attack on the Leaf ninja unit.

However, this decision was not approved, because transmitting intelligence took time, traveling also took time, and the intelligence stated that the Leaf ninja forces would sleep early and wake up early tonight to travel.

If they go now, they would most likely find nothing, and might even expose their intentions. If the Leaf ninja unit were to change their plans on the fly because of that, it would be a loss that outweighs the gain.

"This is the second temporary rest stop in their plan." Iwaku pointed to a spot deep in the forest with a small river on the map.

"Their plan is to wander during the day, and only go to the rest stop at night for a brief rest before continuing on, in order to confuse us.

"Then we'll turn their trick against them. We'll make a forced march right now, get there, and lie in ambush, waiting. Whether they arrive early or on time, they'll face us, fully prepared for battle."

The reason Iwaku believed at a glance that this was genuine intelligence from within the Leaf ninja unit was twofold.

On one hand, he trusted his own intelligence ninja, after all they had just achieved a major success.

On the other hand, it was the specific content of the intelligence. The intelligence contained not only measures against spies, but also content meant to mislead the Rock ninja unit. No matter how Iwaku looked at it, this was legitimate intelligence.

Iwaku probably never imagined that Muyue and Jiraiya, in order to make them fall for the trap, had fooled a bunch of Leaf jonin into holding a fake meeting.

Because the intelligence was so thorough, the operational meeting didn't have much room for discussion, and the specific battle plan was quickly finalized.

"Truly, you never know your own strength until you actually fight. I never thought our Rock intelligence department would be so much better than Leaf's," a Rock jonin said with a relaxed smile.

Anyone with a bit of self-awareness knew who was actually on the battlefield. Was the Leaf's defeat because their unit's strength far surpassed the Leaf ninja unit?

Of course not. It was because they crushed the Leaf ninja unit on the intelligence level.

If using a game as an analogy, when the Rock unit fought Jiraiya's unit, not only did they have a wallhack to see positions, they could even tap into Jiraiya's voice chat—one-way. They could hear Jiraiya, but Jiraiya couldn't hear them.

The Rock jonin all broke into smiles. Lately, they could say they had vented all their previous frustration; they really enjoyed the fighting.

The meeting ended. Iwaku assembled the Rock unit and began a forced march toward the destination.

Although it was just one in the dead of night, not a single ninja dawdled. They all quickly prepared everything and silently followed the main force forward.

"After this battle, the entire shinobi world will remember my name." Looking at the black sky dotted with stars, Iwaku felt smug.

If everything developed as he envisioned, this campaign would become the most painful defeat for Leaf in recent years.

As it went from pitch black to the sky growing a little light, the Rock ninja unit approached the second rest stop mentioned in the intelligence.

Although the intelligence said this was a place the Leaf ninja unit was only planning to come to tonight, Iwaku still didn't let his guard down. He ordered the sensor ninja in the Rock unit to activate a ninjutsu to sense the situation inside.

"Lord Iwaku, there is no ninja chakra!" The sensor ninja released the hand seal and opened his eyes to report.

"Continue advancing!" Iwaku smiled and nodded.

Everything confirmed the authenticity of their intelligence. Victory was drawing closer to him.

Looking at the tall trees deep in the forest, Iwaku felt exceptionally pleased.

It was as if each tree was a Leaf ninja he would kill tonight.

"No wonder it's only used as a temporary rest stop. Apart from being hidden, the terrain is easy to attack and hard to defend." Iwaku observed the surrounding terrain and thought.

This terrain made Iwaku feel a bit insecure. He quickly organized patrol squads to scout the perimeter.

The Rock unit didn't have as many sensor ninja as Leaf, and they couldn't make the scarce sensor ninja continuously use sensory ninjutsu, so patrols by ordinary ninja were also important.

After a short time, the ninja of the Rock unit, finding that the surroundings were still completely peaceful, completely relaxed.

"The intelligence department is really impressive, so accurate," a Rock ninja exclaimed.

If every battle could have intelligence like this, even if they encountered a ninja unit with one and a half times their numbers, they could still fight.

Next, Iwaku began to arrange for the ninja to rest in shifts. They hadn't slept well to begin with, and had traveled all night. The Rock unit's condition was mediocre and needed rest.

However, to prevent accidents, Iwaku couldn't let all the Rock ninja sleep on the spot. He had to have them rest in shifts: some would catch up on sleep, while others stood guard and set up traps.

Having arranged everything, Iwaku also prepared to catch some sleep.

Ordinary Rock ninja only needed to fight. As the commander, he had much more to think about and do, so he needed the sleep even more.

Boom!!!

An extremely violent explosion sounded, and the vivid fiery red explosion light was especially dazzling in this dim early morning.

Iwaku, who had just lain down, instantly lost all sleepiness, and abruptly opened his eyes and jumped up.

Boom!

As if a chain reaction had started, soon another explosion sounded, and the fiery red explosion light struck the Rock ninja around them.

"Damn it, I fell for the trap!" Yan Ku's expression turned extremely ugly.

Although he still didn't understand how the Leaf Ninja had managed all this, the explosion just now was clearly an explosion tag trap.

The intelligence was false. The Leaf Ninja had already come and set up a trap.

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