The Iwagakure Jonin immediately turned invisible and began infiltrating toward Yuji's position.
It was necessary to eliminate the promising young talents of the enemy army before they could mature. Left unchecked, they would cause significant casualties to Iwagakure forces in the future.
Iwagakure might lose this battle, but the next time any of their units crossed paths with this group from Sunagakure, having someone like this kid around would spell serious trouble. And trouble meant more Iwagakure shinobi would die.
He had planned carefully... but as one of Sunagakure's key targets on the battlefield, his every move was being monitored, especially after he had just engaged two Sunagakure ninja and exposed his position.
While the Hiding with Camouflage Technique could deceive ordinary eyes, its effectiveness dropped sharply during rapid movement, and it was even less reliable against Sensor Ninja.
Bang!
He had barely covered a hundred meters when a puppet launched into the air and came straight at him. The Jonin immediately released the technique to dodge the attack. As he landed, he looked up to find a red-haired boy blocking his path, several puppets hovering around him, all staring at the Jonin with a blank, unreadable expression.
"Another Sunagakure brat..."
The Jonin's expression hardened. Killing that Medical Ninja was no longer an option, but since this red-haired puppeteer had conveniently placed himself in his way, cutting down such a promising young talent would be an equally worthy consolation.
He had already taken note of the red-haired boy's exceptional performance on the battlefield.
Swoosh!
Without hesitation, he formed hand seals and activated Earth Release, using the shifting terrain to press his assault on the dodging Sasori.
However, with casualties mounting on both sides, it was clear that Sunagakure still had considerably more active fighters on the field.
That meant even a one-on-one attempt against the red-haired kid came with constant interference and pressure from surrounding enemies, far more than the boy faced in return.
He was a high-value target. Sunagakure had their eyes fixed squarely on him.
And after actually trading blows with the boy, the Jonin had to admit, finishing him off quickly was nearly impossible. This kid's puppetry was on an entirely different level.
"Retreat!"
They had already wasted too much time. Iwagakure's side was visibly faltering. He had hoped to quickly deal with these two troublesome youngsters before pulling back, but neither had gone down.
If they lingered any longer, their remaining forces would suffer even heavier losses.
The Jonin's order rang out across the field. Their formation immediately shifted, tightening, consolidating, and a portion of their men stepped forward with the quiet resolve of those who had already made peace with death.
They would serve as the rearguard, buying time for the others to escape.
This had been arranged before the battle began. If the tide turned against them, these men would be left behind.
It was one of the standard tactical doctrines of battlefield warfare. It was also a stark testament to war's cruelty, because if they failed to break away cleanly, it wouldn't just be the rearguard who died. It would be all of them.
Iwagakure began their withdrawal. Sunagakure pursued only a token distance before pulling back.
Beyond this point lay the Land of Birds, Iwagakure's war zone. Pressing further risked walking into enemy reinforcements, and that was a gamble not worth taking. Driving the enemy back across the border was victory enough.
The battle, which had raged for nearly an hour, finally came to a close.
Across the field, many Sunagakure ninja erupted in cheers, their voices raw with the relief and excitement of survival. But the celebrating voices belonged mostly to the newcomers, those who had only just set foot on a real battlefield for the first time.
The veterans smiled too, but quietly, without the frenzy.
Sunagakure then began cleaning up the aftermath and reorganizing the personnel and arrangements for the nearby outposts.
Once everything was settled, everyone returned to camp. Yuji's chakra was completely depleted, and the toll on his body and mind was plain to see. He was carried back on someone's shoulders.
Shimizu, as commander-in-chief, praised the team and specifically commended Yuji and Sasori. The performance of the two had not gone unnoticed by the enemy alone.
As their own comrades, the people of Sunagakure could feel even more acutely the difference their presence had made, the shift in momentum they had brought to the team.
All one could say was... they truly lived up to the name of geniuses.
Every battle report would eventually be forwarded to the Village, which would then issue formal commendations. But Yuji had little interest in the praise that came with victory.
He didn't know how Sasori felt, but for him, this first real step onto a true battlefield had left him feeling strangely more clear-headed.
"Surviving under this kind of battlefield pressure demands an enormous amount of physical and mental energy... and this battle has also put my greatest weakness on full display. Chakra capacity."
"If I were just an ordinary Medical Ninja, my reserves would probably be sufficient... but as captain of the Medical Squad, I have to shoulder far greater responsibilities, which drains my chakra at a much faster rate.
As it stands, I simply cannot sustain battlefield rescue operations for long enough."
At dusk, wind and sand lashed against the tent, making the fabric snap and billow loudly.
Yuji lay on the straw mat inside, quietly going over the lessons this battle had forced on him.
"Chakra output also affects the power of Ninjutsu. On a battlefield like this, because of time pressure and my current level, the Mystical Palm Technique has only managed to achieve a brief stabilizing effect, which is not nearly enough.
The other forms of Medical Ninjutsu, strictly in terms of raw healing, don't even match the Mystical Palm. My positive experience points are almost exhausted... I need to find a way to build them back up and then focus on improving my healing abilities specifically for this kind of battlefield.
Ideally, something that works on multiple people at once rather than individual targets, something that can shift the momentum of an entire army or change the shape of a battle... similar to how Tsunade channels her healing through the summoned beast Katsuyu to treat many people simultaneously."
That one battle had made Yuji truly understand just how extraordinary Tsunade's abilities were.
"But to obtain that kind of ability from the system, the cost in positive experience points would be enormous. It's probably out of reach in the short term."
He thought for a moment, then pulled up the system interface.
He didn't have many positive experience points, but his negative experience points had climbed past three thousand.
Since improving his healing ability wasn't currently feasible, he would focus on enhancing his mobility and rescue speed on the battlefield instead. That could be considered an indirect improvement.
Beyond that, he wanted to see whether he could exchange for any abilities that carried some degree of battlefield influence or destructive power.
If he could wield something like the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release Iron Sand or Hanzo's poison gas, something capable of instantly reshaping the course of a battle, then there would simply be fewer wounded to begin with, and the pressure on him as a healer would shrink considerably.
"But if there are fewer casualties on the battlefield, or if the conflict with Iwagakure suddenly dies down, won't I lose my ability to farm experience points?"
"Hmm... or rather... do I need to start looking into crowd control?"
"Or... something that directly grants me a large amount of chakra would work just as well."
Yuji turned the thought over quietly in his mind, then let out a long internal sigh.
"I have to spend again, this little vault of experience points simply refuses to grow."
He scrolled through the interface and began scanning the exchangeable item column for anything that fit his needs.