The Power of Youth, Explode!

The gloomy forest seemed wrapped in an enormous black curtain, while a vast mass of dark clouds gathered overhead.

Tōka and Shisui Uchiha faced each other coldly, a murderous air spreading through the entire forest.

"Looks like you don't intend to come with me quietly." Shisui Uchiha seemed to have run out of patience. His relaxed aura suddenly tightened.

Tōka could not see his expression. He only felt an incomparably powerful pressure bearing down on him like Mount Tai, as if an enormous boulder rested atop his head and left him struggling to breathe.

A Jonin? Or perhaps an elite Jonin?

Was this the strength of Body Flicker Shisui? Merely his presence...

A bead of cold sweat slid down Tōka's cheek. Compared to facing the Rogue Ninja from Kirigakure, the pressure had increased severalfold.

"I'm coming!" Shisui's voice suddenly rang out. It seemed to come from twenty paces away, yet also from right beside his ear.

Tōka instinctively turned around, only to see a mask with strange patterns appear eerily behind him.

Body Flicker Shisui truly lived up to his reputation.

However, Tōka was not someone who gave up easily.

Chakra surged wildly through his meridians and spread into every corner of his limbs.

Crack!!

Crack, crack, crack!!

In an instant, countless gray bones thrust out from all over his body.

Tōka looked like a porcupine wearing human skin, strange bones growing all over him and giving off a decayed aura.

Just as Shisui prepared to chop down at Tōka with a hand blade, he hurriedly stomped the ground, driving his heel deep into the dirt.

Although Tōka's information was top secret, it was not enough to stump Danzo.

And since Shisui Uchiha had been sent to carry out this mission, he knew more or less about his opponent's intelligence.

Including that ability which meant certain death with a single hit!

Whoosh!!

Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique to pull away, his chilly gaze fixed on Tōka.

"Strange bones. Is that your ability?" Shisui asked in a low voice.

He remembered that Kirigakure in the Land of Water had a clan—the Kaguya Clan—whose Kekkei Genkai involved bones!

Could this kid be a spy sent by an enemy nation?

For a moment, Shisui's aura abruptly turned cold, and a bone-chilling killing intent spread outward.

At first, Shisui had only come to capture Tōka under Danzo's orders.

But at this moment, Shisui followed his own beliefs and intended to kill Tōka.

Anyone who wished to destroy Konoha was an enemy!

Since he was an enemy spy, there was no need to hold back!

"Killing intent?!" Tōka's heart skipped slightly. Shisui had attacked quickly before, but there had not been the slightest trace of killing intent.

But now...

Tōka suddenly found himself unable to react.

Had Danzo sent Shisui to kill him?

Clang!!

Beneath the intricately patterned mask, a pair of scarlet Three Tomoe Pupils spun.

"Not good, genjutsu!" Tōka's expression changed, and he quickly shut his eyes.

When fighting someone from the Uchiha Clan, one must never look into the opponent's eyes. That was common knowledge in the Ninja World.

Although Tōka had achieved modest results in genjutsu, he was not arrogant enough to believe he could contend with the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

Moreover, Tōka was not sure whether Shisui had awakened his eyes yet, or whether he possessed the ultimate genjutsu—Kotoamatsukami!

"Ah da!~" A strange cry suddenly rang through the forest.

A familiar aura rushed toward him. Before Tōka could open his eyes, a muffled bang sounded.

"Tōka, are you okay?!" Gai's voice came from nearby. Tōka sensed two different auras appear beside him.

When he opened his eyes, it was indeed Gai and Might Duy.

Meanwhile, Shisui Uchiha had been kicked away by one of Might Duy's Strong Fist Gales.

"Is that mask of yours from Root?" Might Duy displayed an unusual sharpness, as though he understood something about Konoha's dark roots.

"What heavy kicks." Shisui shook his slightly numb arm. His Body Flicker Technique was already exceptionally fast.

Yet his opponent's speed had completely kept up with him, and his strength overwhelmed his own.

Shisui had not used his full strength, but even if he had, he might not have gained the upper hand.

Because Might Duy had not even removed the weights from his body!

"Why did you attack Tōka?" Might Duy asked in a deep voice. Though he had refused to teach Tōka taijutsu, Duy acknowledged Tōka as his son's friend.

"Hmph. Looks like I won't be able to complete today's mission." Shisui knew some things about Might Duy.

Although he did not know how powerful the Eight Inner Gates truly were, once Might Duy opened the gates and fought, he would definitely draw the attention of Konoha's Anbu.

Shisui Uchiha hesitated for a moment before suddenly throwing out a smoke bomb.

Bang! A cloud of white smoke rose into the air.

Shisui's presence vanished along with it.

"So it wasn't a coincidence. The Third Hokage had just withdrawn the Anbu watching me, and then someone from Root appeared." Tōka narrowed his eyes as he silently thought.

Tomorrow, he would leave with the unit and head directly to the battlefield.

Today, the Third Hokage had deliberately withdrawn the Anbu in order to show goodwill.

After all, Tōka's identity was rather strange. Even though Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Minato, and a number of other important figures claimed that Tōka had emerged from a Falling Stone Rain.

The Third Hokage still found it hard to believe. Fortunately, Tōka had performed exceptionally well over the past year and a half.

Gradually, the Third Hokage decided to accept Tōka, or at the very least, not turn him into an enemy.

"He should be gone." Might Duy lowered his guard, and the grave look on his face eased somewhat.

Although Duy was only listed as a Genin in Konoha's records, his true strength surpassed that of a Kage-level fighter.

That was after opening the Eight Inner Gates, however.

"Tōka, who was that guy? Why was he looking for you?" Gai asked in confusion.

"Gai, these are things you shouldn't know yet!" Before Tōka could speak, Might Duy scolded him first.

Although Might Duy lived in a remote forest corner of Konoha, he knew quite a bit about Konoha's darkness.

Especially Root, which lurked underground. It was still too early for Gai to learn about it.

"Tōka, you came here to see Gai, right? You two have a good talk!" Might Duy nodded and left. He had to report this matter to the Third Hokage.

Might Duy was unquestionably part of the Hokage faction.

"Yeah, Tōka, you haven't come to see me in ages!" Gai said unhappily.

They used to train taijutsu together, but over the past year, they had only met a handful of times.

Tōka expressionlessly glanced at Gai and silently complained, Could you stop looking at me with such resentment? Especially when you look like a bowl-cut kappa!

"I'm going to the battlefield tomorrow. I came to say goodbye." Tōka spoke solemnly. After this, he did not know whether they would meet again.

"What? The battlefield?" Gai's face changed drastically, and he cried out in surprise.

The village rarely sent Genin out because the battlefield was a meat grinder built on Chunin, wielded by Jonin, and overseen by Kage-level fighters.

The Genin who appeared on the battlefield were less like Genin and more like cannon fodder.

Konoha possessed deep reserves, and in the Third Hokage's view, sending Genin into battle would damage its foundations.

Konoha's cannon fodder was usually made up of ninja from its smaller allied nations. Only as a last resort would it send the village's own Genin.

At present, only Sunagakure had entered the war. Konoha's true reserves had yet to be revealed.

Gai did not understand...

"Try to look at the bright side." Tōka did not know how to explain it to Gai.

The battlefield was a path to becoming stronger by staking one's life.

If he died in the Third Shinobi World War, then it would prove that Tōka was nothing special and unworthy of bearing the supreme and glorious surname of Otsutsuki.

Silence fell, and the atmosphere suddenly grew still.

Gai had become a Genin and formed a four-man squad, carrying out all kinds of D-rank missions.

Occasionally, he also encountered C-rank missions such as eliminating bandits or escorting merchant caravans.

The battlefield was still too early for him. First it had been Kakashi, and now even Tōka...

Gai clenched his fists, seemingly feeling that the two of them had pulled even farther ahead of him.

"Don't make that face. This isn't the Gai I know!" Yet Tōka knew that Sunagakure's conflict was merely the fuse.

What came next would ignite a war across the entire world.

By the later stages of the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha would have no choice but to send Genin to support the battlefield.

Sunagakure and Iwagakure would even commit more than two-thirds of their homeland forces to the war.

Sooner or later, Gai would enter the battlefield too.

The wind rustled through the trees, and fallen leaves danced upon it like newborn butterflies flying freely.

The two lay on the hillside, letting the fragrance of the Valley brush across their faces.

"Tōka!" Gai turned his head, his eyes blazing as he stared at Tōka.

A bad feeling rose within him...

"Let the fire of youth burn! First, let's run five hundred laps around the village."

"If we can't do that, we'll do one thousand kicks!"

"If we can't do that, we'll do one thousand squats!"

"If we can't do that, we'll do one thousand..."

As expected! Tōka's eye twitched as he stared at Gai like he was a monster.

Only you and your dad can do something like that, okay?!

However...

Today, let youth explode!

Tōka decided to risk his life and accompany his friend.

"Okay."

"Wooaaah!~~"

Gai let out a strange cry and dashed away.

Within the sea of trees, a green figure flashed swiftly past...

The next morning, the ringing alarm clock woke Tōka.

Tōka sprang up from the bed with monkey-like agility and quickly put on a set of casual clothes that were neither too tight nor too loose.

"Today is the day I head for the battlefield."

As fresh reinforcements joining the war, Tōka's first mission was to transport supplies.

Sending a massive army west without transporting provisions would be far too wasteful, wouldn't it?

The captains of this operation were none other than the two brothers of the Hyuga Clan: Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga.

Tōka stood in the middle of the formation, his small stature keeping him completely hidden.

For the coming battlefield, Tōka had decided to keep a low profile.

He secretly studied the Hyuga brothers. They looked very similar. Both were in their twenties, carrying less of the calm steadiness of adulthood and more youthful brightness.

However, both Hyuga brothers were Jonin at this time. As for whether they had concealed any strength, Tōka had no way of knowing.

And within the unit, someone unexpected appeared before his eyes.

"Might Duy?!" Tōka was somewhat dumbfounded. He did not understand why Might Duy, a Genin, was here.

Tōka noticed Might Duy in his green jumpsuit, and Might Duy naturally noticed Tōka as well.

He pushed through the crowd and walked over, raising a thumbs-up as a gleaming white tooth flashed at the corner of his mouth.

"Yo! Tōka, I didn't expect us to become comrades-in-arms!"

"Uh... yeah!" Tōka's face darkened. I want to keep a low profile! What a useless teammate!

Because of Might Duy, all the gazes around them turned toward Tōka.

Tōka lowered his head and remained silent, while Might Duy kept flashing that blinding white tooth.

The others seemed unable to endure the powerful aura of awkwardness and quietly moved away.

Just then, after Hyuga Hiashi bid farewell to the Hyuga Clan members, he waved his hand, and the army officially set off.

The Land of Wind lay west of the Land of Fire. Dense woods stretched like seas of deep-green forest.

Beyond the forest lay yellow sands dancing across the sky.

Because of the important provisions, the unit's marching speed had been slowed.

And since they had to maintain the army's overall strength, after half a day of marching, Hyuga Hiashi decided to stop and let the troops rest.

The army numbered three thousand people, unlike the reinforcements from other great nations.

Most of the three thousand were Chunin, with Jonin making up a smaller portion, while there were only two Genin.

Tōka and Might Duy!

It was a true elite force.

The rest period was set at one hour. After everyone simply ate some dry rations, they closed their eyes to rest.

Since members of the Hyuga Clan were present in the unit, they took over sentry duty.

The Byakugan possessed a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree field of vision without blind spots and could see the chakra within a body.

Its range could also extend farther depending on the user's mastery of the eyes.

It was no less formidable than the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, an exceptionally powerful scouting ability.

Thus, everyone in the unit rested with ease.

As long as the Hyuga Clan's scouting team did not issue a warning, there would be no danger.

Tōka had his own plans. The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan was powerful, but it was not invincible.

The truly strongest person in the entire unit was the one beside him...

Might Duy wore green clothes.

Tōka followed beside Might Duy and sat beneath a large tree to rest while refining chakra.

Time passed without notice, and the camp remained utterly silent.

The occasional rustling of footsteps was merely the Hyuga Clan scouts rotating shifts.

Suddenly, a chill swept over him, and Tōka frowned slightly.

He was not wearing much, only two layers, but it was already past eight in the morning. It should not have been cold.

Moreover, this chill had come on fiercely—strangely so.

"Uncle Dai, wake up!" Tōka gave Might Duy a shove, his little face showing the alertness of a cheetah.

"What is it?" Might Duy had been taking a carefree nap. With the Hyuga Clan acting as scouts, he had felt completely at ease.

"Something's wrong." Tōka spoke in a low voice and pointed around them. "Look, it's getting foggy!"

Sure enough!

Might Duy noticed as well: thick white fog was drifting through the forest.

"This is bad—it's Kirigakure's Hidden Mist Technique!"

Someone in the camp suddenly shouted.

In an instant, the quiet camp erupted like a bomb dropped into a still lake.

Everyone sprang to their feet, stood back-to-back with their companions, and gripped their weapons tightly as they stared ahead.

"Hee hee hee~~ We only meant to intercept a grain convoy. Who would've thought we'd catch such a big fish!"

"Don't let your guard down. There are three thousand of them!"

"Looks like they're fresh troops heading to reinforce the front lines."

"If we slaughter them, maybe those trash from Sunagakure can hold out a little longer?"

Seven figures gradually emerged from the blinding white mist, each carrying a strange weapon.