War? Training Ground!

One year later, at the border of the Land of Fire.

"Just my luck. Running into you, Konoha Devil."

A Sunagakure Ninja weakly spoke his final words. A large hand was buried deep in his chest.

Hanma frowned, grabbed the man's clothes, wiped the blood from his hand, and muttered to himself,

"What were you hiding from? You even got blood all over my hand. Having your head blown apart wouldn't hurt."

Returning to camp, Hanma looked over the message from Konoha and sneered.

Over the year since the war began, Hanma had slaughtered countless Sunagakure spies, nearly wiping out their entire intelligence network.

Hanma's Predatory Blood Qi allowed him to easily sense shinobi within several kilometers. Combined with his close-quarters combat ability, Sunagakure's intelligence operatives had no room to survive.

Even Jonin who encountered Hanma in the wilderness were merely coming to die. They could not even delay him.

The Sunagakure Ninja had spontaneously bestowed upon Hanma the title of Konoha Devil, calling him a man who brought death wherever he appeared.

Half a year ago, in order to keep Hanma from further expanding his military achievements and thereby threatening the position of Hokage,

the Third Hokage had actually demanded that the civilian shinobi in Hanma's unit be recalled, replacing them with several squads from shinobi clans under the pretext of "continuing to expand their gains."

On the surface, this strengthened Hanma's unit. But the civilian shinobi who had already grown were scattered once more, while the clans sent over had all been carefully selected by the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage sent two squads: one from the Hyuga Branch Family and one from the Aburame Clan.

The Hyuga and Uchiha had possessed irreconcilable conflicts since the Warring States Period, while the Aburame Clan was quietly leaning toward the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage's intent was for the two major clans' shinobi to share in Hanma's military achievements, while making those clans owe him gratitude.

Hanma fought on the front lines while the Third Hokage handed out favors in the rear. The front was tight, while the rear was stuffing itself.

But what the Third Hokage had not anticipated was that this battlefield appeared to be a three-nation melee, yet once Konoha showed weakness, a war across the entire Shinobi World would be ready to erupt at any moment.

Having seen through the Third Hokage's intentions, Hanma directly began slacking off on the battlefield, leading the Uchiha in a training-style war.

Though he did not care for the position of Hokage, that did not mean the Third Hokage could use him as a tool for dispensing favors.

Once news spread of Konoha, Sunagakure Ninja, and Amegakure Ninja fighting in chaos, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure all increased their Anbu deployments. Kumogakure had even sent organized units to endlessly patrol the borders of the Land of Fire, waiting to sink their teeth in.

Hanma added fuel to the fire, deliberately leaving an opening for Sunagakure's forces to make contact with the Anbu of the other great nations.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was overwhelmed. The only reason the other three great nations had yet to act was because, during the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama Senju had led Konoha against four enemies and fought with such might.

Konoha's lingering prestige remained, but after twenty years, the other shinobi villages had begun entertaining thoughts of testing it.

Throughout the year since the war erupted, Konoha had never secured any major victories, and the prestige it had accumulated was slowly dwindling.

Twenty years of peace had given Konoha a golden period of development, but it had also taken away a generation of old killers from the Warring States Period. They had been Konoha's true foundation.

Aside from geniuses such as Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Hatake Sakumo, the new generation of Konoha shinobi who had enjoyed peaceful lives possessed far less fighting spirit than the impoverished and hardened Sunagakure Ninja and Amegakure Ninja.

Once the other three great nations tested Konoha's outward strength and inner weakness, they would swarm it.

Hanma looked at the urging order sent by the Third Hokage and sneered inwardly. So he thought Hanma had been loafing around for the past half year.

An enthusiastic shout interrupted Hanma's thoughts.

"Teacher Hanma, we're back!"

Kushina and Nawaki returned while dragging several enormous black bears and wild boars. Minato ambled along behind them, making sure no Sunagakure Ninja were following.

"Prepare the ingredients. I'll call the others back."

After giving the kitchen squad their orders, Hanma's gaze sharpened. His Predator Domain expanded, and the entire forest was instantly filled with the stench of blood.

In the distance, Uchiha Fugaku, who was pursuing a Sunagakure Ninja, felt his heart skip. Gritting his teeth, he accelerated after the enemy ahead.

Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Claw Crimson Technique!

Nimble yet surging flames devoured the Sunagakure Ninja ahead. When the firelight faded, only a charred corpse remained.

Fugaku looked at his handiwork with satisfaction, then used the Body Flicker Technique to leave and find Tekka, who was standing watch in ambush.

"Let's go, Tekka. Brother Hanma has called us back."

"I felt it already. I'm really looking forward to today's meal, Deputy Com~man~der Fugaku!"

"Shut up!"

The two watched the Blood Qi permeating the forest, enduring its constant erosion as they silently marveled.

No matter how many times they experienced it, Brother Hanma was still absurdly powerful... What kind of Kekkei Genkai was this ninjutsu?

Hanma's Predator Domain had continued to grow amid endless slaughter. At full strength, covering an area the size of four or five Konoha villages was no problem.

Under the shroud of Blood Qi, if Hanma did not distinguish between targets, the Chakra of every living thing would slowly be eroded, even affecting their minds.

Yet Hanma did not choose to distinguish friend from foe. Instead, he let the Uchiha fight to their hearts' content within the Blood Qi.

Slaughter itself could bring the most direct growth to the Uchiha, and under the catalyst of the Predator Domain, it could greatly stimulate their Sharingan.

The entire battlefield had now been molded by Hanma into a holy land for the Uchiha to awaken their eyes.

Setsuna watched clan members return from Hanma's side in waves to rest. Nearly all of them had awakened their Sharingan, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

The younger generation of the clan had begun worshipping Hanma. After all, who would not want to follow someone who could help them awaken their eyes?

The Hunter-Killer Unit's unconventional refusal to work left the Third Hokage deeply dissatisfied, but there was currently no one capable of replacing Hanma.

After all, Hanma simply was not going all out, yet his current achievements were already beyond what others could ever hope to reach.

Hanma no longer held any hope for the Third Hokage.

First, he had obstructed Hanma's training in the Eight Inner Gates. Later, he had used Minato and Kushina's matter as leverage.

The last traces of Hanma's feelings for Konoha were slowly being worn away.

"Brother Hanma, is dinner ready?"

Fugaku and Tekka, covered in frightening bloodstains but wearing bright smiles, ran toward the camp cafeteria.

Seeing Hanma and the others already happily eating, Fugaku complained unhappily,

"Wait for me next time. Kushina eats way too much. If I don't eat enough, I'll kill far fewer Sunagakure Ninja."

This blend of frankness and cruelty was also one of the Uchiha clan's traits.

Hyuga Yuto kicked Fugaku, comforted Kushina, and handed him a large bowl.

"Quit complaining. Following Brother Hanma, you still get to eat delicious stewed meat. If you don't want it, go eat Military Ration Pills on the Amegakure Ninja battlefield."

The Hyuga Branch Family members sent by the Third Hokage had unexpectedly gotten along well with the Uchiha.

Because of Hanma's presence, the Uchiha clansmen had lost those strange airs of arrogance. After all, the strongest person in the Uchiha Clan had not even awakened the Sharingan.

The Hyuga and Uchiha no longer needed to debate such boring questions as "whose eye technique was number one in the Shinobi World."

Minato picked up a large ladle and served Tekka and Fugaku each a heaping portion of stewed meat.

"Thanks, thanks!"

Fugaku and Tekka grabbed their bowls and began wolfing down the food. The freshly cooked stew was so hot that it made them bare their teeth.

Watching this scene, Hyuga Yuto sighed inwardly.

Who would have thought that coming to the battlefield would make me feel more at ease than being in the clan?

As a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, he had been taught since childhood that the main and branch families were fundamentally different, and that he must observe the etiquette of a great clan.

Having experienced freedom for the first time, Hyuga Yuto deeply fell in love with the feeling.

Here, he did not need to bow, salute, or crawl before the Main Family like a dog, wagging his tail and begging for pity. He only needed to do his job well, with a powerful patron watching over him.

Hyuga Yuto looked at Hanma, his gaze gradually growing complicated. A seed had already been planted in his heart, waiting to take root and sprout.