Naruto: The Teaching System - 274

Chapter 274: War Ignites

“Not bad, Neji.”

Sawada looked at Neji in front of him, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He had expected Neji’s talent to be considerable, but he hadn’t thought his bloodline’s reversion would be nearing the third stage already.

“Uh…” Neji scratched the back of his head at his sensei’s praise, a little embarrassed. “It’s probably the recent missions. I feel like I’ve been improving quickly.”

Seeing him like that, Sawada couldn’t help but chuckle. This kid… is actually getting shy.

He reached out and ruffled Neji’s hair, then spoke calmly. “Next, Iwagakure will likely launch a major offensive. When it starts, stay close to me.”

Neji nodded. For a novice on the battlefield like him, running around alone was a bad idea. If he could stay with his sensei, safety wasn’t something he needed to worry about much.

A sharp horn blast cut through the air.

Sawada turned toward the distance, surprised. That was the signal to commence battle. Neji, behind him, blinked as well—this was something they’d learned back at the academy. But… this sudden?

“Sensei, how should we move?” Neji looked to Sawada. At this moment, he would follow whatever Sawada did.

“Sudden or not, we move, Neji. Remember: stay by my side. Protect yourself first—and help our village shinobi defeat the enemy when you can.”

As Sawada spoke, chakra gathered under his feet. He needed to reach the front as fast as possible. If he was right, it wasn’t just Ōnoki on the field this time. Iwagakure’s other jinchūriki was likely here too.

“Yes!” Neji stepped forward and fell into stride behind him.

The battlefield was merciless.

Even though Neji had prepared himself, the sight before him still made his gut clench. Everywhere he looked, the soil was stained red. Severed limbs, shattered ground—closer to the fighting, that sight was almost all there was to see. Ahead, shinobi in different uniforms were locked in brutal combat, collapsing one after another as if sworn to blood vengeance.

“So this is war…”

Neji took in the scene around him and, for the first time, realized just how naïve he’d been when he’d applied to graduate early.

In that moment of shock, Iwagakure shinobi noticed him. The next instant, a swarm of shuriken screamed toward Neji’s position.

Steel rang. Sawada stepped in front of Neji and knocked every shuriken aside.

“Neji, don’t freeze up. Watch your surroundings,” he snapped, turning slightly.

Neji snapped back to focus, face set. His palm flicked out, knocking down a shuriken slashing in from the side—and with the same motion, he took out the Iwa shinobi trying to ambush him.

Seeing Neji recover, Sawada relaxed a touch. He scanned the field. Most of the fighting here was between genin and chūnin. Behind them, Konoha shinobi were rushing in by signal to reinforce. But he didn’t see Jiraiya.

Sawada frowned. So it really was both the jinchūriki and Ōnoki. Otherwise, things wouldn’t look like this. Most likely, Jiraiya-senpai had drawn them off alone, keeping the tailed beast’s devastation away from their lines.

While he assessed, Sawada swept forward with Neji, cutting down any Iwagakure shinobi who came near. In their path, the Iwa ranks fell under the pair’s pincer strikes.

“Neji, keep up!”

Without hesitating, Sawada pressed ahead, cutting into encirclements and pulling Konoha shinobi out of danger as he went. Neji followed, watching his teacher dispatch enemies with ease while keeping a close eye on him.

“Sensei… so strong.”

He already knew that, of course—but he couldn’t help saying it. And now, those Konoha shinobi being saved one after another started to notice Sawada, too. Their pressure against Iwagakure tightened.

Sawada smiled faintly at the shift. He lifted his hand. A vivid blue sphere spun into existence, its edge screaming with wind nature. The sound of Wind Release: Rasenshuriken swallowed the battlefield noise.

In the despairing eyes of the Iwagakure shinobi, the Rasenshuriken ripped free and howled toward the Iwa formation Konoha had just boxed in.

A thunderous blast tore across the field. Amid wails and screams, the Iwa force in that sector was erased in a single strike.

“So strong!”

“As expected of Lord Sawada!”

“All squads, the seriously wounded withdraw immediately! If you can still fight, reinforce the others!”

Sawada didn’t slow. He strode toward the next front while calling out.

“Yes!”

Neji didn’t hesitate and followed at once. With Sawada’s entry, Konoha’s counterattack signal went up across the line. More and more Leaf shinobi fell in behind Sawada and Neji, and countless Iwa shinobi were taken down before they could even call for support.

“Sensei! Ahead—I’m sensing several very strong chakra signatures!”

Neji pointed off to the side.

Sawada nodded. That was likely where Jiraiya-senpai was fighting.

“All units, break off and support other positions!” he ordered. If Jiraiya-senpai really was engaged with a jinchūriki, a single Tailed Beast Bomb could wipe out anyone following him. Better to send these shinobi to reinforce elsewhere.

“Understood, Sawada-sama!” the shinobi behind him replied, understanding immediately and fanning out in an orderly rush.

Two razor-fast whistles split the air. Sawada slid aside, then caught a long blade on his kunai. Two Iwagakure jōnin gritted their teeth and tried to force him down.

“Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!”

Neji seized the opening. His strike hammered the two Iwa jōnin and knocked them flying. “Damn it! Isn’t that brat a genin?!” they coughed, blood spraying as they crashed to the ground.

“Chidori!”

Sparks screeched. A figure flashed past the fallen Iwa shinobi. They didn’t even have time to scream before two heads thumped into the dirt.

“Phew…”

Sawada exhaled slowly. The air was already thick with the stench of blood. It pressed on the lungs.

A shape thumped down not far in front of him. Sawada straightened and spoke coolly. “As the commander, it isn’t really appropriate for you to come block me, is it?”

Kitsuchi stood squarely ahead, his massive frame braced. “My mission is to stop you. Only then can Iwagakure win.”