Chapter 221 - 10: A Tactical Retreat Across a Thousand Miles
"Pengman! The Iwagakure ninjas behind us, they haven’t caught up, have they?" Jing Hang asked, his voice steady but urgent.
"No, they haven’t. I left message bees behind; if they start chasing, the bees will alert us immediately. For now, we’re at least two kilometers ahead of them," replied Shimizuru Pengman, the captain of the 11th Battalion. Pengman was a stout man of short stature, with bow legs and a neck as thick as his head. Strapped to his back was the signature massive beehive unique to the Shimizuru clan. His expression was a mix of cold determination and unyielding resolve.
"Good. Dispel the shadow clones. Save your chakra—we’ve still got over a thousand kilometers to cover," Jing Hang instructed.
With a series of resounding "poofs," thick clouds of white smoke erupted across the battlefield. When the smoke cleared, only a tenth of the Sand Village ninjas remained.
The Third Raikage, who had barely recovered some of his strength, widened his eyes in disbelief. "What?! This—this is all the people you brought?!"
Jing Hang chuckled, handing the Third Raikage a military water flask and a small bottle of concentrated soldier pills. "Heh, I could only mobilize this many on such short notice. But it was enough to bluff that fool Kitsuchi. If I really had five thousand ninjas, I’d have fought him head-on."
The Third Raikage opened his mouth to express his gratitude, but Jing Hang raised a hand to cut him off. "Save it, old brother. We don’t have time for pleasantries. Kitsuchi isn’t a complete idiot. We’ve only managed to fool him for now, but he’ll figure it out soon enough. We need to keep moving. Only when we reach the border between the Wind and Earth countries will we truly be safe."
The Third Raikage nodded, gulping down the entire flask of water in one go. Then, he unscrewed the bottle of soldier pills, poured them into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "Alright! After this, I could fight for another three days straight!" he declared with his usual bravado.
Jing Hang smirked and shouted, "All units, move out! Head to Sector 17 near the Wind-Earth border—advance at full speed!"
In military parlance, "advance" was just a euphemism for retreat. In reality, they were running for their lives. Despite his strength, Jing Hang was no "Dance King" capable of single-handedly taking on an entire ninja coalition.
"Why are the footprints suddenly fewer?" Kitsuchi crouched down, carefully examining the tracks on the ground.