"I'll take their captain with Kurozuna! Hifumi, you take out the little punk who threw the shuriken!"
Kurozuna heard the order, responded, and followed Mashu to fight with Inoichi.
On the other side, hearing his captain's orders, Hifumi naturally didn't object. It's just a kid, after all.
Seeing the enemy charging toward him, Mitsuki didn't retreat. He drew Mistcutter and rushed into close combat.
Though he had the heart of a battlefield mage, this was war. Even with the Six Eyes boosting his chakra efficiency to nearly 100%, Mitsuki still had to conserve it — his body wasn't fully matured yet.
Still, he wasn't a glass cannon anymore. Even though his defense had been lackluster before last year, thanks to the success of his last Wish, he was now built like a tank.
Pretty amazing, huh, System?
Blocking the enemy's kunai with Mistcutter, Mitsuki stealthily formed hand signs with his left hand. Like a thousand thunderbirds shrieking, the blade lit up with dazzling lightning.
Hifumi sensed danger and tried to retreat, but a jolt of electricity froze him in place just long enough.
"Shit!"
Panic overtook Hifumi.
"When did this kid form hand seals? A jutsu without seals? What kind of monster is this?"
"Rasengan!"
Mitsuki wasn't about to waste the opportunity. A Rasengan slammed straight into Hifumi's left chest, blasting him backward and smashing him into a tree.The left side of his torso was practically obliterated—he was undeniably dead.
"Just as I thought..." Not far away, Mashu witnessed Hifumi's defeat and wasn't surprised. Talents like this, without intel, could easily ruin overconfident veterans.
Hifumi still had cards left to play — but in ninja battles, survival trumps secrets. The one left standing is the true victor.
"Ruri, go assist Heiji. I'll go help Inoichi-sensei."
Mitsuki gave orders after eliminating his enemy and then rushed toward Inoichi-sensei.
Ruri didn't respond, silently acknowledging the command and dashing toward Heiji's location.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
While Heiji was engaged in battle with a puppet, Ruri unleashed a fireball straight at the puppeteer behind it.
The Sand shinobi hadn't expected his teammates to be taken down so quickly and was forced to dodge the fireball—causing his puppet to lag.
Heiji seized the moment. His stance shifted from defense to offense as he closed in.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
The puppet was shredded instantly.
With Byakugan activated, Heiji clearly saw Mitsuki take out his opponent in a single move. Now it was two-on-one against a puppeteer who no longer had a puppet. The advantage was theirs.
He chose to press the attack. Though Inoichi had only told them to stall, taking out an enemy was even better.
As for Inoichi—now that Mitsuki had joined him, there was no cause for concern.
Thank goodness Mitsuki arrived — that was the overwhelming thought in Inoichi's mind.
The two Sand shinobi he was up against weren't pushovers. The one who appeared to be the squad leader had formidable Wind Style ninjutsu, while the large one with war paint excelled in taijutsu. One long-range, one close-range — it was hard to deal with both.
"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
Mitsuki formed hand signs and slammed the ground. Suddenly, the ground beneath the large Sand shinobi's feet collapsed.
Seeing an opening, Inoichi hurled a kunai and jumped back. The kunai had an explosive tag attached, and it detonated moments later.
A loud explosion rang out, shrouding the newly formed crater in smoke.
Inoichi regrouped with Mitsuki and said cautiously,
"Don't drop your guard — I'm still sensing chakra."
Unlike Inoichi's sensory field, Mitsuki's Six Eyes saw it clearly. The big shinobi had used Earth Style to escape underground the moment he lost balance, narrowly dodging the blast.
Then — dozens of projectiles shot out from the smoke, coated in a glowing purple hue—obviously laced with poison.
Even with a medical-nin on their team, Mitsuki wasn't about to risk getting hit by some unknown venom.
"Chidori Current!"
The screeching of lightning returned — louder and fiercer. This time, Mitsuki was fully enveloped in crackling lightning.
No more games. Using the acceleration from Chidori Current, Mitsuki launched forward in a flash and closed the distance to the large Sand shinobi who had just surfaced.
"Lightning Strike!"
Electric arcs coiled tightly around his blade as he swung Mistcutter down, glowing with fierce lightning.
"So fast—!"
Realizing he couldn't dodge, Kurozuna hardened his body with Earth Style — but it wasn't enough.
Boom!
The ground was scorched black by the lightning strike. Kurozuna's arm was nearly severed by the blade.
The wound was gruesome — but he didn't pass out. Instead, he flexed all his muscles, locking Mitsuki's blade in place and preventing him from pulling it free.
"Quicksand Jutsu!"
With a fierce stomp, the ground beneath them turned to quicksand, trapping Mitsuki in place.
This brat can't be allowed to grow up. Suna can't handle another White Fang.
With that resolve, Kurozuna decided — if he had to die here, he'd take this Konoha genius with him.
"Mashu! Attack now, you bastard! Next time, give better mission intel!"
Mashu's face darkened in the distance. This idiot… always whining about dumb stuff during battle, and now even insulting him before dying?
Everything happened in mere seconds — from Mitsuki's Lightning Strike to getting trapped by the quicksand took less than two seconds.
"Damn…"
Inoichi wasn't known for his speed — he couldn't reach Mitsuki in time. His only option was to disrupt the enemy leader.
"Mind Distraction Jutsu!"
He launched the Yamanaka clan's secret technique at Mashu.
Earlier, he hadn't had a chance to use it while being pressured by two opponents at once.
"Konoha's Yamanaka Clan, huh? Don't underestimate my willpower!"
Mashu forced himself back to awareness and hurled kunai with explosive tags at the trapped Mitsuki —— then formed hand signs.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
Blades of wind joined the incoming projectiles.
"This ends it… Sorry, kid. In another life, you'd have had a brilliant future."
Kurozuna spoke sincerely to the trapped Mitsuki. War… what a terrible thing. When did it turn him into someone who'd kill a child without hesitation?
So then — faced with certain death, how did Mitsuki feel?
Completely calm.
Because defense… has never been his concern. At least, not since he turned ten.
Faced with wind blades and exploding tags, Mitsuki's response:
"Full Counter!"