-Chapter 10-

-Chapter 10-

-The Next Morning-

-POV Danzo Shimura-

"Where is your Kusakage?" I asked, seeing all the Kusa ninjas present but uncomfortable.

No one answered directly, which made me lose patience quickly, but before I exploded and started yelling at them, a man stepped out of the crowd and said:

"Kusakage-sama is nowhere to be found, but he left us a message."

"A message?!"

The Jonin who had stepped forward unfolded a small piece of paper and read aloud:

"I went hunting."

"What the hell is this nonsense," I said angrily, as it made absolutely no sense.

'He doesn’t even have the strength of a Kage, and he decides to just leave like that…'

"Do you think he betrayed us?" Kagami said, interrupting my thoughts, his eyes narrowing as he observed the Kusa ninjas.

I forced myself to regain calm, and even though I was tempted to kill them in doubt, it didn’t seem like something he would do.

"I don’t know, but deserting the frontline is either the act of a coward or the act of a traitor, and I doubt he’s either," I said despite the creeping anger I was feeling at the moment.

All the ninjas in the room lifted their heads, prouder than ever, but I shook my head, stifling this sudden pride by saying:

"But infiltrating enemy territory without a plan is the act of a fool or an idiot."

"And I was just starting to like him," Kagami said in a slightly disappointed tone.

"He’s heading straight to his death," I added angrily, though thinking about it more calmly, it irritated me less and less.

'In fact, this might even be a boon for me,' I thought.

'Without the presence of this makeshift Kusakage, it would mean that I’d be the sole commander of this battlefield and that all the merits would go to me at the end of the war,' I thought.

'With this, it’s certain that I’ll be chosen as Tobirama-sensei’s successor,' I thought.

"Let’s hope he can at least survive long enough for Tobirama-sensei to rescue him," Kagami said.

"Hmm, it’s too difficult to go into enemy territory to attack without getting surrounded. He will either run out of supplies or energy, while the Iwa ninjas will remain at full strength."

"Unless one has enough strength to crush numerous enemies to escape such an encirclement, one must never fall into such a trap, let alone jump into it willingly," Kagami said, shaking his head.

"Hmm," I said with a slight disdain for this vengeful spirit that would only lead to the unnecessary death of this young talent.

The Kusa ninjas looked at each other with some apprehension, and then I waved my hand to let them leave.

They quickly left with their heads down, and I said, "How can someone be so stupid?"

Kagami shrugged without saying anything before leaving as well, offering no answer to my question.

---

-POV MC-

'Two, three, six,' I thought silently, fully focused on sensing the chakra of enemies all around us.

I released the seal I was forming with my hands, then opened my eyes and said softly:

"I sensed 11 chakra sources ahead, 2 Jonin, 3 Chûnin, and 6 Genin."

"Damn, we’re not enough to face them," Raï said, growling slightly, focusing solely on the numbers.

"We can’t retreat either," Fumiko said, reminding Raï of his place before I had to.

Raï frowned without saying anything, and then I said:

"It’s normal to be scared, but don’t worry. I’m confident in my plan. It will work out fine. Trust me."

They all nodded, even Raï. So, I said, putting my mask back on my face:

"I’ll take the two Jonin. You just deal with the others as quickly as possible."

Each of them nodded as they also put on their masks, and then I added:

"Start with the Genin immediately. Split off a shadow clone before the battle to besiege them. With our masks and uniforms, they won’t have time to think. Their first reaction will be to flee."

They nodded again, showing they understood, and then I said to finish the quick briefing:

"Use your clones for the finishing blows to avoid surprises. If you can’t, don’t take unnecessary risks. Remember to conserve your chakra. Don’t waste it on useless attacks."

"This is the moment we’ve been training for," Tajima said, letting me know they all knew what they had to do and would do it well.

They all nodded, erasing their fear and gathering their courage, waiting for me to give the signal.

I nodded and then said just before disappearing using the instantaneous movement jutsu:

"Action."

In a few seconds, I reappeared about a meter away from the first Jonin.

I drew my blade from my back and slashed downwards using a technique I developed while recalling Asuma’s teachings to Naruto in the anime.

Which, by the way, is much more complicated than it seems.

'Wind Blade – First Form,' I thought as I covered my blade with chakra imbued with the Wind attribute.

To my surprise, the one I had identified as the squad leader wasn’t just a regular Jonin but an elite Jonin.

It was complicated to recognize them because the difference between these two ranks didn’t necessarily lie in their chakra but in their ability to outclass their peers.

Whether it was by mastering more jutsu or mastering them better, having special affinities, or simply possessing a Kekkei Genkai that allowed them to fight or at least defend themselves against S-rank or Kage-level ninjas.

He managed to dodge my attack by jumping backward with superhuman reflexes.

Unfortunately for him, the fact that he could evade my attack was part of the scenario I had envisioned and anticipated.

Without hesitation, I triggered my second silent attack.

The chakra imbued with the Wind attribute shone brighter on my blade before leaving it as I completed my swing.

The enemy ninja couldn’t dodge quickly enough this time, as everything had happened too fast.

Within a fraction of a second, even before his feet could touch the ground, he was sliced in two by the crescent moon-shaped chakra slash I unleashed.

I didn’t spare a second glance at the corpse on the ground because my gaze immediately locked onto the second Jonin of the squad, who was about to intervene to kill Tajima’s clone.

I didn’t give him a chance and, using instantaneous movement, quickly caught up to him.

I attacked him in the same way as the previous one, but unlike the other, he wasn’t fooled and immediately defended himself with a Doton Jutsu – Earth Wall.

Given the force I had put into my attack, his protective jutsu was destroyed effortlessly, creating a rather large cloud of dust.

I felt his chakra moving in one direction and understood that he had realized he couldn’t win and was trying to flee, taking advantage of my obstructed view.

Unfortunately for him, before attacking, like with the others, I had taken the precaution of splitting off two clones of myself, who had circled around and were waiting for him.

From afar, I saw that one of my clones rushed toward the other while the second prepared two jutsu similar to C-rank Gale Palm techniques.

I had taken inspiration from the Boruto Stream, except that my jutsu only required one clone, and its acceleration was on a completely different level.

Generally, a normal person wouldn’t be able to use it, but I had trained my body and Taijutsu to an incredible level.

'Enough to handle this technique with ease,' I thought.

Of course, I wasn’t on the level of Gai or Rock Lee, but I trained so much that I had no doubt I could someday reach their level.

'Not to mention this divine tree,' I thought, feeling the tree quiver as it absorbed the life energy from the corpses.

The Jonin didn’t even understand what happened.

My clone, propelled at exceptional speed, decapitated him cleanly before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

I took a small breath as I felt the chakra from my clone return to me, and then I sheathed my sword.

"Seal them. I’m going to check if they need help."

My clone nodded and got to work while I turned to observe the others' situation.

I nodded as I saw everyone safe and sound, sealing the bodies into scrolls as I had instructed. Then I asked:

"Is anyone hurt?"

"No, everyone’s fine. It was easy, except for Raï, who showed off and lost his clone," said Fumiko in a disapproving tone.

Raï sniffed and looked away without saying anything.

"Next time, fight with a clone," I said, losing the usual tone I used with them, and Raï rolled his eyes before nodding.

Tajima frowned and said, "They were well-trained. Luckily, you told us to fight with a clone first. Otherwise, we could have taken more losses."

"Hmm," I said, nodding before scanning the surroundings with the sensory jutsu I had learned from my master.

I released the seal I was forming with my hands, and my clone said, "Catch, boss."

"Good job," I said before making it disappear, feeling the chakra I had split return to me.

I quickly added:

"Let’s move. I sense several enemy squads heading our way. Don’t forget to attach the Turtle Breath seals to your bodies."