The Boyhood Arc: Action

After ten days of lying in wait, we finally found an opportunity to act.

"Move."

"Shouldn't we wait a little longer, Sakumo? What if some of them turn back...?"

"If we wait any longer, it'll be hard to find another chance. We're getting closer and closer to the front lines. Even the slightest disturbance will be noticed."

To avoid exposing our trail, Sakumo and I communicated through special hand signals, not daring to make even the faintest sound.

"Understood. How should we proceed?"

"There are eight enemies, and only one of them is Jonin-level. Don't use smoke bombs; the drifting smoke will easily draw attention. Don't use any ninjutsu that makes noise either. We'll infiltrate quietly and kill them all as quickly as possible."

"Understood."

An assassination without making any noise, and against eight people at that... It was quite a difficult mission.

"I'll handle the Jonin, then take care of three more. The other four are yours, Qingyue. We absolutely cannot fail."

"Understood!"

After discussing our plan, Sakumo moved first. In less than the blink of an eye, he vanished from before me and charged into the enemy camp.

I followed close behind, immediately locking onto my target. I activated my Battle Aura and used the Sword God Style's Silent Sword to instantly close in and cut down one man.

Sorry, but... I didn't want to see my comrades die in this war of invasion.

Before the person who spotted me could make a sound, I used a North God Style technique to conceal my movements beneath my robe, drew the short blade from my thigh, and threw it. The blade shot through the air at bullet-like speed, pierced his throat, and killed him in a single strike.

After taking down two people in two seconds, my Observation Haki gave a warning, and I looked toward what had been a blind spot.

Not good, he was about to blow a whistle!

There was no time to hesitate. Enduring the backlash from the previous Silent Sword, I used it again and managed to kill him before the whistle sounded.

I spotted the last person from the corner of my eye. At this distance... I twisted around without hesitation and hurled the ninja sword in my hand with all my strength.

The spinning ninja sword was incredibly powerful and difficult to react to. Without any surprise, it struck his neck and killed him.

Judging from the faint sounds, Sakumo had probably succeeded as well.

"Not bad, Qingyue. I didn't hear any sound coming from your side the entire time."

"You're still stronger, Sakumo. There was a Jonin among the people you dealt with, right? You finished him that quickly?"

"That guy was fairly skilled. I nearly slipped up, but fortunately, it was a close call without any real danger."

Silently killing a Jonin in seconds... Although I had seen the Hatake Clan fight many times before, their battles had never lasted more than a minute.

But it was truly terrifying. This time, he had taken down a Jonin in just a few seconds.

In my memory, only Minato had accomplished something like this. He would place a Flying Raijin mark on the first exchange, then kill the enemy in the next instant.

Konoha's White Fang, the Hokage's Sleeve... They truly were absolute powerhouses without the slightest exaggeration.

"We don't have much time. Set up trigger-type explosive tag traps here, then hurry to the next location."

"Don't we need to completely destroy this place before leaving?"

"That would make too much noise and alert Sand Village. We have to avoid attracting attention."

"Understood."

When it came to matters like this, all I had to do was follow Sakumo's command. Even after living two lives, I had no knowledge in this area.

Acting on my own was absolutely forbidden.

After traveling for an entire day, we finally reached the location of the next transport unit.

This time, things went very smoothly. After only two days of lurking, we found an opportunity and eliminated all the transport personnel.

However, we had miscalculated slightly. Several people who had left suddenly returned.

Fortunately, there were no powerful enemies. Sakumo and I worked together and quickly dealt with all of them.

In just one month, we successfully destroyed two of Sand Village's supply camps. What they had been transporting was enough resources for several squads.

"Qingyue, the missions ahead will only become more difficult. Sand Village has grown suspicious."

It was no wonder. Two supply camps had been destroyed in succession; it would have been strange if they had not caught on.

"We probably don't need to worry too much, right? Our comrades in Konoha will put pressure on Sand Village at the front lines. As long as that pressure remains, it'll be difficult for them to send many people to help the rear."

"That's right, but we still need to be careful, especially of Sand Village's poison experts. We suffered greatly from poison when we fought Sand Village before. Fortunately, Princess Tsunade successfully developed an antidote. But this time... Princess Tsunade isn't at the front lines. Sand Village has surely developed even stronger poisons."

Our battles during this period had all ended too quickly. Only now did I remember that Sand Village was known for Magnet Release and puppets.

And the strongest method of attack for puppets was all kinds of concealed weapons coated in poison.

I had yet to fight a puppet master head-on. If the controller hid outside the range of my Observation Haki, that would be troublesome.

"War is exhausting. We're always running around everywhere. After delivering this batch, we have to deliver another."

Inside a Sand Village camp, a Chunin wearing a forehead protector complained to the person beside him.

"Stop complaining and hurry up. Compared to fighting on the front lines, this job is already easy. I heard we have an absolute advantage now, and Konoha is under siege."

"Hmph, Konoha has the best resources. Why should they? They snatch away every mission one by one. They deserve to be surrounded!"

"Instead of wasting time chatting, move more supplies. The sooner we deliver these to the front lines and complete the mission, the sooner the war will end, and these miserable days of facing the dirt will be over."

Yet as they chatted happily, two pairs of eyes on a distant treetop watched them intently like crocodiles lurking beneath the water.

"Hey, did you hear? The short guy's wife seems to be pregnant."

"Really? That short guy is that lucky?"

"Yeah. She'll probably give birth soon."

"Then he's incredibly lucky!"

The transport unit continued onward, and their numbers gradually dwindled.

"I'll leave the rest to you. Keep an eye on your surroundings. Konoha ninja might ambush you."

"Understood!"

"Then I'll go help the next unit. Take care of yourselves, and make sure the supplies reach the front lines safely."

At the very instant the last person left, silver and golden-brown figures flashed down from the treetop. The head of the man who had just been happily chatting with his companion fell to the ground.

And the short man whose wife was about to give birth was pierced through the heart from behind by the White Fang in the next instant. He spat out blood and died without ever understanding why.

"Song... Ye..."

In only a few seconds, all ten members of the transport unit had fallen into pools of blood, never to make another sound.

Not a single one of them had time to react before their lives were taken by a white chakra short blade and a silver ninja sword.

"That makes three locations now, right, Sakumo?"

"That's right. With this, Sand Village will fully begin guarding against us. We can't act rashly from now on."

"Should we return to the village to draw up a new plan, or go to the front lines and discuss it with Lord Orochimaru?"

For our missions, Sakumo alone could make the necessary judgments and act accordingly. The Third Hokage had granted him great authority.

"The ambushes after this probably won't go so smoothly. Returning to Konoha would waste too much time. The Third Hokage entrusted Orochimaru with command of the front lines, so let's go discuss it with him."