The Worth of the Konoha White Fang

Sarutobi Keita had not even finished sharing his gossip when Uchiha Soujin returned.

Uchiha Chiho followed behind him with her head lowered, looking rather downcast.

Uchiha Soujin walked straight toward the three Jōnin. As he passed the campfire, he shot Sarutobi Keita a fierce glare, apparently having heard what he had said earlier.

Before long, night had fully fallen.

Since they would begin patrolling at daybreak, they turned in early.

The three teams took turns standing watch.

Team 12 had the first watch.

The four of them huddled around the campfire for warmth. Winter nights were exceptionally cold; even with Shiraha's physique, he wanted to crawl into a tent as soon as possible.

"Shiraha, I heard that during Lord Tsunade's creation of the Medical Scroll, you also played a major role. Is that true?"

Hyuga Hideto rubbed his hands for warmth as he asked casually.

As a genius ninja from the Hyuga clan's Branch Family, he was not good at socializing. Yet the Main Family had ordered him to build a good relationship with Shiraha. Though he did not know the exact reason, he had no choice but to comply.

It was just that he truly could not find a topic to discuss.

"This was the achievement of Lord Tsunade and the entire Medical Corps. As one of its members, I merely did what I was supposed to do." Shiraha smiled. It was a textbook answer that said nothing at all.

Hyuga Hideto froze at those words, looking somewhat embarrassed. His lips parted and closed a few times, but seemingly unable to find another topic, he did not ask any further questions.

Silence fell over the group once more.

At that moment, several miles away from the camp.

Underground.

Four five-man combat squads from Iwagakure were lying in wait there.

Seeing Sunagakure fall into a disadvantage in its war with Konoha, Iwagakure, which had remained still until now, could finally no longer hold back.

After Kumogakure's Eight-Tails inexplicably went berserk and caused enormous losses, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki had turned his attention back to Konoha as well.

Although Iwagakure had suffered considerable losses in the previous war, if there was one thing Iwagakure had, it was manpower.

Twenty Iwa Ninja had been ordered to infiltrate the Land of Fire and cause chaos, probing how much strength Konoha still retained.

At the very least, they had to send Konoha the signal that Iwagakure might enter the war. At the same time, they needed to give Sunagakure hope, making them hold out a while longer and drain more of Konoha's strength, in preparation for Iwagakure's next war against Konoha.

Iwagakure's greatest mistake this time had been failing to guard against Kumogakure. Otherwise, they could have made Konoha pay a heavy price on the Land of Rain battlefield.

"Have you investigated it?"

"Yes. Judging by their numbers, they should be three Jōnin squads. But based on the Chakra strength I sensed, there are probably four Jōnin. One of them is very strong and difficult to deal with. The other eight feel like Genin and Chunin."

"Twenty against twelve. We have the same number of Jōnin, but we hold a massive advantage at the Chunin level. What do you think?"

"My suggestion is to strike first."

"That's right. At the very least, we can kill a few Genin and Chunin. Doesn't Konoha produce talents in endless numbers and enjoy training outstanding newcomers? There might even be some among them!"

"I agree. I'll handle their strongest Jōnin!"

"Good!"

With the four Iwa Jōnin reaching an agreement, they decided to launch a night raid on Konoha's Jōnin squads.

"Hm?" Oshima Shuichi, who had been leaning against a tree trunk with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

"Teacher Shuichi, what's wrong?" Shiraha asked when he noticed Oshima Shuichi's grave expression.

"I have a chilling feeling in my gut. Hideto, use your Byakugan and take a look!"

Oshima Shuichi sounded uncertain.

"Yes." Hyuga Hideto nodded. Although they were close to an outpost, whenever he stood watch, he still activated his Byakugan every hour or two to check the surroundings in case of emergencies.

Due to the Caged Bird Seal, the maximum observation radius of his Byakugan was one kilometer. Still, that distance was enough to handle the vast majority of unexpected situations.

Byakugan, activate!

In the dim yellow glow of the campfire, Shiraha noticed the veins bulging at the corners of Hyuga Hideto's eyes, making him look somewhat fierce.

"Huh?! This is bad!" Hyuga Hideto's expression abruptly changed as he cried out, "Eight hundred meters away, twenty ninja are closing in on us from all sides. They're enemies! At this Chakra level, there are at least four Jōnin!"

"Stay alert! Wake everyone up!"

Oshima Shuichi immediately rose to his feet.

Their conversation had already awakened Hatake Sakumo and Sakamoto Kouta, who had been resting. Uchiha Soujin woke next.

Shiraha and Uchiha Chiho quickly roused everyone else.

After receiving the information, Hatake Sakumo remained calm and swiftly made arrangements:

"Soujin, you and I, Shuichi, and Kouta will deal with the enemy Jōnin.

Remember! Just hold them back! I'll deal with the enemy as quickly as possible and come help you.

Everyone else, retreat to the outpost in your original team formations. Inform the ninja there and have them send reinforcements.

Prepare for battle!"

"Yes." Uchiha Soujin did not panic in the slightest. His black eyes instantly turned crimson as his Double Tomoe Sharingan activated.

Everyone followed their orders and quickly fell back.

During the retreat, Uchiha Soujin and the three Jōnin remained at the rear of the group.

"The enemy is speeding up and charging in!" Hyuga Toma warned.

"Scatter!" Hatake Sakumo gave the order, drawing the Chakra Short Sword from his back. Rather than retreating, he charged forward.

With both sides accelerating, the distance of several hundred meters vanished in an instant.

As Chakra flowed into Hatake Sakumo's short sword, it instantly turned silvery white.

Slash!

A bolt-like sword flash tore through the darkness.

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

Two screams rang out almost simultaneously.

In a single exchange, Hatake Sakumo had killed two Iwa Ninja.

The Iwa Jōnin leading the group was horrified.

The Chunin in his squad were not weak. In groups of three, they could even handle an ordinary Jōnin.

By the faint glow radiating from the Chakra Blade and the dim moonlight of the night, the Iwagakure ninja finally saw Hatake Sakumo's appearance clearly.

A silver-white Chakra Blade, a cold face, white hair, a ponytail—this was...

"This is bad! It's the Konoha White Fang!" the Iwa Jōnin cried out in shock.

The Konoha White Fang's fearsome reputation had been forged with the blood of ninja from the four great nations.

Yet now that the two sides had already clashed at close range, he could only grit his teeth and confront Hatake Sakumo.

"The rest of you, go after the retreating ninja!"

Another Iwa Jōnin gave the order.

The number of Jōnin was equal, but with the Konoha White Fang on the enemy side, victory was no longer possible.

They could only have the Chunin pursue the others to draw their attention, while the Jōnin looked for an opportunity to retreat.

As for the Chunin sent to pursue them, they could only pray for their own luck.

As Shiraha prepared to retreat, he silently recited the incantation and activated Sensory Enhancement, while his Sixth Sense also came online.

With his powerful senses and dynamic vision, he barely managed to see Hatake Sakumo's strike clearly.

Judging from their Chakra signatures, neither of the two enemies had been weak. At the very least, they were no ordinary Chunin.

Yet in the blink of an eye, they had both been instantly killed.

It was Shiraha's first time witnessing a ninja of this caliber unleash their full strength in a battle of life and death.

With the Breathing Technique and his spells, he was confident he could stand up to an ordinary Jōnin. But if he faced Hatake Sakumo's strike just now...

So this was the strength of the Konoha White Fang?

PS: The third update is done. Not bad, right? Most new books from the same period do not update as much as I do. Asking for votes in exchange for extra chapters is fine, right?