Yamanaka Seiichi

Feiyu had only just arrived at the camp when he obtained a contract with Ryūchi Cave. For Uchiha Feiyu, that counted as a strong start.

After leaving the command room, Uchiha Feiyu found an open area and began summoning snakes. He started with snakes as thick as his wrist, then ones as thick as water buckets, and finally summoned giant pythons twenty to thirty meters long and two to three meters in diameter.

In the end, Uchiha Feiyu discovered that even the giant pythons twenty to thirty meters long were not particularly intelligent. They were somewhat smarter than ordinary Chakra beasts, but even the smartest among them did not surpass a ten-year-old child.

Clearly, such unintelligent giant snakes were complete cannon fodder in Ryūchi Cave. So long as they did not die in large numbers over a short period, they likely would not draw the attention of the intelligent giant snakes within Ryūchi Cave at all.

Afterward, Uchiha Feiyu summoned ordinary venomous snakes and large pythons in turn, killing them and absorbing their souls.

Despite the vast difference in their bodies, the souls of the large pythons were only one or two times stronger than those of wrist-thick venomous snakes. Considering that large pythons likely occupied a higher position in Ryūchi Cave's food chain and could not possibly exist in endless numbers, Uchiha Feiyu ultimately decided to absorb the souls of ordinary pythons every day instead.

The spirit-devouring ability of Spirit Summons and Subjugation also had certain limits. Every time he devoured a soul, some resentment would cling to him. Uchiha Feiyu could use the power of the Sharingan to wear down and transform that resentment, but it was still a process that took time.

That was only because the resentment from animal souls was far weaker than that of actual humans. Otherwise, the resentment might rush to his head and turn him into a complete lunatic.

Uchiha Feiyu tested it out and found that he could digest the souls of at most a hundred or so pythons per day. To Ryūchi Cave, that number was a mere drop in the ocean. The number of these pythons devouring one another was likely dozens of times greater than what he digested each day.

Moreover, although their souls were absorbed, the pythons' flesh would still return to Ryūchi Cave and become food for its snakes. In the end, Ryūchi Cave suffered no losses.

The souls of more than a hundred Ryūchi Cave pythons were enough to noticeably improve Uchiha Feiyu's physique and spiritual strength.

As long as he kept absorbing those souls every day, Uchiha Feiyu was confident that his Chakra could multiply several times over in another two or three months. Within a year, he would certainly possess Kage-level Chakra, and within ten years, Chakra approaching the level of a tailed beast.

In truth, increasing his Chakra was secondary. The improvement to his physical strength and spirit might provide even greater benefits to Uchiha Feiyu in the later stages. This fundamental enhancement was enough to gradually elevate his life level beyond that of ordinary ninja.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Feiyu had no time to keep slaughtering pythons and absorbing their souls, because he would be carrying out a mission the next day.

"Captain Feiyu, I have brought Lord Orochimaru's written order. Starting today, I am your subordinate."

The tent flap opened, and the speaker was a blond ninja in his twenties who appeared rather steady and composed.

Uchiha Feiyu accepted the written order the ninja handed over. Inside was a terrain map. Uchiha Feiyu's mission was to conduct guerrilla warfare at the marked location and eliminate Sunagakure four-man squads.

This was also the norm in battles between the major ninja villages. Ninja possessed tremendous mobility and lethality, yet their defenses remained at a level where they could be stabbed to death by a kunai. They simply were not suited for large-scale army battles.

As for positional battles involving several hundred ninja, the casualties they caused were simply too severe, so they only occurred at the beginning of a war and near its end.

For most of the war, all ninja were divided into small squads, engaging in flexible battles such as raids, infiltration, intelligence warfare, and guerrilla warfare. They continually uprooted enemy strongholds and killed enemy squad members until one side could no longer hold on, at which point the final decisive battle would begin.

Back then, the White Fang of Konoha became famous throughout the Shinobi World because of his extraordinarily high lethality against such squads. The future Yellow Flash would surpass him in this regard. High-speed ninja held every advantage in squad battles.

"Tell me your name, your specialties, and the ninjutsu you know."

Uchiha Feiyu led the blond young man out of the tent, asking as they walked. The young man's expression remained calm, and he showed no disdain for the youthful Feiyu.

"My name is Yamanaka Seiichi. I am a Chunin of the Yamanaka Clan. I specialize in Sensory Techniques and also possess some long-distance telepathic ability. However, my Mind Body Techniques are not very good, and I do not have much Battle Power."

A Sensory Ninja who was also a communications ninja was an extremely rare talent among ninja. If Yamanaka Seiichi's own Battle Power had not been inferior even to that of an ordinary Chunin, he should already have become a Special Jonin.

The Mind Body Techniques this Yamanaka Clan ninja excelled in were almost entirely support-oriented. He had even cultivated the Yamanaka Clan's most basic offensive ninjutsu, the Mind Body Switch Technique, rather poorly. Yet with Uchiha Feiyu, he was an ideal match.

After leaving the main camp, Uchiha Feiyu directly led Yamanaka Seiichi into the forests of the Land of Rivers, slowly making their way toward the Sunagakure camp marked on the map.

Naturally, he did not have the nerve to directly attack the Sunagakure camp. However, the closer they got to Sunagakure, the more likely they were to encounter enemy squads. They would not encounter Sand Shinobi if they stayed near Konoha's main camp.

As they advanced, Uchiha Feiyu also spoke with Yamanaka Seiichi. This Yamanaka Clan ninja had a calm and steady personality. He did not make anything of Uchiha Feiyu's age and answered every question without reservation.

"Sunagakure's offensive has slowed considerably now. During the first two months after the war began, battles involving hundreds of ninja occurred almost every few days. In those two months, both sides suffered nearly two thousand ninja killed or wounded."

After hearing Yamanaka Seiichi's introduction to the battlefield, Uchiha Feiyu fell into thought.

"It seems Sunagakure can no longer endure it. The first burst of effort brings strength, the second weakens, and the third exhausts. As the attacking side, they failed to seize the advantage at the start. Their casualties are probably more severe."

"Captain, you are correct. At first, the Sand Shinobi blamed the disappearance of the Third Kazekage on us at Konoha, and their offensive was extremely fierce. As a result, their casualties were also very severe. Of the more than two thousand ninja killed or wounded during those two months, sixty percent were Sand Shinobi."

Yamanaka Seiichi nodded, confirming Uchiha Feiyu's speculation.

"However... because the war broke out rather suddenly, the Land of Rivers has not yet undergone a scorched-earth policy. Therefore, the Sand Shinobi can still hold out for some time."

"It seems... Sunagakure is relying on looting the current Land of Rivers to maintain its morale and logistics."

Uchiha Feiyu glanced at the map in his hand, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.