Return to the Village

"Emmm, there are some minor flaws. It still needs improvement."

Looking at the ground devastated by the powerful attack, Goenji felt somewhat dissatisfied.

The power was decent, but honestly, the attack range was a little too wide.

According to his design, it should not have formed an almost circular crater, but an irregular one.

But there was nothing he could do. In just a few days, refining a ninjutsu to this extent was already the limit of his understanding of Fire Release.

If it had been anyone else, they probably would not even have known where to begin.

This move was mainly similar to Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, with the attack focused primarily on the legs.

He had made adjustments to the nature transformation, concentrating it more on impact—in other words, pure force.

"Next, Fire Release: Body Flicker Technique."

As for his other goal, developing Fire Body Flicker, Goenji had also come up with some ideas.

Like Fire Release: Flame Tornado, it would also be developed by utilizing the impact-based nature transformation of Fire Release.

It could be said that these were all the resources he had. He could only use what already existed as references to develop his abilities.

The nature of impact was quite well suited for the Body Flicker Technique.

It also happened to fit his ideas.

Speed was power.

For ninjas, that was exactly how it worked.

So not only did he need to develop it well, he needed to make it even more perfect.

At the very least, it had to be more cost-effective than the D-rank Body Flicker Technique.

During his time at the camp, Goenji had been continuously developing his own ninjutsu.

Because of the battle between Minato Namikaze and the A-B Combo, the intense fighting on their side had calmed considerably.

As a result, he did not have many missions. Most of the time, he used the Sharingan's abilities to patrol the area around the camp.

Goenji was quite serious about this as well.

After all, it concerned his own safety.

It would be a real pain if some accident led to ninjas like the Third Raikage appearing near the camp.

He did not want to be injured again. He did not want to experience the pain of torn skin, rattled bones, and ruined muscles even once more.

He was afraid of pain.

Whoosh, whoosh—!

Just then, a unit appeared in the distance, led by a masked man.

"Password."

Goenji appeared before them, one hand gripping his short blade while chakra gathered beneath his feet, ready for escape at any moment.

Visually, they looked like Konoha Anbu and Konoha reinforcements.

But ninjas had to rely on passwords. They could not judge by appearances alone.

Otherwise, it would be like when he had used the Transformation Technique to become a Cloud Ninja and stabbed the Cloud Ninja.

By then, they would not even know how they died.

Only after the unit leader formed Konoha's hand sign for the password did Goenji lead them back to the camp.

One could never be too careful.

After the other higher-ups arrived to receive them, he returned to continue his patrol.

Alone.

It was also because Minato Namikaze recognized his strength that he allowed him to patrol alone.

Normally, patrols were carried out by a full team.

If not for the war and the shortage of manpower, a team would have been a mandatory requirement.

When Goenji finished patrolling and returned to the camp,

he found that something was off.

Some ninjas were packing their things, and the units had lined up neatly.

"Goenji, hand over your duties. We're returning to Konoha to rest."

When Tekka Uchiha saw him return, he spoke up.

"Rest?"

Goenji's mind turned, and he quickly understood.

As an Uchiha, he had spent two full years running around battlefields, either fighting on this front or rushing to another.

The only times he returned to Konoha were for missions, and he could only rest for two days.

It could be said that he had not truly rested in a very long time.

Even oxen were not worked that hard.

Usually, during times of war like this, the Ninja Academy would quickly train new ninjas and send them to replace front-line ninjas who had gone too long without rest.

Usually, that happened after one or two years.

"It's time to rotate people out. If this keeps up, won't there be defectors everywhere?"

Goenji also understood the reason for doing this.

It was not that Konoha did not want to keep using veteran soldiers and have them continue fighting.

Rather, the pressure from battle after battle could easily cause ninjas to break down and defect from Konoha.

Only ninjas could endure for this long. Ordinary people would go mad in less than a year.

That was also why every village had units dedicated to hunting rogue ninjas.

War was simply too oppressive.

He then handed over his duties to the new ninjas. They were a group of little kids, with only the leader being around Goenji's age.

The younger ones were around ten years old.

Goenji sighed. These were the little brats who had graduated early.

With a trace of pity, he taught them his patrol experience bit by bit.

He held nothing back.

After all, it was only experience.

It was also the point of the handover.

To give them a better chance of surviving.

Kids this age were already being sent to the battlefield.

Thinking about himself in his previous life, at this age, he had still been rolling around in the mud before going home to get scolded by his mother!

War was too cruel.

Why did responsibility have to fall upon children so young?

He shook his head. He could not think too much.

Otherwise, he would fall into some kind of mental trap.

For now, he should just do what he was supposed to do. After all, he was still only a child himself.

He was merely a little stronger.

"Thank you for the guidance!"

The leader was also a Chunin, and he actually had plenty of experience. After all, he had become a Chunin during the war.

But Goenji had explained things too thoroughly, seemingly taking every possible situation into account as he taught the three children behind him.

The patrol techniques, the methods for surviving after discovering enemies, and the experience of notifying the unit—these were useful even to him, a Chunin.

Especially because they were explained in a way people could understand.

The three children behind the Chunin did not feel the same way. They only felt that the ninja before them was speaking very seriously.

They naturally assumed that this was simply what handing over a mission was like.

They had their own pride and believed that they could shine brilliantly on the battlefield.

Like the Yellow Flash, the White Fang, and the Three Sannin, they would shake the ninja world with their fame.

Goenji nodded. "Stay alive. Those who survive are the true kings."

He then came to the center of the camp.

He prepared to receive his next mission.

At present, he had not yet been promoted to Jonin and was not part of Konoha's upper ranks, so he could only follow assigned missions.

"Goenji, right? Come here." The moment Minato Namikaze saw him, he waved him over.

Goenji was full of question marks, but he still walked over.

Minato Namikaze took out a scroll from his ninja tool pouch. "For this mission back to the village, you will act as the captain. At the same time, deliver this scroll to Lord Hokage."

"Captain?"

Goenji accepted the scroll, becoming even more confused upon hearing Minato Namikaze's words.

His strength was decent now, but his ability to lead a team had never been tested, right?

Minato Namikaze smiled and nodded. "I've seen your abilities over the past few days. Whether it is your strength or your meticulousness, you are more than qualified to serve as captain. So I am entrusting this mission to you.

The other Jonin all have missions of their own and cannot lead the team, so I am leaving it to you.

I believe in your abilities."