Chapter 12

Orochimaru's pupils suddenly contracted. Interesting. This Uchiha brat could actually talk like a person.

"Graduated for half a year, and you already dare come here to die?" His voice coiled around him like a snake's tongue. "Or perhaps..." He suddenly leaned close to the bloodied palm of the boy's hand. "You think you're special?"

Saitama abruptly raised his head, his Sharingan glimmering faintly in the darkness.

"The battlefield is the best training ground, isn't it, sir?"

As the tent flap fell, Orochimaru remembered this boy with abnormally abundant chakra. War was like a sieve; only those who survived were specimens worth collecting—especially the hunger burning in those eyes, so identical to his own.

On the supply line before dawn, Saitama was inspecting his blades. Supplies in a ninja war were never piled into mountains; they were transported in rotation along seven concealed routes. Today, he was assigned to guard a three-kilometer pass on the third branch route. Rumor had it that Sand Village puppet masters had wiped out a Cloud Village transfer station next door just last week.

The kunai spun between his fingers, leaving afterimages. Gazing at the mist-shrouded canyon, the boy suddenly found himself looking forward to someone trying to rob the convoy.

Saitama's squad had four members. They included Kawaki, a Konoha chunin around thirty who specialized in Earth Release; Sodo Ryu, a chunin proficient in Leaf Style swordsmanship; and Hyuga Shu, a chunin from the Hyuga branch family. Though Saitama was only a genin, his strength had already reached chunin level. There were three patrol squads like this near the supply lines, and Saitama's was merely one of them.

As captain, Kawaki had abundant combat experience, and his tactical judgment far surpassed that of his teammates. Rumor had it that he had once—

A bead of cold sweat appeared at Kawaki's temple. Time had given him experience, but it had also brought the ties of family, making him increasingly cautious. He no longer dared to stake everything on a single gamble as he once had.

The Sand Village pursuers drew closer. At their head was unmistakably a jonin, followed by several elite chunin. Faced with such a disparity in strength, a trace of retreat flashed in Kawaki's eyes—rather than die here, it would be better to bring back the intelligence that Sand Village had dispatched a jonin to intercept the supply line.

He swiftly signaled his companions. "Retreat! We can't fight them head-on!" Saitama understood the gesture. Just as everyone was about to withdraw, the Sand ninja suddenly accelerated toward their hiding place.

"Go!" Kawaki barked, his body shooting backward.

"Konoha rats, you think you can still run?" The Sand Village jonin chased after them with a vicious grin. Thanks to the scout in their team, this credit was practically his for the taking—there were only four Konoha ninja, and the strongest among them were merely chunin.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" The howling gale forced them to turn and meet it, and their chance to break through vanished in an instant. Kawaki formed hand seals and roared, "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" With a thunderous boom, an earthen wall surged from the ground. It swayed precariously under the tearing winds, but barely managed to block the lethal attack.

Saitama gripped his sword hilt, his gaze fixed on the enemy. The Sand Village jonin was a burly, dark-skinned man, followed by two sharp-eyed young ninja. They were clearly all battle-hardened veterans.

"Leave none alive!" The jonin charged straight for Kawaki, and battle erupted in an instant. Kawaki and Sodo Ryu joined forces against the jonin, while Saitama and Hyuga Shu each faced one of the chunin.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Saitama struck first, sending a blazing fireball roaring forward. His opponent hurriedly formed seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!" Yet when the wind blades struck the fireball, they vanished without a trace, while the flames continued hurtling toward the Sand ninja.

(The smoke of battle spread through the forest.)

"How is that possible?!" The Sand ninja had thought that attack would at least cancel out Saitama's offensive, but his ninjutsu was instantly crushed. He swiftly dodged aside, his expression darkening.

"Whoosh!" A blade wrapped in lightning tore through the air, its blinding electric glare making his vision swim!

The instant Saitama released his ninjutsu, he had already rushed forward.

"Clang!" The Sand ninja raised a kunai to block, but it could not stop the lightning surging along the blade.

"Crackle!" The current raced up his arm through the kunai.

"Bang!" The Sand ninja viciously kicked Saitama away, using the force to retreat while abandoning his kunai.

After sliding back several meters, his right arm was already charred black and completely numb. Had he been half a second slower, he would likely have died on the spot.

Konoha has someone this powerful? The Sand ninja was inwardly shocked, but he did not dare stop moving.

"Whoosh!" Saitama's blade followed him like a shadow. The weapon in his hand was no longer an ordinary iron sword, but a chakra-conducting blade gifted to him by Captain Uchiha Fugaku. His old sword had adapted too poorly to chakra; this new one was forged with special metal, and its edge became even sharper as lightning flowed over it.

"Whoosh!" The instant the Sand ninja leaped into the air to evade, the blade traced a full-moon arc toward him.

"Splash!" The struck figure burst into a rain of sand.

Saitama's blade point abruptly turned toward the ground to the side—the Sand ninja was curled up there, still struggling to catch his breath.

"Crackle!" Lightning snakes danced along the blade as he stared coldly at his prey.

Mercy was self-destruction. Saitama had no desire to drag this out. A swift end would let him support his companions and escape danger.

"Boom!" The Sand ninja narrowly dodged the slash, only to take a heavy kick to the chest that sent him flying like a kite with its string cut, smashing through a tree trunk behind him.

"Slash!" The blade descended again, and the corner of Saitama's lips lifted.

The Sand ninja had already lost the strength to defend himself, yet at this moment, he erupted with astonishing ferocity.

"Splurt!" A severed arm fell to the ground as a mist of blood sprayed out. The maimed figure staggered backward.

"Urgh—!" The Sand ninja's face twisted grotesquely. With his remaining arm, he clutched the charred stump tightly, his howl tinged with madness.

Not far away, Hyuga Shu was locked in a bitter fight with a chunin specializing in taijutsu. His opponent was swift as the wind, making the intricate techniques of the Gentle Fist difficult to employ.

The Sand Village ninja suddenly spun around, kicking apart Hyuga Shu's attack. When he saw what had happened on Saitama's side, his pupils sharply contracted.

"Yamabara!" Xiu cried out, his voice trembling.

Saitama's combat boot crushed heavily onto Yamabara's chest, and blood gushed from the man's mouth. He looked coldly at the enemy who had lost all ability to fight, then drove his sword into his heart without hesitation. Yamabara's body convulsed violently before going completely limp.

As Saitama pulled out the bloodstained blade, his gaze collided with Xiu's across the distance.

"Bastard!" Xiu roared and charged over, chakra exploding beneath his feet in bursts of air.

The Sand Village jonin's expression changed drastically in the distance. What had been an effortless game of cat and mouse had now cost him one man. He abruptly accelerated, his kunai leaving afterimages as wounds continued to multiply across Kawaki and Sodo Ryu's bodies.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Saitama stepped back half a pace, his hands forming seals as they brought forth scorching waves of flame. Fireballs rained down like meteors, but Xiu weaved through the fiery storm with bizarre footwork. Sand Village's distinctive Body Flicker Technique turned him into a blurred shadow, and he was just about to break through the net of flames.

The crisp crash of metal colliding rang out. Saitama's ninja sword smashed Xiu to his knees, Lightning Release chakra surging violently down the blade. Xiu screamed amid the smell of scorched flesh as he convulsed and was kicked away.

Lightning danced across the blade. Just as Saitama was about to finish his opponent, a dark shadow tore through the air toward him. That kick came too quickly; all he felt was agonizing pain exploding in his chest before he crashed through a massive tree and finally stopped.

Leaning against the broken trunk, Saitama wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The Sand Village jonin slowly emerged from the shadows, rotating his ankle.

"Are you all right, Saitama?" Hyuga Shu hurried over, warily scanning the surroundings to guard against another surprise attack.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Saitama lightly pressed the spot where he had been kicked. A dull pain lingered there; his internal organs might have been injured.

With one hand gripping his sword and the other braced against the tree trunk, he gritted his teeth and stood.

Against a powerful enemy, the only way to survive was to fight to the bitter end!

Kawaki and Sodo Ryu, who had previously been holding off the jonin, also rushed over.

Just as Saitama was about to kill the other Sand ninja, the jonin had suddenly erupted with chakra, instantly wounding Kawaki and Sodo Ryu before charging at Saitama with lightning speed. Before anyone could react, he had delivered a vicious kick.

"Hmph, I underestimated you Konoha ninja!" The jonin named Shaji wore a strange smile.

"But today, every one of you will die!" Before his words had faded, chakra surged around Shaji, and his aura abruptly changed.

"Whoosh!" Shaji's figure suddenly vanished. "Watch out!" Two tomoe appeared in Saitama's eyes. Barely catching the enemy's movements, he hurriedly shouted a warning.

"Bang!" With a single punch, Shaji sent Kawaki flying.

"Pfft!" Kawaki sprayed blood in midair and lost consciousness the moment he hit the ground.

"Bang!" Another kick landed on Sodo Ryu's blade, sending him flying several yards away.

Having learned from the previous attack, Sodo Ryu instinctively raised his sword to block.

The blade absorbed part of the force. Though Sodo Ryu crashed into a tree and fainted, his injuries were lighter.

"Heh heh!" Shaji sneered as he turned toward Saitama.

Saitama's pupils shrank, his entire body tensing. Hyuga Shu took up a defensive stance, while the tomoe in Saitama's eyes spun rapidly as he pushed his Sharingan to its limit.

"Thud, thud, thud!" Shaji rushed forward, sweeping a kick straight at Saitama's head with a piercing shriek through the air.

"Bang!" Even with the Sharingan's aid, Saitama could barely see its trajectory, but his body could not keep up with the speed. In his haste, he could only curl up and endure the blow!

The kick slammed heavily into Saitama's right side, blasting both him and Hyuga Shu away. The two smashed through the rock wall behind them.

"Pfft!" Saitama spat up bloody foam. His ribs seemed to be broken, and the fragments were likely piercing his internal organs.

"Saitama, are we going to die?" Hyuga Shu weakly leaned against Saitama's shoulder, his voice hoarse. Though he had evaded Shaji's first wave of attacks, he became Saitama's cushion when they were blasted away and bore the ensuing impact.

This was the most dangerous situation Saitama had faced since graduating—life and death hung by a thread!

Before Hyuga Shu had even finished speaking, he fainted. Of the four squad members, only Saitama remained conscious.

"Kid, why aren't you acting so cocky now?" Not far away, Xiu sat slumped against a tree. Having barely recovered some strength, he sneered provocatively.

"Heh." Saitama spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, too lazy to pay attention to such small fry.

Shaji stepped forward slowly over the fine sand, a cruel curve hanging on his lips.

"Konoha trash, I'll send you to meet the First Hokage now!" He suddenly stopped and formed seals, completing the technique in an instant. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

The compressed air projectile howled toward him, and Shaji's eyes were filled with the pleasure of a cat playing with a mouse. He was obsessed with the despair in his prey's eyes—

But in the next second, he froze.

There was not the slightest panic in Saitama's eyes. Instead, they burned with a resolute flame. More strangely... those spinning tomoe!

Crackle!

Lightning suddenly erupted! Saitama trembled as he rose to his feet, his long sword splitting apart the air bullet with a flash of lightning. As though he had never been injured, he assumed a battle stance.

"I wanted to wait until this move was perfected before using it..." Saitama pointed his blade directly at Shaji. Lightning snakes writhed wildly around him, and though he was drenched in blood, he looked like a god wielding thunder itself. "But I can only try it early."

"How is that possible?!" Xiu's eyes widened. Shaji stared at the lightning dancing over Saitama's body and growled uncertainly, "Lightning Release Chakra Mode?! That's clearly a secret technique of Cloud Village—"

Whoosh!

Suppressing the agonizing pain, Saitama charged forward. His blade carved an upward half-moon of lightning. Amid the explosive roar of air being torn apart, the might of thunder erupted!

"Crackle!" "Crackle!" As lightning flashed, Saitama crazily drove his Lightning Release chakra, forcibly activating every cell in his body. The basic Lightning Release Chakra Mode had only just taken shape, yet he could not wait to launch a ferocious assault.

"Clang!" Shaji blocked the descending blade with one palm. Even as lightning snakes raced across his arm, the Sand Village jonin did not so much as furrow his brow.

"Ridiculous. You think this much is enough to defeat a jonin?" Shaji sneered and raised his leg, driving his combat boot heavily into Saitama's chest.

The sickening crack of bones breaking rang out. The boy was sent flying like a ragged sack, his katana slipping from his grasp. Another mouthful of blood sprayed out, and Saitama realized in despair that even with the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, the gap between him and a jonin remained impossible to overcome.

Seeing his opponent close his eyes and await death, Shaji raised his kunai with a vicious grin. Then his pupils abruptly contracted—the prey who should have been at death's door retreated like a ghost, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.

"Sharingan genjutsu interference?" Shaji's breathing grew heavy. The Two-Tomoe Sharingan he had dismissed before was now causing his movements to repeatedly falter.

"Die, damn it!" The enraged jonin launched a flying kick, carving a deep trench into the ground with the blast of air. At the critical moment, dazzling lightning burst from Saitama's body, and he rolled away from the killing blow.

"My turn!" The boy sprang up with the momentum, his electrified whip kick ripping through the air and striking Shaji squarely in the thigh. The stench of scorched flesh spread as the Sand Village jonin shot into the forest like a cannonball.

When Shaji dragged his charred right leg out of the wreckage, his entire face was twisted into something terrifying. "You little bastard..." He cursed through bloody foam, only to discover even more lightning rushing toward him.