[A/N: Merry Christmas!]

    On the other side of the valley, Illumi''s division was moving down as well. The sensors under his command reported, "General Hoka''s division is under attack by 300 ninjas. It''s difficult to say who has the upper hand from here."

    Illumi thought, ''We don''t need to worry about the upper hand. Even if his group is caught off guard, there is sufficient backup. However, this is rather surprising. To think that they would ambush us instead of hiding."

    "General, should we reinforce them?" Illumi shook his head to answer his subordinate''s question and instead asked, "Can you see who''s attacking them?"

    Most sensors stayed quiet, but a senior Yamanaka ninja replied, "It is Tsuchiro. I had sensed his chakra signature during the Third Great War."

    Illumi thought for a bit before saying, "Just 300 ninjas won''t be able to stop Hoka''s division. And, if we go there, the remaining rebels might be able to sneak away. We''ll continue moving down the valley, but we''ll slow down a bit. That way, we''ll attack first while Hoka''s division can follow up by attacking their rear and trapping them betw..."

    Illumi stopped mid-way and something unexpected happened. Some distance away from him, 500 ninjas appeared and rushed towards him! This army was led by none other than Kagero, the leader of the Kusagakure rebels! Following him were his two students, Shizuma and Ganku! The three of them went straight for Kurama Illumi!

    "We failed to detect both the forces?" A SealMaster exclaimed in shock. Despite several SealMasters inspecting the valley, not a single one noticed the two spots where the rebels hid. Instead, we calculated the incorrect location.

    A Nara Jounin said, "Not just that, the location they hid in is perfect for ambushing as well. They outplayed us."

    Renjiro nodded and asked, "Where did you mess up?"

    The SealMaster thought for a bit before answering, "It was how they planned their bases in this valley. Every seal here is carefully hidden. Just finding the seals hiding the base at the bottom of this valley took a long time. In fact, if the Nara Jounins didn''t insist, we wouldn''t have looked deeper into this valley either. It was only due to them that we managed to locate that base. We did try searching more bases, but we couldn''t spot any since these were even better hidden."

    Renjiro asked, "Could you guys have done anything different?"

    The Nara Jounin looked at Renjiro suspiciously and thought, ''Hmm, why does it feel like he is educating us instead of being worried about the battle?''

    The SealMaster answered unsurely, "Perhaps if we had searched longer, we could have discovered them, but it would have taken a couple of days, if not more. In addition, I can''t guarantee that we would have found it. Perhaps, we could have fallen into the trap too and lost our lives.

    The only way we could have avoided this trap is if a Grandmaster took a look. Perhaps if the Commander had..."

    Renjiro cut him off and said, "Our enemy is quite weak. If the Commander did everything, we wouldn''t need an army."

    Itachi''s sudden appearance got the attention of the big shots in Konoha. Every Clan Leader paid careful attention to it and raised their clan''s guard. After all, they didn''t know the truth. From their perspective, Itachi had massacred the mighty Uchiha clan by himself. Even though Shikaku had some guesses, he didn''t want to take unneeded risks either. Fujin and Jiraiya were informed about the same. Needless to say, the ones who were alarmed the most were Danzo and the other elders. They received Itachi''s hidden message without the need for a single word, forcing them to drop any ideas they had about the Uchiha kids immediately.

    "Kagero... This is a brave choice. I didn''t expect you''d come out and battle instead of hiding." Kurama Illumi said as he stood face-to-face with Kagero and his students. The 500 ninjas under Kagero''s command began battling with Illumi''s 1000-ninja strong division while their leaders faced off.

    Kagero chuckled and asked, "Where can one hide from Konoha ninjas? Surely you didn''t expect me to wait for my death, did you, Illumi? That said, this is rather unexpected. Illumi, you have come a long way. I didn''t think you had the talent to reach the Elite Jounin rank in Konoha. It should have been a matter of pride for you. Unfortunately, it''ll be the cause of your death. Anyway..."

    Kagero rapidly weaved hand signs while saying, "Enough talk!"

    Illumi became serious and withdrew while weaving hand signs as well. He glanced at the three opponents and thought, ''His two students are as strong as the Veteran Jounins in Konoha. If they had been in Kusagakure, they would have been promoted to Elite Jounin rank. Renjiro also said that Kagero is as strong as he is. Winning against him will be very difficult. However...''

    A sly smile appeared on Illumi''s face. He didn''t need to win. He just needed to stall Kagero. As for Kagero''s students, Illumi wasn''t worried. Reaching the level of Konoha''s Veteran Jounin might be extraordinary in a minor village, but it wasn''t so in Konoha. Illumi had 9 Veteran Jounins under his command, three of whom were standing right next to him. As such, Shizuma and Ganku''s task wasn''t to gang up on Illumi along with their Sensei, instead, it was to avoid Konoha from ganging up on their Sensei.

    ''Water Release: Vapor Gale jutsu!''

    ''Phantom Mist jutsu''

    [A/N: Latest Chapter : Konoha''s Premium Transportation System!]

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