Rising Reputation

One month later.

Land of Rain, Konoha command post.

"In just one month... to achieve this level!"

"Is this the talent of the Uchiha clan..."

"No, it should be said that he is worthy of being a disciple of Lord Orochimaru and a direct student of the Hokage!"

Inside the command post, the ninjas discussed loudly while looking at the intelligence reports sent back from the front lines.

A Konoha ninja unfurled a scroll and couldn't help but read aloud.

"September 17th, Genin Uchiha Kamizuki encountered the 14th Puppet Squad of Sunagakure, consisting of three puppeteers equipped with eleven puppets. The battle lasted approximately four minutes."

"Battle result: total annihilation!"

"Three puppeteers killed, all puppets destroyed, Kaminazuki Squad suffered zero casualties."

Puppeteers are not ordinary Sunagakure foot soldiers; a puppeteer with two or more puppets is considered to have the combat strength of a Chunin.

Based on the number of puppets, at least one of these three was a high-level puppeteer. Such a configuration would win more often than not even against a Konoha Chunin squad.

Yet, they were wiped out by a two-man Genin team...

"September 15th... raided a Sunagakure outpost, killed Sunagakure Jonin Kaiji, held off the pursuit force for half an hour, killed six people, and retreated safely..."

This was a bit absurd.

Theoretically, the gap between a Jonin and a Genin is greater than that between a human and a dog.

Even in Iwagakure, which has the most ninjas, the promotion to Jonin is very cautious. Every Jonin must be a recognized elite with considerable authority.

Strictly speaking, the "Kage" of each village are only at the Jonin level.

And this wasn't a sneak attack or a situation where the Sunagakure Jonin was in poor condition.

That guy forced his way into a Sunagakure outpost to kill!

"I'm saying... could it be that the Uchiha are exerting their influence, helping in secret to stack battle merits for him?"

A ninja spoke up, and the command room went quiet for a moment.

It was indeed possible; after all, these battle records were increasingly outrageous, and the only witness was that brat from the Nara clan.

A powerful clan like the Uchiha could easily send people to kill Sunagakure ninjas in secret and hand the corpses over to Kamizuki to exchange for battle merits.

There were many veterans here who had experienced the First Shinobi World War, and such things had happened before.

However, in that incident, the ones farming battle merits were a non-Uchiha dojutsu clan from Konoha.

When they were caught, they claimed it was for the sake of the main family, arguing that it was reasonable for the battle merits to belong to the main family.

I remember that the non-Uchiha dojutsu clan was dealt with quite harshly by the Second Hokage at the time.

"Uchiha..." A Jonin with a scar on his face shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Their pride would not allow it."

"But he is only ten years old; killing a Jonin is just too fake!"

"If it's young Kamizuki, it's not exactly fake."

The heavy curtain was pulled open, and a head of white hair came into view.

"Lord Sakumo!"

"Jonin Hatake!"

"You're back, Sakumo."

Sakumo walked into the tent and nodded as a greeting.

Usually, he would joke around with his companions, but he looked very exhausted at this moment.

The scarred Jonin who spoke earlier raised an eyebrow: "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 the fastest promotion to Jonin might be broken by him soon."

"A ten-year-old with two-tomoe Sharingan, it is indeed very possible." The scarred Jonin leaned back in his chair, his fierce face looking a bit scary when he smiled.

"Since you say so..."

"I was still hesitating whether to promote him to Chunin during wartime. After all, it's only been a little over a month since he registered as a ninja; this is too fast."

Sakumo sat down beside him, looked at the intelligence on the table, and gasped.

"Hiss—I heard he had done quite a few things, but this is too terrifying!"

The Kaminazuki in his memories was absolutely not this strong; could his combat power have truly exploded in such a short time?

Wait...

Sakumo caught the key point and stared at the scarred jonin: "Brother Morino, what did you just say? Two-Tomoe!?"

Morino Takeshiyama frowned: "You didn't know?"

"Awakening a Two-Tomoe at ten is indeed a gifted talent, but surely that isn't enough to surprise you this much?"

Sakumo fell silent.

It was different; according to that guy's own words, his single tomoe was stronger than two...

If the intensity were doubled based on that time, he would understand why Kaminazuki was capable of the feats mentioned in the intelligence report.

Even a genius like him couldn't help but feel...

The power gap of the Uchiha was truly unreasonable!

He shook his head, casting aside his chaotic thoughts.

He took a scroll from his bosom, and as it unfurled, the expression of the jonin Ibiki darkened.

Iwagakure forces were entering the Land of Rain in large numbers, the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure seemed to have shown signs of appearing, Kumogakure was restless, and Hanzo of the Land of Rain intended to launch a counterattack against the invading ninjas...

Every single item was critical intelligence capable of changing the situation on the battlefield.

Sakumo took a deep breath and said in a low voice: "Please transmit this intelligence back to the village. There is one piece of information I am particularly concerned about and need to verify."

Morino Takeshiyama nodded: "Be careful on the road."

Late at night, in the Rain-Drenched Sand Realm.

On a red sandy slope, a campfire crackled, a large pot was set up, and the aroma of meat wafted through the air.

Shikaku had already grown accustomed to Kaminazuki's style of doing things and lacked the energy to complain about this highly conspicuous midnight barbecue.

This was very different from the battlefield life of sleeping in the open that he had imagined.

Kaminazuki didn't just want cooked food; he was even rigorous about the seasoning, fully equipped with pots and pans, and even particular about... caramelizing the meat?

He felt that Choza would definitely love teaming up with Kaminazuki.

Seeing Kaminazuki sprinkle red powder into the soup pot, Shikaku could no longer hold back.

"That is Red Antler Powder that can be used to make top-tier medicinal pills, a gift for your promotion to chunin!"

"I can't even bear to use it myself, and you're actually using it as a condiment!!"

Kaminazuki poured half of it in without a care, then tipped the remaining half-jar directly into his mouth.

He swallowed the bitterness with a grimace and clicked his tongue.

"Tastes terrible, might as well have dumped the whole thing in!"

The Nara clan had been a family of deer breeders since the Warring States period; the antlers they produced were top-tier medicinal materials in the ninja world and the core family for pharmaceutical production in the Konoha medical system.

Feeling the subtle changes within his body, Kaminazuki turned to look at Shikaku: "Nothing special. Does your family have anything purer?"

A normal person eating Red Antler Powder directly like this would definitely spray blood from their nose; their body simply couldn't withstand it.

This body... it was a human-shaped monster.

Shikaku shook his head helplessly: "Red Antler Powder is already the highest grade available normally. Higher-grade Black Antler depends on luck; you might not see one in decades."

Kaminazuki thought of something and said casually: "Are the Three-Colored Pills of the Akimichi clan made by you?"

"No, that is their family secret medicine. The Nara clan's secret medicine can only eliminate a portion of the Three-Colored Pill's side effects."

"The side effects of the Chili Pill are too great; even with our secret medicine, the mortality rate is still very high."

As he spoke, he looked up at Kaminazuki: "If it were you, you might be able to withstand the side effects of the Chili Pill."

The Chili Pill could stimulate a hundred times the human body's potential, granting extreme combat power in a short time, but it would severely overdraw bodily functions and carried a high probability of death.

Kaminazuki thought for a moment and shook his head: "That thing is useless to me."

There was a jutsu very similar to the effects of the Chili Pill.

That was the Eight Inner Gates Formation.