The Mist Ninja Front

"Any time, any place, when encountering a powerful, difficult, or uniquely gifted enemy, simply seal them."

--Uzumaki Mito

History of Warring States Sealing was a collection of sealing history records compiled by Uzumaki Mito when Konoha was first founded, covering the Senju, Uzumaki, and other clans that had joined the village.

Uchiha Chen had initially sought out this book for a single purpose: to find the origin of the pupil technique engraved upon his prosthetic eye—the strongest weapon of the Uchiha, sealed away a hundred years ago—Uchiha Hikari.

However, there is benefit in opening a book, and once he started reading, he became completely enthralled.

Although History of Warring States Sealing did not detail any specific sealing techniques, the profound insights shared by Uzumaki Mito, a grandmaster of the art, provided Uchiha Chen with immense benefits even in her brief, stray remarks.

The book also recorded many fascinating anecdotes regarding sealing techniques.

For example, a few hundred years ago, someone in the Land of Grass controlled demons to wreak havoc upon the world, eventually forcing the Senju and Uchiha to join forces;

Or how the First's Kuan Entering the Marketplace with Bliss-Bestowing Hands actually incorporated a portion of the Fire Temple's ninjutsu.

In any case, Uchiha Chen read it with great relish.

Of course, he also found his target:

[83 years before the village was founded, Uchiha Higashi attacked the Uzumaki; the Senju provided reinforcements. At Dayu Mountain, west of the Island of Whirlpools, the Uchiha's ultimate weapon was suppressed using the Yellow Springs Corridor Reincarnation Technique.]

"It was actually in the Land of Whirlpools?"

Uchiha Chen compared the map and quickly located Dayu Mountain.

Dayu Mountain was only about three hundred miles away from the main battlefield where Konoha was currently entangled with and infiltrating Kirigakure.

The Land of Fire and the Land of Water faced each other across the sea; there was a vast expanse of ocean between the two nations, and they did not share a direct border.

Although ninjas could move freely across water with the aid of Chakra, it consumed energy; if they truly had to cross the water on foot to strike the enemy, neither village could muster a hundred ninjas with enough Chakra to do so.

Furthermore, war required rations, explosive tags, shuriken, and various other supplies and armaments.

Therefore, the mode of warfare between the Mist Ninja and Konoha remained a traditional land war:

The Mist Ninja would arrive by ship to raid a port in the Land of Fire, using it as a base and logistics hub to infiltrate the long coastline and inland areas of the Land of Fire;

Konoha, after confirming the enemy's main direction of attack, would assemble its forces to encircle the Mist Ninja, compress their control, and annihilate their effective fighting strength.

Both sides had each committed thousands of troops within a thousand-square-kilometer radius near the ports on the east coast of the Land of Fire, launching a campaign of infiltration and counter-infiltration in the form of ninja squads.

"BOOM!"

The thunderous roar of the detonated explosive tags startled a flock of birds in the mountain forest.

"Retreat! Abandon Outpost 707! The enemy is an elite Mist Ninja squad!"

The middle-aged Hyuga, panting heavily, had his eyes bulging with veins distended; as he spoke, he threw a kunai affixed with an explosive tag and struck a palm through the air, using the gust to drive the weapon toward the enemy.

This was a standard Konoha squad on the eastern front: a special jonin from the Hyuga Branch Family, leading three civilian-born cannon-fodder chunin.

However, they had already suffered one casualty just after engaging the enemy.

The opposing side was also a four-man squad, but judging by the Chakra reactions observed through the Hyuga's Byakugan, this was a "hunting squad" led by a jonin with three elite ninjas.

There was absolutely no chance of victory!

Seeing the enemy nimbly bypass various traps, the middle-aged man, realizing that there was likely a sensory ninja among them, fell into despair.

"We can't escape! They have a sensory ninja!"

The man gritted his teeth and looked at his two panicked young subordinates, his gaze suddenly turning resolute.

They were only sixteen or seventeen years old; they hadn't even experienced love, and there was so much beauty they had yet to see.

"Taro, Koji, head toward Outpost 3 in the northeast! There are several jonin stationed there!"

The man stopped in his tracks and pasted several explosive tags from his tool pouch onto his body; a flush of color returned to his pale face.

"I'll cover the rear! It is time for me to run toward the death of freedom!"

"None of you are getting away!"

Suddenly, one of the pursuers in the rear increased his speed drastically, consuming a massive amount of Chakra to use the Body Flicker Technique several times in succession, landing on a high tree beside them.

"What a pity it's just a Branch Family member; otherwise, I could have a Byakugan like Ao!"

The pursuer looked at the middle-aged man with a regretful gaze and drew a slender ninja sword from his back.

"Captain!"

Just as the Mist Ninja jonin prepared to strike, he suddenly heard a scream filled with terror from his sensory ninja behind him:

"Enemy attack!"

A ghostly black shadow streaked through the jungle at high speed, throwing several shuriken as he approached the trio.

After the crisp clatter of shuriken colliding, two Mist Ninjas fell with blood lines across their throats. Only the remaining sensory ninja, who had been shielded in the center, escaped unharmed.

"It's an Uchiha! Don't look into his eyes!"

The sensory ninja uttered his final words before his throat was casually slashed by Uchiha Chen.

However, His sacrifice had been worth it.

The Mist Ninja Jōnin dodged Uchiha Chen's gaze the moment he heard his teammate's cry, beginning to weave hand seals at high speed.

Ox-Snake-Ram

Hidden Mist Technique!

Capable of significantly restricting the observational prowess of dōjutsu-based bloodlines, this was an essential opening move when facing ocular-jutsu users.

Thick mist instantly shrouded everything in the forest, dropping visibility to the point where one could not even see their own hand.

Still the same old routine. It might have been troublesome in the past, but I am completely different now!

Uchiha Chen sighed with a hint of disappointment and formed the Tiger seal with his hands.

[Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique]

This was originally a three-seal Fire Style jutsu, but with Uchiha Chen's proficiency, he had already simplified it to be cast with only the Tiger seal.

After a massive amount of Chakra was refined and converted into Fire Style Chakra, a torrent of scorching flames as vast as a river erupted from Uchiha Chen's mouth.

At the same time, his eyes suddenly shifted into a Mangekyō pattern, and he activated a dōjutsu.

[Flame Style: Kagutsuchi]

"Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!"

Seeing Uchiha Chen use the Great Dragon Fire Technique, the experienced Mist Ninja Jōnin immediately sought to counter the fire with a water technique, spitting out a waterfall-like stream of water.

Unfortunately, his experience was his undoing.

The erupting fire dragon reached mid-air before suddenly scattering, transforming into hundreds of tiny fire snakes. As if possessing a will of their own, they bypassed the Water Colliding Wave and swarmed toward the Mist Ninja from all directions.

Kagutsuchi, representing the ultimate mastery over the shape transformation of fire, allowed the flames to be controlled as easily as one's own limbs.

The rampant fire snakes formed a continuously constricting cage, leaving the Mist Ninja with nowhere to run, and even split off thin licks of flame that dove into the ninja's nose and mouth.

Soon, the mist dissipated, leaving nothing behind but a charred corpse.

"The seventh!"

Uchiha Chen picked up the enemy Jōnin's headband as a trophy, offered a smile to the relieved-looking patient with the white eyes, and vanished into the depths of the jungle.

This thousand-square-kilometer battlefield was a massive hunting ground, and as he grew accustomed to his dōjutsu, he was the only hunter within it.