At the Konoha's main command camp on the front lines,
Hoshiyomi was currently engaged in his daily spar with Jiraiya.
However, because of Hoshiyomi's sheer speed, Jiraiya barely had any chance to unleash large-scale ninjutsu.
The fight had hardly begun before Jiraiya found himself completely overwhelmed in close combat.
His taijutsu was already considered excellent, but against Hoshiyomi, it simply wasn't enough.
In frustration, Jiraiya activated Needle Jizō, shooting out a barrage of hardened hair senbon while latching onto a tree behind him to quickly put distance between them.
But Hoshiyomi casually raised a hand and summoned a Wind Barrier, effortlessly blocking the rain of needles.
Jiraiya clicked his tongue, waving his hand dismissively.
"Alright, that's enough! I give up!
You're a monster, seriously. Fighting you is just asking to get beaten up—there's no joy in this at all.
Might as well spend my time gathering material for my book."
With that, Jiraiya grabbed his notebook and walked away.
Now, unlike in the original timeline, the "material gathering" he referred to wasn't that kind of research yet.
Although Jiraiya still loved to peep on women, he hadn't started writing erotic novels.
Recently, he'd been inspired by his experiences on the battlefield to write a different kind of book—a novel about ninja life, tentatively titled:
"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja."
He said he wanted to document the things he'd witnessed during the war, and imagine a more hopeful ending.
A story that could inspire future generations—a work that would stand the test of time.
Of course, he'd been pestering Hoshiyomi and the others for their stories, but they weren't very interested.
Hoshiyomi, for one, knew this book was doomed to flop.
Otherwise, Jiraiya wouldn't have eventually switched to writing smut novels later.
As for Orochimaru and the rest, they simply thought Jiraiya, the old perv, wasn't capable of writing anything serious, so they flat-out refused to let him include their experiences.
Watching Jiraiya walk away, Hoshiyomi briefly wondered if he should encourage him to just skip to writing Icha Icha Paradise.
That way he could enjoy an early sneak peek of the legendary series.
But then he remembered Tsunade's monstrous strength and thought better of it.
Forget it. Better stick to sword practice.
Speaking of swordsmanship, it was worth mentioning that Hoshiyomi's Sword Heart System had made significant progress during the Second Shinobi World War.
Though he had only participated in two major battles so far, his experience bar had already reached 305/500.
When he wiped out the Iwagakure squad that Danzō had sent after him, the combined total from all enemies in that group had given him about 20 experience points.
Coupled with the three new wind-style techniques he developed, plus the high-level fight against Hanzō, which awarded him extra bonus experience.
Altogether, that had netted him 55 additional points, pushing him past the 300 mark.
If he'd relied on ordinary training, this much progress would've taken at least two years.
As they say, no one gets rich without a little windfall; no horse grows fat without eating grass at night.
Currently, Hoshiyomi's strength was at the level of an elite jōnin when he didn't open the Sixth Gate.
Once he opened the Sixth Gate, his combat power could reach the Kage level, though strictly speaking, he was still only a quasi-Kage.
Hoshiyomi figured that if Hanzō kept showing up often enough, by the time the war between Konoha and Amegakure was over, he'd likely reach Master-level swordsmanship—and become a true Kage-level powerhouse
Thinking of this, he actually found himself looking forward to Hanzō's next appearance.
After a while practicing sword techniques alongside his shadow clones, a small snake slithered up to Hoshiyomi, hissing quietly.
There was no need to guess—it was obviously Orochimaru's summons, calling him to the command tent.
Hoshiyomi calmly wiped his Mikazuki Munechika clean and set off toward the command center.
Upon entering, he immediately sensed Orochimaru's unease.
Curious, Hoshiyomi asked:
"What's going on, Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru glanced up at him, his eyes hesitant, but after a moment's pause, he still spoke:
"Prepare yourself, Hoshiyomi.
Whatever happens, don't act rashly."
Hoshiyomi's expression hardened.
That's not a good sign.
He dropped the playful tone and said seriously:
"What happened? Just tell me."
Orochimaru gritted his teeth and finally answered:
"We just received intel.
Tsunade's squad was ambushed by Iwagakure shinobi while collecting salamander poison sacs.
She's currently trapped in the swamplands.
Out of the five-person team she led, four have been killed.
Only one managed to escape and report back."
Hoshiyomi's face instantly turned cold, like frost.
To him, Tsunade was without a doubt the most important person in this world aside from his mother, Rie Gekkō.
Hearing that she was in danger made his blood boil.
If he could get his hands on those Iwa shinobi, he'd tear them to pieces.
Even though this event wasn't mentioned in the original timeline, Hoshiyomi knew his very existence had already altered the course of history.
There was no way he'd gamble Tsunade's life on the hope that canon events would somehow protect her.
Orochimaru, seeing Hoshiyomi's expression, understood exactly what he was thinking.
He quickly tried to calm him down:
"Don't rush off just yet!
They're after the antidote formula—if Tsunade hasn't finished developing it, they probably won't kill her right away.
Plus, she's no pushover herself. It might not be as bad as you think."
Hoshiyomi took a deep breath, forcing himself to steady his emotions.
"I understand. But I can't let her stay in danger either.
I promised Grandma Mito I'd protect her."
"Besides, there's no way we're handing over the antidote to Iwagakure anyway, so this isn't something that'll resolve with negotiations.
Just tell me where they are."
Realizing he couldn't stop Hoshiyomi, Orochimaru cut to the point:
"That swamp is about 30 kilometers northeast.
I need to guard the camp, so I can't leave.
Take Jiraiya and a squad with you."
But Hoshiyomi shook his head.
"No. They're too slow—they won't keep up with me.
I'll go with Lobo. If I'm not back with Tsunade by dinner, you can send reinforcements."
Without another word, Hoshiyomi left the command tent.
His figure vanished in an instant, using Shunpo to flash toward the northeast swamp.
Orochimaru stared at the empty space where Hoshiyomi had stood,
and for a moment, he remembered the scene where Hoshiyomi had stood before him, blocking Hanzō's deadly attack.
He chuckled softly to himself.
"That's just how he is, huh?
Maybe that's exactly why we're all willing to follow him for real."
...
Over the Land of Rain, thick clouds once again cloaked the sky.
It looked like another heavy downpour was brewing.
In the northeastern marshlands, a large group of Iwagakure shinobi scoured the swamp, searching for Tsunade.
Trying to find one person in this huge, rotten swamp was no easy task.
Even Iwa's sensory-nin struggled to pinpoint Tsunade's location in terrain like this.
One of the shinobi cursed under his breath:
"Damn it. We should've kept some of them alive as bait."
Another replied bitterly:
"Who would've thought they'd kill themselves so decisively?
We didn't even have a chance to get information."
Hearing his men grumble, the squad leader, Kinoshita Nagatoshi, an elite jōnin, barked angrily:
"Shut it!
Search every inch of this swamp!
We cannot let that woman escape!"