That was a bold move, but Yuji was deep inside enemy territory now, surrounded almost entirely by Konoha ninja. Although his speed allowed him to quickly change positions and shake off individual pursuers, Konoha's reaction was equally fast. Almost instantly, they began consciously tightening their formation around him.
"I can sense ninja locking onto my position and mobilizing Konoha personnel in this area simultaneously."
He felt the problem intensifying. His eyes moved rapidly, observing Konoha forces converging from multiple directions, searching for weak points before the encirclement could fully close. He mapped an escape route and prepared to break through.
He had dared to infiltrate alone because he had confidence in his own mobility, and because the battle had only just begun, meaning neither side could yet fully grasp the overall battlefield situation.
Most importantly, his clairvoyance allowed him to perceive incoming danger before it fully materialized. The battlefield was also large enough and the environment sufficiently complex to provide a degree of natural cover. He would not be caught.
The Leaf Village's elite forces were his primary targets.
Especially Hiruzen.
"Earth Release: Rock Spear!"
Nearby, rocks suddenly erupted from the ground beneath a group of Leaf Village ninja rushing toward him, scattering them and forcing them to jump clear.
The technique was not aimed at hitting anyone specifically. It was more effective this way, simply obstructing their approach and creating space around him.
Boom.
One Leaf Village ninja, reading his intention, moved and simultaneously launched a Fire Release technique in his direction.
But the speed was too great. Just one momentary lapse in attention and he had already vanished from among them entirely.
Bang.
Just as he was cutting through the Leaf Village battle lines, a blinding light suddenly illuminated the entire night sky above him. A raging fire erupted and soared toward the horizon, simultaneously incinerating large areas of forest vegetation.
Thick smoke billowed in every direction. The force of it caused the ground beneath his feet to tremble slightly.
He needed to move faster.
He glanced toward the direction of the chaotic flames and felt the weight of what he was seeing. Through his ocular technique, he observed the entire battlefield and formed a clearer picture of the Leaf Village's tactical framework.
Each Konoha clan member served as a core node, with independent combat teams built around them and integrated into the key pressure points of the overall battle in a continuous rotating cycle.
This qualitatively transformed the combat capability of the entire army beyond what raw numbers suggested.
The Nara clan's secret techniques provided senses, battlefield intelligence gathering, and coordinated communication between operational units that could be discussed and acted upon in the shortest possible time frame.
Squads could deliberate and respond almost instantly.
Led by members of an elite clan, agile support squads could rapidly reposition and provide assistance across the battlefield.
The Aburame clan's secret techniques were exceptionally difficult to defend against for anyone unfamiliar with them. Their insects had been cultivated to a high degree of skill, and under their secret technique applications the insects served various battlefield functions.
Their stealth characteristics also gave them a natural advantage in this kind of forested terrain. They were particularly effective against the Sand Village's Puppet Masters.
They were also very cunning.
The skirmishes that followed were unavoidable. Fortunately, after fierce fighting, the Sand Village forces had achieved a temporary victory in that section, almost completely clearing the area where they had infiltrated.
Afterward, the members of that clan unit were about to lead their squad toward another area to clear out further threats.
Bang. Bang.
Suddenly, the squad captain saw the clansmen in front of him go blank-eyed. Then a body began swelling rapidly, and then it exploded. Blood and flesh splattered across his face.
Not only his clansmen. Other members of the squad were hit in succession, each one becoming a living bomb.
The ground before him was torn apart by the blasts.
A series of footsteps approached through the chaos.
The man's pupils contracted. He looked toward a point roughly ten yards away.
From somewhere within the forest, a pair of eerie eyes glowing red were moving toward him through the dark.
"A member of the Shimura clan?" A soft chuckle escaped as the figure walked forward slowly. "You really did receive some special attention from him earlier."
A cold glint appeared in those red eyes.