While Jiraiya, acting as the "Toad Sage," was reversing the tide on the northwest front with biological co-processing, the long, jagged coastline in the southeast of the Land of Fire fell victim to a different kind of "System Intrusion." In this sector, the environment was governed by dense sea fog, a natural "Environmental Cloaking" that became the perfect cover for the invaders from Kirigakure.
Kirigakure Jonin Ao, a commander renowned for his cold, analytical processing and his "Precious Sensor", a Byakugan taken from a member of the Hyūga Main Family, led an elite unit of the Hidden Mist. They didn't march like the Iwa torrent or strike like the Kumo lightning; they landed silently like ghosts. They avoided major ports, choosing instead to "Inject" their units into the rugged, remote coastlines. Their intention was to bypass Konoha's frontal firewalls and penetrate deep into the Land of Fire for high-level infiltration and sabotage.
Their actions were swift and lethal. Utilizing the Hidden Mist's Silent Killing Technique, a specialized stealth script and Water Release Ninjutsu, they successfully deleted several Konoha coastal outposts in the early stages. The "Data Loss" in terms of scouts and supplies was significant.
News of this third-front breach reached Konoha, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew even darker. The village's "CPU Load" was at its absolute limit. He could no longer spare any organized regular forces. To protect the southeast, he had to deploy his last elites.
"Order! Anbu Third and Sixth Squads, and the Root 'Kō' Squad, proceed to the southeast coast. Under unified Anbu command, you must annihilate the Kirigakure units and seal the coastline!" Hiruzen's voice carried a hint of "Fatigue," but his decision-making remained decisive. He was deploying the Village's "Shield" (Anbu) and "Sword" (Root) simultaneously.
Konoha's Anbu and Root elites, like two shadows, swiftly descended upon the coast. Their battle against the Mist was not the vast, brutal positional warfare seen in the northwest; it was a "Special Operations War", a dangerous, high-speed offense and defense played in the dark. Forests, swamps, and coastal caves became the stage for their confrontation. The Mist ninjas, utilizing the fog as a "Visual Noise/Sheild" generator, appeared and disappeared like corrupted pixels. Their Water Release was cunning and vicious, optimized for the humid environment.
The battle was exceptionally fierce, with casualties on both sides resulting in a "Static Stale-mate." The Hidden Mist, with their geographical advantage and "Silent Killing" scripts, held a slight upper hand. It was difficult for Konoha's elites to establish a "Target" for a time.
However, on this chaotic battlefield, a new figure began to rise with astonishing speed, breaking the deadlock. He was Uchiha Shisui, barely ten years old, yet already an elite member of the Anbu. In the intelligence reports I intercepted while hovering in the Land of Rivers, Shisui's combat logs read like a "Perfect Build" dance of death.
His Shurikenjutsu was unparalleled. It wasn't just throwing; it was "Calculated Projectiles." Kunai and shuriken would collide in mid-air, changing trajectories to hit the Mist ninjas from the most incredible angles, essentially "Curving the Data" to bypass their defenses.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan could not only see through the Hidden Mist's invisibility and Water Clones, but his Genjutsu was a high-frequency "Brain-Hack." With just a momentary eye-contact, powerful Mist ninjas would fall into a "Loop," becoming easy to harvest.
But what made the Mist feel most despair was his unpredictable, ghost-like Body Flicker Illusion Technique.
Sitting in the Mirage's cockpit, I parsed the physics of Shisui's movement. Unlike Minato Namikaze, who used a "Teleportation Script" (FTG) to edit his coordinates ($t = 0$), Shisui was using extreme "Refresh-Rate" speed. He was moving so fast that he created "Visual Afterimages", indistinguishable "Ghosting" effects that overwhelmed the enemy's visual processing unit.
It was a combination of extreme Body Flicker speed and Genjutsu "Artifacts." Enemies would see Shisui in one place, but his real body was already behind them. Or, they would see multiple "Shisuis" attacking simultaneously. By the time their sensory system registered the real body, the attack script had already finished.
Ao, with his stolen "High-Resolution Sensor" (Byakugan), tried to pinpoint Shisui's real body. But he found that the opponent's movement trajectory and chakra flow were too fast, and the switch between the "Real" and "Illusionary" bodies had zero delay. Even the Byakugan struggled to capture Shisui's movement.
In a crucial encounter, Shisui's squad was surrounded by an elite Mist unit. Shisui's figure flickered, instantly creating over a dozen lifelike illusions that simultaneously rushed in all directions. The Mist ninjas fell into "Input Chaos," unable to distinguish truth from ghost. Shisui's real body appeared before Ao, and his Sharingan Genjutsu activated instantly.
Although Ao barely broke free due to his Byakugan's resistance, his command system was disrupted. In that moment of "delay," Konoha's Anbu seized the opportunity to counter-attack, decisively defeating the unit. After this battle, Uchiha Shisui's name resounded throughout the southeast. The Mist ninjas began calling him "Shisui - The Body Flicker."
The name "Shisui," along with the news of the Hidden Mist's retreat, quickly spread to all sides. He was another brilliant "New Star" rising in Konoha, following the "Yellow Flash" and "Toad Sage."
I looked out over the Land of Rivers, the Mirage hovering silently beneath me. My thirty-year-old soul, the mind of Logan, felt a surge of cold, analytical competition.
"Minato edits space. Jiraiya overclocks biology. Shisui overclocks visual frames," I muttered to Shiori, who was busy logging our latest resource gains. "Konoha is producing 'God-Tier Anomalies' at an alarming rate. Our 'Vanguard' is going to hit these walls eventually."
I touched the Natural Energy core of the Mirage. My platform was fast, and my Magnet Release was precise, but against someone like Shisui, my "Reaction delay" was still too high. The "Spider-Sense" sensory array Chiyo taught me was a good "Driver Update," but it wasn't enough.
"I need to move past 'Manual Thread Control'," I whispered, the gears in my mind turning. "If I want to compete with the 'Body Flicker,' I need to link the Mirage directly to my nervous system. I need a 'Direct Neural Interface' (DNI)."
The "Mirage Protocol" needed to evolve into its second phase. The Third Great Ninja War was no longer just about territory or resources; it was a race to see which nation could produce the ultimate "User" first. Konoha had three. I was Suna's only "Beta Tester" for the future.
"Captain Iryō," I said, my voice cold and determined. "The Mist has been curbed. Konoha will likely re-allocate their Anbu resources back toward our front. We need to finalize the 'Mirage v.2.0' weapons test. We're about to meet the 'Body Flicker'."
The wind over the Land of Rivers felt colder than usual. The stars of the war were rising, and I was determined to be the one that eclipsed them all.