Taking advantage of this interval.
Motomu shifted his vision, focusing on the Big Eyeball.
He was looking inside Yugito's belly.
Big Eyeball No. 1 spun around and took flight once more.
"You again!"
"We're both sealed right now, is this really necessary?!"
With a meow, Matatabi sent the lunging Big Eyeball flying with another Cat Punch.
Having won yesterday, she had established her status as the boss.
She thought this strange-looking fellow would finally settle down.
She'd hoped for someone to talk to during these boring days of being sealed.
Unexpectedly, it came looking for trouble again as soon as it had rested.
Without wasting words.
Matatabi swatted it around like a ball.
"Teacher, look at it!"
Just as Motomu was commanding the Big Eyeball in the heat of battle.
Inside the seal space, Yugito brought her Jonin teacher's consciousness along.
The Cloud Elite Jonin, possessing some knowledge of sealing, fell into deep thought while watching the Big Eyeball and Matatabi.
[SYSTEM: RIGHT EYE STAMINA DEPLETED]
[SYSTEM: SEAL GYM, CHALLENGE FAILED]
[SYSTEM: RIGHT EYE EXPERIENCE +1000]
The challenge ended.
Having exhausted today's stamina.
The White Wolf Squadron, which Motomu was part of, just so happened to arrive at the Mist Ninja border.
On the outskirts of the Mist Ninja camp, layers of thick fog from the Hidden Mist Jutsu rose, blocking Konoha's line of sight.
They took off riding a bird created by the Super Beast Scroll.
Motomu, acting as the second observer, looked down alongside the White Wolf Regional Commander.
From above, the density of the fog was significantly thinner.
Within the faint shadows of the forest, the figures of several Mist Ninja flickered.
Motomu's Sharingan had limited vision and didn't yield much.
In contrast, the veins at the White Wolf Commander's temples bulged high.
With his Byakugan fully activated, the Mist Ninjas' movements were completely laid bare before his eyes.
"Record this."
"Total Mist Ninja count is over 300."
"Establishing the following combat deployment..."
Pheasant, who was controlling the ink bird, glanced at the indifferent Motomu.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled out a small notebook and began recording while still steering the bird.
Motomu knew what she meant, but he had to be extremely careful when reading any text now.
Who knew if even his own notes might cause issues?
Even the letter from before had been written with his eyes closed.
The three of them flew in a circle.
High in the sky, the Mist Ninja below were powerless against them.
The occasional enchanted shuriken infused with Wind Style chakra were easily dodged by the ink bird.
Amidst the whistling sounds.
A Mist Ninja figure flickered and stood atop a tree.
The mask on his face, marked with four water ripples, proved his identity.
He was a Mist Anbu, and a top-tier one at that.
He formed three hand signs, and an invisible green airflow enveloped the senbon in his mouth as he forcefully spat it out.
A green light flashed by in an instant.
Alarm bells rang in Motomu's mind. He fully activated his Sharingan and jerked his head aside with all his might.
Slice!
A thin green line instantly grazed his cheek.
He reached out and wiped it gently, a trace of blood appearing on his palm.
He was already somewhat annoyed by the system's nonsense.
This sudden sneak attack completely set Motomu off.
'So, you like sniping, do you?'
He stared calmly at the opponent.
Seeing the attack fail, the opponent shrugged with a hint of regret.
Without a word, Motomu reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a pitch-black iron rod.
This thing was a tungsten steel rod he had conveniently purchased from a blacksmith passing through the Land of Lightning.
When going on missions, Motomu didn't carry much money to ensure that whoever killed him wouldn't profit from it.
He had borrowed thirty thousand ryo from Captain Kazama and only managed to buy three of them in total.
Since the opponent's desire to snipe was so strong.
Motomu didn't mind having a friendly interaction with him.
The tungsten rod, the length of a kunai, hovered before him.
Psychokinesis clung to it, and a faint metallic hum emanated from in front of Motomu.
Pheasant and the White Wolf Regional Commander both looked over.
Just as they felt the sense of threat and turned their attention toward him.
Boom!
Motomu held his arms straight out and crossed his hands; the tungsten rod positioned at the center of his overlapping palms vanished instantly.
Before the sound could even spread.
A crater about six meters in diameter and two meters deep had been smashed into the ground below, with the central rock molten and semi-vitrified.
In the ensuing shockwave, the white mist formed spherical ripples that expanded in all directions.
Only after the shockwave had swept past did the sound of the sonic boom finally arrive.
In the vacuum zone created in the mist, the Mist Anbu from before was kneeling on one knee. His right arm was severed clean at the shoulder, and dark red blood seeped from the orifices under his mask.
'Did he dodge it?'
Motomu scrutinized the opponent once more.
'To be able to dodge that, he has some skill.'
Sensing that nearly half of his chakra was gone and knowing the importance of finishing the job, Motomu didn't hesitate to continue channeling his psychokinesis.
Before his chest.
A second tungsten rod slowly hovered in the air.
Boom!
The shockwave expanded again, the airflow kicked up this time being more than twice as violent as the previous one.
Motomu shielded himself with one hand against the wind pressure, squinting as he looked down.
Within the vacuum zone of the white mist, a water mirror reflecting the sky appeared.
Motomu recognized it immediately.
This was the signature technique of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura—the Water Mirror Jutsu.
It wasn't surprising that the absurdly broken Water Mirror Jutsu, which could copy any move perfectly, had blocked his attack.
Motomu wasn't surprised.
What did surprise Motomu was this:
Yagura was actually leading the campaign in person, coming to the front lines to command the troops himself.
After the ink bird jolted violently due to the airflow interference, Motomu regained his balance.
Seeing Motomu strike, the previously silent Pheasant spoke up coldly.
"I can't maintain this. My chakra is draining too fast with this level of turbulence."
Hearing Pheasant's words.
The White Wolf Regional Commander glanced at Motomu, whose chakra was also running low and who had begun to pant heavily.
"Retreat!"
The White Wolf Regional Commander made an immediate decision.
The ink bird struggled through the air as it turned around, gliding back toward the rear of Konoha's defensive line.
Motomu withdrew his gaze and stuffed the final tungsten rod back into his tool pouch.
Those two shots had consumed nearly sixty percent of his chakra.
If Yagura hadn't appeared, the second shot would have taken that Mist Anbu's life.
But the current result wasn't bad either.
Taking one of the opponent's arms had indirectly neutralized the Mist Ninja's strongest anti-air capability.
With total air superiority.
They would be safer the next time they came.
"Was that the Fourth Mizukage?"
"And what was that jutsu you just used?"
"Why didn't you inform us before the mission?"
Pheasant's voice remained cold, but the way she stared intently at Motomu betrayed her curiosity.
"Karatachi Yagura."
"I didn't expect him to come to the front lines personally."
"As for my jutsu, it's something I just developed using materials from the Land of Lightning."
Motomu said no more, closing his eyes to recover his meager remaining chakra in solitude.
Pheasant was a ninja from Root.
And the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal of Root could never be removed in a lifetime.
Danzo used that thing.
While claiming that Root was training talent for the Anbu on the surface, he was secretly infiltrating the Anbu.
Even though Pheasant was his current Anbu teammate, Motomu wouldn't reveal the actual mechanics of his Psychokinesis.
The White Wolf Regional Commander kept his gaze fixed behind them.
Only after confirming that no one was pursuing them did he slowly deactivate his Byakugan.
"The intelligence has changed; the Mist Ninja's determination to attack is stronger than we estimated."
"Once we return, I will request reinforcements from the Commander."
"As for you, Black Cat, I'll have you transferred to the Combat Department."
"With your strength, you're wasted in the Reconnaissance Team."
Motomu touched the black cat mask on his face, knowing the Regional Commander was referring to him.
Motomu had a general understanding of Anbu functions during wartime.
He knew very well.
The Combat Department was different from the Reconnaissance Department; ninjas in the Combat Department could be promoted by killing enemies in battle.
During wartime, a Chunin with great strength but no connections could be promoted to Special Jonin in just a few months based on battle merits, and then become a full Jonin through a recommendation from an Anbu captain.
A Jonin was someone capable of standing alone in the rankings.
Once he became a Jonin, Motomu would have the right to take on missions alone, no longer needing to worry about teammates.
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