Chapter 949: Chapter 54: The Beginning of the Invasion_2
Maki marched with the troops, his eyes vigilantly locked onto the sky. As soon as there was any change in the sky, he ordered the surrounding Hidden Sand Ninja to mobilize the ballistae and launch a blanket attack on the sky, shooting down the aerial Ninja of the Land of Demons, ensuring the troops could safely cross into the Land of Demons’ borders without error.
Due to the need to be wary of aerial attacks, the pace of the thousand Hidden Sand Ninja troops was very slow.
It took the thousand Hidden Sand Ninja more than half an hour to cross the Hell Valley, which was less than five hundred meters wide, finally entering the territory of the Land of Demons.
The anticipated aerial attack did not occur, which was somewhat unexpected for Maki.
Judging from previous actions, the Land of Demons seemed already prepared to go to war with Hidden Sand Village, but just now, when they crossed Hell Valley, it was the best time for the Land of Demons to intercept.
Having missed that prime opportunity, Maki couldn’t figure out how the Land of Demons would defeat the main forces of Hidden Sand Village.
Could it be that the Land of Demons was only bluffing?
Maki couldn’t help but consider this.
After all, the overall national power of large countries far exceeds that of small countries.
Under various pressures, even if the Land of Demons talked tough, their actual actions might not be as decisive as their words.
Perhaps the issue of whether to officially go to war with Hidden Sand has already caused internal strife within their military.
That’s why they crossed Hell Valley so easily.
Maki felt confident about this battle; the moment to redeem past disgrace had finally arrived.
He had also met the expectations of Lord Kazekage. Once the path through Hell Valley was cleared, the gateway to the Land of Demons had completely opened up to Hidden Sand Village, without much effort.
Just as Maki was feeling pleased, he suddenly heard a buzzing sound in the air.
Everyone instinctively looked up, only to see ten small black silhouettes flying overhead, producing the sound.
The Hidden Sand Ninja beside the ballista immediately changed their expression and were about to launch arrows into the sky when Maki immediately shouted to stop them: "Wait, don’t be impulsive!"
Hearing Maki’s command, the Hidden Sand Ninja put down their ballista and waited for orders.
The Ninja of the Land of Demons in the sky noticed the Hidden Sand Ninja ceased their aerial attack and did not mind, continuing to hover over this Hidden Sand unit, maintaining pressure on them.
"They should be here to check the situation."
Maki frowned, sensing the intent of the Ninja of the Land of Demons in the sky.
If it were for an aerial attack, they would have already initiated an attack on the Hidden Sand forces first, rather than waiting for Hidden Sand to take the initiative.
"Lord Maki, what should we do now?"
"Hmm... As long as they don’t act, we don’t need to act either, to avoid wasting arrows and Explosive Tags. Let them investigate as they please."
Maki instructed.
The Hidden Sand Ninja complied.
After circling above the Hidden Sand troops for about half an hour, ten Ninja of the Land of Demons flew off into the distant sky, disappearing from the view of the Hidden Sand Ninja.
Maki let out a deep breath, noting that this unit’s flexibility seemed stronger than expected.
Moreover, it was uncertain how many such airborne troops there actually were.
However, according to Maki’s estimate, such special units wouldn’t be numerous within the Land of Demons.
Back when the Land of the Sky declared war on the Five Great Nations, the ninjas possessing Flying Ninja Tools were actually quite rare and not everyone had them.
Otherwise, the Land of the Sky wouldn’t have been quickly annihilated by the Land of Fire.
Seeing the Ninja of the Land of Demons fly away, many Hidden Sand Ninja also breathed a sigh of relief; had these guys kept flying overhead, they probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep soundly.
Maki couldn’t guess the intention of the Land of Demons, so he dispatched a dozen Hidden Sand Ninja to scout for intelligence, with most Hidden Sand Ninja setting up camp and spending the night here before proceeding.
◎
"Have they evacuated?"
The next day, Maki received information from the Hidden Sand Ninja who went out scouting. The nearby border town in the Land of Demons was already deserted, its evacuation completed at some unknown time.
"That’s strange, the Land of Demons... what exactly are they planning?"
Since crossing Hell Valley, aside from initially being monitored, the skies had remained quiet, with no Ninja of the Land of Demons coming to visit.
Not only that, there were no signs of garrison troops from the Land of Demons at the border.
Now, even the citizens of the border town had been evacuated.
Afraid of the mighty forces of Hidden Sand Village? Maki thought maybe only this reason could clarify it.
"Let’s go check it out, pack up the camp."
"Yes."
Leading the Hidden Sand Ninja, he continued marching forward.
Soon they arrived at the reportedly deserted border town.
In perfect accordance with the report, there wasn’t a single person in sight in the town, seemingly empty, with only the occasional sound of the wind, making the town feel eerily quiet.
No signs of destruction or attack were evident, yet the town’s people had vanished without a trace.
This was the first time Maki encountered such a situation.
In the past, on the battlefield in the Land of Rain, many villagers from the Land of Rain, despite knowing they couldn’t match up to the ninja, would pick up weapons and fight the ninjas, dying on their land, which greatly moved Maki.
But the Land of Demons appeared to lack this desperate determination, opting for evacuation... leaving Maki somewhat uneasy.
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