War Reignites

Danzo slunk away in disgrace. No matter how much he argued or how carefully he schemed, none of it could outweigh that one sentence: I'm the Hokage.

It was an unmistakable reminder to Danzo of his place.

As for Yayoi, after the summons, he hurried back to the Uchiha Clan alone to continue today's task: Dragon Script analysis.

There were still plenty of plans he hadn't been able to put into action.

The Sage Art Plan had been rejected outright by Tsunade on the grounds that he was too young, and it had died before it could even begin.

The Artificial Deadpool Plan had stalled because there weren't enough experimental subjects.

The Gene Completion Plan was still under research, and Yayoi wouldn't seek direct help from anyone with this project.

After all, researching Uchiha genes could expose a weakness someone might use against him.

Although Elder Hyuga protected him, someone might still make a fuss and latch onto this point, refusing to let it go.

Yes, Yayoi was talking about Danzo.

Then there was the ongoing Dragon Script Analysis Plan.

So far, the plan's results had taken the form of Alchemical Weapons.

Although he hadn't managed to forge Regenerative Metal, Yayoi had made an accidental discovery.

By combining Chakra Conductive Metal with Pure Gold and steel in specific proportions, he could forge weapons suitable for bearing Dragon Script inscribed with Alchemical Circuits.

After putting two plans aside for the time being, Yayoi devoted himself entirely to the Gene Completion Plan and Dragon Script Analysis Plan, and his progress accelerated rapidly.

Konoha, Year 33.

Another year had passed. The brief conflict at Amegakure had ended, but that did nothing to curb the ambitions of the Five Great Nations.

With certain people pulling the strings, war descended once more.

The last war had ended only the year before, yet less than a year had passed.

Sunagakure ninja were rampaging along the borders of the two countries, looting and killing, and attacking border guards. This had undoubtedly crossed Konoha's line.

Once again, the flames of war engulfed Konoha.

Unlike Amegakure in the previous war, Sunagakure was one of the Five Great Nations. Its ninja were better trained and better equipped than the Rain ninja.

It even had a Puppet Force serving as its vanguard.

The Third Kazekage had been hailed as the strongest Kazekage. He led the charge, bringing a large force of Sunagakure ninja to provoke Konoha and declare war.

All to tear a piece of the Land of Fire away.

The other Ninja Villages grew restless as soon as they heard the news from Sunagakure.

For a time, an ominous sense of an approaching storm hung over all of Konoha.

Everyone grew tense, and the Third Hokage's pipe stayed lit all day long.

Yayoi even ate three whole bowls of rice.

With the Sunagakure forces posing a threat, the Third Hokage convened an emergency meeting and invited the village's Jonin to discuss a plan of attack against Sunagakure.

First of all, Konoha couldn't show any weakness. Otherwise, the hungry wolves would swarm in all at once.

After deciding on a firm response, Konoha's war machine began to turn.

The next day, a large force of elite ninja headed to the front lines as reinforcements. A great battle was about to begin.

"Train hard and study diligently. I don't expect this war to end anytime soon."

Before leaving, Tsunade made sure to remind him.

"I will, Teacher Tsunade."

"Just keep training hard, and don't put too much pressure on yourself. Maybe the war will be over by the time you graduate."

"I will."

Yayoi sighed.

He still had two years until graduation, but he could already tell this war would drag on.

When the Five Great Nations fought among themselves, they never backed down until their opponents were hurting.

The other villages that were itching to join in would enter the fray too, making the situation on the battlefield even more unpredictable.

Two years wouldn't be enough. Perhaps by the time he graduated, the war would be more intense than ever.

"Looks like I need to speed up my experiments."

In his normal state, Yayoi was already Special Jonin level.

Without Word Spirit, Explosive God Skill, or Blood Rage, he wasn't all that strong.

Yan, on the other hand, had already reached Jonin level.

He hated to admit it, but after a year of intensive training, Yayoi could no longer beat Yan.

It was tragic. He didn't know why this Uchiha girl's strength had grown so quickly, as if she had no limits.

Her strength didn't come from flashy ninjutsu, but from deceptive Genjutsu.

She confused her opponents, then struck with a fast, ruthless, and precise slash.

To Yayoi, she was the kind of ninja who best embodied what it meant to be a ninja.

Everyone knew that ninja were a high-offense, low-defense profession. They had powerful attacks, and Kage Level fighters could even split mountains and shatter rocks.

But their bodies were still human, and terribly fragile.

On the battlefield, the things that claimed the most ninja lives weren't flashy ninjutsu, but Explosive Tags and Kunai.

There was no denying that this was a difficult weakness for chakra to make up for.

But it was also the perfect stage for Yan to dance upon.

That was why the weapon he had originally designed for Yan was an Alchemical Weapon focused on speed and slashing, with the Wind Element.

His combat ability was mediocre, to put it mildly. Or rather, he simply wasn't suited to fighting.

(This doesn't mean combat is just raw strength. There are also skill, experience, instinct, and talent.

The protagonist is very strong in terms of raw power—stronger than Yan—and that's been stated. He also has Word Spirit and Blood Rage.)

Of course, that conclusion came from comparing himself with Yan and Rin.

After figuring out where he stood, Yayoi simply accepted it.

When he had first arrived in this world, his plan had been to improve his combat strength first and make sure he survived.

Now, though, he understood his role and focused all his efforts on what he was good at.

As for fighting, he'd leave that to Yan.

His job was to stand behind her and give her buffs.

Early February.

Every so often, crystalline snowflakes still drifted down from the sky. Like the lives lost in the war, they were always slipping away before anyone could catch them.

Each snowflake seemed to be there to mourn those who had fallen in the war.

Yan wasn't around today. She was practicing swordsmanship with Uchiha Enichi, a style passed down from the Warring States period. The style seemed formidable, and Yan had been practicing it constantly lately.

Uchiha Enichi was Yan's Second Grandfather—the one who had attacked Yayoi during their first meeting.

With war approaching, he seemed intent on passing everything he knew on to Yan.

Yayoi was more than happy to see it.

After all, the stronger Yan became, the safer he would be.

However, it also meant that he saw Yan less and less often.

Still, Yayoi would buy dumplings for Yan from time to time. Rin paid for them.

Even with Orochimaru's help, research into the Hyuga Bloodline and the Caged Bird had hit a bottleneck.

And now that the war had started, Orochimaru no longer had time to look after him.

But he had mentioned that he'd keep an eye out for Branch Family members who died in the war.

Orochimaru had agreed.

Still, he couldn't leave the research into the Hyuga Bloodline entirely in Orochimaru's hands.

Rin was one of the people who stood to benefit from this research.

From time to time, Yayoi brought her into the laboratory to examine her body and explain the strengths of the Hyuga Clan to her.

He explained how to release chakra from the body, Soft Fist, and the Hyuga's extremely precise chakra control.

He went over all of it with Rin.

He'd risked using the Mirror Eye to copy all of these techniques.

He'd even gone out of his way to sit in on classes in other groups to observe Little Hyuga, and to hang around the village to eavesdrop. People thought he was just a little kid who didn't know any better.

They never guessed he was there to secretly learn.

On top of that, Rin had given him the Hyuga Clan's Fist Manual, and he'd managed to work out a few things.

Seeing how professional Yayoi looked, Rin quietly committed his words to memory without objecting.