Aburame Tetsumaru moved at a brisk pace, his snail-type Eye of Truth mounted atop his head. He had narrowed the field of vision to ninety degrees, extending the focal range to roughly four hundred meters. Simultaneously, he activated "Pixel Comparison" mode, which allowed him to detect movement within his sightline and even identify tracks left within the last twenty-four hours.
The squad moved in a diamond formation. Tetsumaru served as the point man, with Might Duy and Nakahiro Fushi flanking him to the left and right. Captain Ueno Hayato brought up the rear.
Each member maintained a distance of at least twenty-five meters from one another—well outside the lethal radius of any B-rank ninjutsu. This spacing ensured that a single attack wouldn't take out two squad members at once.
As for A-rank or the even more devastating S-rank jutsu with massive kill-radii, formations were largely irrelevant. Spacing out any further would make it impossible for teammates to coordinate or support one another, effectively causing the squad to fall apart. Furthermore, even for a Jonin, performing an A-rank area-of-effect (AOE) jutsu required time; they weren't instantaneous and couldn't be done with a single hand seal. Such techniques emitted intense chakra fluctuations, giving a trained ninja enough time to either scramble out of range or group up to resist.
And if they happened to run into an underlying Kage-level powerhouse capable of instant A-rank casting? Well, a Chunin-led team like Squad Ueno was dead anyway.
Tetsumaru suddenly raised his hand. His three teammates reacted instantly: the two wings fanned out to maintain a defensive perimeter, while the Captain closed in.
"Captain, I've found traces of shinobi and puppets. Less than half a day old."
Ueno Hayato carefully inspected the marks Tetsumaru pointed out and quickly reached a conclusion.
"A scouting cell. Four shinobi, two puppets. They passed through here last night, heading toward our main camp."
Ueno signaled the other two to huddle up and issued his orders. "The enemy is heading for the camp. Per our tactical patrol guidelines, we must track and either repel or eliminate them. Fushi, leave a marker here for the follow-up patrol."
"Yes, sir."
"Duy, send word of our discovery back to camp."
"On it!"
Might Duy immediately unslung his pack, produced a pen and paper to jot down the intel, and tied it to a messenger bird he carried. After the bird circled five times to gain sufficient altitude, it banked toward the camp.
Captain Ueno watched the bird tensely until it reached a safe height. Only then did he exhale. No enemies in immediate ambush.
He began issuing new orders. "Everyone, shed unnecessary weight. Transition to a single-file pursuit formation. Tetsumaru leads, followed by Fushi, then Duy. I'll take the rear."
"Remember, any Suna-nin capable of infiltrating this deep and aiming for the main camp is going to be a tough nut to crack. Stay sharp and follow my orders to the letter."
"Understood!"
Ueno surveyed his subordinates. "Any questions?"
Tetsumaru shook his head silently.
"None here," Fushi replied.
"Youth has no que—"
"Shut it. Prepare to move out immediately."
"Yes, sir!" x3
Following the order, Tetsumaru and Duy unslung their heavy packs. As the strongest and most physically fit members of the squad, they had been carrying the bulk of the supplies, while Fushi and Ueno carried only their standard tool pouches.
Half of Tetsumaru's pack consisted of his insects; he couldn't fight effectively without them. He pulled out two flat boxes. From the larger one, six dragonflies took flight silently, with the largest one ascending above the canopy.
He then opened the smaller box, which contained a single large moth. Its most striking feature was a pair of grid-like antennae that were even larger than its wings.
The dragonflies served as forward scouts and could even ferry a few Kikaichu, compensating for the latter's slow flight speed. Tetsumaru rarely used them because they were incredibly energy-inefficient. They burned ten percent of their body fat for every hour of flight, with a maximum endurance of five hours. Furthermore, their recovery rate was abysmal—they only regained two percent of their fat per day. One hour of flight required five days of rest to recover, and since they were strictly carnivorous, they were expensive to maintain.
The moth, however, possessed an exaggerated sense of smell. Its sensitivity was high enough to serve as a functional substitute for an Inuzuka's tracking specialty.
In addition to these, Tetsumaru released several beetles that crawled onto his body and hooked several boxes onto his belt. Finally, he dropped his pack. Might Duy distributed the spare kunai and shuriken from his own pack to the others before discarding his as well.
The pursuit began.
Tetsumaru took point, following the physical tracks and the intermittent scent trail. The rest followed, ready to support him at a moment's notice.
Initially, tracking was easy. Anyone walking on the ground inevitably left traces—bent grass, disturbed soil, scuffed bark. With the Eye of Truth, these signs were glaringly obvious. However, once the trail entered a dense forest zone where the enemies began traveling through the trees, the marks became sparse and shallow. The squad was forced to slow down to maintain the trail.
Thirty minutes later, the moth caught a consistent scent profile. With a clear lock on the target's "aromatic signature," the pursuit speed accelerated once more.
As they neared the Konoha camp, the enemies' path became erratic and winding. After about forty minutes of tracking, a follow-up patrol squad caught up to them, having followed Ueno's markers.
The new squad wasn't at full strength. It seemed that in the last two weeks, their replacement Genin had either been crippled or killed. Word on the grapevine was that of the four hundred Genin in Tetsumaru's wave, nearly half were already off the active roster.
Minutes after the two squads merged, Tetsumaru's dragonfly spotted the enemy. He signaled an immediate alert. Both Captains moved to Tetsumaru's side, waiting for his report.
Tetsumaru closed his eyes, using a secret technique to sync with the dragonfly's vision. The compound-eye effect was disorienting—like looking at a wall of monitors playing blurry footage. To maintain camouflage, the dragonfly was constantly banking and diving, creating a chaotic, dizzying image.
Suppraining his nausea, Tetsumaru analyzed the scene. "Target is on the hill ahead, near the cliff. Four individuals."
"Suna-nin. One Jonin, one Chunin, two Genin."
"They have eyes on our camp. The Chunin and one Genin are observing; the Jonin and the other Genin are on guard."
Tetsumaru drew a quick topographic map, marking the four positions. "The guard Genin and the Chunin are both puppeteers. I can't identify the Jonin's specialty yet."
Ueno and the other Captain, Tomita, both clicked their tongues, their brows furrowed. After over a year of war, everyone knew the reputation of Suna-nin: Troublesome and lethal.
"A Suna Jonin and a puppeteer Chunin... that's more than we can chew," Ueno muttered.
"We need reinforcements," Captain Tomita added. "At least one Jonin. We're close to camp, but the Suna cell is sitting right between us and the perimeter. How do we bypass them to get word out?"
Tomita was a veteran Chunin in his thirties who had likely served in the previous war. He was quick with strategy but lacked the means to execute it.
"Notifying the camp? I can handle that," Ueno replied. "Tetsumaru, did you bring your Transmission Insects?"
"On my belt, sir."
"Give them to me. I'll send our situation and the request for aid."
Tetsumaru handed over a box containing a pair of cicada-like insects. Ueno held the male cicada, dictated the intel, and released it. The two insects buzzed into the air, flying low to the ground and vanishing behind the trees in an instant.
The Transmission Insect was a tool Tetsumaru had developed from a specific species of cicada. The males possessed three key traits: high-speed flight, female-tracking pheromones, and a recording/playback mechanism. It could record about twenty seconds of audio and would fly at top speed toward a female to play it back in an attempt to attract her.
The downside was that they were single-use consumables. Because of the cost, the Konoha Intelligence Department had deemed them too expensive for general use. However, the deep-pocketed ANBU and Root had adopted them happily. Consequently, the ANBU at the camp headquarters kept female cicadas on hand; any transmission would fly straight to the ANBU post right next to the command center.
Ten minutes later, Tetsumaru detected a Kikaichu—one that didn't belong to him—entering his perimeter. He signaled his Captain: Reinforcements are here.
When the reinforcements arrived, the Captains and Tetsumaru immediately recognized the man in the lead: Tetsumaru's cousin, Aburame Shige.
"Perfect. With the 'All-Rounder' Aburame Shige here, those Suna-nin aren't going anywhere."
The Genin were relieved. Shige's squad was an "elite configuration"—an elite Jonin captain leading three Chunin. This single cell had more combat power than ten of Squad Ueno.
Usually, such squads didn't stay together for long unless the members were very young or newly promoted; Chunin were meant to lead Genin, not serve as subordinates. But because shinobi warfare was almost entirely comprised of special operations, large-scale battles were rare. A squad capable of wiping out forty regular ninjas was usually a waste of resources unless they were assigned strategic missions, like the "White Fang" squad on the Land of Rivers front.
Shige immediately took command. He reviewed the intel, took over control of Tetsumaru's dragonfly for a visual sweep, and finalized the plan.
Shige would handle the Suna Jonin. His three Chunin would swarm the puppeteer Chunin. The two patrol Captains would take the two Genin.
Confident in his firepower, Shige didn't include the Genin in the assault. Tetsumaru and the other four Genin were ordered to form an outer perimeter to intercept any runners.
The deployment was barely finished when the Suna-nin began covering their tracks, preparing to relocate. The battle erupted instantly.
The five Genin watched from a distance as high-level Wind Style jutsu tore through the forest. Tetsumaru identified at least four large-scale techniques: Great Breakthrough, Breakthrough Barrage, Gale Force, and his own Thousand Shearing Winds.
Tetsumaru felt a chill of dread. Three of those were B-rank—powerful enough to shred his beetle armor. There were undoubtedly even more focused, single-target spells being traded that he couldn't see from this range.
The gap between a Jonin and a Genin was terrifying. To an elite Jonin, Chunin and Genin were often just fodder to be swept aside by AOE attacks. This Suna Jonin was clearly an elite; his casting speed and power were monstrous.
Worried about his Captain, but knowing he couldn't intervene, Tetsumaru focused on his own survival. He commanded his Camouflage Butterflies to cover his body. Their wings mimicked the shape and color of fallen leaves; within seconds, he had vanished into the forest floor.
Once hidden, he deployed a dozen Landmine Insects and readied two kunai rigged with explosive tags. Only after maximizing his "output" did his chronic anxiety over "insufficient firepower" begin to ease.
Shinobi combat moves at a breakneck pace. As Tetsumaru was setting his traps, a massive tornado erupted at the center of the battlefield. Shortly after, the conflicting chakra fluctuations plummeted.
The Suna-nin had lost. The tornado was a final, large-scale distraction meant to cover an escape.
The five Konoha Genin tightened their grips on their weapons, readying for the desperate survivors. They knew that anyone capable of slipping past Aburame Shige would be a monster, but duty dictated they stand their ground.
The clatter of puppet joints echoed through the trees. It wasn't coming toward Tetsumaru, so he abandoned the idea of using Wind Style. Attempting to use Wind Style against a Suna Jonin who just summoned a giant tornado was a suicide mission; he didn't want his own jutsu hijacked and turned against him.
The noise grew louder, followed by the sound of bodies cutting through the air. The Genin held their breath.
A battered puppet and a blurred figure burst from the woods. A hail of kunai, shuriken, and fireballs met them. The puppet, though damaged, was incredibly sturdy. It tanked the hits and retaliated with a volley of senbon, never breaking its stride.
The figure heading toward Squad Ueno's position wore a desert headscarf. With a slight shimmer of movement, he sidestepped the projectiles and used a Body Flicker to appear behind the three Genin, intent on breaking through.
"Leaf Strong Whirlwind!"
Konoha's Rare Beast, Might Duy, delivered a bone-shattering kick that sent the Suna-nin sprawling. Duy's face was bloodied from a counter-hit, but he had successfully kicked a Jonin back into the ambush circle.
Duy had indeed been practicing the Eight Inner Gates. In that split second, he had opened at least four.
The Suna Jonin and Fushi were stunned by the feat, but Tetsumaru had expected it. He raised both hands and launched six Flight-Locusts at the enemy.
The Suna-nin parried two with kunai and twisted his body to dodge the other four. He hurled his kunai at Fushi and Tetsumaru before instantly weaving seals.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
A blast of wind blades and pressurized air tore through the woods behind him, scattering a swarm of incoming Kikaichu and forcing the pursuing Shige to dodge.
"Ugh!"
"Clang!"
Both kunai hit their marks. Fushi was struck in the chest, while Tetsumaru took a hit to the sternum. Fortunately, Tetsumaru's double-layered beetle armor held, though the impact was staggering.
On the other side, the two Genin intercepting the puppeteer were in worse shape, riddled with poisoned needles. But they fought with suicidal desperation—one used Earth Style and the other Water Style to turn the ground into a mire, trapping the puppet. One of the injured Genin lunged forward, detonating an explosive tag directly on the puppet's frame.
Infuriated, the puppeteer triggered a transformation. The puppet sprouted multiple claws, hooked the Konoha Genin, and pulled him into its internal cavity. A spray of blood followed instantly.
In that brief delay, the five Genin had been decimated, but their sacrifice bought time. The pursuers closed the distance.
Tetsumaru frantically began weaving seals to disarm his Landmine Insects. The dozen bugs he'd deployed were prototypes—they didn't distinguish between friend and foe. If a Konoha ninja stepped on one, it would detonate. To prevent blowing himself up during deployment, he'd added a "Safety" seal that severed the insect's trigger-nerve signals.
But disaster struck before he could finish the seal.
The Suna Jonin used a Body Flicker to duck behind a massive tree, trying to break Shige's line of sight.
He landed directly on a Landmine Insect.
The Jonin's attention had been entirely on Shige; he hadn't noticed the immobile bug on the far side of the trunk. To make matters worse, the debris from the earlier explosion near the puppet was still raining down. A piece of shrapnel happened to strike the bug at the exact moment the Jonin stepped near it.
It was as if the God of Death was staring the man in the face.
BOOM.
The Suna Jonin was blown apart. With their leader gone, the battle was over.
The puppeteer, now surrounded by Shige and the other Chunin, was beaten into a pulp within seconds. He howled in despair, first trying to fight to the death and then trying to commit suicide.
The Konoha ninjas weren't about to let him die. To prevent him from using hidden poison, they systematically shattered his jaw and checked every tooth. They found a hollow one filled with toxin and proceeded to pull every single tooth out of his head.
The puppeteer's weeping, hollow eyes said it all: he knew that being a prisoner of war was a fate far worse than death.