After leaving the battlefield, Anya didn't head elsewhere but flew straight toward the Iwagakure battlefield. Unlike his earlier cautious approach to the battlefield, this time he flew openly in a straight line across the sky. After crossing through the war-torn zones on all sides, he immediately deactivated his flight and landed at the old Konoha stronghold.
As soon as he landed and took a few steps forward, Anya keenly sensed the bloodlust and killing intent lingering in the air. The only explanation for this scene was battle and massacre. Obviously, this Konoha outpost had already experienced a brutal conflict.
Standing on the ground, Anya fully activated his [Sharingan], beginning his search for the Konoha ninja.
Among the Five Great Countries, Iwagakure's terrain was the most complicated, surrounded entirely by rocks and towering peaks. Years of warfare had further devastated the original landscape beyond recognition. Finding a group of fleeing ninja in such an environment was indeed no easy task.
Before long, Anya abandoned his attempt to continue searching and focused directly on the Iwa ninja who had left traces behind on the battlefield.
Under the power of his dōjutsu, Anya soon found them. It was clear that these Iwa ninja were riding high on victory. They had formed small groups, cleaning up the battlefield, and their faces wore broad smiles. Some even wore fierce expressions as they stabbed repeatedly into the lifeless bodies of Konoha ninja, venting their hatred...
Anya watched this scene coldly. After confirming there were no other reinforcements nearby, he quickly analyzed the conversations between these ninja to identify their leader. Once identified, Anya appeared directly behind them.
Without a word, a long shriek rang out, and the Blade of Indifference had already been unsheathed.
The Iwa ninja had barely heard the sound and turned their heads when a dazzling white light flashed, and they lost consciousness completely.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
The sound of bodies collapsing—except for one, all the other Iwa ninja had died within less than a second.
"You... who are you?" The surviving Iwa ninja stared in terror, trembling all over as he pointed at Anya and asked, "You... who exactly are you?"
"Where have the Konoha ninja you fought gone?" Anya asked coldly.
The Iwa ninja looked into Anya's icy gaze, a chill running through his heart. He glanced at his dead comrades, their eyes still wide open with shock. Hatred burned in his face as he stubbornly replied, "I don't know. I will never betray my village. Don't even think about getting any intelligence from me."
Anya expressionlessly said, "It seems I shouldn't waste my time."
Without another word, Anya activated his [Sharingan], his eyes glowing with powerful dōjutsu energy, piercing directly into the depths of the enemy's mind.
"Thud, thud..."
The Iwa ninja felt a pair of [Sharingan] eyes appear in his mind. His consciousness began to blur, his eyes instantly turned vacant, his body weakened, and he was completely under control.
Anya quickly asked, "Where did the Konoha ninja go?"
The Iwa ninja's face went blank as he dully replied, "They've broken into small groups and fled in different directions."
Anya felt slightly relieved upon hearing that. This was currently the best option for the Konoha ninja—only this way could they preserve their fighting strength to the greatest extent and avoid being wiped out all at once. She just didn't know where Jiraiya was. Although Minato was destroying bridges at the rear, wasting a top-tier fighter, the Tsuchikage was also being restrained. He shouldn't have fallen so quickly.
"Where is Jiraiya? Where is he?" Anya asked again.
"According to the intelligence I received, he led some Konoha ninja to reinforce the Grass Village, which is why we managed to capture this stronghold."
"I see." Once she had a basic idea, Anya asked, "During the battle, did you encounter any ninja using Ice Release?"
"No."
"What about a female Anbu ninja using a blade?"
"Unknown."
Realizing she couldn't extract any useful intelligence, Anya released the Genjutsu and immediately sent a flash of lightning through her hand, slicing through his throat.
Looking around, she chose the direction of the Grass Village and left the area.
In a forest near the Grass Village, a plump ninja asked the person beside him, "How many enemy ninja are there?"
"There are eight ninja closest to us. From their chakra signatures, they should all be jonin. Other directions also have many more ninja. There are so many of them. Looks like they're planning to wipe us out completely."
"Aww man, just dealing with these eight jonin will be difficult enough."
In a dense forest, three ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors were cautiously hiding among the trees, whispering quietly.
One of them spoke up, "Let me try to take out these eight ninja."
"Shikaku, don't act recklessly. These eight ninja all have abundant experience and are very cautious. They're scattered in various positions. We can't eliminate them all in one strike. If we expose ourselves, we'll certainly be dead."
"Inoichi, since you went to Anbu, your gall has actually gotten smaller. When has Shikaku ever let us down? He must have a plan," a plump ninja standing nearby said. He was Choza from the Akimichi Clan in Konoha.
These three were none other than Konoha's famed Ino–Shika–Cho trio.
"You might not believe it, but since joining Anbu, most of the time I haven't even engaged in direct combat," Inoichi said with a self-deprecating smile before turning to Shikaku. "Tell us about your plan."
"These two items will be enough," Shikaku said mysteriously as he pulled out two objects from his chest.
"Oh, a flare. Hmm, this is..." Inoichi exclaimed in surprise, barely holding back a smile as he looked curiously at Choza.
"This is the food I brought from home! What the hell, when did you take it?" Choza's eyes widened, clearly furious—obviously someone who was very protective of his food.
"Choza, calm down a bit," Shikaku smiled bitterly. "You can't eat food on the battlefield. If the enemy has any ninja with a keen sense of smell, they'll immediately detect our location by the scent. That's why I secretly took it before coming to the battlefield. Originally I was planning to return it to you after the war ended, but now it's actually going to be useful."
Inoichi understood immediately. "So, you're planning to use Choza's food as bait?"
"That's right," Shikaku nodded. "I've scattered some crumbs of Choza's food on the ground to make it seem like we've already eaten. The enemy likely has a Sensor Ninja. They'll easily locate me through this trick. When they find me, that'll be the perfect moment for us. Then the illumination rounds will come into play."
"But what if they leave their original positions the moment the illumination round lights up?" Inoichi asked doubtfully.
"They won't," Shikaku stated confidently. "They're smart. They know Konoha operates in teams. Once they detect that only I am alone here, most of their attention won't be on me but on other potential ambush points. So at the moment the illumination round explodes, losing their vision, their first reaction will be to collectively organize a defense. They won't scatter."
After hearing the entire plan, Inoichi couldn't help but give a thumbs-up. "Shikaku," he said, "you're still the smartest one here."
"There's no time to waste. Leave them to me." A voice abruptly echoed inside Inoichi's mind.
"Captain?" Inoichi exclaimed, both surprised and delighted.
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