Dressed in the standard gear of the Root, Takeshi silently walked along a narrow path toward the Fire-Lightning frontline, wordlessly glancing at his teammates.
Yamanaka Akira. Shimura Ikku.
You sure know how to assign people, old man. Next time, don't bother.
While grumbling in his heart, he also felt secretly thankful to his father for putting together such a team. Takeshi braced himself, waiting for the two to take command.
"So, what's our next move?"
Looking at the two who had played such pivotal roles in his thorny and painful growth, Takeshi awaited their instructions.
"Didn't Danzō-sama explain it to you?"
Hearing Takeshi's question, Yamanaka Akira and Shimura Ikku exchanged a glance, then turned to look at Takeshi in unison.
"He did. He said we should coordinate with the main force and harass the enemy from the shadows. That's why I'm asking you—what do we do next?"
Takeshi repeated the mission that Danzō-sama had given him before they set out.
"If Danzō-sama entrusted the mission to you, that means you're the one in command of this squad," the two replied in perfect sync, bowing their heads slightly in unison as they affirmed Takeshi's leadership and awaited his orders.
"Me?"
Only then did Takeshi realize he was the commander of this squad.
Tsk tsk, commanding two jōnin as a mere chūnin?
Kinda thrilling, actually.
Since that's the case, he decided to have Yamanaka Akira split their forces and attack the Kumogakure army from both the south and north simultaneously.
...
Unlike the Konoha shinobi fighting head-on on the battlefield, the Root specialized in small-scale operations, striking where the enemy was weak and targeting enemy leaders for swift and precise assassinations.
This was perfectly in line with Takeshi the schemer's style.
The battleground between Konoha and Kumogakure was located within the Land of Hot Water. While both sides clashed in large-scale battles, Takeshi's team secretly slipped behind the Kumogakure lines and began attacking their supply convoys.
To Takeshi, war was always about logistics. Even in the world of shinobi, that truth held firm.
Most shinobi in this world weren't monsters like Madara or Hashirama, able to take on thousands of enemies by themselves.
"They're here—about twenty of them. Five o'clock direction."
Crouched in the bushes, Yamanaka Akira sensed the enemy's presence and relayed the information to Takeshi.
"A large unit, huh?"
After evaluating their own strength, Takeshi hesitated for a moment before deciding to go after this squad.
He really was too young—his blood had run hot, and now they were deep in enemy territory, completely cut off from the main force. He had no way of getting updates from the front lines, and worse, no access to supplies from the Land of Fire.
No choice—they had to steal Kumogakure's supplies just to survive.
Thankfully, they were only a three-man team. After each strike, they could quickly retreat, making it difficult for Kumogakure to track them.
"Must be a straggling supply squad. A major convoy passed through just three days ago," Shimura Ikku said as he glanced at Takeshi.
This young master had acted on impulse and decided to hit the logistics units, seemingly unaware that during wartime, enemy supply squads came heavily guarded—nothing a three-man squad should be messing with.
So far, all their strikes had targeted isolated or disconnected units, which meant they couldn't make any real impact on the frontlines.
"Akira-san, I'm counting on you to lead the charge."
Takeshi pulled out a poisoned senbon from his ninja pouch and took a ready stance, waiting for Akira to make his move.
"Understood. Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Kneeling on the ground, Yamanaka Akira performed his clan's secret jutsu and took control of the lead Kumogakure shinobi.
He made the man draw his blade and attack his own teammate. As chaos erupted within the convoy, Takeshi leapt out and launched the opening strike.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
The dragon formed from earth opened its mouth and spat out a stream of mud.
The sudden ambush threw the transport unit into disarray. A few quick-reacting shinobi managed to dodge, but some of the younger ones were swallowed up without a chance to react.
"Damn it, it's a Konoha ambush! Prepare for battle!"
An older Kumogakure shinobi quickly took charge, calming the chaos and rallying his comrades.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
From the shadows, Shimura Ikku saw someone giving orders and immediately abandoned the defenseless Akira, launching a surprise attack.
"Don't underestimate me!"
The older Kumogakure ninja swung his blade, now crackling with lightning, to intercept the Wind Style attack.
"Wind beats lightning. You're dead."
Ikku ignored the resistance, already looking for his next target.
"Don't worry about me—go after that Earth Style brat!"
Refusing to be underestimated, the cloud shinobi roared and forced his way through the Wind Style technique. He waved off his teammates, signaling them to surround Takeshi instead.
"Quick, we outnumber him! Let's take this one down first!"
A young Kumogakure ninja rushed at Takeshi with his blade drawn.
"A group attack, huh? Heh."
Takeshi threw a kunai and leapt into the air, forming hand signs and exhaling a mass of frost from his mouth.
The ice took shape—five clones that all looked exactly like Takeshi.
"A cloning jutsu? No—wait, they're made of ice? Damn, he's a kekkei genkai user!"
One of the Kumogakure shinobi, clearly a top scorer in theory class, recognized the technique and his face turned grim.
One of the ice clones, under Takeshi's control, released a thick fog of icy mist to obscure vision.
"Secret Art: Crystal Ice Mirrors."
Within the mist, dozens of ice mirrors began to appear.
"This place is my domain now."
Slipping into the mirrors alongside his clones, Takeshi smirked. "The hunt begins."
"Not good!"
Elsewhere, the Kumogakure ninja fighting Shimura Ikku realized things were going in bad way as the fog began to spread. He tried to step in and help but was blocked by the Konoha shinobi in front of him.
He could only listen helplessly as screams echoed from within the mist.
"Dammit!"
With a final burst of energy and a clear intent to go down with his enemy, the cloud shinobi forced Ikku to retreat. Just as he turned to help his allies—
Takeshi's cold voice rang out, and a spiraling pillar of ice pierced through the cloud shinobi's chest. As he collapsed, the entire supply squad was wiped out.
They took what supplies were useful, destroyed the rest with Fire Style techniques, and fled without delay, leaving the burning remains behind.
...
Half an hour later.
A Kumogakure patrol unit arrived late after spotting the fire in the distance. What they found was a squad reduced to corpses.
While pursuing the attackers, they also relayed the report back to the frontlines.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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