One month later.
Land of Rain, Konoha Command Center.
"Just one month... and he already achieved this much?!"
"Is this the Uchiha clan's talent...?"
"No, I should say, as expected of Lord Orochimaru's disciple and the Hokage's direct successor!"
Inside the command center, the ninja loudly discussed the intelligence sent back from the front lines.
A Konoha ninja unfurled a scroll and could not help reading it aloud.
"September 17th. Genin Uchiha Kamizuki encountered the fourteenth squad of Sunagakure's puppet corps: three puppet masters equipped with eleven puppets. The battle lasted approximately four minutes."
"Battle result: total annihilation!"
"The three puppet masters were killed, all puppets destroyed. Neither member of Kamizuki Squad suffered casualties."
Puppet masters were not ordinary Sunagakure grunts. Any puppet master possessing more than two puppets was generally considered to have Chunin-level combat strength.
Judging by the number of puppets, at least one of the three had been a high-level puppet master. Such a lineup would have held the advantage even against a Konoha Chunin squad.
Yet they had been wiped out by a two-man Genin team...
"September 15th... Assaulted a Sunagakure outpost, killed Sunagakure Jonin Kaiji, resisted the pursuing force for half an hour, killed six enemies, and withdrew safely..."
That was a little absurd.
In theory, the gap between a Jonin and a Genin was greater than the gap between a human and a dog.
Even Iwagakure, the village with the largest number of ninja, was extremely cautious about promoting Jonin. Every Jonin had to be a recognized elite with considerable authority.
Strictly speaking, every village's "Kage" was only at Jonin level as well.
And this had not been an ambush, a chance encounter, or a case where the Sunagakure Jonin had been in poor condition.
That kid had barged straight into a Sunagakure outpost and killed someone!
"Say... could the Uchiha have secretly lent him a hand, piling up military merits for him?"
One ninja spoke up, and the command room fell quiet for a moment.
It was indeed possible. Those accomplishments grew more outrageous by the report, and there had only been one witness—the Nara clan kid.
A great clan like the Uchiha could easily send people to secretly kill Sunagakure ninja, then hand the bodies to Kamizuki so he could exchange them for military merits.
Quite a few people here were veterans of the First Shinobi World War. Things like that had happened before.
Though in that incident, the ones farming merits had been a certain Konoha ocular-jutsu clan that was not the Uchiha.
Even after they were exposed, they claimed they had been serving the main family, so naturally the merits should belong to the main family.
They remembered that the Second had dealt with that non-Uchiha ocular-jutsu clan rather harshly.
"The Uchiha..." A scar-faced Jonin shook his head and said gravely, "Their pride would never allow it."
"But he's only ten. Killing a Jonin is far too unbelievable!"
"If it's Kamizuki, it isn't unbelievable."
The heavy tent flap was pulled aside, revealing a head of white hair.
"Lord Sakumo!"
"Hatake Jonin!"
"You're back, Sakumo."
Sakumo walked into the tent and nodded in greeting.
Normally, he would smile and joke with his companions, but he looked exhausted now.
The scar-faced Jonin who had spoken earlier raised his brows. "You know him?"
Sakumo smiled. "Orochimaru asked me to teach him for a few days. That kid is an incredible monster!"
"The record I hold for becoming a Jonin may very well be broken by him soon."
"A ten-year-old with two tomoe... it really is possible." The scar-faced Jonin leaned back in his chair. When his fierce face smiled, it was somewhat frightening.
"Since even you say so..."
"I was originally hesitating over whether to promote him to Chunin during wartime. After all, it has only been a little over a month since he registered as a ninja. That's far too fast."
Sakumo sat down beside him, looked over the intelligence on the table, and drew a sharp breath.
"Hiss—I'd heard he had done quite a bit, but this is terrifying!"
The Kamizuki in his memories had definitely not been this strong. Had his combat power really exploded in such a short time?
Wait...
Sakumo caught the key point and looked at the scar-faced Jonin. "Brother Morino I, what did you just say? Two tomoe?!"
Morino I frowned. "You didn't know?"
"Awakening two tomoe at ten is indeed extraordinarily gifted, but it shouldn't surprise you this much, should it?"
Sakumo fell silent.
It was different. By that guy's own account, one of his tomoe was stronger than two...
If his strength had doubled from back then, Sakumo could understand why Kamizuki had accomplished everything in those reports.
Even a genius like him could not help feeling...
The Uchiha's leaps in strength really made no sense!
He shook his head, casting aside the tangled thoughts.
He took a scroll from his robes. As it unfurled, Jonin Ibiki's expression darkened.
Large Iwagakure forces had entered the Land of Rain. Signs indicated that Sunagakure's Third Kazekage might have appeared. Kumogakure was stirring restlessly. Hanzo of the Land of Rain intended to launch a counterattack against the invading ninja...
Each piece was critical intelligence capable of changing the situation on the battlefield.
Sakumo took a deep breath and said gravely, "Please send this intelligence back to the village. There is one piece of information I'm particularly concerned about, and I need to verify it."
Morino Takeshiyama nodded. "Be careful on the road."
Late at night, Rain-Drenched Sand Realm.
A campfire crackled atop a slope of red sand. A large pot hung over it, and the aroma of meat drifted through the air.
Shikaku had already grown accustomed to Kamizuki's style of doing things, leaving him powerless to complain about such a conspicuous midnight barbecue.
This was completely unlike the harsh, improvised battlefield life he had imagined.
Kamizuki did not merely insist on cooked food—he was meticulous even with the seasonings. Pots, bowls, ladles, everything was complete, and he even cared about something called... caramel coloring for the meat?
Shikaku felt that Choza would definitely enjoy being teamed with Kamizuki.
When he saw Kamizuki sprinkle red medicinal powder into the soup pot, Shikaku could no longer hold back.
"This is Red Antler Powder, which can be used to make top-grade pills! It was your gift for being promoted to Chunin!"
"I usually can't even bear to use it, and you're using it as seasoning?!"
Kamizuki casually poured in half of it, then tipped the remaining half-can straight into his mouth.
He forced himself to swallow the bitterness, then clicked his tongue.
"It tastes awful. I might as well have dumped it all in!"
Since the Warring States era, the Nara clan had raised deer. The antlers they produced were top-grade medicinal materials in the Shinobi World and formed the core of Konoha's medical pharmaceutical system.
Feeling the subtle changes within his body, Kamizuki turned to Shikaku. "Not bad. Does your family have anything purer?"
If an ordinary person ate Red Antler Powder directly like this, they would definitely start gushing blood from their nose. Their body simply could not withstand it.
This body... was he some kind of humanoid monster?
Shikaku helplessly shook his head. "Red Antler Powder is already the highest normal grade. Higher than that is Black Antler, and that depends on luck. It might not appear even once in several decades."
Kamizuki thought of something and asked casually, "Are the Akimichi clan's Three-Colored Pills made by your family?"
"No. Those are their clan's secret medicine. The Nara clan's secret medicine can only eliminate some of the Three-Colored Pill's side effects."
"The Chili Pill's side effects are too severe. Even with our secret medicine, the mortality rate remains very high."
As he spoke, he looked up at Kamizuki. "If it's you, you might be able to endure the Chili Pill's side effects."
The Chili Pill could unleash a hundred times the body's potential, granting tremendous combat strength for a short period, but it severely overtaxed the body's functions and carried a considerable chance of death.
Kamizuki thought for a moment, then shook his head. "That thing is useless to me."
There was a technique with an effect similar to the Chili Pill.
The Eight Inner Gates Formation.
Before you continue