bookbashuk Chapter 354 Logistics Base
Chapter 354 Logistics Base
Chapter 354 Logistics Base
The knife is broken now, the smoke has dissipated, but the "eye" remains.
Moreover, that eye was already fixed on Chi Quan.
"Where are the Hamura family members now?" the middle-aged man asked.
Helian smiled.
"It's not far away."
"Right here within the Allied forces?"
"There are a few," Helian said. "And a few more are further back, outside the lines, not entering the villages, and not conspicuous. What those people are really good at isn't capturing cities, nor is it frontal assaults." He pressed his fingertip on a small patch of open ground in the southwest corner of the sand table. "They're good at waiting."
The middle-aged man slowly exhaled.
"Wait for Chi Quan to walk in by himself."
"right."
Helian stared at the small wooden peg on the sand table, his voice so low it was as if he were talking to someone.
"And he will definitely come in."
After that morning, the atmosphere in the Allied camp changed visibly.
On the surface, it is heavier than yesterday.
The news of the complete annihilation of the Jonin raiding team at Qingniao Ridge didn't spread widely, but the names Yun Jun and Feng Jishi were not insignificant in the Land of Lightning and Sunagakure. Anyone who wasn't blind could tell something terrible had happened just by looking at the number of people who returned last night and seeing Feng Jishi being carried into the medical tent, half-covered in blood and barely able to hold a blade.
When the heavy armored team from the Land of Lightning was moving wooden stakes in the main alley, they made less noise than usual.
The remaining squads of Sunagakure no longer mocked each other as they had in the previous two days. They simply focused on repairing walls, moving boxes, and changing shifts. When they did speak, they kept their voices extremely low, as if afraid of being overheard.
Only Helian's side is becoming increasingly stable.
He didn't vent his anger by killing anyone after the Cloud Falcon team was wiped out, nor did he shift the blame to anyone. He even accelerated the progress of several fortifications in the village that afternoon, bringing forward the installation of the southern sensing stakes, which were originally scheduled to be driven in two days later, to that very evening.
A middle-aged man in greyish-white armor stood at the entrance of the high court, watching groups of people running back and forth in the twilight, and asked in a low voice, "Aren't you in a hurry at all?"
Helian was looking at the black jade box in his hand.
The box was unopened; it was simply held in my palm, like touching an ordinary, cold stone.
"What's the rush?" he asked.
"Chiquan," the middle-aged man said, "Now that we can pinpoint his location, shouldn't we act quickly? What if he hasn't left the village these past few days, or is being forced to stay and recover by Tsunade?"
Helian raised his eyes and glanced at the sky.
The setting sun was sinking behind the charred rooftops, and the flag of the Land of Thunder on the osmanthus tree fluttered loudly in the wind. The newly built wooden scaffolding in the main alley cast crisscrossing shadows, and digging was still underway at the well, but the pace was much steadyer than last night.
"He will leave," Helian said.
"Are you that sure?"
"Um.
""
"On what grounds?"
Helian countered, "If you were him, what would you be doing now?"
The middle-aged man thought for a moment.
"Return to Konoha first and report the results from Bluebird Ridge. Then repair the lines, reinforce the outer outposts, and prepare for a second wave of surprise attacks."
"And then what?"
"And then—" The middle-aged man frowned, "Helian, what exactly do you want to ask?"
Helian said calmly, "What I want to ask is, if you were Chi Quan, knowing that things weren't over in Guihua Village yet, knowing that I wouldn't just attack Konoha's outer perimeter once, knowing that the rendezvous points, document stations, and supply lines could still be compromised, would you really just sit obediently in the village?"
The middle-aged man fell silent.
Because the answer is obvious.
will not.
Someone like Chi Quan wouldn't do that.
He would lead people to repair the lines, lead people to spy on the outer outposts, personally check whether the mountain base of Qingniao Ridge could still be penetrated by people next time, investigate whether the Allied Forces still had a second elite team hidden, find out if the Wind Priest had retreated to which valley, and clear "those roads that Helian had his eye on".
As long as he moves, he can't always have the entire Konoha squad with him.
Helian watched as the middle-aged man slowly came to his senses, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"This battle, at this point, is no longer just about 'capturing Guihua Village,'" he said. "It's a hunt."
The middle-aged man said in a low voice, "A pool surrounded by springs."
"right."
"So, where do you plan to start?"
Helian did not answer immediately.
He put the black jade box back into his sleeve and turned to walk into the tent.
"Let's wait for the brand to shine again," he said. "At least let us know which way he went when he first left Konoha."
That night, the black jade box rang by itself for the first time when there was no wind.
It wasn't very loud.
There was only a tiny drop of water inside the lid, which gently bumped against the inner wall.
Those guarding outside the tent didn't hear anything, but Helian opened his eyes immediately. He got up, took out the box, placed it on the table, and opened it.
The blue pearl was even brighter than during the day.
Strands of white silk rose from the bead, like tiny water snakes, winding endlessly within its surface. Helian spread out the old book and pressed the blue bead back onto it. Soon, that familiar red mark reappeared on the paper.
This time, Hen moved.
No longer just staying steadily in a certain area as before, it slowly glides a short distance in the southeast direction, then stops, moves again, and stops again.
Helian stared at the mark for a long time, then smiled.
"See?" he said.
The middle-aged man in gray armor was also woken up and brought over. When he saw the change, his expression turned serious.
"He's left Konoha?"
"For now," Helian said. "And the slow movement means it's not the captain who's in charge, but a small or elite team patrolling the line."
The middle-aged man said in a low voice, "To the southeast—that's the Qingniao Ridge recovery line and a section of an old hunting trail."
"Yes," Helian said.
"Is he there to clean up the mess?"
"Or go and see if any have slipped through the net," Helian said.
The middle-aged man's eyes darkened: "Now?"
Helian shook his head.
"No," he said. "Not this time."
The middle-aged man was taken aback.
"Why? Everyone's already out."
"Because it's not far enough." Helian looked at the red dot on the page. "It's still within Konoha's reach where they can quickly recruit people. If we bite now, it'll only startle him. Once he's startled, he won't be so easy to lure next time."
The middle-aged man pondered for a moment and nodded.
"So this time it's just observation."
"Yes," Helian said. "It depends on which route he takes, how many people he brings, how long he stays, and how quickly he returns."
That night, they did nothing.
Watching that tiny red mark slowly move outwards on the paper, then slowly retreats back. It travels only a few dozen miles, stopping several times, its speed varying, before finally retreating back into a deeper area towards Konoha.
After reading it, Helian closed the booklet and felt a little more relaxed.
"very good."
The middle-aged man asked, "Where is it good?"
Helian said, "He won't just stay in the village. He'll actually come out on his own."
In the following days, the coalition forces did not make any further major moves.
At least not on the surface.
In Osmanthus Village, the sensory boards continued to be laid, the lower level of the well courtyard continued to be dug, and the wooden frames and earthen walls of the main alley became thicker and thicker. The heavy armored team of the Land of Thunder even began to build semi-fixed arrow sheds on the northern outer edge of the village, as if they really intended to make this place an indestructible, unyielding place.
Meanwhile, Helian would open the black jade box in his hand almost every day, once or twice.
There aren't always big changes.
Sometimes, the trace of the spring only ripples gently deep within the leaves, as if moving back and forth between different points; sometimes, that little red dot will go out in a certain direction for a while, and then quickly turn back; sometimes, it moves quickly, as if rushing; sometimes, it stops for a long time, as if talking to someone or looking at something at a certain point.
Helian looked at it again and again, and memorized it each time.
At first, the middle-aged man thought it was like watching a fish's shadow in a basin of water, but later he had to admit that this bloodline limit was more troublesome than he had thought.
On the third night, he couldn't help but say, "If this thing is really that accurate, why didn't the Yan Shui family rise to power using it back then?"
Helian looked at the red mark on the page and said calmly, "Because the price is high. Not everyone is willing to risk their life to nail it. Moreover, the stronger the target, the harder it is to nail it securely. The reason Chi Quan was able to be branded this time is most likely because that branch of the Yan Shui lineage really died by his blade, pouring all his chakra into it before he died. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be so easy."
The middle-aged man nodded, and after a while, asked again, "What about the Hamura family? You haven't let them move."
Helian glanced at him.
"What's the rush?"
"They're in a real hurry," the middle-aged man said. "This afternoon, Hamura Saku came to see me and said that if we really find any trace of Ikezumi, we should let them go."
Helian chuckled.
"Hamura Shizu."
As soon as the name was uttered, the fire in the tent seemed to dim a little.
The middle-aged man said in a low voice, "You know that person's temper."
"I know," Helian said, "but a bad temper doesn't mean you should make the first move. Yu Cunji's group hates Ikezumi too directly. If he attacks now, he'll only pounce too quickly and won't be able to kill him."
The middle-aged man frowned: "So when do you plan to let him out?"
Helian turned his gaze back to the pages of the book.
"Wait until a pool of water becomes complacent and underestimates its opponent."
"Will he underestimate his opponent?"
"Yes," Helian said. "Even the most cautious person, if they go out several times in a row without incident, will start to take 'nothing happening' as the norm. Especially when he's just won, just stopped a surprise attack team, and just crippled Cloud Falcon and Wind Priest."
The middle-aged man thought about it silently.
Yes.
That's just how people are.
You'll be extremely tense the first time you go out.
The second time I went out, it was still tight.
The third and fourth time—if everything goes smoothly, you'll gradually loosen your grip on the knife, lower your ears, and suppress the thought of "Is Helian up to something again?"
What Helian wanted was that little bit of relaxation.
On the fifth day, Konoha indeed made another move.
The black jade box made a sound twice.
The first time was in the afternoon. The red mark moved a little to the northwest, but quickly retreated, as if it was just a small-scale patrol.
The second time was at night.
The night was deep and the wind was strong. Only the patrol torches and scattered coughs remained in Osmanthus Village. Helian was awakened by a more obvious slight tremor in the box. He opened the box and pressed the bead down again. He saw that this time the red mark was not heading towards Qingniao Ridge, nor southeast, nor circling deep within the Leaf Village, but rather heading southwest.
They're not walking slowly.
And it hasn't stopped.
When the middle-aged man arrived, Helian had already been watching for quite a while.
"Which way?" he asked in a low voice.
Helian pointed it out to him.
The middle-aged man was taken aback.
"Southwest—isn't that the path south of Guihua Village and the adjacent forest line?"
"Yes," Helian said.
"What's he doing there?"
Helian smiled.
"You forgot? He said he was going to take down our small outpost in the south."
The middle-aged man's eyes narrowed.
Yes.
Before Chi Quan withdrew from Guihua Village that day, he made it clear that he would turn back and eliminate the newly established sentry posts on their south side. At the time, it sounded like a harsh threat, but now it seems that he really had no intention of taking it back.
The middle-aged man's voice became even lower.
How many men did he bring?
Helian stared at the layers of ripples.
"Fewer than the previous two times."
""
"You can tell?"
"Yes." Helian's fingertip traced the faintest ring of lines around the mark. "The branding isn't about the head, it's about how much other chakra is suppressing it. The more people involved, the deeper the mark, the more chaotic the energy. This ring is very light now, meaning he didn't bring a large group with him, at most three or five, or even fewer."
The middle-aged man's breathing suddenly became heavy.
"Make a move?"
Helian did not answer immediately.
He continued walking towards the red mark, stopping once after a short distance, then moving again. His speed was faster than before, as if he had entered a true stealth path. After a while, the mark suddenly paused, as if someone had stopped on high ground or in a tree, looking in a certain direction for a few moments.
Helian's lips curled up little by little.
"Now."
A chill ran through the middle-aged man's eyes.
"Should I go and call Hamura Sakuya?"
"Call them," Helian said, "and also Shangshuichi and Zhefeng. We don't need too many, eight will suffice."
Just as the middle-aged man was about to leave, Helian called him back.
"etc."
"What else?"
"Tell Hamura Seki." Helian closed the black jade box, his voice as cold as frost on stone, "This isn't to send him mad, it's to send him to collect corpses. Chi Quan, I want to hold him off alive, then die."
The middle-aged man nodded: "Understood."
"And—" Helian narrowed his eyes, "Don't kill him in front of Konoha. At least drag it out a bit further. When Ichi Izumi is dead, Konoha won't have time to save him, and they won't even know who did it."
The middle-aged man gave a low "Yes" and turned to leave.
The night wind outside the tent immediately rushed in.
Helian stood in the tent, motionless.
He didn't go with them.
Because it is not needed.
Hamura and his group were prepared for this kind of thing.
All he had to do was stand in Osmanthus Village and continue to drive that nail into the bones of Konoha.
Hamura arrived very quickly.
He didn't live in the brightest spot in the village, nor did he mingle with the high-profile Jonin from the Land of Lightning and the Sand Village. His residence was in a secluded courtyard on the west side, far from the main alley and the well courtyard. It looked like an ordinary logistical outpost, with few people coming and going.
But when he lifted the curtain and entered the main tent, the temperature inside seemed to drop.
This is a very thin man.
He wasn't tall, nor did he have broad shoulders. He wore a dark robe with almost no patterns, and a worn-out gray cloak over it. From behind, he looked like a schoolteacher or some unremarkable accountant. But his face was too pale, as if he hadn't been exposed to the sun for years; his eyes, however, were thin and long at the corners, as if carved with a knife, and when they fell upon someone, they sent a chill down one's spine.
He did not salute Helian when he came in; he simply nodded slightly.
"I heard they found it."
Helian looked at him.
"almost."