The Bakudo #26: Curved Light

Souta Village.

It was located near the border of the Land of Fire, surrounded by vast fields of fertile farmland. It was a famous agricultural village in the Land of Fire.

After the Third Great Ninja War broke out, Konoha Ninja took control of Souta Village immediately. It became one of the main supply hubs for the front lines against Kumogakure and Kirigakure. As Kumogakure retreated from the border, all the supplies from Souta Village were redirected to the battlefield in the Land of Water.

"Exploding Tags, kunai, Shuriken, scrolls, Military Ration Pills..."

Outside Souta Village, Fuyuna Yukiko's eyes were bloodshot as she spoke in a low voice. "Lord Yoru, the intelligence was correct. This really is Konoha's logistics base, and the supplies stockpiled inside are enough to support a force of nearly a thousand!"

"The village is heavily guarded, with two sensory barrier formations, eight watchtowers, and three Jonin stationed at each one."

"So heavily guarded, huh?"

At her words, everyone present grew solemn.

As the saying went, an army marched on its stomach. The importance of logistical support in a war was self-evident.

Take the conflict between Iwagakure and Konoha. After Minato Namikaze cut off Iwagakure's supply route at Kannabi Bridge, the entire situation, which had been so favorable to Iwagakure, collapsed in an instant. Now, they were even preparing to negotiate with Konoha.

And Souta Village, one of Konoha's most important supply points on the Kirigakure Front, was undoubtedly bound to be heavily defended!

"Souta Village has no top-tier fighters stationed there, and the weather is good today. We have the advantage!"

Yoru glanced at the grove, where a faint mist had begun to gather, and said in a low voice, "Yukiko, disrupt the Byakugan. The squad members and Yumi Squad will wait outside to provide support. I'll infiltrate first and cause a disturbance. Yurui and Mangetsu, act when you see the chaos."

"Yes, Lord Yoru!"

Ringo Yurui and the others answered gravely. Beside them, a white-haired figure who had remained silent all along formed Hand Seals. The grove, already lightly veiled in mist, instantly disappeared into a vast sea of fog.

"Hidden Mist Technique!"

"Bakudo #26..."

"Curved Light!"

The thick fog billowed outward. Yoru gave a quiet shout in his mind, and as an eerie glimmer spread around him, his figure soundlessly vanished into the mist.

The ANBU present had seen this countless times before, but even so, they couldn't help being amazed all over again.

"Lord Yoru's secret technique is incredible. I'm afraid only Yukiko's Red Eye can see through it," Uzumaki Yumi murmured admiringly.

Yukiko shook her head. "I can only see him for an instant as he disappears. The rest of the time, Lord Yoru moves too fast for me to observe."

"According to the Intelligence Division's records, the only similar technique is Invisibility Release, practiced by the Getsuga Clan of Konoha."

Hozuki Mangetsu, having finished casting the Hidden Mist Technique, spoke calmly. "But the Getsuga Clan's secret technique is extremely difficult to master. No one in Konoha outside the clan can use it, so it's more like a special bloodline technique. Lord Yoru's technique must be unique."

"As expected of Lord Yoru..."

Yoru naturally couldn't hear his subordinates' praise, but their assessment was accurate.

The technique he had used wasn't the Getsuga Clan's Invisibility Release. It came from another world.

The Shinigami world's Kido!

That was right. As a transmigrator, Yoru had his own cheat, and it was an extremely unusual one.

It was the Asauchi in his hands!

On the night Yoru was born, the Asauchi had fallen from the sky and landed beside him.

The members of the Yuki Clan had gone on alert, but the anticipated assassination attempt never came.

Yet whenever anyone from the Yuki Clan tried to take the Asauchi away, it would somehow return to Yoru's side.

Even if someone gripped it tightly, once they got more than a hundred meters away, it would be teleported straight back to Yoru.

This strange phenomenon caused quite a stir at the time, even drawing the Third Mizukage and the village elders to investigate in person.

Later, when the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were being evaluated, Yoru's Asauchi was nominated as well. But apart from recognizing its master, it seemed to have no other special abilities. Although it could "regenerate itself" like Kubikiribōchō, its cooldown was extraordinarily long, and the matter was eventually dropped.

However, only Yoru knew what power lay within the "Asauchi" that had accompanied him ever since he had transmigrated into this world and been born.

This Asauchi was not only his Zanpakuto, but also the cheat he had brought with him from another world.

Or, rather, the physical manifestation of his system!

The system had no name, but it had plenty of functions.

It could exchange for anything in the Shinigami world, provided you had enough Points.

As for earning Points, the system would issue various missions from time to time. Killing certain targets could also earn Points.

The Bakudo #26: Curved Light he had just used was one of the Kido techniques Yoru had obtained from it!

[ Bakudo #26: Curved Light: Creates a faint glow that covers an object, making it invisible.]

Meanwhile.

Inside Souta Village.

Atop a watchtower.

Shino Aburame, a Konoha Jonin wearing dark sunglasses, watched the thick fog slowly closing in around them and said gravely, "The fog is unusually dense today. It looks a lot like the Mist Ninja's Hidden Mist Technique. Stay alert!"

"Come on, Shino, you're being way too cautious. Gaimaru hasn't smelled anything,"

Kiba Inuzuka called up from below with a grin. "I heard the village has already repelled more than ten attacks from Kirigakure on the main battlefield. Those guys are like rats in a gutter. They might manage small-scale assassinations, but there's no way they can stand up to Konoha in a large-scale head-on battle."

"Don't get too optimistic, Kiba."

Shino Aburame adjusted his glasses. "We're still on a battlefield."

"Tch, you're the one who's too tense. Even Hizashi hasn't noticed anything."

"There's a little chakra in the air, so this is indeed the Hidden Mist Technique. But I don't see anyone, so it could be an attempt by Kirigakure to wear us down," Hizashi Hyuga said gravely from nearby.

The veins at his temples bulged, his all-seeing white eyes already active.

"What a foolish plan. We have the Byakugan, after all. They can't even figure out our basic abilities, yet they keep using these outdated tricks. Kirigakure may be one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but living on an island for so long seems to have left them out of touch with the rest of the world."

Laughter rose from all around. The Konoha Ninja were relaxed, and even Hizashi Hyuga wore a faint smile.

Sunagakure had been defeated, Kumogakure had retreated, and Iwagakure was running out of steam.

Of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, which stood on equal footing with Konoha, three had already fallen to Konoha. Kirigakure had yet to achieve anything on the front lines. They had every reason to laugh and take things easy.

"Alert!"

Suddenly, the barrier gave a warning. A gray figure darted out from beside Kiba Inuzuka and lunged fiercely into the nearby grove.

The laughter stopped at once. Everyone grew solemn. Before long, a huge gray dog emerged from the grove with a rabbit in his mouth.

"A rabbit?"

Seeing the rabbit in Gaimaru's mouth, Kiba Inuzuka furrowed his brow and instinctively looked at Hizashi Hyuga. Hizashi shook his head. "My Byakugan hasn't been deactivated. There really isn't anyone else nearby. This is an ordinary rabbit, too. There's no chakra flowing through it."

At that, everyone relaxed.

"Ah, it seems we've all been on edge for too long."

"This war has dragged on for ages. I really miss the village."

"Don't worry. The Hokage has already sent Lord Jiraiya to join us!"

"Really?! With Lord Jiraiya here, we should be able to crush those Kirigakure bastards soon!"

"Of course! After all, he's one of the Sannin!"