Naruto: I have an attribute panel

Chapter 48 The Final Battle

Deep in the dense forest.

The man in black robes had been waiting here ever since the rogue ninja captain left with his men. He had now removed his hood, and anyone who recognized him would immediately know that this was Ishihara Masahiro, the head of the second branch of the Ishihara family.

As time went by, Ishihara Masahiro grew increasingly anxious. He paced back and forth, glancing frequently in the direction the ninja had left, hoping to see the answer he sought.

Just then, a rustling sound came from afar, and Masahiro Ishihara immediately put his hood back on and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

At that moment, the ninjas also came into Ishihara Masahiro's sight. But what changed his expression drastically was that two fewer ninjas had returned, and none of them were the ones he wanted.

After the ninjas took their positions, Ishihara Masahiro eagerly stepped forward, clinging to his last hope, and asked, "Aoyama, did you kill that brat?"

"How dare you say that!" the rogue ninja Aoyama said angrily. "You gave me great information. I lost a Chunin and a Genin. What are you going to do about it?"

"Explain yourself clearly." Ishihara Masahiro was also getting impatient. You're just a ninja, you can't get to the point.

"Those Konoha ninjas, the leader was a Jonin, and the other three weren't ordinary Genin either. We were caught completely off guard." Aoyama still gave Ishihara Masahiro a general account of what had happened. Ishihara Masahiro frowned as he listened, secretly annoyed that the eldest son's family was so lucky.

"So what do we do now? We can't just give up!" Ishihara Masahiro said unwillingly. "Besides, you guys are part of this too. You don't want the duck that's already in your mouth to fly away, do you?"

"There's no other way now but to wait for Koji to arrive. Only with Koji, a special Jonin, can we have a chance of winning." Aoyama was naturally unwilling. He could have kept all the mission rewards for himself, but now he had to share them with someone else. How could he be happy?

……

After cleaning up the battlefield, the group gathered the scattered carriages and people back together. Only after taking stock of the losses did they realize that nearly half of the people had been killed or wounded in that evening's fighting.

Masao Ishihara is currently there, painfully calculating on his abacus, wondering if he can still make money after deducting the compensation.

Taiyi shook his head as he watched. What kind of time is this? Still thinking about making money? He really is a businessman.

"Mr. Ishihara, let's arrange for the caravan to set up camp and rest as soon as possible. Everyone has been tired all day. Tomorrow we can speed up our journey. We can't do without good physical strength," Taichi reminded him from the side.

"Yes, yes, look, the fighting just now has me so flustered that I forgot about this." Masao Ishihara said with a look of regret. After calming down, he immediately went to arrange the caravan's overnight stay.

Watching Masao Ishihara walk away, Taichi approached his teammates. Mrs. Ishihara and little Ishihara were also there; after all, what place could be safer than this now?

At this moment, Yangping was recounting his glorious achievements to Saori, how he had slaughtered his way through the enemy ranks, and how he had awakened his Sharingan. He said that if the attacking ninjas had stayed any longer, he would have captured them all.

Saori covered her mouth and laughed as she listened, while little Ishihara danced around excitedly.

When Yamaguchi-sensei saw Taichi arrive, he stopped Yohei, who was still talking non-stop, and said, "Alright, Yohei, everyone has had a long day, so let's all get some rest."

"Yohei, you'll be on night duty for the first half of the night. Taiichi, you'll be on night duty after your shift. Saori, you should rest well since you're injured."

"Yes, Captain Yamaguchi!" x2

Saori lowered her head and started counting on her fingers again, completely lacking the bravery she had shown when she fought four against one.

……

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, the caravan got up earlier than usual. Before the sun had even risen above the horizon, the caravan had already packed its things and set off.

Perhaps influenced by the previous battle, everyone knew that the fight was far from over. The few ninjas who escaped were enough to give the caravan a hard time, not to mention that they might have reinforcements.

Therefore, everyone is traveling at an exceptionally fast pace today. Judging by the time, at this rate, the caravan will arrive in Jinsong City by noon on the eighth day, at which point the escort mission will be complete.

Today is the sixth day. Once the attacking ninjas send the message back and the others arrive, they should launch their attack tomorrow.

Just as Tai-ichi had thought, they spent the entire sixth day without incident, as if the attack from the previous day had never happened.

The caravan passed the day peacefully, but instead of relaxing, everyone's mood became even more tense. As if sensing their anxiety, the heavens began to drizzle from the very beginning of nightfall, as if trying to extinguish the fire in their hearts with rain.

On the seventh day, a light drizzle fell all night and showed no signs of stopping by morning. This was quite rare in the Land of Rivers, mainly because the Land of Rivers was influenced by the weather of the Land of Winds, and the climate was generally dry.

Whether this weather is good or bad for attacking ninjas is unknown, but Taiyi wanted to burst out laughing after seeing it. This kind of weather is perfect for him to use his water-style techniques.

The caravan set off in the drizzle, but today's group was different. Captain Yamaguchi, along with Taichi and two others, closely guarded Lady Ishihara's carriage at the head of the procession. It was as if they were waiting for something, forging ahead with no turning back.

And so, as noon approached, they encountered the ever-vigilant enemy on the main road. They stood brazenly in the middle of the road, leading their large band of bandits, waiting for the caravan to approach.

They're truly fearless, unwilling to even lay an ambush. This is a classic case of "whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad."

"Listen up, Konoha ninja, hand over the child from the caravan. We're only here for him, and that doesn't conflict with your mission," the leading rogue ninja, Aoyama, shouted at Captain Yamaguchi.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot agree to this. Abandoning innocent children is not the style of the Konoha ninjas." Captain Yamaguchi responded bluntly, showing no respect whatsoever.

"You'd better think this through. We have one more Jonin than before. Do you think you can stop us?" Actually, they didn't want to fight either. Konoha's ninjas were not to be trifled with. Otherwise, Ishihara Masao wouldn't have hired Konoha ninjas to intimidate them in the first place.

"How will you know if you don't try?"

In fact, the moment Taiyi saw the enemy, he had already begun to prepare. He first used the carriage as cover to create a shadow clone, and then had the shadow clone prepare the hand seals for the Great Water Prison Technique.

Just as the negotiations between the two sides broke down, Taiyi launched the first attack with Water Release: Great Water Prison Technique. With the blessing of the weather, the ninjutsu was even more powerful. A wide wall of water rose up around the opponent and was about to complete the encirclement in the blink of an eye.

Seeing Taiichi make his move, the opponents, not wanting to let him succeed, all used their Body Flicker Technique to dodge. However, they were a step too late, and Taiichi's Great Water Prison Technique caught one Chunin and one Genin. This immediately reduced the opponents' numbers by two, making the battle much easier.

Seeing that his two companions were trapped, Aoyama cursed under his breath, "Damn it!" and immediately led the others to attack the Konoha ninjas.

The newly arrived bald ninja immediately formed hand seals and unleashed Wind Release: Vacuum Giant Ball, sending a barrage of wind blades towards Taiyi, including the carriage, hoping to interrupt Taiyi's ninjutsu.

Having finally gained the upper hand, Taiyi was not about to let him have his way. He quickly formed hand seals in front of Taiyi and used Water Release: Water Wall. A wall of water suddenly rose up in front of him, blocking the incoming wind blades.

At this moment, Captain Yamaguchi also clashed with the rogue ninja Aoyama who had come to attack. Just like the day before, the two engaged in a taijutsu duel. Aoyama, as expected of a rogue ninja from the Sand Village, possessed considerable strength and managed to fight Captain Yamaguchi to a standstill for a time.

But judging from his expression, he was only putting on a brave face and couldn't maintain this state for long.

On the other hand, Yangping had the upper hand against the two genin's combined attack, forcing them to retreat and gradually move away from the carriage.

At this moment, Saori was protecting the carriage and Taiichi, who was maintaining his spell, while also having to deal with the mountain bandits Roro who were rushing up from time to time.

Taiichi was already struggling to keep up with the bald ninja, who was clearly a special Jonin skilled in Wind Release. Taiichi felt that if it weren't for the weather, he would have already been defeated by the opponent's Wind Release.

Several battles have reached a stalemate, with everyone seemingly waiting for the balance to be broken first.

Just then, a cry of surprise rang out. It turned out that while everyone was preoccupied with their respective enemies, another Chunin emerged from the nearby woods. He quickly dealt with the guards blocking the way and, before anyone could react, kidnapped little Ishihara from the carriage.

At this moment, everyone realized that it wasn't just Koji, a special Jonin, who had come; there was also a Chunin hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"Hahaha, didn't expect that, did you? The ninjas of Konoha are still a step ahead of us!"