BOOM!
BOOM… BOOM!
A storm of explosions rippled through the plains as a colossal blue-flamed beast clashed head-on with an equally gigantic toad.
Cloud had launched yet another full-scale assault on Konoha. From the very start, their Two-Tails Jinchūriki had entered complete Tailed Beast Mode, and now the monstrous cat fought Gamabunta in a battle that split the heavens apart.
The two titans tore through the landscape, their sheer power generating gales strong enough to peel trees from the earth. The ground quaked violently, the shockwaves obliterating everything for hundreds of meters around. No ordinary shinobi could even get close.
Enormous blue fireballs orbited the Two-Tails' body, before shooting out like homing missiles toward Gamabunta.
Despite his mountain-sized frame, the toad's movements were swift and nimble. With a few massive leaps, he dodged the flames, their impact leaving smoldering craters behind him.
Drawing both of his short swords, Gamabunta spun, cleaving through several oncoming fireballs in flashes of steel.
But above his head, Jiraiya's warning came like thunder.
"Gamabunta, watch out—Tailed Beast Bomb incoming!"
Gamabunta's body tensed immediately; years of cooperation had made their teamwork seamless. He slammed both legs down and launched himself skyward, leaping hundreds of meters high just as a glowing black sphere screamed past beneath him.
The Tailed Beast Bomb detonated miles away, splitting the clouds with a blinding pillar of light.
Far from the chaos, in a valley dozens of kilometers away, another Konoha unit had halted their march.
At its head stood Uchiha Yuan.
The wind here was fierce, and even this far out, the earth trembled faintly with the echo of clashing chakra.
Yuan stared toward the distant light pillar. "The frontlines are burning hotter than ever."
Beside him, Akimichi Kai rumbled, "With Lord Jiraiya there, the Cloud Jinchūriki won't get far."
Yamanaka Mokuno, watching the horizon, muttered quietly, "I just wish this war would end soon…"
Yuan had been reassigned to the Konoha–Iwagakure front in the Land of Grass. Mokuno and Kai followed him, leading a thirty-man detachment under his command.
When the sky finally dimmed and the pillar of light faded, Yuan turned. "Let's move."
With that, he blurred forward, leading the squad at full speed toward the Land of Grass.
Three days of relentless travel later, the border of Fire Country came into view. Ahead, a wooden palisade and guard tower marked Konoha's border checkpoint.
As the group approached, a squad of sentries shouted, "Halt! Identify yourselves!"
Yuan stepped forward and produced a scroll. "My reassignment order."
The sentry—a chunin bearing the Sarutobi clan crest—accepted the scroll and scrutinized it, his sharp eyes flicking up and down Yuan's face.
After a moment, he handed it back and waved them through.
Yuan's squad darted past the gates, their figures disappearing down the road.
Watching them leave, the Sarutobi chunin frowned. "Strange… that Uchiha kid's got high-level escorts with him. He must be someone important."
Another guard replied, "You think he's like Shisui of the Body Flicker—another Uchiha prodigy?"
Deep within the forests of Grass Country, Yuan's group sped through the trees, leaping from branch to branch.
Mokuno drew closer to Yuan. "Lord Yuan, did you notice the checkpoint guards? They seemed… unaware of who you are."
Yuan's tone was calm. "I'm a minor figure. It's not surprising they don't know me."
Mokuno's eyes flickered with realization. He understood immediately—this was suppression. The higher-ups were intentionally keeping Yuan's name quiet.
That made no sense.
Defeating the Fourth Raikage should have been a story shouted across the continent—an achievement worthy of rallying morale and showcasing Konoha's might.
After all, it was similar acclaim that had once turned Namikaze Minato into the "Yellow Flash" and a national hero.
Mokuno sighed inwardly.
He glanced at Yuan again—the young man's expression was composed, unreadable. But he suspected Yuan knew exactly what was happening.
Moments later, the forest opened up into a wide expanse of farmland.
Then—black smoke.
Several columns rose in the distance.
"Stay sharp," Yuan ordered immediately. "There's fighting ahead."
The squad broke into a sprint, their bodies flickering through the tall grass toward the smoke.
The source was a burning village. Houses were ablaze, and screams echoed through the air.
Yuan's group appeared above the central square in a blur of movement.
Below them, two forces clashed fiercely—Grass ninja against Rain ninja.
The shinobi of Amegakure and Kusagakure.
Yuan recognized their headbands instantly.
The Land of Grass, wedged precariously between major powers—Fire to the south, Earth to the north, Rain to the west, and the Valley of Waterfalls to the east—had become yet another battlefield.
The great nations were at war, and the small countries, too, were tearing each other apart.
So Hanzo of the Salamander still rules the Rain, huh? Yuan thought. This must be his doing.
Below, a Rain ninja swung his blade, cutting down two Grass shinobi in a single sweep.
Within moments, the Grass line faltered, collapsing under the relentless assault.
"We surrender!" someone shouted desperately.
The Rain squad leader—a tall, scar-faced brute of a man—laughed harshly, blood dripping from his sword. "Surrender? Not interested."
He charged again, blade flashing as he cut down another screaming ninja.
"Damn you!" one of the Grass survivors tried to counterattack, but was quickly overwhelmed.
As the Rain leader raised his weapon for another kill—
CLANG!
A sharp metallic crash rang out. His sword spun from his grasp and clattered to the ground several meters away.
"What the hell—?" He stepped back instinctively, eyes narrowing.
He hadn't even seen what hit him. Just an immense force knocking the blade from his hand.
He turned sharply—and froze.
A single figure now stood on the rooftop overlooking the square.
A young man with dark eyes, his cloak fluttering gently in the heat of the burning village.
The Uchiha fan emblem gleamed crimson on his back.
"Konoha…" the Rain leader muttered, spotting the forehead protector on the man's arm.
Then realization dawned, and his pupils shrank in shock.
"Uchiha!"
The air around the square seemed to grow heavier, the crackle of flames mingling with the sharp hum of chakra.
Some people die… but they're never truly gone.
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