Although the Second Shinobi World War was nearing its end, it was still wartime.
Yuji understood that clearly.
In war, the air itself felt different.
Patrol missions like this usually lasted several months. Technically, they were classified as low-risk C-rank assignments. This sector wasn't even the front line.
But in times like these, even a C-rank mission could turn lethal, especially for fresh academy graduates.
At the cave entrance, Chunin Endo stood watch, scanning the canyon with sharp, restless eyes.
The two younger genin beside Yuji grew visibly more tense by the minute.
Finally, Endo frowned. He picked up a stone and carved a coded mark into the cave wall.
Then he turned sharply.
"Pack up. We're relocating."
Yuji reacted instantly.
He moved first, helping the injured chunin to his feet.
"Hurry up!" Endo barked when the other two hesitated.
Too much time had passed. The shinobi sent to search for Shimada should have returned by now.
Something was wrong.
Even without confirmation, they had to assume the worst.
The two genin scrambled to gather their equipment.
Endo swiftly erased any trace of their temporary hideout before leading them out into the canyon.
The wounded chunin could still walk, though unsteadily.
"To survive in war," Yuji thought as they ran, "you have to assume the enemy is always one step ahead."
If the search party had encountered hostiles, they might have been captured. Under interrogation, even a single slip could reveal their position.
But that wasn't the real problem.
If enemies had penetrated this deep, it meant the frontline patrols had been bypassed or eliminated.
And there had been no warning.
Which meant one thing: The enemy force was small and elite.
Yuji's thoughts sharpened.
'Nomura may already be in contact.'
If the opponent was an elite strike unit capable of suppressing communications, then every squad in this second defensive line was currently blind.
That was the most dangerous possibility.
Night had fully fallen. Within the canyon, visibility was even worse, wind-blown sand distorted shadows and swallowed sound.
Under Endo's lead, they maintained speed, leaping between rocks with practiced coordination.
Then...
A faint whistle cut through the wind.
Yuji's ears twitched.
"Watch out!"
A kunai streaked from the darkness, aimed at the two slower genin at the rear.
An explosive tag burned at its base.
Boom!
The warning came a fraction too late.
Their reactions were stiff, nerves and inexperience dulling their response. The explosion tore through the rock face in a burst of flame and smoke.
Yuji covered his mouth and nose as he leapt sideways onto a large boulder.
A scream pierced the canyon.
One of them was down.
Without hesitation, Yuji flicked his wrist and drew his weapon.
A scalpel.
He lowered his center of gravity, one hand guarding his airway from smoke, the other angled defensively. His gaze swept the canyon walls.
Ten meters away, one of the boys writhed on the ground, clutching his leg.
Still screaming.
'Conscious. Good. Not immediately fatal.'
Then...
"Well now… quick reflexes."
A voice drifted down from above.
Yuji's eyes snapped upward.
A figure stood perpendicular to the canyon wall, boots firmly planted against vertical stone.
White, tight-fitting rain gear. Smooth and sealed. The forehead protector bore four vertical lines.
Amegakure.
Subordinates personally trained under Hanzo, the man known as the Demigod of the Shinobi World.
The Amegakure shinobi smirked.
Before his words had fully faded, he moved.
Clang!
Yuji's scalpel met a descending kunai mid-air. Sparks scattered in the darkness as their bodies crossed paths in a violent exchange of momentum.
They landed apart.
The Amegakure shinobi twisted lightly, boots gripping the canyon wall once more.
"…Oh?"
His tone carried genuine surprise.
The child had blocked him.
The boy had skill.
But in the Amegakure shinobi's judgment, it wasn't enough.
"Still too green," he muttered inwardly.
The figure standing in front of Yuji lunged as if to engage head-on. Yet in the very next instant, the shinobi's true body slipped silently behind Yuji's guard. His face emerged from the boy's blind spot, twisted in a grin as his kunai drove toward Yuji's neck.
It was a textbook tactic, use a clone to distract from the front while the real body circled for a fatal strike.
This time, it should have worked.
But the expected spray of blood never came.
Yuji turned sharply at the precise moment the real body closed in. A cold arc of steel cut through the air, forcing the Amegakure shinobi to abort his attack and leap backward.
He retreated just in time.
Even so, a thin line of blood opened across his cheek.
Had he hesitated for even half a breath, his throat would have been slit.
The shinobi landed nearly ten meters away and touched the shallow cut on his face, his expression darkening. Behind Yuji, the clone dissolved into water.
Around them, the sounds of battle echoed faintly through the canyon, steel clashing, muffled explosions, scattered shouts.
Yuji listened carefully.
'Three, maybe four enemies in total. If it's a small elite squad, I can stall for time.'
"Not bad," the Amegakure shinobi said with a slow, mocking clap. "You have real combat instincts. And your taijutsu is impressive for someone your age."
Despite the praise, the killing intent in his eyes intensified.
Yuji remained calm.
'Water clone earlier. Strong water chakra presence. Specializes in Water Release.'
The enemy's hands flashed through seals.
"Water Release: Water Bullet!"
He expelled a rapid succession of compressed water spheres, each the size of a fist. They tore through the air with sharp force, striking rock and shattering stone on impact.
Yuji didn't recognize the exact technique, but its nature was obvious. High-pressure projectiles, fast, but not beyond reaction speed at this range.
He moved.
His feet crushed loose stone as he weaved between the incoming barrage, body tilting and pivoting with minimal wasted motion.
For a moment, it seemed he had read the rhythm.
Then several nearly invisible senbon shot forward from within the gaps between the water bullets, hidden in the attack's blind spots.
Yuji had already committed to a lateral dodge.
The needles struck his body cleanly.
A puff of white smoke burst outward.
The Amegakure shinobi froze.
"A clone?"
He turned instinctively.
Yuji appeared at his flank, precisely where the shinobi himself had attacked moments earlier.
A scalpel flashed upward toward his ribs in a swift, controlled thrust.
"Clone? When..."
The Amegakure Ninja's heart trembled.
''Data captured. Model established."
"Counterattack."
Yuji kept his eyes on his opponent and spoke under his breath.