Skilled at Sneak Attacks

With a Body Flicker Technique, he appeared behind an Iwa Ninja in an instant. Taking advantage of the perfect opening before his opponent could react, Uchiha Kei drove the Ninja Sword in his hand through the man's back and pierced his heart.

Uchiha Kei didn't linger. After taking care of that Iwa Ninja, he put some distance between himself and the others, then attacked the rest of the squad.

Thirty seconds later, deep in the woods, Uchiha Kei had sent the squad's remaining three Iwa Ninja to join their Captain.

Just as Namikaze Minato had said, these Iwa Ninja really weren't very strong. Without any special bloodline, their abilities were nothing impressive.

Uchiha Kei took a deep breath. He had already taken out at least four squads like this along the way. With his Sharingan and superb Body Flicker Technique, these Iwa Ninja had no real ability to fight back.

As for Imai Kenta and Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Kei had no idea how they were doing. They had split up to fight, so he had no way of knowing what was happening on their fronts.

Still, Uchiha Kei had a general idea of which directions they'd gone in, so he wasn't worried about getting lost.

"But there really seem to be a lot of Iwa Ninja around here. And why is the rear of the Iwa Ninja force full of guys like these?"

Without so much as a glance at the Iwa Ninja lying on the ground with his eyes still open, Uchiha Kei kept searching for his next target as he pondered the situation.

The quality of these Iwa Ninja really did seem mediocre to him. Most were Chunin, and some even looked like Genin.

But it didn't take long for Uchiha Kei to figure out why: the Iwa Ninja stationed in the Land of Grass were probably stretched to their limit!

The Land of Earth had brought this on itself by killing the Third Raikage, which had led to a furious counterattack from Kumogakure.

Those Kumogakure shinobi were now hounding the Iwa Ninja like rabid dogs. The Iwa Ninja had probably shifted their strategic focus from "attack" to "defense" long ago.

Of course they'd use their elite forces to defend their homeland. And the Iwa Ninja had underestimated Konoha's resilience. They had sent a thousand-strong ninja force to fight, and continued dispatching reinforcements afterward.

But the troops they were sending weren't up to much. They might still be enough to deter Konoha on the main battlefield, but they were no match once someone launched a surprise attack behind their lines.

On top of that, Uchiha Kei's earlier actions had probably drawn away most of the stronger troops guarding the area. If so—

Having figured it out, Uchiha Kei felt a little pleased. If most of the Iwa Ninja they had to face were this weak, then this mission was hardly a near-suicidal one!

Sure enough, following Namikaze Minato had been the right choice. The mission had nearly gotten him killed by Kitsuchi, but at least he'd avoided becoming cannon fodder. Instead, he could let other people serve as his cannon fodder.

He could also use this mission to build a good relationship with Namikaze Minato, and get his protection behind enemy lines. And now he'd even stumbled upon this situation.

"Still, I need to be careful. They'd never let people like these guard the most crucial part of the bridge."

Uchiha Kei didn't dare let his guard down. Caution, vigilance, and a little luck were what kept you alive on the battlefield.

He pressed on in silence. He could even see a massive Earth Style Ninjutsu erupting several dozen meters away.

It looked like Namikaze Minato had run into some slightly tougher enemies this time. But those Earth Style techniques hadn't even lasted a minute before crumbling apart.

That had little to do with Uchiha Kei, though. His enemies weren't the troublesome ones, but these less capable foes who were relatively easy to deal with despite their numbers.

Taking advantage of the dense forest's complicated terrain, Uchiha Kei soon spotted another group of Iwa Ninja.

This time, the Iwa Ninja were a little smarter. There were eight of them, evidently two squads that had joined up after noticing something was wrong.

That suited Uchiha Kei just fine. It saved him the trouble of hunting them down one by one. He checked his chakra. It wasn't looking good, but he could still keep fighting.

Taijutsu used less chakra than any other kind of fighting. He could devote all of his chakra to keeping his Sharingan active.

Using the dense forest of the Land of Grass for cover, Uchiha Kei quietly closed in on his targets. Soon, he was less than twenty meters away, yet the Iwa Ninja still seemed oblivious.

Uchiha Kei couldn't help but wonder whether they were setting a trap or simply lacked experience.

Either way, they were his prey now. By this point, Uchiha Kei was so used to launching sneak attacks that he didn't hesitate to spend his chakra.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Like seeds bursting from a touch-sensitive plant, the flames Uchiha Kei spat from his mouth spread in every direction, rushing toward the Iwa Ninja!

The flames were controlled by chakra, making them difficult to dodge completely. But Uchiha Kei didn't waste chakra on controlling them.

The instant he finished the Fire Style technique, he charged forward. The Iwa Ninja were reflected in his crimson eyes, as if they were already dead.

Caught off guard, the Iwa Ninja immediately scattered. They'd been somewhat prepared for trouble, but they scattered in every direction without any order.

Their lack of experience and coordination immediately came to mind. Uchiha Kei didn't think much of it, though. His own squad didn't lack experience, but they had no coordination to speak of either!

His Ninja Sword came free from its sheath, and a flash of light streaked past.

One Iwa Ninja didn't even have time to react before Uchiha Kei cut him down in a single strike. The man had been on guard, but in Uchiha Kei's eyes, his defenses were full of holes!

"Enemy attack!"

Uchiha Kei's instant kill sent the other Iwa Ninja into a panic. One of them dodged the Phoenix Flower Fire and shouted, but no teammate came to his aid. Instead, Uchiha Kei's Ninja Sword was already coming for him!

With the help of his Sharingan, Uchiha Kei used a Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the man, who immediately felt the threat at his back.

He moved to dodge as quickly as he could, but Uchiha Kei's Ninja Sword still slipped into his heart at a bizarre angle!

He pulled his blade free and made a standard evasive move, dodging the attacks of the Iwa Ninja who had finally reacted.

But Uchiha Kei had no intention of dodging any longer. Using several Body Flicker Techniques in quick succession had left him feeling uncomfortable. Of the eight Iwa Ninja, he had deliberately targeted the two who seemed relatively strong.

As for the remaining six, he wouldn't use any other techniques. His Sharingan and Taijutsu were more than enough to finish them off!