Chapter 570: The Hope of the Famous Ninja World

“Iwakura-sama, our Anbu has obtained the latest crucial intelligence on the Konoha Ninja Force!”

An Iwagakure Jōnin entered Iwakura’s tent, his face beaming with joy, to report the latest findings.

“Crucial intelligence?” Iwakura, who had just fallen asleep, shot upright.

Intelligence deemed crucial typically has a significant impact on the battlefield. The last time Iwagakure achieved a surprise victory was precisely because they knew the location and deployment of Konoha’s main force.

“That’s right, we not only received news of Konoha’s reinforcements, but also obtained Konoha’s upcoming battle plan,” the Iwagakure Jōnin said excitedly.

With this intelligence, he felt as if an unprecedented great victory was within their grasp.

“Bring it to me quickly, I want to see.” Iwakura’s curiosity was piqued.

Retsuishi, due to severe injuries, had been sent to the rear for emergency treatment, and now Iwa Ninja Force was under his command.

Of course, he was only an acting commander; once Retsuishi recovered and returned to the battlefield, he would have to relinquish his position.

Taking the intelligence scroll, Iwakura quickly unrolled it to examine its contents.

“The Konoha reinforcement vanguard, led by Hayate Mugetsu, has rendezvoused with the Konoha Land of Grass Force. The Konoha reinforcement force totals one thousand Ninja. Apart from the elite vanguard that arrived first, there are still nine hundred and fifty Ninja advancing towards the Land of Grass…”

With each line Iwakura read, the light in his eyes grew brighter.

After carefully reading all the intelligence, Iwakura wished he could laugh up to the sky.

This was simply a heaven-sent opportunity; it just so happened that his superior, Retsuishi, had left, and it just so happened that crucial intelligence on the Konoha Ninja Force had been acquired.

“Even if we only eliminate a thousand Ninja, it will be a great victory worth celebrating!” Iwakura’s lips curled into a smile.

Jiraiya’s remaining forces plus Konoha’s reinforcements should amount to at least sixteen hundred Ninja. If he could just kill two-thirds of them, he could achieve a victory significant enough to be reported throughout Iwagakure.

Furthermore, with such excellent performance, the ‘acting’ in front of his commander title could naturally be removed.

After removing ‘acting,’ he could continue to command two thousand Iwa Ninja Force on the battlefield and earn merits.

In the end, it was possible that his status in Iwagakure would even surpass Retsuishi’s, and he might even be nominated as a candidate for the Fourth Tsuchikage.

Thinking of this, Iwakura’s upturned lips could no longer be suppressed.

The Tsuchikage, one of the Five Kage, was truly at the pinnacle of the Ninja World, an existence no one could ignore.

“Assemble the Jonin in the force and begin the combat meeting!” Iwakura ordered the Iwagakure Ninja who had brought the report.

If it were Retsuishi, he might have just given a direct order, but Iwakura’s prestige within the Iwa Ninja Force wasn’t as strong, so he needed to hold a meeting first to gain support.

Although it was sleeping time, the Ninja had undergone special training and did not sleep soundly. Some Iwagakure Jōnin didn’t even need to be called; they naturally woke up upon hearing the commotion outside.

Inside the dedicated meeting tent, after the Iwagakure Jōnin had all arrived, Iwakura began the meeting.

Iwakura first had an Iwagakure Ninja read out all the intelligence, and then he spoke:

“Everyone, tell me your thoughts.”

“Prepare for battle! Now that we have such intelligence, we should strike while the iron is hot and eliminate the entire Konoha Ninja Force!” Jonin Hikari said directly.

They even knew the color of Konoha’s underwear; it would be a huge waste not to act now.

“Of course, we attack,” other Iwagakure Jōnin responded in agreement.

Iwakura nodded inwardly. As he expected, with such important intelligence in hand, no one would choose to avoid battle.

“My thoughts are the same as yours. Not only must we fight, but we must also use this opportunity to completely crush Konoha’s Land of Grass defense line and enter the Land of Fire proper,” Iwakura said with a smile.

His status within Iwagakure was not low, and he knew that the Iwagakure high command favored a conservative, low-key approach.

Entering the Land of Fire proper certainly wasn’t low-key, but this major battle was also an order from the Iwagakure high command, allowing them to fight freely, so Iwakura could confidently rack up military achievements.

“However, even if their reinforcement force arrives, we will still have a numerical advantage, but it would be better to defeat them one by one.

We must eliminate the Konoha Land of Grass Force before the main reinforcement force arrives, and then eliminate the reinforcement force,” Iwakura began to explain his attack plan.

The submitted intelligence contained a detailed plan for the Konoha Land of Grass Ninja Force to rendezvous with the Konoha reinforcement force.

Iwakura’s plan was approved by most of the Iwagakure Ninja, so they began discussing how to fill in gaps and improve it.

One Iwagakure Ninja even came up with a bold idea, suggesting they immediately gather the force and launch a surprise attack on the Konoha Ninja Force.

However, this decision was not approved, because intelligence transmission takes time, and travel also takes time, and the intelligence also stated that the Konoha Ninja Force would go to bed early and wake up early tonight to travel.

Going now would very likely be a wasted trip, and they might even expose their intentions. If the Konoha Ninja Force were to change their plans temporarily because of this, it would be a loss.

“This is their planned second temporary resting place.” Iwakura pointed to a deep forest with a small river on the map.

“Their plan is to wander during the day and only go to a resting point at night for a brief rest before continuing their journey, in order to confuse our sight.

Then we will turn their trick against them. We will march rapidly there now, lie in ambush, and wait for them. Whether they arrive early or on time, they will face us, ready for battle.”

The reason Iwakura believed the intelligence was genuine internal Konoha Ninja Force intelligence the moment he saw it.

On one hand, he trusted his own intelligence Ninja, as they had just achieved a great success.

On the other hand, it was the specific content of the intelligence. The intelligence not only contained information on dealing with spies but also information designed to mislead the Iwa Ninja Force. No matter how Iwakura looked at it, this was a legitimate piece of intelligence.

Iwakura probably would never have imagined that Muzuki and Jiraiya, in order to trick them, had deceived a bunch of Konoha Jonin into attending a fake meeting.

Due to the overly comprehensive intelligence, the combat meeting actually had little room for extensive discussion, and the specific combat plan was quickly decided.

“You never know your own strength until you truly fight. I never expected our Iwagakure intelligence department to be so much stronger than Konoha’s,” an Iwagakure Jōnin said with a relaxed smile.

Anyone with a modicum of self-awareness knows who is carrying the weight on the battlefield. Was Konoha’s defeat because their force’s strength far exceeded the Konoha Ninja Force?

Of course not, it was because they completely overwhelmed the Konoha Ninja Force on the intelligence front.

If compared to a game, when the Iwa Ninja Force fought Jiraiya’s force, they not only had a wallhack to see locations, but could even connect to Jiraiya’s voice chat, and it was one-way; they could hear Jiraiya, but Jiraiya couldn’t hear them.

The Iwagakure Jōnin all smiled. Recently, they had truly vented all their previous frustrations; they had really enjoyed fighting.

The meeting ended, and Iwakura assembled the Iwa Ninja Force and began to march rapidly towards their destination.

Although it was only one o’clock in the deep night, no Ninja procrastinated. They quickly prepared everything and silently followed the main force.

“After this battle, the entire Ninja World will remember my name.” Looking at the dark sky with only faint starlight, Iwakura felt triumphant.

If everything developed as he envisioned, this battle would become Konoha’s most painful defeat in recent years.

As the pitch black turned into a faint dawn, the Iwa Ninja Force approached the second resting point mentioned in the intelligence.

Although the intelligence stated that this was where the Konoha Ninja Force was planning to come tonight, Iwakura remained cautious. He ordered the sensory Ninja within the Iwa Ninja Force to activate their Ninjutsu and sense the situation within.

“Iwakura-sama, there are no Ninja Chakra signatures!” The sensory Ninja released their hand seals, opened their eyes, and reported.

“Continue advancing!” Iwakura smiled and nodded.

Everything confirmed the authenticity of their intelligence; victory was getting closer and closer to him.

Looking at the tall trees deep in the forest, Iwakura felt exceptionally pleased.

It was as if each tree was a Konoha Ninja he was about to kill tonight.

“No wonder it’s only a temporary resting point; besides being somewhat hidden, the terrain here is easy to attack and difficult to defend,” Iwakura thought after observing the surrounding terrain.

The terrain here made Iwakura feel somewhat insecure, so he quickly organized patrol teams to scout the perimeter.

Iwagakure did not have as many sensory Ninja as Konoha, and they couldn’t have the scarce sensory Ninja continuously use sensory Ninjutsu, so patrols by regular Ninja were also very important.

After a short period, the Ninja of the Iwa Ninja Force, finding the surroundings still peaceful, completely relaxed.

“Our intelligence department is truly amazing, so precise,” an Iwagakure Ninja exclaimed.

If every battle could have such intelligence, even if they encountered a Ninja force one and a half times their size, they would still have a chance to fight.

Immediately after, Iwakura began to arrange for the Ninja to rest in shifts. They hadn’t slept well and had traveled through the night, so the Iwa Ninja Force’s condition was generally poor and they needed rest.

However, to prevent accidents, Iwakura could not let all of Iwagakure sleep soundly where they were. He had to arrange for them to rest in shifts, with some Iwagakure Ninja catching up on sleep, and others on alert and setting traps.

Having arranged everything, Iwakura also prepared to catch up on sleep.

Ordinary Iwagakure Ninja only needed to fight, but as a commander, he had more things to think about and do, so he needed sleep even more.

Boom!!!

An incredibly violent explosion sounded, and the vivid fiery red explosion light was exceptionally dazzling in the faint morning light.

Iwakura, who had just lain down, instantly lost all sleepiness, suddenly opened his eyes, and leaped up.

Boom!

As if a chain reaction had begun, another explosion soon rang out, and the fiery red explosion light struck the surrounding Iwagakure Ninja.

“Damn it, we fell for it!” Iwakura’s face turned extremely grim.

Although he still didn’t understand how the Konoha Ninja had done all this, the explosion just now was clearly a paper bomb trap.

The intelligence was fake; the Konoha Ninja had already been here and set up traps.