Kirigakure Front Headquarters.
Yagura sat expressionlessly in the seat of honor.
Battle reports were piled high across the desk before him.
He read through them one after another with steady, measured movements, showing little change in expression.
Yet the speed at which he turned each page—and the increasingly shorter time he spent on each report—betrayed the growing turmoil in his heart.
Most of the reports spread across the desk contained no good news.
It had already been more than half a month since the large-scale, multi-point infiltration strategy had begun.
Yet the results remained far from encouraging.
After landing in small detachments along the Land of Fire's vast coastline, the forces had failed to stretch Konoha's defenses as originally planned and force them into constantly rushing from one crisis to another.
Instead, it was as if they had sunk into an invisible quagmire.
Rather than being thinned out or torn apart, Konoha's defensive lines responded with astonishing speed, relentlessly surrounding, driving back, and swallowing each infiltration point one after another.
Yagura gently set the battle report down and fixed his gaze on the curved coastline marked across the map.
He did not look away for a long time.
Higashino Shinichi.
His handiwork once again.
"...Elder, am I really that useless?"
After a long silence, Yagura finally withdrew his gaze and spoke quietly.
"The Mizukage-sama placed such high hopes in me, yet I..."
"Don't belittle yourself, Yagura."
An aged yet steady voice emerged from the shadows in the corner of the command center.
A white-haired old man slowly stepped forward until he stood before Yagura.
"You've already done an excellent job. There has been nothing wrong with your strategic deployments or your tactical planning."
"It's just..."
The old man fell silent for a moment, seemingly choosing his words carefully.
At last, he let out a quiet sigh and continued, "It's just that no one could have anticipated someone like that appearing on Konoha's side."
"I've lived for more than sixty years—from the Warring States Era until today—and I've never encountered anyone as terrifying or as versatile as this Higashino Shinichi."
"Even Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, when they were young, never displayed such overwhelming strength, nor such extraordinary breadth of talent."
Yagura remained silent for a moment before slowly nodding.
"You're right."
"He's a truly terrifying opponent."
The old man said nothing more.
He simply stood there, silently accompanying the young commander.
A moment later, he spoke again.
"Yagura."
"It's time to launch the full-scale offensive."
"The full-scale offensive?"
Yagura frowned slightly and looked up at him.
The old man met his gaze without hesitation.
"We're conducting an overseas campaign."
"Our supply lines are already long, and the logistical burden is immense."
"Konoha, on the other hand, is fighting on home soil. Their supplies are readily available, and they recover far faster than we do."
"The longer this war drags on, the more unfavorable it becomes for us."
"Since these small-scale infiltrations and probing attacks have failed to produce a breakthrough, we might as well concentrate all our strength and overwhelm them head-on."
"While this old body of mine can still fight, I'll lead the charge."
"And it's about time the people of the shinobi world witnessed the power of the Three-Tails once again."
This white-haired elder was none other than Kirigakure's Three-Tails jinchūriki, who had remained hidden from the public eye for decades—
Hyakume Sōsuke.
Yagura looked at the elderly man before him.
Though well past sixty, he was still willing to burn away the rest of his life on this unfamiliar battlefield.
An indescribably complicated emotion welled up within Yagura.
After a long silence, he finally took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.
"I understand."
"I'll report this to the Mizukage-sama first."
Sōsuke said nothing further.
He simply nodded before retreating back into the shadows, as though he had never appeared at all.
...
That same afternoon, Kirigakure.
Mizukage's Office.
After reading the battle report and request Yagura had sent through an encrypted channel, the Third Mizukage expressionlessly placed the scroll on his desk.
He remained silent for a moment before turning to one of the staff members beside him.
"Send word to Yagura."
"I approve his request."
"Tell him to proceed without hesitation."
"He needn't have any reservations."
The Third Mizukage understood all too well that the war could not continue indefinitely.
For Kirigakure, which was fighting across the sea, every single day's logistical expenses were astronomical.
Moreover, the front lines had already begun assigning genin and underage chūnin to second-line duties.
Although they were currently limited to transporting supplies behind the front, that development alone was enough to show that battlefield losses had already exceeded their original estimates.
It wasn't just Kirigakure.
Sunagakure and Kumogakure were facing much the same situation.
Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, only Konohagakure and Iwagakure had not yet been forced to send underage shinobi into the war—even in logistical roles.
After giving that order, the Third Mizukage turned toward a powerfully built shinobi standing beside the desk.
"Chūkichi."
"Take a force to the front lines as well."
"Support Yagura."
"Yes, sir!"
The burly shinobi named Chūkichi answered in a deep voice.
Chūkichi was one of Kirigakure's elite jōnin and enjoyed the complete trust of the Third Mizukage.
He was especially renowned for his exceptional sensory abilities.
In his younger years, when Kirigakure was selecting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Chūkichi had even competed for possession of Samehada.
However, being still young and not yet at the peak of his strength, he had ultimately lost to Suikazan Fuguki.
Even so, Samehada's core ability to absorb and transfer chakra had inspired him.
After many years of research and development, he eventually created a unique secret technique of his own.
One could even say...
An entirely new Kekkei Genkai.
Dark Release.
A power capable of absorbing an enemy's ninjutsu, converting it into its own energy, and even firing it back at the opponent.
It was precisely this Dark Release that transformed Chūkichi from a jōnin who had once specialized primarily in sensory support into a well-rounded powerhouse equally adept at both offense and defense.
After receiving his orders, Chūkichi turned and strode out of the office, immediately beginning preparations to mobilize his troops for the front lines.
Once he had left, silence once again settled over the Mizukage's office.
The Third Mizukage slowly rose to his feet and walked to the window, gazing quietly at the fine rain falling outside.
Kirigakure's skies were always this gloomy, as though even the sun refused to shine upon this land stained by the Bloody Mist.
He, too, had wanted to personally lead the final offensive from the front.
But during the First Shinobi World War, the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage—two Kage whose villages lay almost on opposite sides of the shinobi world—had somehow run into each other at the same place and at the same time, ultimately killing one another in that utterly absurd incident.
The chaos that had followed had left Kirigakure in complete disarray.
Even now, he remembered it vividly.
Especially now, with the Six-Tails jinchūriki's condition growing increasingly unstable.
No one knew how much longer he could hold on.
Before the Six-Tails jinchūriki finally collapsed, the village had to identify and train a suitable successor.
Under such circumstances...
Leaving Elder Genji alone to oversee the village made him uneasy.
...
Southeastern coast of the Land of Fire, Rinkai City region.
Because of its proximity to the sea, the area's climate was exceptionally distinctive.
It was now the height of summer—hot, humid, and prone to sudden downpours.
For days on end, thick curtains of rain would periodically blanket the coastline, shrouding the world in a hazy veil of mist.
Once the rain stopped, waves of hot, humid air would quickly return, causing moisture to rise from the ground until the entire region resembled an enormous steam bath.
At the moment, however, the rain had just let up.
A few rays of sunlight occasionally pierced through the clouds, filtering between the dense forest canopy and casting dappled patches of light across the ground.
Deep within one of the coastal forests, sixteen Konohagakure shinobi were making their way toward headquarters at high speed.
The group consisted of the four squad leaders—Higashino Shinichi, Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Fugaku, and Hyūga Hiashi—each accompanied by three subordinates.
They had gathered to report the detailed results of the past half month of fighting to Elders Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, as well as to discuss the next stage of their operational plans.
Although Kirigakure's multi-point infiltration strategy had failed to achieve its intended results, the constant skirmishes and small-scale encounters had never ceased.
Scattered engagements had filled nearly every day's battle reports.
It was rare for all four squad leaders to leave the front lines at the same time.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, they naturally began exchanging information about the situations in their respective sectors.
As they walked, Hiashi suddenly stopped and pointed in a certain direction.
"One kilometer away."
"A five-man Kirigakure squad is heading this way."
"They're probably survivors from a unit that got scattered earlier."
Over the past several days, Kirigakure had launched infiltration after infiltration.
Some squads had been surrounded and annihilated by Konoha.
Some had successfully retreated.
Others had been scattered and become lost among the forests and hills along the coastline, searching for a route back to their own lines.
"I'll take care of it."
Minato nodded.
The moment he finished speaking, his figure flashed away in a streak of lightning.
Only a specially forged Flying Thunder God kunai remained behind, having just landed on the muddy ground, where it swayed gently.
"It looks like Minato's progress with Lightning Release Nintaijutsu has been remarkably fast."
Shinichi watched the streak of light vanish into the depths of the forest and silently thought to himself.
Minato had always been renowned for his extraordinary neural reaction speed and the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Now, with the enhancement provided by Lightning Release Nintaijutsu, his instantaneous burst speed had clearly reached an entirely new level.
About fifteen seconds later—
Whoosh!
With a soft sound, Minato reappeared where he had left.
In one hand, he carried an unconscious Kirigakure shinobi, whom he casually laid on the ground.
"I left one alive."
Minato smiled gently.
"Perhaps we can get some useful intelligence out of him."
So fast!
The same thought arose almost simultaneously in the minds of the other squad leaders and their accompanying subordinates.
This wasn't the first time they had seen Minato fight.
Yet every time they witnessed that streak of golden light appearing and disappearing with such effortless freedom, they couldn't help but marvel.
The Yellow Flash truly lived up to his name.
After exchanging a few brief words, they left the unconscious Kirigakure prisoner under the watch of one subordinate.
Once they confirmed there were no other threats nearby, the group continued toward headquarters.
As they walked, Shinichi's thoughts raced.
As expected of Namikaze Minato.
Setting everything else aside, his neural reaction speed alone...
It had probably already reached Purple Lv.2—the absolute peak attainable by a mortal.
One more step beyond that...
And he would enter the realm of the gods.
Even after the Lightning Release Nintaijutsu system was fully perfected, it probably wouldn't improve Minato much further.
At least not in terms of neural reaction speed.
After all, he had already reached the end of that path—the highest point a mortal could attain.
Then again...
For Shinichi himself, the system still held tremendous value.
Without relying on the enhancements provided by his Entries, he could continuously temper his own neural reactions through Lightning Release Nintaijutsu, raising them to the level of an elite mortal—or even to the absolute peak.
And it wasn't just neural reaction speed.
Strength.
Defense.
Speed.
Every fundamental physical attribute could be pushed closer and closer to its limit through the various training methods offered by Nintaijutsu.
By that point, his natural physical abilities alone would already stand at the pinnacle of every field a mortal could reach.
Then, by stacking multiple peak-tier Entries on top of that...
Even an opponent at the Six Paths level would probably end up getting beaten down by him.
Thinking of that, Shinichi casually summoned his status panel.
His eyes settled on the line of blue text glowing softly before him—
[Medical Expertise]
"It should level up soon."
Previously, on the southwestern front, he had continuously neutralized the various new poisons created by Chiyo, the greatest poison master of her generation.
That feat alone had already left a deep impression on the intelligence agencies of every major shinobi village.
Now, however, he had developed the medical scroll—a breakthrough so revolutionary that it was bound to shake the entire shinobi world.
Once [Medical Expertise] advanced into [Medical Mastery], his understanding of the human body and the mysteries of life would deepen even further.
Combined with the [Gourmet] Entry, he would then be able to design more efficient meal plans, more scientific medicinal baths for training, and more sophisticated support medicines tailored specifically for himself.
Those supplementary methods would allow him—still in the midst of adolescence and physical development—to rapidly strengthen his foundation and raise his upper limits during the most critical stage of his growth.
With that thought in mind, Shinichi shifted his gaze to the [Gourmet] Entry.
'I'll have to figure out a way to level this one up faster as well.'