Possibilities!

"Damn Konoha brats..."

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth.

Shita Genichi snorted and kicked the middle-aged man unconscious.

When he turned to look again, Hatake Sakumo and the other two had already finished their fights.

Two corpses lay beside Uchiha Namiichi. Shita Genichi saw that his eyes had unmistakably become a Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

There was also one corpse beside Yamanaka En.

Two lay beside Hatake Sakumo.

Then footsteps sounded. Shita Genichi looked toward the village entrance, where another Hatake Sakumo was approaching with two people in hand.

There had been exactly eight enemies.

Clearly, Yamanaka En, as a Sensory Ninjutsu user, had discovered long ago that the enemy had split into two groups.

So Hatake Sakumo had stayed behind near the village entrance.

Poof!

Hatake Sakumo dropped the two enemies, and their bodies burst into smoke with a poof.

The one waiting near the village entrance had been a Shadow Clone.

Shita Genichi had thought the one here was the Shadow Clone.

But after a moment's thought, he understood.

To be safe, Hatake Sakumo's real body had stayed here so he could come to his subordinates' aid if anything went wrong.

Especially in his case, as a newcomer.

"Genichi, well done!"

Hatake Sakumo praised him with a smile.

Shita Genichi had taken down two men on his own.

One had used a sword, and the other Water Release.

He had also chosen to use a Water Clone from the start, keeping his real body hidden. It had been an excellent way to handle the situation.

Hatake Sakumo had seen this, which was why he had let one enemy engage Shita Genichi.

He had also noticed that Shita Genichi was quite skilled with a blade.

His Draw-Sword Strike had been excellent, and it had caught Hatake Sakumo's eye.

"My speed was still a bit slow. I didn't avoid that Wind Release technique."

Shita Genichi replied modestly.

"Langyi, a clone is meant to lure the enemy, isn't it?"

Shita Genichi's performance had impressed him, too.

He didn't seem like a rookie who had just graduated from the Academy. He was so proficient that he seemed like an old hand, just like the Ninjutsu he had mastered.

"Langyi, En, you're in charge of interrogating them for information."

"These men are all ninjas from the Sky Ninja Village."

Hatake Sakumo said.

The Sky Ninja Village.

Shita Genichi suddenly understood.

He remembered that this village had apparently been destroyed by the Land of Fire during the Second Shinobi World War.

Later, they would also attempt to assassinate Danzo, who was on his way to attend the Five Kage Summit.

In the movie, they even attacked Konoha.

And there was the Zero-Tails...

The Zero-Tails!

Shita Genichi's eyelid twitched.

Did the Sky Ninja Village have the Zero-Tails now?

Could he take it for himself and try becoming the Zero-Tails Jinchuriki?

The Zero-Tails might be weak, but it wouldn't lack for chakra.

And as a mass of Dark Chakra, as long as darkness existed, its chakra would be inexhaustible.

Could the world of shinobi ever lack darkness?

As his thoughts raced, Shita Genichi had already come up with a plan.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Namiichi and Yamanaka En had begun interrogating the prisoners.

Half an hour later, the interrogation was over, and Uchiha Namiichi executed the three prisoners on the spot.

Shita Genichi watched without reacting.

What else were they supposed to do—keep them around for dinner?

After lighting another bonfire, Uchiha Namiichi and Yamanaka En took turns telling Hatake Sakumo and Shita Genichi what they had learned.

"They have another base in the mountains. There are thirteen ninjas left, but only one Jonin."

"This is just one base belonging to the remnants of the Sky Ninja Village. They probably have others, but these three didn't know about them."

"This was a trap. They deliberately lured our Konoha ninja squad here."

Normally, a mission like this wouldn't have brought a powerful shinobi like Hatake Sakumo.

It would usually have been handled by a squad of Chunin.

After all, Konoha had rated the mission only C-rank.

Now, it clearly needed to be upgraded.

After hearing the report, Hatake Sakumo immediately decided, "We'll rest for the night and enter the mountains tomorrow."

Shita Genichi and the other two nodded. "Yes!"

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Shita Genichi and the others set off into the mountains.

The remnants' base was easy to find. Following the tracks left by the eight men the day before, they soon found a valley.

A row of wooden houses had been built beside a stream.

Hidden among the trees on one side of the valley, Yamanaka En used Sensory Ninjutsu. A moment later, he gave the signal.

Thirteen people. That was right.

Hatake Sakumo nodded, then signaled to Shita Genichi.

There was a stream nearby. Attack with water!

Shita Genichi nodded slightly, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

Inside the valley.

Shita Genichi landed on the surface of the stream, then spread his hands and formed the "za" seal. Immediately after, he brought his hands together.

The water beneath his feet began to spiral upward, swirling around his body.

The stream kept draining away, and the commotion grew louder and louder.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Figures shot out of the wooden houses and landed on their rooftops.

"It's Konoha!"

The remnants of the Sky Ninja Village immediately spotted the Forehead Protector Shita Genichi wore.

Shita Genichi swept both hands forward, and the spiraling water surged ahead with a rumble.

Water Style: Water Shockwave!

But the spectacle looked more like Kisame's Exploding Water Colliding Wave.

The torrent crashed into the wooden houses, shattering and toppling them.

The Sky Ninja leaped up one after another, then landed on the water's surface.

Just then, fireballs appeared overhead and came hurtling down.

"Watch out!"

The Sky Ninja shouted and scattered again to dodge.

Rumble!

The fireballs slammed into the water, sending up billowing clouds of steam.

Shita Genichi formed another set of hand seals.

In-Si-Yin!

The water surged upward and took the shape of a water dragon. With a howl, it caught one Sky Ninja who had leaped into the air in its jaws, then plunged its head down and knocked another one flying as well.

Taking advantage of the rolling steam, two figures charged into the group, one after the other.

Hatake Sakumo was at the front. Wherever his brilliant white blade flashed, the Sky Ninja fell.

After killing three men, Hatake Sakumo reached the Sky Ninja Jonin. A dense clangor of clashing blades rang out.

Shita Genichi had no time to pay attention to the others. Two Sky Ninja charged at him.

They considered the boy an especially great threat.

Shita Genichi stood still, his hands weaving through seals so quickly they left afterimages.

Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!

Their vision was sealed off. Shita Genichi raised a hand and threw several shuriken, but all of them were deflected.

The two Sky Ninja stopped and stood back-to-back, on guard.

Clap, clap, clap!

Shita Genichi ran across the water, feinted to draw them one way, then struck from another. His Draw-Sword Strike killed one of them.

The other man felt his comrade fall and was instantly terrified. He roared, "Konoha brat, you bastard! Come out!"

"I'll kill you for sure!"

Still shouting, he formed hand seals and spat out a roaring fireball.

But it clearly missed.

Shita Genichi closed in and attacked from different directions, testing his opponent.

This threw the Sky Ninja even further off balance. He swung his sword wildly, giving Shita Genichi an easy opening. One slash ended it.

He had killed four men with ease.

The fight was over by now, too.

Corpses lay scattered across the soaking-wet ground.

Yamanaka En emerged from the woods and gave Shita Genichi a thumbs-up.

Shita Genichi smiled, then flicked his blade back into its sheath.

With water around, he really could fight on a different level.

In a dry environment, his chakra reserves would never have been enough to perform Water Release on such a large scale.

Well, he could still do it, but afterward he'd be completely drained.