From Now On, Call Me a War Hero!

The Land of Earth is surrounded by mountains on all four sides, possessing solid rock formations that serve as a natural barrier.

This grants the Land of Earth and Iwagakure a formidable defensive advantage in military terms.

However, the drawbacks are equally obvious.

This robust defensive advantage was not constructed by Iwagakure itself, but is a product of natural conditions.

While it can ward off foreign enemies, it also leads to isolated information and inconvenient resource circulation.

After the Third Shinobi World War, Ōnoki would hire forces from other villages to keep pace with current events in the shinobi world and to carry out certain shady dealings.

But at this current juncture, it is clear that Ōnoki has chosen a simpler and more brutal path—war!

The essence of war is plunder.

Plundering land, plundering resources!

In any case, Iwagakure does not fear war; at worst, they can retreat into the territory of the Land of Earth and fight a defensive battle!

Yet, what leaves the deepest impression on Ruohuo is not Iwagakure's "belligerent" nature.

It is Iwagakure's super tactic—the "zerg rush" war model!

It is said that the Third Raikage fought ten thousand Iwagakure ninja single-handedly, battling for three days until he died of exhaustion; he was truly a hero.

But the fact that Iwagakure could still deploy so many ninja in the later stages of the war, while fighting on two fronts against Konoha and the Cloud Village, is in itself quite bizarre.

Yet, it is precisely because of this "zerg rush" tactic.

The more ninja on the front lines, the greater the demand for supplies.

Konoha's two attempts to destroy Kanabi Bridge were motivated by this very fact.

"What a... massive bridge."

Ruohuo stands atop a mountain peak, chewing on a Military Ration Pill, looking down at the stone bridge spanning the two mountains with a hint of awe.

The entire bridge looks as if it were embedded between the two peaks, with a surging, turbulent river below; the current is so fierce that even Hidden Mist ninja would likely not dare to traverse it casually.

There are quite a few Iwagakure ninja guarding both sides of the bridge; some are wrapped in bandages, and faint traces of recent combat can still be seen on the bridge deck.

"It seems the White Fang has already retreated, likely heading back to the village to get scolded."

"Did he choose to give up halfway when he saw his teammates couldn't hold on?"

"...That takes guts, though," Ruohuo mutters while conducting high-altitude reconnaissance.

Compared to the mission Minato executed, Iwagakure only has three jonin guarding this spot, and due to the lack of information, they mistook Kakashi for the White Fang, leading to a series of events...

With the war just beginning, Iwagakure has plenty of manpower, so they are naturally heavily guarded at such a strategic location.

The White Fang's mission to blow up the bridge is naturally more difficult.

But whether it is the mission Minato executed or the one the White Fang carried out.

Trying to infiltrate this place and destroy this bridge is certainly not simple.

Unless the attacker can fly and carries enough Explosive Tags.

"I didn't expect the bridge-bombing mission to fall to me..."

"It's a pity I don't know Water Severing Wave, otherwise this war hero title would basically be a freebie."

Ruohuo raises an eyebrow.

That old thief Danzo wants him dead and even tried to persuade Orochimaru to join the glorious operation of striking down the Uchiha.

Orochimaru temporarily refused Danzo and even "borrowed" his hand to burn a Root Ninja of the same rank as Aburame Ryoma to death.

Although it seems for now that Orochimaru does not want to cooperate with Danzo.

But Ruohuo knows that once Orochimaru fails his bid for Hokage, the two will likely be thick as thieves in a heartbeat.

When that time comes, he, this "blade," will naturally become a sacrificial pawn.

Orochimaru and Danzo are both chess players, playing a grand game of "Hokage contention + eradicating the Uchiha."

Ruohuo only wants to develop; he does not want to play the game. His current goal is to be the most outstanding piece on the board.

The identity of a future Uchiha clan head and a direct disciple of the Fourth Hokage line might still fall a bit short of being "the most outstanding."

But if one adds "Konoha War Hero" and "Savior of the White Fang of Konoha," then that is a different story entirely...

"Tch..."

"It seems these Explosive Tags cannot be taken back to sell for money."

Ruohuo takes inventory of the Explosive Tags; counting those given by Orochimaru and those seized along the way, there are about twenty in total.

It is not a large amount, but if he finds the right demolition points, it is enough to bring this bridge down.

Moreover, he can claim the war merit all for himself.

Because Manda is too large a target, he rushed ahead, and before leaving, he used a Great Fireball to simulate the "stinky" Fire Dragon Bullet to mock Manda.

At this moment, Manda should only be a few mountains away from the battlefield.

Traveling by land, combined with Manda's explosive temper, will surely cause quite a commotion, which should draw many Iwagakure ninja to provide support.

It was just like Minato's tactics in the future.

Minato would create a diversion to draw fire, while Kakashi's team took responsibility for blowing up the bridge.

The difference was that in Minato's case, the roles were swapped due to human error on the part of Iwagakure and Uchiha Madara.

But that situation simply did not exist here, not with him and Orochimaru involved...

"Surely no one is actually going to ignore Orochimaru—the dignified 'Cold Lord of the Konoha Sannin,' the 'provisional successor to the Fourth Hokage,' and the 'future teacher of the Uchiha clan head'—just to risk their lives protecting this bridge, right?"

"No way, right?"

Uchiha Ruohuo rubbed his hands together.

His chakra reserves had almost fully recovered.

Although he had cut his travel time down to under an hour, maintaining the Great Fire Dragon the entire way—compounded by the high-altitude air currents affecting the jutsu—had been a high-consumption journey, and the sustained drain was indeed significant.

But it wasn't a major issue.

By snacking on Military Ration Pills along the way, he had offset much of the continuous drain, and he was now back to about seventy or eighty percent.

The commotion in the distance was growing louder.

The Iwagakure ninja on the bridge had already mobilized, while the civilians transporting supplies were in the middle of an emergency retreat.

In less than five minutes, about seventy percent of the ninja on the bridge had vanished, all heading to the front lines to intercept Orochimaru.

Only a small fraction remained to maintain basic security.

"Finally, it's time for the great Grey Wolf to make his entrance!"

Uchiha Ruohuo curled his lips into a grin, stepped onto the fire dragon, adjusted his stance to a surfing posture, tilted the dragon's head downward, and initiated a dive!

"Listen up, minions!"

"I, Grey Wolf, have returned!!"

"Awooooo~~~~"

The fire dragon plummeted, and as its altitude leveled out with Kanabi Bridge, it made a sharp turn, diving under the bridge to the other side before finally circling back to the far left end—the exit point for Iwagakure's supply transport.

"Where did this brat come from!!"

"How did this kid look like he fell from the sky?"

"What kind of creature is he riding? Why does it look so much like a ninjutsu?"

"That kid has the Uchiha crest on him! He's a ninja from Konoha's Uchiha Clan!"

Clearly, no matter how isolated Iwagakure's intelligence was, they knew of Konoha and the Uchiha.

That went all the way back to a certain Shinobi World Asura who had once bullied a boy named Ōnoki while piloting a Susanoo...

"Listen well, the ninja who is going to destroy this bridge is named Uchiha Ruohuo!"

Uchiha Ruohuo had his hands ready in a seal, and the fire dragon beneath his feet circled to his side, opening its gaping maw.

"Fire Style: Double Dragon Fire!"

Whoosh—!

Two dragon fires, one to the left and one to the right, engulfed the entire bridge!

"What a terrible name; it would've been better to call it a double-barreled flamethrower... My main body really is bad at naming things."

The Shadow Clone hung upside down from the bridge, silently sticking Explosive Tags in place.

But just as the Shadow Clone was finishing up.

"What the hell?"

The main body on the bridge suddenly let out a strange cry.

"What's wrong?" The Shadow Clone finished placing the last Explosive Tag and jumped up from under the bridge.

Then, he saw a burly figure wearing red armor, steam rising from his body, who had just saved several Iwagakure ninja while carrying and dragging them to safety...

"Uchiha Ruohuo of Konoha... Very well, I have remembered your name, boy."

The Armored Giant set down the Iwagakure ninja he had been carrying and waved them off.

"You lot retreat first; leave this to me."

"I will avenge those two who sacrificed themselves..."

Clap, clap, clap—

The Shadow Clone clapped repeatedly, turned his head to look at the main body, and pointed at the bridge deck beneath their feet.

"Fine, fine, fine. We've managed to spawn a hidden boss, but I doubt there's any boss loot..."

"Good luck."

Poof— The Shadow Clone vanished.