bookbashuk Chapter 349 Should We Retreat or Bite?
Chapter 349 Should We Retreat or Bite?
Chapter 349 Should We Retreat or Bite?
Kakashi came over later and tossed a scroll of detailed illustrations to Izumi.
"I found this in old files. Twenty years ago, a hunting team used a narrow path through a broken valley near Qingniao Ridge. Later, the mountain collapsed, and no one has used it since." He pointed to a gray line that was almost invisible on the detailed map. "But just because no one uses it doesn't mean that Jonin can't use it. Especially when they want to bypass the sentry posts."
Chi Quan took the drawing and glanced at it.
Do you think they'll take this route?
"I think someone will try," Kakashi said. "The biggest difference between Jonin and regular teams isn't that they're stronger, but that they prefer to go through places others wouldn't think they'd go."
Shikamaru peeked out from the side and frowned.
"It's difficult to even find a place to stay in this place."
"Yes, so it's perfect as a surprise," Kakashi said.
Chi Quan memorized the gray line, rolled up the drawing, and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Anything else?"
"Yes." Kakashi looked at him. "Don't go too far forward."
Chi Quan smiled, but there was no real smile in his eyes.
"That sounds like something a mute would say."
"She said not to go," Kakashi said. "I said it's okay to go, but don't go too far ahead. They're two different things."
Chi Quan didn't reply; he just stuffed the map tighter.
The mountain interception team set off overnight.
No one talked much along the way.
Heading from the border outpost towards Qingniao Ridge, the path first winds through a gentle forest, then up a rocky slope. Further up, the trees thin out, and the wind picks up, making a sound like fine sand scraping against the exposed rocks. The moonlight isn't bright, pressed down by clouds, occasionally letting through a sliver that falls onto the undulating rocky slopes, like a thin layer of cold ash brushed onto the rock face.
Chi Quan walked in the front.
He wasn't wearing the same clothes he'd worn during the day; his headband was pulled low, and his clothing was now a darker, less reflective color. His scabbard had also been re-wrapped. Shikamaru was slightly to his left and behind, a scroll and short rope slung over his shoulder, a thin, almost invisible shadow-sewing positioning needle twirling in his hand. Kiba and Akamaru spread out further, advancing close to the ground in the lower wind vents. Occasionally, Akamaru would suddenly stop, sniff the wind, and then change direction. Tenzo was at the very back, but his steps were the lightest of the group, as if he knew in advance which section of the stone would be loose or creak.
Around midnight, they stopped in front of the first narrow valley.
The place is not wide, and the stone walls on both sides look like a crack cleaved by someone with an axe. The valley floor is full of rubble and shallow gullies washed out by old rain.
If you come during the day, you can see a sliver of sky overhead; at night, you can only see a long, darker opening.
Chi Quan squatted down and touched a stone surface at the entrance of the valley that had been chilled by the wind.
"From here on, there's a chance we'll run into the first eyes," he whispered.
Kiba squatted to one side, Akamaru's nose was touching the ground, and he was making very soft gurgling noises in his throat.
"It smells." Ya said in a low voice, "It wasn't left today. At least someone came after last night. Not many people, and their footsteps were very light. The leather smell is the strongest in the Land of Lightning, there's a very faint medicinal oil smell in the Sand Village, and the earth smell is the lightest in the Land of Earth."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"You can even smell different countries?"
"Pretty much." Tooth glanced at him. "You can tell if someone's annoying or not just by their footsteps, right?"
Shikamaru actually nodded seriously.
That makes sense.
Chi Quan remained focused, staring at the narrow valley entrance for a while before suddenly asking Tianzang, "If the other side wanted to pass through here without leaving any obvious trace, could you tell?"
Tianzang squatted down to look at the terrain, then looked up at the tops of the slopes on both sides.
"It's passable, but it won't be comfortable," he said. "The valley floor is loose, and the slope is hard. If you really want to avoid leaving footprints, you have to walk along the edge of the stone ridge. But the stone ridge is too narrow, so the person leading the group has to be very steady, and the people behind can't be bad either. Otherwise, if one of them slips, the stones will roll, and the whole area below will make a loud noise."
Chi Quan hummed in agreement.
"So this isn't their main focus."
Shikamaru glanced at the crack in front of him.
"You mean, they're deliberately making us feel like this is part of the main storyline?"
"Possibly," Chi Quan said. "It's too similar."
Ya patted Akamaru's head.
"Should we continue the investigation?"
"Check." Ikezumi stood up. "But don't push anyone in. Kiba, you and Akamaru only check the outer edge. Shikamaru, come with me to the right, Tenzo, guard the rear, and check if any land has been disturbed."
"Done," Ya said.
"I know." Shikamaru also stood up.
After the group parted ways, the night became even quieter.
Ikezumi and Shikamaru climbed up the right-hand rock ridge. The rock face was very steep, and occasionally they had to use short hooks to insert into the crevices, inch by inch, clinging to the mountainside. The wind blew up from the valley floor, carrying a cold dampness and the smell of lime, making a constant, faint buzzing sound in their ears.
Halfway up, Shikamaru suddenly reached out and gently touched Ikezumi's wrist.
"Look over there."
Chi Quan followed his gaze.
About three steps to the left, on the edge of a sloping rock, there is a very fine scratch. It's not natural weathering; it looks more like the mark left by metal or hardwood scraping against it. The scratch is very shallow, and unless viewed from this angle, it's almost blended into the rock's texture.
Chi Quan crouched down and stared for two breaths.
"Is it new?"
Shikamaru also leaned closer to take a look.
"It's about 70% new. It'll get mushy if the wind picks up any more." He gestured with his hand. "It doesn't look like a knife, more like the end of a cane or the edge of a protective gear."
Chi Quan's gaze turned cold.
"Someone has tried this line."
"But they might not actually leave," Shikamaru said. "They might just come to check, and if they know they can get through, they'll keep it for later."
"Um."
Chiquan didn't stop, but walked up the stone ridge for another ten steps or so. When they reached a corner, the view suddenly opened up. Looking down, they could see a small part of Kiba and Akamaru's shadows moving along the lower gravel slope; further away, they couldn't see the outpost or the deeper forest, only the blurry darkness at the other end of the desolate valley.
Shikamaru suddenly whispered, "Ikezumi."
"explain."
Do you think they'll actually come to Konoha?
Chi Quan did not answer immediately.
The wind swept past him at an angle, causing a stray lock of hair that hadn't been properly covered to flutter slightly on his forehead.
"Yes," he said.
"Are you so sure?"
"Because the name Konoha itself is worth it," Izumi said. "It's worth the gamble for them, worth the risk for them to send a Jonin."
Shikamaru leaned against the mountain wall and exhaled a breath of white air.
"Sometimes I really hate this word 'value'."
"I'm annoyed too," Chi Quan said, "but it's there."
Shikamaru was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Then don't let them get to the door."
"I never intended for them to touch it."
The two continued upwards until they reached the end of the rocky ridge, where they confirmed that there were indeed traces of passage on the right wall of the narrow valley, but no signs of a large group passing through continuously. After meeting up again, Ya gave a similar conclusion.
"The flavor lingers at the valley entrance, but becomes weaker as you go in." Ya scratched his head. "It's like someone tried it out and didn't choose this as the main road."
Tianzang squatted on the ground and drew several lines in the mud with a wooden stick.
"That leaves two other possibilities. One is that they actually took a more difficult route, such as a narrow valley path; the other is that they never intended to take the valley route at all, but rather to climb the ridge."
Shikamaru's expression grew even more displeased.
"The upper spine is more troublesome. The wider field of vision and the ability to see further also mean it's harder to ambush."
Chi Quan stared at the old gray line marked by Kakashi on the map and suddenly said, "Let's go to Broken Valley first."
"Now?" Ya glanced at the sky. "If we go any further, it will be dawn soon."
"You have to look at it just before dawn," Chi Quan said. "Many marks can be hidden at night, but they become visible as dawn approaches."
Shikamaru clicked his tongue but did not object.
They reached the vicinity of the broken valley path before the first light gray appeared in the east.
This place is even worse than it appears on the map.
The so-called "path" is hardly a path at all; it's merely a narrow strip of land clinging to the waistline of a precipice. It's piled high with old, collapsed rocks and half-weathered, withered roots, and below lies a steep, dark slope. Standing on the edge, looking down, one feels a sudden emptiness in their stomach. The wind sweeps up from the valley, carrying an even heavier chill, occasionally punctuated by the faint, cold chirping of birds returning from who-knows-where.
As soon as the tooth reached the side, it squatted down, and Akamaru let out a low growl, its fur standing on end.
"Yes," Ya said immediately.
Chi Quan also saw it.
It wasn't a footprint, but something much finer.
Several withered vines that should have hung down naturally along the edge of the valley had been trimmed. They weren't cut off, but rather excess branches were removed, leaving only the strongest main vines so they could more easily use their momentum to move downwards or sideways. A little further ahead, on the edge of a protruding rock, half a piece of extremely thin hemp fiber remained, its color darkened by the night dew, practically invisible unless one was very close.
"Rope marks," Tianzang whispered.
Shikamaru stared at the half-section of hemp thread, his expression gradually darkening.
"This isn't a trial run," he said. "Someone has already traversed this route."
"There won't be too many people," Tianzang said, looking at the stress marks on the stone surface. "Between three and five. If there are more, the vines and stone edges will show more wear."
Chi Quan squatted down and twirled the piece of hemp thread between his fingertips.
It still carried a bit of the damp chill of the night.
"New or old?"
Tianzang glanced at it and replied quickly: "Within two days."
He wrinkled his nose and sniffed again in the wind.
"The smell is strong too. It's like leather wristbands from the Land of Lightning, fine medicinal powder from the Sand Village, and a smell like polished metal. It doesn't smell like heavy armor; it smells like many fine blades put together."
Shikamaru looked up.
"Many fine blades————"
Chi Quan lowered his voice even further.
"Wind Priest".
Shikamaru's face almost scrunched up when he heard the name.
"Okay, here comes the worst kind."
Before dawn, the figures were only silhouetted against a layer of cold gray light.
Chi Quan stood up, looked towards the broken valley for a while, and suddenly said, "They're not just likely to come anymore, they've already sneaked in."
Ya immediately asked, "So what do we do now? Chase after them?"
"We can't chase them head-on," Shikamaru said first. "The route through the Broken Valley is too narrow. If they leave one person behind to cover our retreat, the rest of them can wear us down."
"I know," Chi Quan said.
"Then what are you still looking at?" Shikamaru stared at him. "Don't tell me you're planning to touch it all by yourself again."
Chi Quan turned to look at him.
"Do I look like that kind of person?"
Shikamaru said expressionlessly, "They look remarkably alike."
Ya couldn't help but chuckle softly, then quickly suppressed it.
Chi Quan, however, did not retort with that statement.
He looked down at the few patches of withered vines that had been cut, and slowly said, "They are a Jonin squad. They wouldn't carry unnecessary supplies, nor would they do anything meaningless along the way. Since they've already reached the Broken Valley, it means this route is part of a planned route, not just a random attempt. They've either already crossed the desolate valley, or they're waiting for a more suitable opportunity to continue."
"During the day?" Tianzang asked.
"Most likely not," Chi Quan said. "The ridge is too bright during the day, making it easier for scouts to spot us. But they won't hold out for long."
Shikamaru's mind works very quickly.
"In other words, they might hide somewhere behind the valley during the day and then advance at night."
"Yes," Chi Quan said.
He slapped his thigh.
"Then let's find out where they're hiding!"
"We should look for them, of course we should." Chi Quan looked at the group, "but not like hunting, we shouldn't just swarm over there. If there really are people like the Wind Priest or the Cloud Falcon on the other side, Akamaru and Byakugan might get bitten in return."
Tianzang looked at the terrain and said in a low voice, "There are three kinds of places where people can hide behind here. The first is the shallow cave behind the broken valley, the second is the lower-lying dead forest depression, and the third is the leeward side behind those big rocks on the back of the ridge."
Shikamaru continued, "There's a fourth one."
Several people looked at him.
Shikamaru raised his eyes: "They didn't even rest here. After raiding the valley, they cut off from the other side. They left us to stare here and wait in vain."
Chi Quan looked at Shikamaru with a calm expression.
"Therefore, we can't just block people; we have to block the lines too."
Shikamaru nodded.
"right."
The sky gradually brightened.
Instead of charging forward, the group retreated to a more secluded area of pine and rock outside the broken valley, where they spread out a map and redraw their routes. Izumi drew lines on the ground with wooden sticks, Shikamaru filled in the gaps, and Kiba and Tenzo chimed in from time to time. The four of them, one after another, managed to break down what was originally just a chaotic mountain and fragmented valley into several routes that could be followed, hidden, and even used for killing.
"The Broken Valley is the starting point for their arrival, but it may not be the point where they truly exerted their influence," Chi Quan said.
"There will be people on the upper back to keep watch," Shikamaru said. "Not many, but there will definitely be some."
"The barren forest depression is suitable for Tibetans, but not for long-term stays," Tianzang said. "It's too damp down there; footprints will be left behind."
"Akamaru can smell the low-lying areas." Ya patted Akamaru, "but the upper part of the spine is too loose, and it gets messed up when the wind blows."
Shikamaru tapped the ground with a wooden stick.
"That's settled then. Kiba and Akamaru, sweep the hollows, don't go too deep, just bite the outline. Tenzo, look for any footholds in the crevices behind the broken valley, see if anyone has used them as temporary resting points. Ikezumi Ichi."
"I'll go up the spine," Chi Quan said.
Shikamaru glanced at him but didn't say no.
"Okay, but not alone," he said. "I'll go with you."
"Your spine isn't as fast as mine."
"I didn't say I'd run ahead of you," Shikamaru said. "What I need is to know whether to retreat or bite within two breaths of you."
Chi Quan paused for a moment, then nodded.
"it is good."
The day passed by inch by inch.
Time in the mountains is different from time at the camp. Even though the sun was out, it didn't actually reach many parts of the valley and barren slopes; most of the time it was cold—cold rocks, cold wind. Occasionally, an eagle would swoop down from the sky, its shadow flashing and then disappearing. The group split up and reunited, then split up again, searching from morning till afternoon, thoroughly exploring every possible hiding place near the valley.