The moon hung high overhead.
Mitarashi Anko led the Curse Mark Corps as they sprinted across the surface of the sea.
The ocean technically belonged to Kirigakure, but the sea was vast and boundless—there were always gaps in their coverage.
With White Zetsu providing a route map, Anko's squad made it smoothly to the outskirts of Kirigakure's main headquarters.
"That island up ahead is Kirigakure's main base," Anko said, raising a hand and pointing toward the distant isle.
Under the cover of night, the island looked deathly quiet—no lights, not even a faint glow.
Normally, unless you set foot on the island yourself, it would be hard to notice there was a temporary Kirigakure encampment hidden there.
But then again… White Zetsu really was absurdly overpowered on a battlefield.
"Kirigakure's headquarters doesn't have many people—only two thousand ninja," Anko continued. "But the ones stationed there are all pretty strong."
Kirigakure had deployed close to ten thousand ninja this time.
They were just scattered across different islands.
"We're not even two hundred, but that's more than enough to handle two thousand Mist ninja," Sarutobi Asuma said confidently.
"Exactly!" Anko laughed loudly. "This is the Curse Mark Corps' first battle—we're going to make them choke on the surprise!"
Asuma nodded.
His understanding of curse marks came from Kaguya Kimimaro and the others.
A special method that could boost strength in a short burst.
Still, in his eyes, what would decide the outcome were the two jinchūriki: Yamanaka Ino and Kaguya Kimimaro.
"Everyone, get ready!" Anko called out.
The Curse Mark Corps ninja activated Earth Curse Mark—Stage Two, one after another.
The surge of chakra was so intense it immediately drew the attention of the Mist ninja in the main base.
"Move out!" Anko barked, swinging her arm.
The group rushed the island at top speed.
"Enemy raid!"
Kirigakure's ninja spotted them and sounded the alarm.
The quiet headquarters instantly exploded into motion.
The Curse Mark Corps hit the shore and clashed with Kirigakure's defenders almost immediately.
Asuma raised an eyebrow.
He watched as the Mist ninja were completely overwhelmed.
Two hundred Curse Mark Corps fighters tore through the base like tigers descending a mountain, smashing straight through Kirigakure's lines.
Screams erupted.
Wherever they passed, Mist ninja bodies dropped in heaps.
And leading the charge was Kaguya Kimimaro.
His Dead Bone Pulse was both offense and defense—perfect for chaotic melee. In a brawl, he moved like a fish in water.
At the same time, inside the command tent…
Mei Terumī—who should have been out directing reinforcements—stood tense, staring at Kitazawa.
"The force that came to ambush us is Konoha's Curse Mark Corps," Kitazawa said with a faint smile. "Only two hundred people."
He tilted his head. "How about we make a bet?"
"A bet on what?"
Even if it was only two hundred, Mei couldn't relax at all.
After all, Konoha had beaten Kumogakure with just three people.
"Two hundred versus two thousand—who do you think wins?" Kitazawa said casually. "If Konoha wins, you surrender voluntarily."
"And if Kirigakure wins?" Mei asked after a brief silence.
"Konoha withdraws," Kitazawa said with a grin. "And we won't attack you again in the future."
"…Fine. I'll take the bet," Mei said, taking a deep breath.
In truth, she didn't have another option.
Even if she refused, Kirigakure would lose anyway.
So she might as well gamble.
Kitazawa nodded.
He casually picked up a cup of tea, sat down, and waited.
Mei, sitting across from him, was nowhere near as calm.
The sounds of slaughter outside made her heart pound with unease.
But soon, her expression shifted into shock.
Because she sensed two utterly massive chakra signatures.
That kind of chakra… was almost certainly something only jinchūriki possessed.
Konoha brought two jinchūriki?
Mei's mouth fell open.
What was Kirigakure even fighting for at this point?
Outside the command tent, the battlefield split into two fronts.
One was Anko and Kimimaro leading the Curse Mark Corps.
The other was the Ino–Shika–Chō trio.
Akimichi Chōji used the Expansion Jutsu, becoming a giant towering over thirty meters tall.
But what made the Mist ninja even more uneasy was Yamanaka Ino.
A blood-red cloak of chakra wrapped around her body, and two tails had formed behind her.
A vicious, terrifying aura spread outward, making everyone's skin crawl.
Nara Shikamaru could only shake his head helplessly.
He felt like he had no role at all.
Wasn't this supposed to be Ino–Shika–Chō?
"Chōji!" Ino shouted, immediately forming hand seals.
Temple of Nirvana Technique!
A flood of chakra became feathers raining from the sky.
Many Mist ninja started to look drowsy and sluggish.
"It's genjutsu!" Ao shouted. "Hurry—help dispel it!"
But the moment the words left his mouth, a massive shadow fell from above.
Two gigantic hands came crashing down.
"Defend!" Ao yelled, hurriedly forming hand seals.
The Mist ninja who could still move formed seals as well.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Wall after wall of water rose into existence.
It didn't matter.
Chōji's hands crushed through the water barriers with ease, still slamming downward toward the Mist ninja.
Boom!
Mist ninja who had just broken free—or who hadn't even had time to—were flattened into meat paste.
"Damn it!" Ao barely dodged.
Gritting his teeth, he formed seals again.
Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!
He poured every drop of chakra he had into a torrent like a waterfall, blasting it toward Chōji and Ino.
Human Bullet Tank!
Chōji charged straight into it.
His massive body blocked most of the water.
Super Beast Imitating Drawing!
Ino pulled out a blank scroll.
A huge amount of chakra turned into ink—countless tigers, eagles, snakes, and other beasts surged outward in every direction.
Ino looked like a summoner now.
She stood still while an ocean of animals tore into the Mist ninja around her.
Blood and screams mixed into a single nightmare.
"Kids these days are terrifying," Anko said, glancing over with genuine admiration.
Kimimaro frowned slightly.
If he was also a jinchūriki, he couldn't afford to lose to Ino.
Dead Bone Pulse: Dance of the Seedling Fern!
Kimimaro leapt forward and plunged into the Mist formation.
In an instant, centered on him, bones burst from the ground like trees—forming a forest of white skeletal spires.
Mist ninja caught inside were impaled by razor-sharp bone, blood spraying everywhere.
The entire battlefield fell silent for a beat.
Dance of the Seedling Fern was the final dance of the Dead Bone Pulse.
Its effect was simple: bone spikes erupt from underground, over an area large enough to blanket the terrain.
That was why its cost was so severe—it demanded the user's life.
But all jutsu, including kekkei genkai, were fundamentally powered by chakra.
Dance of the Seedling Fern "costs a life" only because the user's chakra isn't enough.
Now that Kimimaro was a jinchūriki with near-infinite chakra, he could ignore that price completely.
And the Dance of the Seedling Fern he unleashed was even more monstrous.
"Dead Bone Pulse… can be this strong?" Ao said, staring in shock.
But behind the shock was pain.
Dead Bone Pulse was Kirigakure's kekkei genkai.
And yet in the "Bloody Mist" era, Kirigakure had wiped out the Kaguya Clan themselves.
The clan's lone survivor had joined Konoha—and was now using that bloodline to slaughter Kirigakure's forces.
In a twisted way, it felt like karma coming full circle.
"Beautiful!" Anko shouted. "But I'm the teacher here—I'm not letting my students steal the show!"
She bit her thumb and performed a summoning jutsu.
The ground trembled violently.
A gigantic snake erupted into view—Manda of Ryūchi Cave.
With Manda joining, Kirigakure's position became even more hopeless.
"Where's the Mizukage?" Ao suddenly realized Mei Terumī wasn't on the battlefield.
But he had no time to go looking.
Against the Curse Mark Corps and the new generation of Ino–Shika–Chō, the two thousand Mist ninja were forced back step by step.
In less than half an hour, the battle reached its end.
"Looks like we have our result," Kitazawa said, setting down his teacup.
Mei rose in silence and walked out of the command tent.
What greeted her was a field of corpses.
Judging by the uniforms, they were all Kirigakure ninja.
She soon spotted Konoha's troops.
They were cleaning the battlefield, rounding up the surviving Mist ninja and taking them prisoner.
"…Kirigakure surrenders," Mei said as she turned back into the tent, facing Kitazawa.
At this point, there was no way to reverse the outcome—surrender was the only path left.
From another angle, Kirigakure's losses in this war weren't that heavy.
At least they were less than Sunagakure and Kumogakure; they had preserved most of their strength.
Maybe one day they'd even find an opportunity to break away from Konoha.
"A very wise choice," Kitazawa said, smiling.
"…"
Mei hesitated as if she wanted to say something, then fell silent.
Kitazawa stood and walked out.
Mei sighed inwardly and followed.
"Hokage-sama!"
Anko and the others were startled to see him and hurried forward.
"Kirigakure has surrendered," Kitazawa said bluntly.
Anko and the others froze for a moment, then found it perfectly reasonable.
After all—if even Kitazawa had shown up, Kirigakure had no chance of victory.
"Wait here a moment," Kitazawa said, then vanished.
The next second, he reappeared—with Nara Shikaku beside him.
"Bring Kirigakure's jōnin back to Konoha. Release the chūnin and genin and send them back to Kirigakure," Kitazawa ordered, repeating the same approach he'd used with Kumogakure.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Shikaku bowed.
One of the Five Great Ninja Villages—Kirigakure—had surrendered overnight.
Even for a veteran who'd fought multiple wars, it felt surreal.
Shikaku had always wanted Konoha to be strong.
But strong to this degree made it feel like he was dreaming.
He immediately started issuing orders:
First, have Konoha's forces rush to the island as quickly as possible.
Second, accompany Mei and her people to absorb and reorganize the Kirigakure troops scattered on the other islands.
"How was it—your first time in a war?" Kitazawa asked Ino and the others with a smile.
"It ended too fast!" Tayuya huffed.
She felt like she hadn't even gone all out before it was over.
The main problem was her teammates were too strong—there was nothing left for her to do.
"It was pretty easy," Shikamaru said with a lazy grin.
In this war, he barely felt involved at all.
But he was the laid-back type—he didn't care. A win was a win.
And even if he fought seriously, he'd only be support; he wasn't going to rack up some flashy title.
"No real opponents," Kimimaro said after thinking for a moment.
When Dead Bone Pulse was pushed to its peak, it already reached Kage-level.
Now that he was a jinchūriki, he'd climbed even higher.
In that fight, he'd been cutting people down like grass.
"Why do you sound exactly like Sasuke?" Ino laughed.
She wasn't actually interested in fighting, even if she'd performed brilliantly.
"I don't like war," Chōji said with a simple, honest grin.
"Don't worry," Kitazawa said, nodding. "There won't be any more wars."
Shikamaru and the others were young, but they understood what he really meant.
Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure were already defeated.
Iwagakure's defeat was only a matter of time.
After that, the Five Great Villages would be united under Konoha.
As long as Kitazawa lived, it would be difficult for another war to happen.
Unless another village could produce someone like Kitazawa.
And that was obviously impossible.
"Kitazawa-sensei, after the war ends, what rewards do we get?" Ino asked, blinking eagerly.
"Promote you to jōnin?" Kitazawa said after a brief pause.
"Huh?!" Ino yelped. "But we just graduated!"
"Your strength is already enough," Kitazawa replied. "Still, we'll talk about the exact rewards later."
Once the war was over, his students really did deserve proper arrangements.
Keeping them as genin doing low-level missions would be a waste.
[Current Mission: Win without fighting—force a ninja village to surrender voluntarily.]
[Reward: Yomotsu Hirasaka.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa stood in place, absorbing the information the system poured into him.
Yomotsu Hirasaka was somewhat like Dual Kamui.
But if space-time ninjutsu had "tiers," it was above Dual Kamui.
Anywhere Dual Kamui couldn't reach, Yomotsu Hirasaka could.
That made Kitazawa think of another problem.
After unifying the Five Great Villages, governance wouldn't be easy.
They were simply too far apart.
But what if he could create a transportation system—something like teleportation gates?
Kitazawa nodded slightly.
Building a teleportation network was inevitable.
Luckily, it wouldn't be that difficult.
He could achieve it by modifying the Flying Thunder Formation Technique.
Flying Thunder Formation was a simplified version of Flying Thunder God, requiring three people to use it together.
His idea was to create a fixed formula.
Any ninja would only need to pour chakra into it to activate a directed teleport.
~~~
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