Malphegor
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IUTT: Ch. 80
🕑 Added 2025-05-20 20:18:42 +0000 UTC"I received a mission yesterday to infiltrate deep into the borders of the Land of Whirlpools to gather intelligence. So after receiving the mission, I immediately crossed a rugged mountain gorge and advanced for about 50 kilometers. As a result, in a small town along the way, I saw around two hundred ninjas arriving from the west."
"After they arrived, they immediately ordered the civilians to evacuate. All the civilians seemed to have already known about this situation. They packed their belongings in an extremely short amount of time. Moreover, they were transporting pre-packed food using wheelbarrows, flat carts, and horse-drawn wagons, and began retreating toward Uzushio."
"When I retreated along with them and entered the next town, I found that the nearby town was already empty. Judging by the traces at the scene, they had only left not long ago. Because I didn't understand what was going on, I casually tied up a civilian from the Land of Whirlpools who had separated from the group to go to the toilet, and interrogated him in secret."
"According to what he said, the civilians had received an order four days ago to be ready for evacuation at any moment, instructing them to tidy up their belongings and prepare grain that could be carried away at a moment's notice. What's strange is that their evacuation sequence wasn't from the outside in, but from the inside out. These ninjas, starting from Uzushio as the center, spread outward across the entire Land of Whirlpools. At each place they arrived, they would issue evacuation orders, and the people there would begin evacuating."
"Then the ninjas would continue moving to the next location to give the order. After finally reaching the furthest towns, the ninjas would evacuate together with the civilians from there."
"What is the purpose of doing this?" Fuguki, standing to the side, asked in confusion. "Normally, evacuations are carried out from far to near, aren't they? Aren't they afraid someone might not make it out in time this way?"
"It's not strange at all," Genji said. "No one knows exactly when war will break out. At that time, the allied shinobi forces hadn't even landed yet. If the civilians had been ordered to evacuate then, and we took our time, say, ten days or half a month, to arrive, the Land of Whirlpools would have fallen into chaos on its own before we even fought. So, four days ago, their notification was only to prepare for evacuation at any moment. It gave the civilians time to get ready, while they closely monitored our movements. As soon as they detected the arrival of allied ninjas, they would immediately issue the evacuation order. But no one could know exactly when we would launch our attack."
"Maybe they made some guesses, but they didn't dare gamble the entire nation on it. If those ninjas had first gone to the farthest towns and told them to evacuate, then notified everyone else while returning, the evacuation would've been bloated and slow-moving. If the war broke out at that moment, all the civilians might've been caught in one swoop. But going from the inside out is different. No matter when war breaks out, they can ensure the maximum number of civilians escape, and in an orderly fashion."
"Even if we suddenly attacked at that point, we'd be delayed by the outer layer of evacuating civilians. Plus, since they're carrying resources they've packed up, we wouldn't be able to pursue them effectively. They'd also be able to preserve a good amount of wealth and manpower. So this strategy strictly controls the pace of retreat and helps evacuate as many people as quickly as possible. By the way, Suiten, you said earlier that these civilians were all carrying almost all their portable possessions and a large amount of food?"
"Yes, without exception," Suiten affirmed.
Genji's heart stirred.
Why had they come to the Land of Whirlpools in the first place?
For profit!
If they could seize all those supplies, Kiri might become rich overnight. But he didn't act rashly. Instead, he continued asking, "How fast are these civilians moving?"
"How fast could civilians possibly be? Especially when they're carrying so much food, their pace is barely faster than walking. Judging by my estimation, the group closest to us would need at least five days to reach Uzushio."
"Five days... And you said that when you reached the next town, they had just left?"
"Yes."
"Did you sense any ambushing ninjas along the way?"
"Of course," Suiten said confidently. "There were ambushes set up at intervals along the way. Each ambush point had ten people, adding them up, there were over a hundred in total…"
"Wait a second," Genji quickly interrupted him. "How many did you say?"
"Over a hundred. What's the problem?" Suiten asked, puzzled.
"Not over a thousand?" Genji asked again for confirmation.
"Come on." Suiten was displeased. "I'm a sensory ninja. I came back all this way along the route, how could I not know how many people were in ambush? Besides, there are so many routes throughout the Land of Whirlpools. Where would Uzushio get the manpower to deploy thousands of ninjas? It's just over a hundred, around 120 people."
"120… 120…" Genji muttered to himself while deep in thought.
"So the earlier attack really was a diversion tactic. They used the most suspicious and attention-grabbing method to lure us in, all to buy time. Our landing location was a last-minute decision, they couldn't possibly have known in advance, which means Uzushio's reinforcements haven't even arrived yet."
Hearing Genji's confident assessment, Suiten suddenly thought of something and quickly added, "It's possible that there were ambushers outside the range of my sensory abilities. There could be a large number of enemy ninjas lying in wait beyond my perception, we still need to proceed with caution. Also, Uzushio's ninjas have set dense traps along the road. If I hadn't been skilled in the Hydrification Technique, I would've fallen into one already. So, I don't think we should proceed."
But Genji completely ignored his warnings. After all, Suiten was notoriously timid and afraid of death. Saying things that boosted the enemy's morale and diminished his own had become second nature to him.
In truth, he had already made up his mind. Right now, he still faced two choices: either pursue and plunder, or remain stationed and hold position.
Previously, he had leaned toward the latter, because everything was uncertain, and a rash move could land them in a trap. But now, he was clearly leaning toward the former. The temptation of that prize was simply too great, he really wanted to claim it.
Over the years, due to the ineptitude of the Third Mizukage, Kiri's development had been poor. They desperately needed external resources to revitalize the village. Otherwise, they wouldn't have launched such a major campaign in the Land of Whirlpools.
If Uzushio managed to evacuate all its civilians, even though the wealth would be centralized, whether that wealth would fall into their hands remained uncertain.
What he feared most was paying a heavy price only to gain little in return, which would worsen Kiri's internal tensions and crisis. And now was the best time to act.
Only two hours had passed since Uzushio's ninjas discovered them and launched a fake raid to lure them. Even if Uzushio received intel immediately and sent reinforcements, they theoretically couldn't move faster than the Kiri forces, because Kiri was already closer.
But any further delay could change that.
The decision to strike had to be made now, wait too long, and Uzushio's reinforcements might arrive first, turning the tables and leaving them the ones walking into an ambush.
