Human Geniuses

"The final battle... Even the Yellow Flash wouldn't be arrogant enough to think he could break through our headquarters alone. Besides, according to our information, he's practically confirmed to be the next Hokage. Konoha definitely won't allow him to make an excessively risky move. So... his goal is to disrupt our battlefield arrangements, kill our key personnel, and create favorable conditions for Konoha's subsequent offensive."

"Has the order to pull back our personnel been issued?"

"It has."

"This forceful surprise-attack style really isn't the Yellow Flash's usual approach."

"But now that he's appeared here, we have to consider how to deal with him. Even if he's alone, his deterrent power is still immense."

"The Yellow Flash is already right in front of us, and Konoha may follow up with a large-scale, decisive attack... What should we do?"

At the Cloud Hidden front-line command center, the commanders were nervously discussing how to deal with Konoha's Yellow Flash.

Their nervous reaction wasn't exaggerated. After all, Minato Namikaze was the most dazzling ninja to emerge since the Third Ninja World War began. With space-time ninjutsu that surpassed even the Second Hokage's, he had dominated the battlefield and was practically invincible so far.

More importantly, Minato Namikaze's wandering around the battlefield and his direct thrust into the enemy's heart represented two completely different intentions.

"Don't panic! The Yellow Flash isn't invincible!"

A sudden shout interrupted the clamorous discussion. The flustered reaction to such a powerful enemy had finally worn down this person's patience.

And he truly had the qualifications to say that the Yellow Flash wasn't invincible.

"A..."

The son of the Third Raikage had now inherited the name A. In other words, he was the designated successor to the Fourth Raikage.

"Pull back the entire defensive perimeter and concentrate all our forces. Prepare to deal with Konoha's attack. B and I will form a tactical squad and go out to intercept the Yellow Flash! Put half the sensory ninjas under my command and have them do everything they can to track the Yellow Flash's movements. They're to provide me with information at all times!"

Minato Namikaze and the Cloud Hidden's AB Brothers had fought once not long ago. That battle should have been considered a draw, but both Konoha and the Cloud Hidden claimed that their own powerhouse had held the upper hand.

"Do as A says. It's the most reasonable decision."

"B, we're leaving!"

"Yes, Big Brother. The battle with the Yellow Flash... beginning again... is truly... something to look forward to!"

From beginning to end, no one on the Cloud Hidden side suspected that the Yellow Flash was an impostor.

On the other side, Konoha soon noticed the Cloud Hidden's movements and realized that the enemy was likely preparing to strike hard.

"Lord Orochimaru, the Cloud Hidden has suddenly gathered its forces and adopted a posture for a decisive battle. Our current situation is unfavorable..." A Konoha Ninja reported the situation to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's expression remained as calm as a still lake, without surprise or joy. "Neither Konoha nor the Cloud Hidden currently has the ability to end the war quickly. I don't know why the Cloud Hidden has suddenly chosen to take such a strategic risk, but don't worry too much. In this situation, compared to the side that acts rashly, the side waiting in comfort has the advantage."

Orochimaru truly wasn't afraid of the Cloud Hidden. What was there to fear from a cornered dog making a last stand?

"Report the intelligence to the village immediately, then request reinforcements."

"But Lord Orochimaru, even if the village has enough strength to send reinforcements, they won't be able to arrive in time..."

"They'll make it. There's definitely one person who can arrive in time."

"You mean..."

"Heh heh."

See? Hadn't the Cloud Hidden made the right decision? The Yellow Flash would indeed appear on the battlefield.

Just as Konoha and the Cloud Hidden were both on edge and the battle was about to spiral completely out of control, the instigator of everything had easily reached the point marked on the mission map. He hadn't encountered even a single Cloud Hidden Ninja along the way.

"Let's start searching from here."

Yuhara began searching through the lush primeval jungle. It was obvious at a glance that no humans had come here for many years, so perhaps a battlefield really was hidden here.

Just half an hour later, he discovered traces of something that had once been burned in a somewhat open area!

Yuhara's eyes lit up, and he thought, There's something here.

He really had no idea where Orochimaru had dug up such ancient and useless intelligence.

Following this direction, Yuhara discovered more traces of battle. After walking a little farther, a skeleton finally appeared before him.

The Headband on the skeleton's forehead revealed his identity. Its strap had already rotted away, but the metal plate seemed to have rusted onto the skull's forehead. It was somewhat ironic... Although this ninja wore a Cloud Hidden Headband, if he had been one of Gold and Silver Brothers' subordinates, that meant he had actually been a rogue ninja from the Cloud Hidden.

There was nothing worth searching on such a corpse. After taking one look, Yuhara continued forward, and soon he discovered more bodies. Or rather, as he advanced, the number of corpses first increased, then gradually decreased... Gold and Silver Brothers had indeed led dozens of elite ninjas in surrounding and killing the Second Hokage.

The corpses here showed that even though he had been seriously wounded from the beginning, the Second Hokage's combat power had still been extremely formidable.

Farther ahead, there were no more corpses, but the traces of battle became increasingly obvious. Finally, in an area where the terrain had been shattered, Yuhara saw two skeletons lying close together.

The remaining golden and silver hair, the horn ornaments hidden in their long hair, and the tools scattered around them all revealed the identities of the two men—Gold and Silver Brothers.

He had actually found them.

Yuhara didn't rush to touch them. He began by counting.

"One, two, three, four, Hōrin Kagami, Shichiseiken, Kōtanuki, Banjō Senshi. All here."

These two had dropped some excellent equipment.

They had killed the Raikage, stolen the Six Paths Tools, and died in the wilderness. These brothers really were human geniuses.

There was no time to study the effects of the Six Paths Tools. Yuhara took out a storage scroll and sealed the four powerful tools inside. They counted as his personal spoils of war.

Afterward, he still ignored the two brothers' corpses. After searching the battlefield several more times, he finally saw another corpse sitting beneath a huge boulder.

The blue armor had not yet completely faded in color, and the Konoha Headband was only half covering the forehead. This person was the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Judging from his posture at the moment of death, the Second Hokage had died more calmly than Gold and Silver Brothers, which meant he had most likely been the last to die.

Thinking back to those days, how spirited the Senju Brothers had been as they roamed the ninja world. Who would have thought that a legendary hero would meet his end in such a remote corner of the world?

Yuhara really wanted to ask the Second Hokage, "Does your older brother know you died like this? What would he think if he found out?"

After carefully examining the body again, Yuhara discovered that no traps had been set on the Second Hokage's corpse... After all, Tobirama Senju had always been famous for his deviousness. Only then did he move the body beside Gold and Silver Brothers.

Yuhara had planned to seal all three of them together, but after thinking it over, he decided it would be inappropriate. After all, they had been enemies. Yuhara was a "Konoha Ninja," so he should at least retain a trace of respect for the Second Hokage. He decided to seal the two brothers together and place the Second Hokage alone in a separate scroll.

Unexpectedly, a minor problem arose during the process. After Yuhara stuffed Kinkaku into a storage scroll, he accidentally closed the storage opening.

Reopening it would be troublesome, and Yuhara didn't want to waste another scroll, so...

"Uh, there was a small mistake, but it's fine. This is also a novel classification system—the eldest gets a room to himself, while the two younger brothers share a room."

NTR had appeared in the most unexpected of places.