Knock knock knock...
Upon hearing the knocking sound, Qingming instinctively expanded his senses, and immediately recognized a familiar presence outside the door.
"Is it him?"
His thoughts stirred, and he quickly walked to the door, opening it.
Creek — The sound of the wooden door scraping the floor pierced the air, unpleasant to the ears.
However, Qingming wasn't in the mood to pay attention to such trivial things at this moment.
He looked outside and saw a familiar figure standing there. It was none other than Nakagawa Ichirou, a messenger chunin who often accompanied Sano Nobuyoshi. Qingming had encountered him on numerous occasions.
"What's the matter?" Qingming asked, directly looking at him.
Upon hearing this, Nakagawa Ichirou didn't waste time with pleasantries. He quickly spoke: "Qingming-sama, Captain Sano requests that you immediately come to the command center."
His words were rapid, and Qingming could clearly sense the urgency in his tone.
Frowning, Qingming asked, "What happened?"
Nakagawa Ichirou glanced around cautiously, ensuring no one else was nearby, before he lowered his voice and said, "Just now, the reconnaissance team sent back information. The Mist Ninjas in Feiyu Town are on the move."
"Hm?"
At these words, Qingming's frown deepened.
Given how urgently Sano Nobuyoshi had called him to the meeting, this information could not be false. It meant the Mist Ninjas were preparing to make a move again.
This was truly a case of "The tree wants to be still, but the wind does not stop."
Qingming had hoped that after their failure the day before, the Mist Ninjas would lie low for a while. He never expected them to launch another attack so soon.
This would certainly disrupt his training plans, and that left him feeling quite displeased.
"Qingming-sama?"
Seeing that Qingming had not responded immediately, Nakagawa Ichirou cautiously called out to him.
"Oh," Qingming came to his senses, replying, "I'll get ready and head over. You go ahead and notify the others."
Nakagawa Ichirou acknowledged with a "Yes!" and quickly ran off to inform the others.
Qingming returned to his room, swiftly preparing his gear. He picked up the long sword from the table, strapped it to his waist, and headed toward the command center.
Ten minutes later.
At the command center.
In the meeting room, everyone who needed to be there had arrived.
Sano Nobuyoshi was the last to enter. He sat at the head of the table and immediately began briefing everyone on the information received from the reconnaissance team.
As Nakagawa Ichirou had mentioned, about half an hour ago, the Mist Ninjas in Feiyu Town had split into two groups, advancing toward their position—one group from land and the other from the sea.
As for their objective, it was obvious to everyone in the room.
Sano Nobuyoshi's gaze swept across the faces of his subordinates, and he continued, "Given their speed, they should arrive here in about an hour and a half, even accounting for rest and recovery breaks. No more than three hours from now."
Three hours was not too long for the highly mobile ninjas, but it was still enough time to prepare for defense.
Qingming did not understand why Sano Nobuyoshi had called them all here in such a hurry.
"Could it be..."
Suddenly, Qingming had a thought, and he glanced sharply at Sano Nobuyoshi.
A moment later, Sano spoke up, confirming Qingming's suspicion: "Next, we need to discuss whether we should take the initiative and strike first."
"Strike first?"
The others in the room were taken aback, murmuring in surprise.
Qingming, upon hearing this, thought to himself, As expected!
If it weren't for the idea of striking first, there would have been no need for such a hasty meeting.
It was now clear that Sano wasn't content with merely defending the base. Instead, he wanted to take the fight to the Mist Ninjas.
But what makes him so confident?
Without a doubt, there were both pros and cons to this plan.
The downside was clear: leaving the Black Stone Base meant losing the strategic advantage of holding their ground. They would no longer be fighting on home turf, and they wouldn't be able to wait for the enemy's advance, which would reduce their advantage.
On the other hand, there were advantages to taking the initiative.
For one, they would be able to choose the time of battle. Instead of waiting idly, they could attack when it was most advantageous.
Additionally, they could lay traps and ambush the Mist Ninjas, potentially inflicting significant damage to the enemy's forces.
Everyone present in the room were elite ninjas, and Qingming wasn't the only one who understood the consequences. The room immediately filled with chatter as everyone voiced their opinions.
After a few minutes, Qingming, who was getting a headache from the noise, tapped the table.
Knock knock knock...
The dull sound quickly caught everyone's attention, and they fell silent.
Although Qingming was young, his reputation for steady decision-making and his formidable strength made everyone take him seriously.
His simple action immediately commanded the room's focus.
Qingming, without hesitation, addressed Sano Nobuyoshi: "How many enemies are we facing? What is the distribution of forces between the land and sea groups?"
His questions were the most crucial.
If the Mist Ninjas had only sent a small number of troops, there wouldn't be much difference whether they attacked or defended. But if the enemy had far more personnel than them, then any attempts at countermeasures would be futile.
In the face of overwhelming strength, no strategy or tactics would matter.
Upon hearing Qingming's questions, the others turned to look at Sano Nobuyoshi.
It wasn't that they hadn't thought of these things, but it simply wasn't yet their turn to ask—Qingming had cut to the chase and moved straight to the heart of the matter.
Sano Nobuyoshi hesitated slightly before responding, meeting everyone's expectant gazes.
"The number of troops from the Mist Village is about the same as last time."
"What?"
The room erupted in surprise at this revelation.
They had assumed that Sano's decision to strike first meant that the Mist Ninjas had sent fewer troops this time, but it turned out to be nearly the same as before.
Given that they had barely managed to withstand the last battle, this news was not reassuring.
The losses sustained by Konoha's forces in the previous battle had been significant, both in terms of fatalities and injuries.
Meanwhile, the Mist Ninjas, even if injured, hadn't suffered nearly as severely. Those able to participate in the current mission would likely be in good condition.
In other words, the enemy's strength had grown far beyond theirs.
And now, Sano wanted to take the initiative and attack?
Everyone was puzzled by Sano's thinking.
Sano, sensing the confusion, raised his hand, signaling for silence.
Once the room quieted down, he continued, "According to the information sent by Jojo Hokuto, the overall strength of the Mist Ninjas this time is weaker than before."
Everyone remained silent, waiting for him to elaborate.
Sano Nobuyoshi continued without wasting time: "From Hokuto's observations, the proportion of lower-ranking ninjas in the Mist's forces has increased significantly, while there are fewer mid- to high-ranking ninjas. So, we still have a fighting chance."
At this point, Sano glanced subtly at Qingming, thinking, With him on our side, one man could be worth several jonin.
Upon hearing this, the others calmed down.
Hokuto, whose full name was Hyuga Hokuto, was a special jonin from the Hyuga Clan. He had been leading a reconnaissance team that focused on surveilling the Mist Ninjas in Feiyu Town during the day. The intelligence he provided was trusted by the others.
It was then that everyone began to reconsider Sano's proposal.
If the enemy's strength wasn't overwhelming, they indeed had the option to strike first. If they concentrated their forces on one group of enemies, they could eliminate that threat and then turn to face the second group.
However, this strategy had one major caveat: it required them to win quickly.
If the enemy held out too long, the second group could launch an attack on the base, cutting off their retreat. At that point, they would be surrounded on all sides.
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