Youth Arc: Here I Come

"What exactly happened? Why is Lord Kazekage dead?!"

At the Sand Village's temporary frontline command base, a female ninja in a black backless outfit, her figure strikingly graceful, loudly questioned the gathered Hidden Sand ninja.

"Lady Pakura, Lord Kazekage was killed in a joint attack by Konoha's White Fang and an unknown Jonin. According to intelligence, a sudden thunderstorm seemed to have thrown the camp into disarray. Then lightning struck Lord Kazekage from the sky, so..."

"A thunderstorm? There hasn't been any sign of rain these past few days! Struck by lightning? How could lightning strike someone out of nowhere in an open field with nothing around?!"

The situation at the front had grown increasingly deadlocked. Konoha's ninja, who had previously been driven back again and again, suddenly counterattacked and caught them completely off guard.

Pakura had been preparing to return and notify the Kazekage to send reinforcements when she suddenly received news of his death.

As one of the Sand Village's few elite Jonin, Pakura was responsible for commanding the entire invasion of Konoha.

This abrupt turn of events left Pakura at a loss. Anxiously, she paced back and forth through the camp.

The reason Hidden Sand had been able to keep suppressing Konoha's border was that Pakura, the commander-in-chief, had remained active on the front lines, repeatedly earning victories with her unique Scorch Release bloodline limit.

However, that was only because Konoha's commander, Orochimaru, had remained in his tent without making a move. After all, their strategy was to drag out the war.

"What should we do now, Lady Pakura? Should we contact Advisors Chiyo and Ebizo first?"

"Have everyone at the front pull back. Don't advance any farther. Protect the mid-range ninja and fight a delaying battle while gradually retreating, so Konoha can't pursue us. Contact the two advisors immediately and have them make a decision. I'll stall for time here."

Clearly, the Fourth Kazekage's sudden death had thrown all of the Sand Village's plans into chaos.

Having their resource supply cut off had already caused them enough trouble, and now the Kazekage had been assassinated...

They had started this war, yet before they had even broken through the enemy's border, their leader had been casually taken out from behind.

And after finishing the job, the two attackers had simply left in broad daylight, as if they had merely passed by and kicked a stray dog to death on the roadside.

"We never should have rashly attacked Konoha in the first place. We thought we still had a chance with the other major ninja villages all besieging Konoha, but now Lord Kazekage..."

Inside the tent, Pakura still could not accept this reality. Even so, she made her preparations and headed onto the battlefield to fight the enemy with all her strength.

The Sand Village seemed to have someone named Pakura too—a beautiful female ninja around Rasa's age.

If I remembered correctly, Pakura had been set up and killed by Rasa. It seemed he had sacrificed her to get Hidden Mist to support Hidden Sand against Hidden Rock.

The reason was that Pakura had beaten Hidden Mist's people so badly that she left them traumatized.

Damn, what kind of absurd logic was that from Rasa? He went all out against Konoha, the strongest ninja village in the Shinobi World, but when fighting Hidden Rock, he was willing to sacrifice one of his own heroes just to ally with someone else...

Come to think of it, Rasa really did deserve to die.

If Pakura survived this war, she would probably be the only one in the Sand Village who could really fight. Maybe she would even become the Fifth Kazekage?

That way, Pakura would not be set up and killed, and the course of history would change drastically.

After several days of travel, I finally arrived at the eastern front. Inside Konoha's combat command camp, it seemed that someone was engaged in a fierce argument.

"Hidden Mist has provoked you like this, and you can still put up with it? Are all the Hyuga clan cowards like you?"

"Watch your mouth, Uchiha. The village's orders are for us to stay alert against Hidden Mist and prevent them from exploiting an opening. Taking the initiative would only play into the enemy's hands. Do none of you Uchiha ever think?"

"What did you say? A clan that had one of its own eyes taken by some trash from Hidden Mist dares to lecture us?"

"Shut up!"

Watching the two argue without end, I felt too awkward to interrupt. After entering the tent, I had just huddled in a corner and watched the show.

If only I had some peanuts and sunflower seeds. This was pretty entertaining.

After waiting for about five minutes, the two finally stopped arguing. Or rather, they had argued themselves tired, taken a drink of water, and temporarily called a truce...

"Um... I'm Qingyue, a newly arrived reinforcement Jonin. Please take care of me, seniors."

I had a feeling that if I missed this chance, I would never be able to speak up again.

"Huh? Reinforcements?"

Hearing me, the black-haired, spiky-headed Uchiha was the first to look my way. When he saw that I was merely a ten-year-old child, he openly showed a look of disdain.

"What use is a little brat like this? Is this lousy village out of people?"

Wow, he fit every stereotype of Uchiha cannon fodder perfectly. No wonder nobody liked them.

"Um... I'm a Jonin too, more or less. I'm Sakumo Hatake's partner."

The long-haired Hyuga beside him immediately stopped looking frivolous. It seemed my name was gradually spreading through the village.

"A Jonin? Did that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi drink too much when he promoted a little brat like you to Jonin?"

As expected of the Uchiha. They spoke the Hokage's name without reservation and showed him no respect at all. Only the Uchiha could pull that off.

Even someone as mild-tempered as me was getting angry at those words. It seemed I needed to teach him that arrogance required the strength to back it up.

"I say, senior... you seem a little weak."

"What?!"

Sure enough, the Uchiha were easy to provoke. One sentence was enough to make him bristle as he drew a kunai and rushed at me.

Now this counted as self-defense. I swiftly drew my blade and knocked aside his kunai, then placed my ninja sword against his throat, leaving a shallow line of blood.

"I said, senior, you're weak."

No matter how arrogant he was, with a blade pressed to his throat, he finally did not dare say another word. He only glared at me with an unhappy expression.

Just then, the tent flap was pulled open.

"That's enough. I apologize for the trouble my clansman has caused you."

A somewhat youthful male voice came from behind me. Turning around, I saw a black-haired, spiky-headed boy wearing a Konoha forehead protector looking at me.

That dango nose and those Sharingan... this appearance... the Uchiha clan's rising star, Shisui of the Body Flicker.

"I'm the one who caused trouble for you. We'll be comrades fighting together from now on, so I used a little force to avoid future problems. I apologize."

Although the person before me was even younger than I was, I still needed to show him some respect based on how powerful he would become in the future.

After all, he possessed Kotoamatsukami, the strongest genjutsu, and bore the name Body Flicker.

"You're Senior Qingyue, the recent talk of the village, right? I've heard much about you. I heard of your accomplishments while I was still in the village, and I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

"You flatter me. You're Shisui, the Uchiha clan's rising star. Your name is the one that truly leaves an impression. You stepped onto the battlefield and awakened the Sharingan at such a young age. Please take care of me in the future. But time is of the essence—tell me about the situation on this front first. Let's see where I can help."

"Alright. At present, Hidden Mist does not seem to intend to engage us head-on, but patrol squads have constantly been observing us and looking for chances to launch surprise attacks.

"They are highly skilled at this kind of guerrilla warfare and very capable of gathering intelligence, which makes it impossible for us to provide support immediately. Most troublesome of all is a difficult Mist Concealment Technique."