Chapter 39

Shizune looked forward to meeting Saitama again, certain she would be able to learn more combat techniques.

Meanwhile, Saitama stared at the top of the tent, wide awake.

With both hands behind his head, his thoughts drifted.

Time to sleep. The mission comes first. He ** himself to close his eyes.

"Morning, Captain!" Uchiha Huo greeted Saitama as he emerged from the tent, gnawing on an ear of corn.

"Yeah. Get me something to eat. I'll go find Mori and confirm today's patrol area first." Saitama naturally put his teammate to work. Uchiha Huo said nothing more and nodded.

"Mori!" Saitama strode up to Uchiha Mori's tent. It was just past six in the morning, and the camp was already awake. Mori was chewing on a rice ball.

"Here. Your squad's mission area." Mori tossed him a rough map, its patrol zone circled in red. "Routine assignment. Arrange it yourself."

"Got it. Get back to work." Saitama took the map. As the Uchiha Clan's temporary leader, Mori had countless matters to handle.

When he returned to the tent, the Huo and Yan brothers were eating breakfast. Seeing Saitama enter, they set down their food and greeted him.

Saitama spread out the map and grabbed a rice ball. "The patrol area is pretty large. We definitely won't be back by noon. Huo, go collect rations later."

"I'll go when I'm done eating," Uchiha Huo replied.

"Captain, what time are we leaving?" Uchiha Yan swallowed a mouthful of bread.

"As soon as we're ready."

"That soon?" Huo dashed out with food still in his mouth.

"Tch." Yan was used to his brother's impatience and lowered his head to keep eating.

Whoosh! Saitama suddenly drew his sword, its blade gleaming coldly in the morning light. Chewing his food, he wiped down the blade. "Yan, stay alert."

"Yes!" Though Yan had only recently reached the battlefield, he was experienced enough not to let his guard down just because the mission was simple.

"We'll leave once Huo gets back." Saitama took a drink of water. With little appetite, he ate only a few rice balls.

Yan stared silently at Saitama's sword.

"Let's go, Captain!" Uchiha Huo quickly packed his gear, returned to the tent with a small pack on his back, and found Saitama and Yan already finished eating and waiting outside.

"Good. Move out." Saitama waved a hand, while Uchiha Yan casually stuffed several packs of rations into his brother's hands.

The camp was still some distance from the border, but the dense network of checkpoints kept the area heavily guarded.

After registering at the camp entrance, Saitama's squad headed in the direction indicated by the map.

The patrol's purpose was to prevent Hidden Mist ninja from infiltrating Konoha, while also assessing developments along the border in preparation for the coming war.

It was February. Temperatures were rising and ice and snow were melting. This was also why Hidden Mist had not attacked immediately—their cold region was still buried in snow and frozen over, making large-scale action unsuitable.

Meanwhile, spring had already begun to stir on Konoha's side, brimming with life. The Land of Fire's uniquely favorable geography had always drawn envy.

"Look, we should be in this forest now." Saitama unfolded the map and gestured to the two of them.

The Uchiha brothers nodded and waited for Saitama's orders.

"The other side of the forest borders the Land of Water—no, strictly speaking, it doesn't directly connect. There's a small country in between, called the Land of Bears, I think."

"That small country has no ninja village, but it gathers quite a few wandering ninja. Since it borders Hidden Mist, it's effectively controlled by them and is practically a puppet."

"Hidden Mist was able to land on our border this time because they passed through the Land of Bears." Saitama revealed what he knew.

"I see. No wonder Hidden Mist can still fight us despite the sea between us." Uchiha Yan's gaze shifted as he vigilantly scanned the surroundings.

"Mm." Saitama put away the map and gave a quiet response.

Crack—

The faint sound reached Saitama's ears. Every muscle in his body tensed at once as he quickly gave a hand signal.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The three figures vanished at once—one hid behind a tree, one leaped into the thick canopy, and one crawled low along the ground.

In an instant, the squad concealed their presence and focused their minds, as though they had never been there.

Whoosh!

Hidden in the treetop, Saitama stared ahead. Figures flickered through the forest, rapidly moving from branch to branch.

Whoosh! He subtly lowered his right hand and clenched it into a fist.

The other two understood immediately and silently prepared for battle.

The signal meant: "Enemy attack. Wait for an opportunity!"

Huff— A ninja landed in the clearing before Saitama, panting heavily with a flushed face. He had clearly just gone through an intense sprint.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Several more figures landed, quickly forming an encirclement as they warily looked in all directions.

Saitama quietly suppressed his presence, his gaze sweeping over his hidden companions. Four enemy ninja appeared, two of them exuding the pressure of jonin-level fighters. The female ninja among them possessed especially sharp chakra senses.

"Captain, the Konoha camp is right ahead..." a chunin asked in a low voice.

The muscular captain rolled arms as thick as tree trunks. "We've already reached the required scouting range. Going any deeper is just suicide."

Saitama silently assessed the enemy's strength, a thin layer of sweat seeping into his palm.

"Everyone, stay alert. Prepare to withdraw!" The female ninja's pupils suddenly contracted. "There's a chakra fluctuation at three o'clock!"

Clang! The burly man at the front instantly drew a heavy blunt sword, cold light reflecting off its spine.

"We've been exposed." Saitama narrowed his eyes as lightning-nature chakra danced at his fingertips.

Uchiha Huo froze in place. The slight tremor in his muscles just now had caused chakra to leak out. He caught sight of Uchiha Yan hidden behind a tree, his eyes bloodshot.

"Get out here!" The enemies pressed closer step by step.

Boom! A figure wrapped in lightning suddenly came crashing down. Uchiha Huo seized the chance to shoot toward another chunin like an arrow loosed from its bow. In the blink of an eye, a kunai had already pierced through the enemy jonin's chest.

The bushes to the left exploded as Uchiha Yan charged out with a ninja sword, slashing at the remaining enemies. The burly man who appeared to be the strongest was killed in a single blow, his heavy blunt sword clattering to the ground.

Bang! The female ninja's pupils constricted sharply. She could hardly believe their strongest fighter had been defeated the instant they clashed. When Saitama's cold gaze swept toward her, she quickly retreated and flipped a kunai into her hand.

Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu! Uchiha Yan formed hand seals, and blazing flames instantly devoured the area ahead.

The sound of metal cutting through the air rang out.

Saitama released the enemy he had pierced, letting him fall like a puppet with severed strings. As he pushed off with the tip of his foot, the ground cracked into a spiderweb pattern, and he became an afterimage charging toward the retreating female ninja.

Lightning screeched along his blade, Saitama's face as cold as frost. The crimson patterns of the Sharingan spun rapidly in his eyes, breaking down every subtle movement of his enemy into slow motion. The fierce wind lifted the loose hair from his forehead, revealing pupils locked onto their prey.

The blade flashed.

The crisp sound of the kunai snapping in two rang out alongside the dull sound of a windpipe being cut.

A bloody line bloomed across the female ninja's throat, warm fluid spurting between her fingers and staining her clothes red. When she dropped to her knees, the terror frozen on her face became her final expression.

"Retreat!" The Hidden Mist ninja fighting Uchiha Huo saw his comrades' miserable fate, and his fighting spirit instantly collapsed. He feinted, turned, and ran, only for a pursuing kunai to tear open a bloody gash in his back.

A sharp whistle split the air.

As Saitama held his throwing pose, his long sword had already become a silver streak that pierced the fleeing man's neck from behind. The Hidden Mist ninja fell into a pool of blood, his twitching fingers still reaching forward as though trying to crawl away.

A shrill scream came from the other side of the battlefield.

Uchiha Yan watched the enemy rolling through the sea of flames and swung his kunai without expression. When the blade slit the man's windpipe, the scream stopped abruptly.

"Clean it up." Saitama pulled his long sword from the **, crimson liquid dripping along its groove. Dying nerve reflexes kept the body beneath his feet twitching.

"Understood!" Uchiha Huo roughly dragged the **, a sealing scroll rustling in his hands. His younger brother's clean and decisive record made his knuckles turn white, and his movements grew even rougher.

As Saitama sheathed his sword, he glanced at his two subordinates. "Any injuries?"

"None." Yan shook his head, his eyes passing over Saitama's spotless clothes.

"Keep patrolling deeper. I didn't expect Hidden Mist ninja to have infiltrated even a place like this."

Saitama stroked his chin, slightly puzzled.

"The defensive line is too vast. The enemy will always find gaps," Uchiha Yan agreed.

"Mm. Be more careful."

Saitama's squad continued their mission.

Whoosh! Wind swept past his ears. Saitama looked ahead, where a patch of light shone in the distance. They were clearly about to leave the forest.

"Stop." Saitama leaped onto a branch. The other two landed nearby and waited for his command.

"Once we pass through this forest, we'll be close to the border. There'll be more enemies." Saitama looked ahead, his voice just loud enough for his companions to hear.

"The patrol assignment only covered this forest, but I want to scout farther ahead." Saitama continued. There was still plenty of time, and an irrepressible urge surged within him.

"Is that wise?" Uchiha Yan looked grave. Going farther could lead them into an enemy encirclement, making it far more dangerous than their current area.

"You can wait here. I'll scout ahead for a while and return." Saitama lightly stroked his sword hilt and narrowed his eyes.

His blood seemed to boil inside him. He was quite confident in his own strength; unless they encountered a Kage-level powerhouse, it would be difficult to keep him there.

"Alright. We'll wait here." After a brief moment of thought, Uchiha Yan stopped Uchiha Huo with a look when he seemed about to speak.

"Mm, that's safer." Saitama leaped down, landing as lightly as a feather, as though untouched by gravity.

"Stay vigilant." Saitama waved in farewell.

Separating from Uchiha Huo and Yan was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. It would make his movements more flexible while also allowing him to verify his suspicions.

If the enemy had truly broken through the defenses from the Land of Bears, there was no way there would be no sign of it. He guessed that some Hidden Mist ninja might have taken a roundabout sea route and landed directly from the ocean—after all, the coastline was long and much harder to defend.

But taking the sea route meant Hidden Mist would lose supplies and reinforcements, becoming an isolated force that could only advance and never retreat. Saitama intended to confirm this.

After parting with Uchiha Huo and Yan, Saitama slowly advanced.

He remained highly alert, suppressing his chakra fluctuations to the lowest level and relying entirely on ** strength to support his movements.

Though this place bordered the Land of Bears, the coastline lay on the other side.

Not far from the coast was an island nation that had long since fallen—the Land of Whirlpools.

After its destruction, no country had occupied the Land of Whirlpools. It was too desolate and too far from the mainland, making the cost of ruling it far greater than any benefit.

If one country had to take it over, only one answer came to Saitama's mind: the Land of Water!

Could Hidden Mist Village be using the islands of the Land of Whirlpools as a base, secretly infiltrating the Land of Fire's border?

Konoha's defensive focus was concentrated in the direction of the Land of Bears, while the Land of Whirlpools lay isolated offshore and was relatively weakly defended. Although the route from Hidden Mist to the Land of Whirlpools and then around to the Land of Fire was far too circuitous for military operations, what if Hidden Mist was determined to take the risk?

Before long, a vast blue sea opened up before Saitama.

Rather than heading toward the Land of Bears as originally planned, he searched along the coastline, trying to find clues that could support his guess.

Boom! A loud explosion suddenly erupted ahead. Saitama's pupils shrank as he instantly lowered his body, his gaze sweeping the surroundings like a blade.

"What was that?" His right hand gripped his sword hilt tightly while his left arm braced against the ground, keeping him in a guarded stance.

After a long wait, the wilderness returned to dead silence, as though the sound just now had been an illusion.

I'll scout another five hundred meters, then pull back. Something's wrong with this place. Saitama silently set his limit.

Using the cover of withered yellow shrubs, he crawled forward. Waist-high wormwood curled in the dry climate, forming natural cover. Before every step, he checked again and again—the first rule of ninja survival was to always assume there was a trap beneath one's feet.

"Yuan Zhi! Watch your step!"

The unfamiliar shout made Saitama's muscles tense at once.

"Easy for you to say! Why don't you try carrying this pile of logs?" A young, complaining voice came from beneath a moving stack of timber.

"Quit whining! If you can't even handle this much weight, stop being a ninja already!" the leading ninja impatiently urged.

Through the gaps between the grass blades, Saitama saw a strange sight: more than ten logs were moving by themselves, with dark scraps of clothing faintly visible beneath them.

"What are they up to?" He remained hidden, even though these two ninja were beneath his notice.

"We've been traveling all day on empty stomachs, and you can't even lend a hand!"

"Move faster! Once we get back to camp, we can—"