Chapter 33: Patience, Incoming! (Seeking Follow-up Reads and Monthly Tickets)

"Captain, are you saying they are trying to lure us away from here?" Yamanaka En asked immediately.

Sakumo Hatake nodded: "It is very likely."

"The convoy was attacked, yet those people had no way to carry away the iron ore."

"Furthermore, merely attacking the convoy, while affecting the mine's output, is not fatal. Transport can simply be suspended for the time being."

Moving out the refined iron ore was not exactly an urgent matter.

Uchiha Nami said: "Our mission is to protect the mining area. What happens on the road is unrelated to us."

This sounded cold, but Genichi Shita nodded in agreement.

They could certainly pursue and eliminate the attackers. But if this was a ploy to lure them away, and the mining area were to be blown up, their mission would be a failure. In that case, what would it matter if they had killed the attackers of the convoy?

After listening to his subordinates' opinions, Sakumo Hatake nodded slightly: "Return to your posts and remain vigilant."

"Although we cannot pursue them, it is necessary to see the situation of the attackers. I will use a Shadow Clone."

"Dismissed!"

At the command, Genichi Shita directly dispelled his Shadow Clone. Nami Uchiha and En Yamanaka performed Body Flicker techniques and departed. Sakumo Hatake formed hand seals and created a Shadow Clone to head straight toward the scene of the incident.

From the top of a tree, Genichi Shita watched Sakumo Hatake's Shadow Clone rapidly disappear into the distance.

"Sigh, can't I just complete my mission while practicing in peace?" Genichi Shita sighed to himself.

He had no interest in fighting and killing. After all, that was a matter of risking one's life. Training was much more interesting; it offered a sense of achievement and security.

"However, the attackers..." Genichi Shita pondered. "Who could they be?"

"Internal strife within the Land of Rivers?"

"A coalition between factions in the Land of Rivers and the disgruntled Land of Wind?"

"Or something else entirely?"

...

Elsewhere.

Sakumo Hatake arrived at the scene. There were overturned carts, dead horses, and the bodies of those who had been transporting the convoy. The ore was scattered everywhere. Sakumo Hatake found no traces of ninjutsu, though, in truth, ninjutsu was rarely needed to deal with samurai or commoners.

He followed the trail and soon arrived at a riverbank. The tracks vanished. Sakumo Hatake looked both upstream and downstream, crossed to the other side, and found some more traces. He peered into the woods but did not continue his pursuit; instead, he returned the way he came.

Although he could have simply dispelled the Shadow Clone, Sakumo Hatake did not do so. The Shadow Clone retreated all the way back to the defensive perimeter and went straight to Genichi Shita.

"Genichi, it is highly likely the enemy will infiltrate via the river. Pay special attention to that."

Sakumo Hatake cautioned him. The source of that river was a stream coming from the mountains. Coincidentally, the mine had dug a canal from that river to draw water. This connected the three points. It was highly likely the enemy would move upstream to infiltrate.

Of course, the defensive perimeter they had set up would not overlook this. That area was under the responsibility of Shinnosuke Sarutobi's team. However, as the primary scout, Genichi Shita was responsible for observing from all directions, so it fell under his purview as well.

"I understand, Teacher!" Genichi Shita nodded.

Sakumo Hatake said nothing more and vanished, heading to inform Shinnosuke Sarutobi of the situation.

Back at the treetop, Genichi Shita thought for a moment and raised his hands to form seals.

*Poof!*

A Water Clone appeared and leaped away. Crossing two mountain ridges, Genichi Shita's Water Clone arrived at a river that flowed through the valley. This was the mine's water source.

"Genichi!" A figure appeared. It was Kakuto Nara.

"Kakuto!" Genichi Shita greeted him and explained, "Teacher Sakumo said the enemy might infiltrate from here, so I came to set an ambush."

Kakuto Nara didn't mind; rather, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled: "That makes things easier for me." He did not know the Water Release style. This wasn't a flaw in Sakumo Hatake's planning, but rather that the two teams were rotating their defensive sectors. They would swap in two days, at which point this area would become Genichi Shita’s patrol zone.

Though the feasibility of poisoning the water was minimal, dumping animal carcasses into the river would still contaminate the source.

...

The afternoon passed without incident. When night fell, Shinnosuke Sarutobi's team rested, while Genichi Shita’s four-man squad took the first half of the night shift. This meant a heavier burden, as they had to defend a wider area. This was a temporary arrangement to deal with the appearance of the attackers; otherwise, the two teams would have taken turns.

However, the night passed peacefully. Even over the next two days, no one infiltrated. It wasn't until the third day that another transport convoy was attacked.

"Could it be that these guys' only mission is to stop the ore from being transported out?" En Yamanaka couldn't help but wonder. Nami Uchiha was also skeptical.

"Genichi, what do you think?" En Yamanaka asked.

Genichi Shita shook his head: "Any possibility is on the table."

"It's possible their mission is just to attack the transport convoys, but it's also possible that this opponent is very patient and very difficult to deal with."

En Yamanaka said: "You're leaning toward the latter, aren't you, Genichi?"

Genichi Shita smiled and admitted: "One cannot underestimate the opponent."

Nami Uchiha frowned: "Then what should we do?"

"We don't have enough manpower."

"The mining management will likely demand that we take the initiative."

En Yamanaka laughed: "Nami, didn't you say that wasn't part of our mission?"

Nami Uchiha replied coldly: "But the rats hiding in the dark are provoking us. We must teach them a lesson!"

That was the Uchiha way. They could be calm, but they were also proud and arrogant!

However, Genichi Shita agreed with Nami Uchiha. In their position, following the mission requirements strictly was technically correct. Their mission was to protect the mining area, not the transport convoys; doing nothing was not a failure.

But for a team leader like Sakumo Hatake, there were more factors to consider. There was also the reputation of Konoha, which was an important aspect that had to be weighed. Sakumo Hatake was his teacher, and naturally, Genichi Shita thought about it more deeply.

A moment later, Sakumo Hatake returned and said straightforwardly: "The mine manager has requested that we eliminate those attackers during the next ore transport."

"I have agreed."

Genichi Shita and the others looked at Sakumo Hatake, saying nothing, silently waiting for orders.

Sakumo Hatake said: "Genichi, you will stay behind and coordinate with Shinnosuke and his team to seal off the river."

"Nami, En, you will come with me."

The three of them nodded in unison: "Understood!"

"Dismissed!"

At the command, the three dispersed to their positions.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed. Early that morning, another convoy left the mining area. Sakumo Hatake, Nami Uchiha, and En Yamanaka were hidden among the group, leaving only clones at their defensive posts.

On the treetop, Genichi Shita was still using his binoculars, but this was also a clone. His real body was currently hidden at the confluence of the two rivers, transformed into a rock jutting out of the water.

*Splash, splash, splash!*

Across the river surface, still wreathed in thin mist, figures dashed forward.

On the treetop, Genichi Shita's clone blew a whistle to sound the alarm.

The enemy had arrived! And they were coming from two directions: one from the river and one from the front.