Bakudo #26: Curved Light

Souta Village.

Located along the border of the Land of Fire, it was surrounded by vast tracts of fertile farmland and was a renowned grain-producing village in the Land of Fire.

After the outbreak of the Third Shinobi War, Souta Village had immediately been taken over by Konoha ninja, becoming one of the core supply transfer hubs for the Lightning and Water front lines. As Kumogakure's border defenses retreated, all of Souta Village's supplies had also been fully redirected to the Land of Water battlefield.

"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 truly is Konoha's logistics transfer base. The supplies stockpiled inside are enough to support a force of nearly a thousand men!"

"The village is heavily guarded: a dual sensory-alert barrier, eight watchtowers, and every watchtower is staffed with three Jonin."

"So heavily defended?"

At those words, everyone present turned solemn.

As the saying went, provisions had to move before the army did. The importance of logistical supplies in a war was self-evident.

Take the battle between Iwagakure and Konoha. After Minato Namikaze severed Iwagakure's supply line at Kannabi Bridge, Iwagakure's once-promising situation had collapsed in an instant. They were even preparing to negotiate peace with Konoha now.

And Souta Village before them, as one of Konoha's most vital supply points on the Kirigakure Front, was unquestionably fortified to the extreme!

"There are no top-tier powerhouses stationed in Souta Village, and today's weather is quite favorable. The advantage is ours!"

Yoru glanced at the faintly misty woods and said in a deep voice, "Yukiko, interfere with the Byakugan. Your team and Yumi's team will remain outside and wait to provide support. I'll infiltrate first and cause some damage. Yurui and Mangetsu, once you see chaos break out, act when the opportunity arises."

"Yes, Lord Yoru!"

Ringo Yurui and the others answered solemnly. Meanwhile, the white-haired figure who had remained silent at the side formed hand seals. The already faintly misty woods immediately became a vast expanse of white.

"Hidden Mist Technique!"

"Bakudo #26."

"Curved Light!"

As the thick mist spread, Yoru gave a low shout in his heart. A strange glimmer diffused outward, and his figure silently vanished into the fog without a trace.

Although the ANBU present had witnessed this scene countless times, they still found it astonishing whenever they saw it again.

"Lord Yoru's secret technique is truly powerful. Perhaps only Yukiko's red eyes can perceive Lord Yoru's condition," Yumi said softly in admiration.

Yukiko shook her head. "Only at the instant he turns invisible. At all other times, Lord Yoru is too fast. I can't observe him."

"According to the records of the Intelligence Division, the only ones known to possess a similar technique are the members of the Getsuga Clan in Konoha, who command the Invisibility Release."

Having finished casting the Hidden Mist Technique, Hozuki Mangetsu spoke calmly. "But the Getsuga Clan's secret technique is extraordinarily difficult to cultivate. No one in Konoha aside from the Getsuga Clan can master it, and it is more like a special bloodline secret technique. The secret technique Lord Yoru possesses should be unique to him alone."

"As expected of Lord Yoru..."

Yoru naturally had no way of knowing his subordinates' praise, but their assessment was correct.

The method Yoru used was not the Getsuga Clan's Invisibility Release, but a technique from another world.

The Kido arts of the Shinigami world!

Yes, as a transmigrator, Yoru naturally had his own cheat, and it was an exceptionally unusual one.

It was the Asauchi in Yoru's hand!

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

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

Yet whenever someone from the Yuki Clan moved the Asauchi away, it would somehow return to Yoru's side.

Even if it was tightly gripped in someone's hand, once it was more than a hundred meters away, it would be teleported directly back to Yoru's side.

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

Later, when the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were being evaluated, Yoru's Asauchi had also been nominated. But aside from recognizing its owner, it seemed to possess no other special abilities. Though it had a self-regeneration ability like the Kubikiribōchō, its cooldown was extraordinarily long, so the matter had ultimately come to nothing.

However, only Yoru himself knew what kind of power this Asauchi, which had accompanied him ever since he had transmigrated and been born, truly contained.

This Asauchi was not merely his Zanpakuto. It was also the cheat he had brought with him through transmigration.

Or rather, the physical manifestation of a system!

This system had no name, but it possessed many functions.

It could exchange for anything from the Shinigami world, provided one had enough Points.

As for earning Points, the system would periodically issue various missions. Completing kills on certain targets could also generate Points.

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

[Bakudo #26: Curved Light: Condenses a mass of glimmering light to cover an object, rendering it invisible.]

Meanwhile.

Inside Souta Village.

Atop a watchtower.

Konohagakure Jonin Shino Aburame, wearing dark sunglasses, looked grave as he watched the thick mist gradually closing in around them. He said in a low voice, "The mist is unusually dense today. It resembles the Hidden Mist Technique used by the Mist ninja. Stay sharp, everyone!"

"I'm telling you, Shino, you're being too cautious. Even my Gaiya hasn't picked up any scent."

Below, Kiba Inuzuka laughed. "I heard that on the main battlefield, the village has already repelled more than ten attacks from the Mist. Those guys are like sewer rats—fine for small-scale assassinations, but in this kind of large-scale frontal clash, how could they possibly be a match for Konohagakure?"

"Don't be so optimistic, Kiba."

Shino Aburame adjusted his glasses. "This is still a battlefield."

"Tch, you're just wound up too tight. Look, even Hizashi hasn't noticed anything."

"A small amount of Chakra is dispersed through the air. This is indeed the Hidden Mist Technique, but there are no traces of anyone nearby. It may be a tactic by the Mist to wear us down," Hizashi Hyuga said gravely from the side.

The veins around his pale eyes bulged as his all-seeing Byakugan had already been activated.

"What a foolish plan. We have the Byakugan, yet they can't even figure out our most basic capabilities and are still using such outdated tricks. The Mist may be one of the Five Great Villages, but it seems that their long years living on islands have left them out of touch with the rest of the world."

"Hahaha!"

Laughter rose one after another. Konohagakure's ninja were all at ease, and even Hizashi Hyuga wore a faint smile.

Sunagakure had been defeated, Kumogakure had retreated into defense, and Iwagakure lacked the strength to continue.

Of the Five Great Ninja Villages that stood alongside Konohagakure, three had already fallen to Konohagakure. The remaining Mist had achieved nothing on the front lines, so they indeed had reason to laugh so casually.

"Alert!"

All of a sudden, the warning barrier sent out an alarm. A gray figure shot out from beside Kiba Inuzuka and lunged fiercely into the nearby bushes.

The laughter stopped abruptly, and everyone's expressions turned stern. Soon, a massive gray dog emerged from the bushes with a rabbit clenched in its jaws.

"A rabbit?"

Seeing the rabbit in Gaimaru's mouth, Kiba Inuzuka frowned slightly and instinctively looked toward Hizashi Hyuga. Hizashi shook his head. "My Byakugan was never deactivated. There really is no one else nearby. This is an ordinary rabbit too—there's no Chakra flowing through it."

Only then did everyone relax.

"Ah, looks like we've all been too tense."

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

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

"Really?! If Lord Jiraiya is here, we should be able to crush those Mist bastards soon, right?"

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