Inoichi activated his Mind Distraction Jutsu, and the enemy — worn down from the prolonged battle—was in no mental state to resist his control.
Seizing the moment, Mitsuki drew the Mistcutter, surged forward with Lightning Strike, and cleanly sliced the enemy in two—swift and precise.
By now, Mitsuki and Inoichi had developed an exceptional synergy.
"Neither of you are hurt, right?" Inoichi asked with concern. Frankly, relying on these two Genin to handle a Jonin was a stretch. Mitsuki was an exception, of course — a true genius.
"No injuries. My apologies" replied Heiji curtly.
Though Mitsuki hadn't spent much time with Heiji, he understood the reason behind his apology.
"It's fine. That guy was a Suna puppet master. Not exactly easy to deal with" Mitsuki replied, trying to reassure him.
Off to the side, Ruri — normally sharp-tongued and arrogant — mumbled something completely out of character:
"I'm fine."
Usually, Ruri's tone would rise inexplicably at the end of sentences, always making her seem difficult to approach. Mitsuki had expected her to say something with her usual weird verbal tic, like "Even if you hadn't come, I could've handled it!"
But this wasn't the time for chit-chat. The team quickly cleaned up the battlefield and regrouped with the supply convoy.
After all, Team Inoichi's mission was to escort supplies — not rack up kills. If the supply line was cut, the mission would still be a failure.
Halfway through their return, they encountered a squad dispatched from the combat division as reinforcements.
The fact that a squad could be spared meant the main escort unit had successfully repelled Suna's ambush.
Upon returning to the convoy, Mitsuki used his Six Eyes to scan the cargo — everything was intact.
However, there were numerous wounded. Among them stood out one man: a Sarutobi clan elite Jonin, who, though still alive, was in critical condition. His body looked severely dehydrated, almost mummified.
Mitsuki wondered what kind of jutsu could cause such damage.
Despite his condition, the Sarutobi jonin was escorted not back to the village — but to the frontline base in the Land of Rivers. Why? Because that's where the greatest medical ninja of the era was stationed — Tsunade.
Mitsuki had already figured out the enemy's identity: Pakura, the famed hero of the Sand. Only her Kekkei Genkai – Scorch Release could cause such extreme desiccation, turning people into husks.
If this Sarutobi had been able to push back someone of Pakura's level, he had likely fought with everything he had.
The Sarutobi clan had long held a stellar reputation in the village. While they didn't possess a Kekkei Genkai, their mastery of Fire Style jutsu was renowned across the shinobi world. As one of Konoha's founding clans, they had always fought at the very frontlines.
Evening fell. Team Inoichi sat down together to eat rations and chat.
Inoichi brought up Mitsuki's impressive display during the day, unable to contain his curiosity. "What's that blue sphere jutsu called?" he asked.
"That's Rasengan. The upgraded version is Wind Style: Rasenshuriken."
"Amazing…" Inoichi praised openly.
"Very strong" added Heiji. He rarely spoke, but never missed a beat.
Stare~ (≖ x ≖)
"Um… Ruri? Is something wrong?" Mitsuki asked.
"Hmph~"
Ruri snorted and turned her head away, scribbling aimlessly on the ground with a stick she'd picked up from who-knows-where.
Mitsuki wasn't sure what he'd done to upset her. Ever since returning to the convoy, Ruri had been stealing glances at him.
And Mitsuki was the type who got flustered when watched too closely — he was the kind of guy who couldn't pee if someone was looking.
"Why didn't you show your real strength back at the Academy?" Ruri suddenly asked, her sentence ending with her trademark odd intonation.
Mitsuki was caught off guard. What was he supposed to say? That he didn't need to go all out against a bunch of kids?
"I just—"
"Never mind. You're not going to tell the truth anyway" she interrupted."I just don't get how goody-two-shoes like you get stronger."
Mitsuki paused, setting down his food.He didn't consider himself a good guy like Naruto.
He turned to reply—but found Ruri now quietly sitting with her hands braced behind her on the ground, her usual ponytail undone, gazing silently up at the night sky.
Inoichi had left at some point, dragging Heiji with him.
Mitsuki figured he was full anyway. Might as well leave—
"I'm not giving up."
"...Huh?"
Mitsuki looked at her. Her Sharingan had changed.
From two tomoe to three.
Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
...
Achoo—!
Back on the frontlines, Rin sneezed while restocking supplies.
"Are you getting sick, Rin?" asked Kakashi, assigned to watch over her at Mitsuki's request. He took the job seriously—he couldn't let down his trusted friend.
"Nothing serious. Probably just sand in my nose. I wonder how Mitsuki's doing."
"Don't worry, that guy's a monster. If something happens to us, he'll be fine."
"You idiot, Obito. You're supposed to say, even if something happens to you, the three of us will be okay."
"What?!"
....
Mitsuki hated cryptic people. And last night, Ruri had been just that—dropping a random "I won't give up" before unlocking her third tomoe.
When he asked her what she meant, she just walked off like nothing happened. No explanation, no closure.
Thankfully, the second half of the mission was smooth. No more ambushes.
On the way, Mitsuki got a real taste of what Nagato had meant about the suffering of small countries.
In the Land of Rivers, most villages had been plundered by bandits.Fields were barren, towns deserted. Refugees wandered like walking corpses—starving, empty-eyed, like survivors of an apocalypse.
No great nation would take them in.For people crushed between warring giants, death might even be a mercy.
Land of Rivers – Konoha's Forward Base
"This is the main Konoha camp at the Land of Rivers front. Over there is the mission center, that's the temporary medical division, and over there…" Inoichi pointed things out to the newly arrived Ruri and Mitsuki.
After drilling in the important points, he guided them to their assigned tents, then headed off alone. Logistics and mission hand-offs weren't their concern.
As usual, Mitsuki instinctively activated his Six Eyes to sense the area —— and his eyes lit up.