Traveling through Naruto: I am Haruno Sakura

Naruto: "I know..."

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As they changed direction and continued forward, Parker twitched his nose, "Not good, although they are on guard against ambush, they are indeed approaching us."

Shikamaru also realized the seriousness of the problem, "Damn it, I'm afraid those guys are all above the Chunin level. If we are caught up, we will be wiped out..."

Sakura frowned, and Naruto suggested, "In that case, why don't we just ambush and fight them?"

Xiaoying thought it was a good idea. "Yes, an ambush is also more advantageous for us. Even if the enemy has twice as many people as us, as long as we catch them by surprise..."

Parker rejected it ruthlessly, "This won't work. The other party is a subordinate of Orochimaru, the former outstanding ninja of Konoha, and there might be a senior ninja..."

Shikamaru's mouth twitched, "I thought it would work, but it turns out it doesn't..."

Sakura sighed, "The pursuers this time know the village very well. I'm afraid they have conducted many simulation exercises for this war. Besides, they are most likely ninjas who are proficient in tracking techniques..."

Shikamaru continued Sakura's words, "But the advantage of the ambush has not changed. However, there are too many uncertainties. Moreover, the enemy is a special force formed for this operation, and we are just a big fool, a... somewhat powerful female ninja, a dog, and me, the number one runner..."

Shikamaru: "Strategy is about preparing to grasp the current situation and come up with the best strategy, so there is only one thing we can do now... ...that is to pretend to ambush and delay their actions by leaving one person behind."

Sakura understood what Shikamaru meant, "It's a bait, right..."

Shikamaru: "That's right. As long as we can delay them, they won't be able to grasp the location of the remaining three people. Although this will help us avoid being tracked, the guy who serves as bait will probably... die."

When they got to this point, everyone stopped on the branches in tacit understanding. Shikamaru spoke first, "So, who will be the bait?"

Sakura spoke up, "We need Parker to track down Sasuke, so I'll stay here and you guys continue on..."

Shikamaru interrupted Sakura, "No, I'll stay..."

Sakura looked at Shikamaru in surprise, "Shikamaru? But I can obviously delay him better if I stay..."

Shikamaru said to himself: "It's better than being wiped out. Besides, among those who can successfully act as bait and have a higher chance of survival... I am the only one among them."

Sakura felt uneasy, "Don't show off... How did you survive? You only have the shadow imitation technique, how can you escape? Even if you catch their shadows, you can't hurt them! Once the chakra is exhausted..."

Shikamaru stood up slowly, "The Shadow Mimicry Technique is a ninjutsu meant to delay the enemy. I will catch up with you later, let's go!"

Sakura wanted to say something, but Naruto nodded, "Please, Shikamaru! Sakura..."