Chapter 20 – Arrival at the Frontlines
"Haaah…"
"Huff… huff…"
Senju Nawaki's lungs screamed for air, forcing his chest to rise and fall in desperate gasps.
But despite his ragged breathing, he had no time to rest.
He was deep within the forest, hiding under thick foliage while being relentlessly pursued by a Sunagakure ninja. The killing intent alone was enough to make his skin crawl.
Still, Nawaki forced himself to calm down.
He tightened his grip on the kunai in his hand, pressing his back against a tree as he focused on controlling his breath. Inhale, hold, exhale slowly. He needed to gather what little chakra he had left… and try to think straight.
'Nee-chan… Kyūjō-kun… Minato… I don't think I can hold out much longer…' he muttered silently, his hope waning as enemy footsteps rustled through the underbrush, drawing nearer.
But even in his desperation, Nawaki didn't let go of his weapon.
He was a Senju.
Giving up… wasn't an option written into his blood.
Even if he died here, he swore he'd bite back and at least take a chunk out of that Sunagakure bastard.
And yet—
Just as he braced himself for death, a volley of shuriken came whizzing past, slicing through the air around him. A heartbeat later, several explosive tags detonated in succession.
Boom!!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The blasts rang so loud Nawaki's ears went numb, and for a moment, he lost all sense of sound.
Then, out of nowhere, a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him back!
Startled, Nawaki swung his kunai on instinct—
—but the figure beside him easily dodged the strike, shifting to the side with fluid precision.
"It's me, Nawaki-kun!"
The voice was calm, steady—familiar.
And as Nawaki's blurry vision cleared, he saw the unmistakable blond hair and kind eyes of Namikaze Minato.
The moment recognition hit him, Nawaki's legs gave out. His body, drained of all strength, collapsed into Minato's arms.
Seconds later, another figure arrived, crackling with blue lightning—Hatake Kyūjō.
Though he showed up just a bit after Minato, Kyūjō had seen the whole scene. His relaxed gait didn't match the glowing aura of his Lightning Release: Chakra Mode, which still radiated from his body in sparks and flickers.
"Aw, did I interrupt a moment between you two?" Kyūjō teased with a grin, his tone light.
Minato chuckled quietly, brushing off the comment with a shake of his head. "Thanks for the save."
"Minato, stay here and watch Nawaki," Kyūjō said, drawing his blade. "I'll go handle the one who did this."
Without waiting for a reply, he vanished in a flash of lightning—piercing through the haze of smoke and shrapnel, straight toward his prey: a Sunagakure Jōnin named Nagatabe Saki, who had just emerged from the fog.
A metallic whisper echoed—
Shingg!
—and the next moment, Saki's headless body collapsed.
Kyūjō sheathed his blade in silence, exhaling a long breath as he dispelled the Lightning Chakra Mode. His body relaxed visibly—not from exhaustion, but from restraint.
He wasn't out of stamina.
But his chakra gauge had nearly hit zero.
If the battle dragged on longer, he'd have to unleash his full power. And he wasn't ready for that yet.
After checking his internal chakra system, he frowned. Only 2.5% remained.
"Tch… I really can't waste even a single point of chakra…"
Thankfully, this body was highly gifted. As long as he didn't use high-cost ninjutsu, his chakra recovery rate was incredibly fast—thanks to a strong mental foundation and a top-tier physique.
If he wasn't still physically ten years old, his chakra would've already been measured in units of a Pillar.
Just like… Senju Hashirama.
— — —
To Nawaki, who had just witnessed Kyūjō decapitate a Jōnin in a single slash, awe lit up in his eyes.
Even Minato—usually calm and calculating—couldn't hide his admiration.
"Kyūjō, that Lightning Release of yours is incredible! Your speed is beyond human… and when combined with your sword technique, it's terrifying," he said, honestly impressed.
Kyūjō smirked, accepting the praise with a shrug. "The technique's great, sure. But let's not forget the one using it—me. Not everyone can be this fast, y'know?"
"And that guy wasn't exactly smart. He underestimated a Genin like Nawaki, treated him like a joke. That's not how a real ninja fights."
Then he turned toward them with a mischievous look. "Wanna learn that technique?"
Nawaki's eyes lit up as he eagerly nodded.
But Kyūjō chuckled and raised a finger to his lips.
"Too bad—it's not something you can copy~"
Minato could only shake his head and chuckle. Sometimes Kyūjō felt like the most mature person on the battlefield… other times, he was just a cheeky ten-year-old.
— — —
Kyūjō suddenly sensed another squad of Sunagakure shinobi moving several kilometers away. Without skipping a beat, he led Minato and Nawaki in the opposite direction—effectively playing hide-and-seek with the enemy.
His chakra reserves were bone dry. If it came to another fight, he'd be forced to use Colorless Haki, which he was deliberately holding back at this stage.
While leading the group through the woods, he carefully adjusted their position to stay out of sensor range.
With his Infinity Perception System, there was no way the enemy could track them.
Minato and Nawaki didn't fully understand why Kyūjō kept weaving them through the forest like this, but they trusted him—and took the time to quietly recover their stamina and chakra.
About twenty minutes later, once the enemy had scattered and Kyūjō had recovered roughly 70% of his chakra, he gave his orders.
"Minato, I'll handle their Jōnin. You and Nawaki go take care of the scattered Chūnin. You should be strong enough."
Minato nodded.
Regular Chūnin weren't much of a threat anymore.
Sunagakure or not, their level was about the same.
— — —
Lightning flared across his body as Kyūjō surged forward into the trees.
The enemy would arrive in 30 seconds.
Time to finish this.
He struck down several Chūnin on the way, dropping them with one precise, lightning-enhanced attack each. His real target was further ahead—the last Jōnin in the enemy unit.
— — —
Three minutes later, a thunderous roar echoed through the forest.
The final Jōnin collapsed, his body blackened and scorched from Kyūjō's Thunder Judgment technique.
Kyūjō's chakra had nearly run dry again.
But then again, ever since his time in the world of One Piece, he'd stopped holding back with things like Haki and energy usage.
He dispelled the lingering electrical aura, gripping his short sword tightly as he moved to eliminate the remaining Chūnin.
He didn't need much chakra for that.
— — —
Fifteen minutes passed.
Kyūjō pulled his blade free from the final enemy's body.
He sighed softly.
He hadn't fought them out of hatred.
These shinobi weren't evil.
This was just… war.
Sunagakure wasn't the villain, and Konoha wasn't the hero.
But Kyūjō had been born in Konoha. He had friends, comrades, a brother waiting for him there.
That was enough.
Even if Konoha wasn't perfect, even if Sunagakure had their reasons… in war, there was no right or wrong.
Only sides.
Konoha was his home.
And now that he'd set foot on the battlefield… he would accept whatever destiny awaited a shinobi.
They all had to.
When Kyūjō regrouped with Minato and Nawaki, the three of them quietly resumed their march—catching up to the supply unit that had already changed routes for safety.
— — —
"WHERE HAVE YOU THREE BEEN!?"
"Do you even understand what you just did!?"
"This is a war zone! Do you realize how many people in the village are depending on these supply deliveries!?"
"And you! Senju Nawaki!! WHERE IS YOUR SCROLL!? Why are half your explosive tags missing!?"
The one yelling was Hirata Eiichirō, the senior Jōnin leading the supply convoy. His furious voice echoed through the trees as he stormed forward, throwing scolding after scolding at the trio who followed behind him looking like nothing happened.
All their clones?
Gone in puffs of smoke.
Hirata's heart had nearly leapt out of his chest when Nawaki's clone vanished.
Then Kyūjō's disappeared.
And then Minato's.
At that exact moment, a massive battle broke out nearby—so intense, even from kilometers away, the ground trembled from the chakra discharge.
Then a mushroom-shaped shockwave rose into the sky.
Hirata panicked.
He immediately rerouted the entire convoy.
As for Nawaki's scroll? The tags were mostly gone—used up in his desperate fight for survival.
Honestly, if he hadn't packed that many—
Nawaki might've been dead by now.
After roasting the trio until his throat ran dry, Hirata finally gave up and waved them to the back of the formation.
Not because he'd forgiven them.
But because…
He didn't have the authority to punish them.
Let's face it—these three were untouchable.
Even the most "normal" one, Namikaze Minato, had been called a genius by the Third Hokage himself. And Kyūjō? He was the younger brother of Konoha's White Fang, the supreme commander of this entire counteroffensive against Sunagakure—Hatake Sakumo!
What was Hirata supposed to do?
Lecture that?
"Screw it…" Hirata muttered under his breath. "Once we get to the frontlines, I'm asking for reassignment. Send me to the battlefield. I'd rather fight Jōnin than babysit these damn monsters."
What Hirata didn't know… was that Kyūjō wasn't just along for the ride.
Sakumo had intentionally assigned him to this mission.
Why were the rest of the escort shinobi so average?
Because every elite ninja had already been deployed to the front.
Kyūjō was the last card left—the ace in the hole Sakumo trusted with their lives.
— — —
The next morning, just before dawn, with dew still clinging to the grass and mist coiling through the trees…
A ragged group of young shinobi, covered in dirt and scrapes, finally arrived at Konoha's forward base camp.
Their sweat had not yet dried.
Their wounds had not yet healed.
But in their tired eyes, a flame had begun to burn.
The flame of a shinobi from Konohagakure.
Because they knew…
This was only the beginning.
Their true journey… was just getting started.
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