Third Shinobi World War

Torifu Akimichi was only a background character in the original story, but the events surrounding his appearances were of considerable significance...

He had once served directly under the Second Hokage and was one of the shinobi who accompanied him to negotiate with Kumogakure. He had lived through numerous events, including Kinkaku and Ginkaku's rebellion in Kumogakure, the Second Hokage's death, and the Third Hokage's succession. He was an out-and-out veteran elite ninja.

He remained active until the end of the Third Shinobi World War, and eventually died fighting the Nine-Tails alongside the Third Hokage during the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

So a shinobi like him would make an extremely dependable squad leader, and the missions he took part in would be just as "dependable."

As for the other two shinobi in the squad, Yuzuru had no impression of them at all. The Uchiha Clan was renowned, of course, but not every Uchiha ninja was well known.

Regardless, there was no need to doubt the combat ability of Uchiha ninja. During every Shinobi World War, the countries had all passed around the advice to avoid fighting a Sharingan user alone... The only question was whether the Uchiha ninja in their squad had awakened his Sharingan.

Their squad leader was powerful, Special Jonin Kairi Omori had scouting abilities, and Chunin Hazuki Uchiha couldn't be too weak... Looking at it that way, Yuzuru seemed to be the only deadweight holding the squad back.

There was no room for Yuzuru to voice his opinion in the squad. He was only a Genin, so he decided to keep quiet as much as possible.

"Enough chatter. We may be a hastily assembled squad, and all of you have recently suffered the misfortune of losing teammates, but the situation won't give us much time to rest... Do you understand what I mean?" Torifu Akimichi gave them a brief pre-mission pep talk.

"Understood."

"Good. Now I'll explain the mission. A few days ago, our intelligence-gathering route into Iwagakure was suddenly cut off. That means we can't get timely updates on their movements, and without intelligence, something worse could happen at any moment... So we need to find out what happened and do our best to reopen the intelligence route into Iwagakure."

"The plan is to head west from the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass, all the way to the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth. We'll search for our intelligence-gathering shinobi's outposts and check on their status. If we have the resources, we'll set up new outposts as well... In other words, this is a mission behind enemy lines."

"It's highly dangerous, but it has to be done."

"Any questions?"

There was no denying how important intelligence was to shinobi combat and warfare. The outcome of the intelligence war could be said to determine the outcome of the whole war to a great extent, so the mission assigned to Torifu Akimichi's squad was quite important.

Questions? Yuzuru did have one. Why was such an important mission being assigned to a hastily assembled squad? Shouldn't they at least form an Ino-Shika-Cho team to handle it?

Was Konoha's manpower shortage really that severe?

Leading a squad behind enemy lines to gather intelligence suited Torifu Akimichi's abilities well enough, but Yuzuru was merely a Genin with little combat experience.

And even the original owner of this body had grown up during the peaceful period between the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, so he had little combat experience to begin with.

"Good. Since there are no questions, check your gear, make sure you're ready, and confirm the signals... We'll take a short break and set out in an hour."

Yuzuru hadn't expected the mission to be so urgent. Then again, intelligence was a lifeline. All he could do was hope that their squad wasn't the only one assigned to this major mission... The more people involved, the greater their chances of success.

An hour passed quickly. Torifu Akimichi had been resting with his eyes closed beneath a large tree, but he suddenly opened them and said, "Time's up. We're moving out."

Shinobi had no say in which missions they were assigned. At their leader's command, the four of them charged into the shadowy forest of the Land of Rain beneath the gloomy sky.

"I'll take point. Hazuki and Kairi, cover the left and right flanks. Yuzuru, bring up the rear. Keep formation," Torifu Akimichi said.

It was a common formation for advancing through enemy territory. The squad leader was looking out for Yuzuru, knowing he was the weakest, so he'd placed him at the back of the squad... If Yuzuru had been at the front and they ran into an enemy by surprise, he could easily have been killed in an instant.

Yuzuru had said he was good at the Body Flicker Technique, but how fast could a Genin's Body Flicker Technique really be?

Before setting out, Yuzuru's feelings had been a complete jumble, and a hard-to-shake restlessness had even begun to build inside him. But once the squad started moving, he suddenly regained his calm.

Whatever happens, I have to do what I can... he reminded himself silently.

The four of them raced through the forest, their footsteps concealed by the heavy rain. After about two hours, they angled slightly northwest and began to approach the Land of Grass.

Torifu Akimichi kept watch over their surroundings while also monitoring his teammates behind him. He hadn't expected Yuzuru, a Genin, to keep up with the squad so easily. It seemed this Genin wasn't as hopelessly weak as he'd thought.

As they advanced, he signaled to his teammates behind him.

The signal was simple: they had now left the area where Konoha ninja were active, and the chances of encountering enemies were starting to rise.

If they were attacked in this area, they would have to rely on their own strength. They couldn't count on timely support from their allies.

Yuzuru quietly raised his guard. The killing could begin at any moment.

The cold rainwater kept sliding across his cheeks and running down his chin and neck beneath his clothes. The chill made him uncomfortable, but the sensation also seemed to stir every cell in his body into alertness.

Then...

"Don't tense up too much. This isn't the time to start using chakra in a fight."

All right, Yuzuru was still a novice. He even needed his teammates to remind him how to conserve his energy and stamina... Staying fully alert on the battlefield was a good thing, but there was no need to go that far just yet.

"Kairi, anything unusual?" Torifu Akimichi asked Kairi Omori, the squad's scout.

Kairi Omori shook her head. She hadn't noticed anything unusual so far.

However, Kairi Omori was a scout who relied on her eyesight, not a sensory ninja who detected chakra. That made the Land of Rain's environment and climate extremely unfavorable for her. The dense jungle and torrential rain further weakened her scouting abilities.

"Good. Keep formation and move on."

As the squad advanced deeper, they would soon enter an area where Amegakure ninja were frequently active. Amegakure wasn't one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, but it was fighting Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure all at once. It was no ordinary minor shinobi village.

At least within the Land of Rain, Amegakure ninja had the advantage of home terrain.

Before long, Yuzuru experienced the dangers of the battlefield firsthand.

About fifteen minutes later, Yuzuru felt that he was gradually getting used to the Land of Rain's environment. His three teammates passed by a large tree one after another. Everything seemed as usual, but just as Yuzuru was about to pass it, an enemy covered in mud and leaves suddenly burst out of the canopy ahead.

The enemy swung a short sword in his right hand, thrusting it straight at Yuzuru's chest.

The attack came without warning, and its angle was vicious. Yuzuru felt the enemy's murderous intent in an instant.

Yet Yuzuru didn't panic—or rather, faced with the threat of death, he had no room to panic.

In an instant, almost on instinct, he lightly pivoted on his right foot, which was planted on a thick branch. As he turned sideways, he dodged the enemy's thrust by a hair's breadth. At the same time, his left index finger hooked lightly against his leg. With a deft, precise motion, he gripped a kunai in reverse. Then he let his left arm swing naturally outward, positioning the kunai's blade in just the right place.

As the enemy's body passed his, the kunai's edge sliced through the man's neck. For a split second, it even looked as if the enemy had deliberately run into it.

The sound of rain seemed to freeze in Yuzuru's ears for an instant. When the patter resumed, he saw blood gushing from the enemy's neck.

The blood mingled with the rain, and its heavy scent and bright color quickly washed away.

With a dull thud, the enemy's body fell into the mud beneath the tree, and more blood began soaking into the earth.

His three teammates had only just realized something was wrong. They stopped and looked back, catching sight of Yuzuru killing the enemy.

A Genin?

His focus, the fluidity of his movements, his performance under pressure—could this really be a Genin?

The same question crossed all three teammates' minds at once.

But this wasn't the time to discuss it. The enemy's ambush had begun.