At 8 AM the next morning, Uchiha En, Hyuga Asana, and Yamanaka Kagetsu met up and arrived below the Hokage Building.
By then, the area below the Hokage Building was already packed with Ninja and onlookers.
After Yamanaka Kagetsu used his Perception to pinpoint Aburame Shibi's location, the three of them, along with Uchiha En, squeezed their way over.
"Teacher Shibi, we're here," Hyuga Asana said.
Aburame Shibi nodded without a word.
A few minutes later, the Third Hokage and the two Advisors arrived on the upper floor of the Hokage Building, but Danzo was nowhere to be seen.
"Everyone, I am the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. You are about to rush to the battlefield to fight for the Village. I, this old man, can only remain in the Village for various reasons, and I am truly sorry," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, then took off his hat and bowed to the crowd below.
The Third Hokage began by expressing his guilt to the Ninja, which somewhat lessened the reluctance of some Ninja who were initially unwilling to go to the battlefield and fight.
Following that was the usual Will of Fire indoctrination, and the people below grew increasingly excited, finally erupting in cheers.
Uchiha En had originally wanted to feign enthusiasm, but their teacher, Aburame Shibi, remained expressionless throughout, making no movements, so Uchiha En and the others found it awkward to cheer along.
"Alright, it's over. Let's go to the Land of Bears team," Aburame Shibi said, then turned and left.
Seeing this, Uchiha En tentatively asked, "Teacher Shibi, are you unwilling to go to the battlefield?"
"It doesn't matter to me. I just don't want to see children like you rushing to the battlefield."
Uchiha En was somewhat surprised to hear this; he hadn't expected Aburame Shibi to have such thoughts.
In this Konoha Village, indoctrinated by the Will of Fire, people like Aburame Shibi were truly rare.
"No wonder Shino eventually chose to become a teacher; it turns out it's hereditary!" Uchiha En thought to himself.
Subsequently, the four of them, led by Aburame Shibi, arrived at the Village entrance and stood behind a team.
A moment later, more and more people joined this team.
Once everyone had arrived, a man wearing a Ninja hat, a black tight-fitting combat suit, a green Jonin chainmail over it, and with slightly red pupils, walked to the front of the team.
"Teacher Shibi, who is he?" Yamanaka Kagetsu asked, looking at the man at the front of the team.
"This is Lord Shinku Yuhi. He is the Village's instructor for Chunin and Genin. Many Jonin, including myself, were taught by Lord Shinku Yuhi before becoming Jonin," Aburame Shibi replied.
Upon hearing the name Shinku Yuhi, Uchiha En couldn't help but glance forward twice.
The original work didn't describe Shinku Yuhi much. Uchiha En remembered that he was Yūhi Shinkō's father and an instructor for Konoha's Chunin and Genin.
The original work didn't specify the exact authority and status of this instructor, but judging by Aburame Shibi's attitude, Shinku Yuhi must have had a relatively high prestige in the Village.
Shinku Yuhi sacrificed himself during the Nine-Tailed incident. At that time, he ordered young Ninja like Guy, Kakashi, and Kurenai never to approach the Nine-Tailed, then fought alongside the Village's elite Ninja against the Nine-Tailed, unfortunately perishing.
"Everyone, for this period, we will be fighting side by side. I believe you all know that our destination this time is the Land of Bears. The Land of Bears is southeast of the Land of Fire, and the journey is quite long, so we need to speed up.
The reconnaissance squad will depart immediately to scout ahead. The rest will protect the Medical Ninja and various medical equipment, and rush to the Land of Bears at the fastest possible speed!"
With Shinku Yuhi's command, Aburame Shibi immediately signaled Uchiha En and the others to step forward and head towards the Land of Bears.
At the same time, four other teams also stepped out. Among these five reconnaissance squads, only Uchiha En's team had four people, clearly led by a Jonin with three rookies.
The remaining four reconnaissance squads were all composed of three Chunin.
Medical Ninja, due to the need to carry a large amount of medical equipment, indeed moved slower. The main force, to protect them, also had to slow down their movement speed.
Uchiha En and his team had already set off ahead of time. After two days of travel, the main force was already far behind them.
"Senior Shibi, we've just left the safe zone. The battlefield isn't far ahead," a reconnaissance squad leader jumped over and said to Aburame Shibi.
"I know. From here on, we'll split up and try to minimize our targets!"
"Alright, then Senior Shibi, take care." With that, this reconnaissance squad left directly.
The other three reconnaissance squads also dispersed.
The four squads chose four routes on the map that were topographically complex and easy to set up ambushes, leaving the middle path for Uchiha En's squad.
This path was the closest to the Land of Bears, but there weren't many places for concealment along the way, making ambushes difficult. However, it didn't rule out small groups of Kirigakure Ninja waiting there to intercept Konoha's reconnaissance squads.
Aburame Shibi, having been through many battles, naturally understood this very well. He turned to Hyuga Asana and said, "Asana, you must constantly use your Byakugan to scout the route ahead, confirming if there are any hidden enemies."
Upon hearing this, Hyuga Asana immediately activated her Byakugan, observing her surroundings, and Uchiha En also activated his Mind's Eye, carefully sensing the movements around them.
"Teacher Shibi, no enemies detected within 1 kilometer ahead." Every time they walked a certain distance, Hyuga Asana would report like this.
Upon hearing this, Aburame Shibi would release his insects, using them as safety markers along the way for the main Konoha force to pass through with confidence.
The reconnaissance squad continued forward, with Hyuga Asana scouting every kilometer to confirm safety.
After advancing nearly twenty kilometers, Aburame Shibi's insects flew back rapidly from the front, and at the same time, Hyuga Asana's Byakugan also noticed a Ninja squad ahead.
"Teacher Shibi, a Ninja squad has been spotted about 600 meters to the front-left, with approximately 5 members," Hyuga Asana reported.
"Stop. En, go ahead and take a look, find out the Kirigakure Ninja's formation." Aburame Shibi immediately ordered everyone to stop advancing, then dispatched Uchiha En to investigate the Kirigakure Ninja's details.
Aburame Shibi sent Uchiha En to scout for three reasons.
First, Uchiha En could use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which the other two couldn't, and the Shadow Clone Jutsu was very convenient for reconnaissance.
Second, Uchiha En's Body Flicker Technique was very fast; even if discovered by the enemy, Uchiha En could immediately disengage using the Body Flicker Technique.
Third, Uchiha En had the strongest overall strength among the three. In case of any unexpected situation where he couldn't escape with the Body Flicker Technique, he could still entangle with the enemy for a while, creating an opportunity for their rescue.