As Soji's command of magic continued to improve, his very existence had become increasingly legendary to ordinary ninja...
This mixture of alienation and fear stemmed not only from the cognitive barrier created by the difference between magic and chakra, but also from the formidable reputation Director Yamada had built step by step!
—My hero, their enemy.
As comrades, many active Konoha ninja, including Erina and Todo, perhaps found it difficult to directly grasp the oppression brought by the title "Heart-Eroding Child." After all, those unfathomable methods and schemes that saw through human hearts had never been used against them without disguise.
In contrast, Yamada Soji's infamy was known to every potential opponent.
The Jingu Forest fire...
The encirclement at Riverside Market...
The battle for the One-Tailed Shukaku...
More terrifying than all those brilliant achievements was Yamada Soji's dreadful success rate—he had never failed since his debut!
Every operation he had planned and led over the past two or three years, regardless of scale, had ultimately brought Konoha clear gains. This strike-without-missing strategic deterrence left commanders in hostile camps feeling as though they sat on pins and needles!
After all, most people could never know what sort of careful assessments Director Yamada had made before each operation, nor through what complex exchanges of interests he had found sufficient allies...
From an observer's perspective, all they saw was that young face, forever frivolous and smiling without quite smiling...
The chilling experience of never being able to probe an opponent's limits greatly increased the mental burden on enemy leaders!
What was more, Ibuse, his body covered in wounds, had already reached both his psychological and physical limits...
This warlord, who had struggled against fate all his life and never lightly surrendered even at the end of the road, looked through a vision blurred