Grind is My Ninja Way

More than half an hour later.

Seimei and the others returned to Eagle's Beak Cliff.

However, before they got close, Konoha ninjas appeared and stopped them.

Obviously, the shadow clone that returned earlier had already arranged personnel for defense.

After verifying their identities, Seimei and the others successfully returned to the clifftop stronghold.

Seimei dispelled the "Shadow Clone Jutsu," absorbing the memories of the shadow clone from this period into his mind, and at the same time, he was fully aware of its arrangements.

Then, he realized that there was nothing left for him to do.

All the necessary tasks, including notifying the patrolling teams to return and contacting Kuroiwa Naruki, had already been done by the shadow clone, leaving him with nothing to do.

Since that was the case, Seimei didn't bother meddling anymore and instead turned his attention to the unconscious Kiri-nin Chunin beside him.

He stood up, walked over to him, and slapped him a few times to wake him up.

Then, before the Chunin could react, he used the "Genjutsu: Sharingan" to guide him in recalling information related to this mission.

Time passed by.

Seimei carefully searched through the opponent's memories, spending some effort to finally figure out Kirigakure's plan and objective this time.

First, it was confirmed that although Kirigakure had mobilized a considerable number of people this time, it was still just a probing attack.

However, the focus of the probe was their Eagle's Beak Cliff stronghold.

If they could successfully break through, the probing attack would immediately turn into a full-scale invasion.

At that time, Kirigakure's reserve forces would immediately arrive and join the battle.

But if it wasn't successful, they would also quickly retreat, preserving their strength and preparing for the next attack.

As for why they didn't conduct reconnaissance beforehand and directly attacked their stronghold...

There were two reasons. First, their stronghold was inherently a place that was easy to attack but difficult to defend, and there was no need for too much preparation.

Second, due to the previous two breakthroughs, Kirigakure already had sufficient understanding of this place, and there was no need for further reconnaissance.

On the contrary, doing so could also employ the tactic of tiring the enemy, catching them off guard.

Just like in the past few days, traces of Kirigakure's reconnaissance units had been found in other areas of the defense line, but their stronghold remained peaceful.

Under such circumstances, even without harassment from Kiri-nin, everyone in the stronghold was still on edge.

This way, when the Kiri-nin truly attacked, they were bound to make mistakes.

This was Kirigakure's plan.

"Hmph, what a 'cry wolf' tactic!"

Seimei snorted coldly, raised his hand, and performed the Chakra Absorption Technique. In just a few seconds, he drained the chakra from the person under his palm, followed by their mental and physical energy.

The rapid loss of these two quickly took his life.

Seimei waved his hand, signaling a nearby Konoha ninja to drag the body away. Then, he sat back in the main seat and shared the information and his thoughts with the others, so they would be mentally prepared.

Just as he was speaking, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Come in!"

In the next moment, a Konoha Chunin pushed the door open and entered.

Seimei glanced at him and recognized him as the ninja the shadow clone had sent to contact Kuroiwa Naruki. This ninja also had a flying summoning beast and could quickly communicate with headquarters.

"What's the matter?"

Seimei asked.

"Captain, Kuroiwa-Taichō just sent a message. They have also discovered signs of Kiri-nin gathering in other areas, but not many. He is already mobilizing troops to intercept the retreat route of the Kiri-nin on our side, asking us to delay them as much as possible."

The Konoha Chunin replied.

"Is that so..."

Seimei pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, I understand. You can go now!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The person responded and left.

After the door closed, Seimei said to everyone, "It seems the information from that person's mind was correct. The enemies attacking us this time are indeed the main force of Kirigakure. Everyone, go down and prepare immediately, and act according to the plan."

"Yes, Captain!"

Several people responded and quickly left the meeting room.

Seimei silently closed his eyes, accumulating strength for the upcoming battle.

To be honest, he wasn't too worried about this battle. As long as the opponent didn't have the courage to go all-out, they couldn't take this place.

If it was just a probe, he was fully confident in defending it.

By then, when the reinforcements arrived, it would be the end for these Kiri-nin.

...

Another half an hour passed in a flash.

The sun in the sky had long tilted westward, and the afterglow of the setting sun cast golden rays on the ground.

In the past hour or so, after receiving the order, most of the patrolling teams had returned.

Currently, the number of Konoha ninjas gathered at Eagle's Beak Cliff had exceeded two hundred. Although it still couldn't compare to the attacking Kiri-nin, it wasn't a small number either.

Standing on the clifftop, looking at the four Kirigakure warships slowly approaching on the distant sea, Seimei felt quite calm.

A moment later, the Kirigakure warships stopped, and a large crowd of figures disembarked. At a rough glance, there were three to four hundred of them.

Seeing this, Seimei didn't hesitate at all. He leaped from the clifftop, and as he approached the sea surface, a green light enveloped his body.

In the next moment, he stood steadily on the sea.

This green light was none other than Wind Release chakra.

Although he hadn't officially started developing flying techniques yet, it was still okay to think about it in his spare time.

And this layer of green light was his impromptu creation, combining it with the "Instantaneous Body Flicker Technique."

With its help, he could fall from high altitudes without getting hurt.

Just like now, jumping from such a high place on the clifftop, he could still land smoothly.

And this move of his undoubtedly shocked the Kiri-nin in the distance.

Before they could make any move, Seimei stomped on the sea surface, his entire body like a cannonball, rushing towards them as if he wanted to charge into the enemy ranks alone, carrying an unstoppable momentum.

This made the Kiri-nin even more suspicious and hesitant.

But soon, as the high-level command was issued, they quickly calmed down and charged towards Seimei together.

Seeing that the two sides were getting closer and closer, Seimei suddenly put away his long sword and rapidly formed hand seals. After taking a deep breath, he performed the jutsu - Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

A gust of wind erupted from his mouth, transforming into a wind tornado, engulfing countless seawater, and rushing towards the Kiri-nin队伍.

Obviously, he had no intention of charging into the enemy ranks alone. Everything he did before was just a diversion, aiming to get close to them and unleash this wind tornado.

It was a pity that he didn't have the chance to copy and learn the "Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave" when Kisame Hoshigaki used it back then. Otherwise, he could use that technique now to flood the enemy.

However, the wind tornado wasn't bad either.

Think about typhoons on the sea. Such natural disasters weren't something humans could easily resist.

And the "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" that Seimei performed, consuming over three thousand chakra points at once, had this kind of power, just with a slightly shorter duration.

But for the group of Kiri-nin in front, it was still a problem.

It was only because ninjas had much faster reaction speeds than ordinary people that they could escape or use various means to protect themselves.

Otherwise, the casualties would definitely be severe.

But this also disrupted their formation.

And that was exactly what Seimei wanted.

Almost at the same moment he made his move, about a hundred Konoha ninjas also descended from the cliff and rushed towards this side.

Seimei's idea was simple. Since the enemy had a numerical advantage and Eagle's Beak Cliff was surrounded by the sea on three sides, making it difficult to defend, it was better to take advantage of the enemy's unstable footing and launch a charge to dampen their morale.

(End of Chapter)