First mission

After hearing this, Anyo could not help finding it strange. "Weren't both our sides declared war on at the same time? But with you heading over there so full of killing intent, don't tell me you're going to form an alliance."

"An alliance?" White Fang sneered. "That's impossible. During the First War, everyone fought for themselves. The only alliance ended in the Second Hokage's tragic death, planting seeds of suspicion between all the nations from then on."

"Then what are you going there for?"

"To put them in their place." White Fang made no attempt to hide the killing intent in his eyes. "Sunagakure has stretched its hands far enough. Now that war has broken out, there's nothing left to hold us back. It's time to cut those hands off."

Anyo understood what White Fang meant. This mission was simple: they were going there to kill. So he asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Once we reach the location, I'll give you intelligence on Sunagakure's ninja. Since you're currently a Genin, your mission is to kill five Genin." White Fang paused briefly before continuing, "But that's the mission the village gave you, not the one I'm giving you."

I knew it wouldn't be that simple. Five Genin—honestly, as long as they were not Konoha Genin, Genin from other ninja villages would be killed instantly by Anyo as he was now. If he encountered all five at once, he could finish them off in a second. White Fang clearly knew this too.

White Fang spelled out his assignment, word by word. "I've decided to leave all these ninja for you to kill."

"What?" Anyo was stunned. "Are you sure you didn't misspeak?"

Although Anyo had not received the intelligence yet and did not know how many ninja Sunagakure had deployed, the fact that White Fang had been sent on this mission surely meant there were Jonin among them, never mind how many ninja there were in total.

White Fang smiled calmly at Anyo's reaction. "I'll be right behind you. If you face certain death, I'll intervene, but I might not make it in time. So be prepared."

That's more like it. Anyo breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Give me the intelligence."

White Fang handed Anyo the scroll containing the intelligence.

Anyo quickly committed the scroll's contents to memory, then a flame flared in his hand and burned it to ashes. At the same time, he began rapidly formulating a battle plan.

The intelligence recorded the Sand ninja lurking around Konoha in great detail. Clearly, Konoha was no pushover and had long been prepared. It had held off on acting only to avoid provoking conflict between nations. Now that war was unavoidable, it had simply dispatched Konoha's White Fang to swiftly pull out this thorn. It had to be said that the Third was truly calculating and far-sighted, as well as decisive. His only moment of softheartedness had probably been letting his most beloved student, Orochimaru, escape.

Soon, Anyo opened his eyes as he continued moving swiftly. Although his expression had not changed, killing intent now filled his eyes.

White Fang nodded to him without his noticing. Although he had never appeared during Anyo's practice over the past six months, he had actually been observing him and knew his training progress well. That was why he had brought him along when he received this mission. The blade had been honed sharp enough. It was time for it to taste blood.

White Fang asked, "You've read the intelligence. Are you confident?"

Anyo clearly felt more assured now. He answered, "Forty Sand ninja in total, led by two Jonin. As long as those two Jonin aren't together, I'm confident I can wipe them all out."

"How long will you need?"

"One night."

"Good. We're almost there. Go."

After saying this, White Fang stopped where he was and handed the White Light Chakra Sabre straight to Anyo.

Anyo said nothing more either. After taking the weapon, he went straight into the forest and concealed himself, beginning to adjust his physical condition as he quietly waited for nightfall.

The night was clear, with only a few stars in the sky. Anyo silently entered a dense stretch of woodland. Through observation, he found exactly ten ninja gathered there, discussing something among themselves. Yet their bodies remained ready to react at any moment. Clearly, they had not let their guard down.

Just as Anyo was secretly watching them, a Sand ninja suddenly curled his lips into a smile and formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Antlion Hell!"

The ground beneath Anyo instantly collapsed. The solid earth turned to sand and immediately began spinning, forming an underground black hole that swallowed toward him.

Anyo leaped from his hiding place into midair.

Seeing Anyo's figure leap out, the Sand ninja sneered and formed hand seals together. "Earth Release: Earth Spear!"

A mass of sharp rocks suddenly emerged from the sand and shot toward Anyo above.

In an instant, countless rocks pierced Anyo's body, which dissolved into smoke.

"It's a Shadow Clone! Everyone, be careful! He's still alive! Be careful!" the Sand ninja in charge shouted quickly.

Anyo, meanwhile, inwardly exclaimed, That was close! He did not even know how he had been discovered. Fortunately, he had formed hand seals quickly enough to escape the attack's range in time.

Having escaped, Anyo formed hand seals without hesitation and launched his attack. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

The enormous flames were blocked outside the earthen wall, unable to advance an inch.

At that moment, the sand that had just scattered across the ground suddenly shot up at tremendous speed, as though it had absorbed lightning. It pierced their bodies, instantly riddling several people behind the Earth Flow Wall with holes and leaving them horribly dead.

The leader's pupils contracted, and he cried out urgently, "He can use Lightning Release too! Retreat first!"

Lightning Release countered Earth Release. When their strength was roughly equal, an Earth Release ninja would be utterly overwhelmed by the former. Moreover, since the intruder had dared to lurk nearby, he must have investigated them beforehand. With the enemy hidden and themselves exposed, retreat was the wisest choice.

Even Anyo had to admire the leader's quick reactions. But ninjutsu isn't what I'm best at.

Shing...

A blade rang out. The ninja who had just spoken felt only a pain in his throat before his entire world sank into darkness. Struggling, he forced out two words. "So... fast..."

The one who had used the Fire Release technique was also a Shadow Clone. Anyo's real body had long since hidden along their escape route. He was betting that they would retreat. After all, this was Konoha's territory. Once fighting broke out, the reinforcements available to the two sides would be on completely different levels.

After he dealt with the leader, the rest were naturally no trouble either. Soon, only two young ninja remained, staring in terror at this child who was about their age. They lay helpless on the ground, their eyes brimming with tears as they held up kunai to defend themselves.

Anyo put away the Short Sword and gave them a friendly smile. "Don't worry. As long as you put down your weapons and surrender, I won't kill you."

One of them, whose nerves were weaker, asked, "R-really?"

The other said, "Don't believe him. He's lying to us."

Feigning innocence, Anyo said, "Do I need to lie to you? Killing you would be easy for me."