Chapter 440: A Confrontation Under the Night

After a period of contemplation, Mizunuki Ryosuke already had the answer in his heart.

Subsequently, with a serious expression in his eyes, he spoke softly to Tsunade in his arms.

"Little Tsunade, listen to me."

Hearing this, Tsunade’s expression became slightly more solemn; she knew this was the "expert" about to "offer advice" to the Leaf.

""

After a secret conversation, no one knew exactly what the two had said.

Tsunade left the peak in a hurry, leaving Mizunuki Ryosuke standing there alone.

For a long time, Mizunuki Ryosuke’s hand couldn't help but reach behind him, slowly rubbing his lower back twice, after which he revealed a wry smile.

"Indeed, there are only exhausted oxen, the ancients did not deceive me."

Mizunuki Ryosuke sighed faintly and slowly shook his head.

At midnight, under the pitch-black night sky, countless ninjas wearing black rubber raincoats, their entire bodies darker than the night itself, approached the border of the Land of Fire along with the curtain of rain from the Land of Rain.

Their expressions were serious, their eyes cold, and they didn't make a single sound as they moved.

If someone were to see them in the middle of the night, they would likely mistake them for some ominous, supernatural phenomenon.

Before long, the dark ninjas spotted the hazy firelight in the distance; they looked at each other, seeing the profoundness in each other's eyes.

"Puchi!!!"

A sharp blade pierced through a throat, and a large amount of blood gushed out from the wound.

"Gurgle, gurgle."

A Leaf ninja on sentry duty widened his eyes in disbelief; because his throat had been slit, he could only make an extremely faint sound.

As a large amount of blood surged back into his throat, this Leaf ninja fell to the ground forever.

"Puchi, puchi!!!!"

The sound of blades entering flesh was incessant, and scenes similar to the one before were happening all over this border area.

For tonight's surprise attack, Hanzo had clearly been planning for a long time.

After several rounds of scouting, Hanzo had determined that this particular section of the border outpost was the weakest point in the Leaf's defense.

Therefore, he chose to break through the border here and enter the Land of Fire.

For Rain ninjas who excelled in assassination and ambushes, such a mission was their bread and butter, so they carried it out with exceptional ease.

The Rain ninjas had crossed the border easily without alerting anyone.

And this was only the first barrier; to reach the actual Leaf camp, they still needed to cross several tight defensive lines set up by Leaf ninjas.

As the assassination operation ended, a man with dark green long hair and a breathing mask, carrying a sickle, crossed the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, surrounded by a group of Rain ninjas.

He was none other than the focal point of the ninja world today, the leader of the Rain ninjas, Salamander Hanzo.

Subsequently, he glanced at the boundary marker at his feet, which symbolized the dividing line between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, a flash of profoundness in his eyes.

"Clang!"

With a crisp hum, a dazzling blade light appeared exceptionally clear in the dark night.

As Salamander Hanzo swung the sickle in his hand, the boundary marker at his feet was instantly split in two.

Although he did not say a word, the meaning of this act was already quite clear.

At that moment, the group of Rain ninjas beside him found their breathing becoming a bit rapid, and a flash of fanaticism appeared in their eyes.

Salamander Hanzo gave a look to his confidant beside him without changing his expression, and seeing the confidant reveal a look of understanding, he walked forward with large strides without looking back.

Seeing Salamander Hanzo continue forward, the confidant turned and gave orders to the few Rain ninjas beside him.

Immediately, some Rain ninjas stripped off the clothes of the Leaf ninjas who had been killed earlier, put them on, and donned Leaf headbands.

Unless one inspected them closely, it would be absolutely impossible to discover that the Leaf sentries nearby were actually Rain ninjas in disguise.

Seeing this, the confidant nodded with satisfaction and followed in Salamander Hanzo's footsteps.

Subsequently, a large number of Rain ninjas, aided by the "darkness under the lamp," quickly passed through the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire.

Everything was completed quietly without a sound; next, the Leaf seemed to be facing a major crisis.

Led by Salamander Hanzo and with the Rain ninja elites clearing the way, the Rain ninjas, aided by the night, broke through the Leaf's multiple layers of vigilance like a hot knife through butter.

At this moment, Salamander Hanzo could already vaguely see the massive camp of the Leaf Allied Forces in the distance.

But even with the target right before his eyes, he was not in a hurry.

To be a good "hunter," patience is a necessity.

Impatience is a ninja's greatest taboo.

He gave another look to the confidant beside him, and the other party nodded in understanding.

Subsequently, this ninja who excelled in insect-controlling secret arts drove a dozen strange-looking insects to creep forward along the ground.

Ninjas who could use insect-controlling secret arts were rare, but that did not mean they didn't exist.

In the vast ninja world, it wasn't just the Leaf's Aburame clan who used parasitic insects that could use insect-controlling ninjutsu; there were other small ninja clans that had accomplishments in insect-controlling arts.

Clearly, this confidant Rain ninja was one of the rare insect-controlling ninjas.

Soon, under the manipulation of the insect-controlling Rain ninja, a dozen insects resembling beetles approached the edge of the Leaf camp, passing under a large tree.

"Whoosh, whoosh!!!!"

Two shuriken suddenly shot out from the tree canopy, killing all the beetles.

What happened in the distance naturally could not be hidden from this insect-controlling Rain ninja, and he reported it to Salamander Hanzo exactly as it happened.

"As expected."

A flash of understanding crossed Salamander Hanzo's eyes.

Around the Leaf camp, there was indeed an invisible "sensory barrier."

Even a movement as subtle as insects crawling was perceived by the other party, which showed the sophistication of this Leaf sensory barrier.