"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
With a sharp shout, a wall of earth erupted in front of the incoming kunai.
Boom!
The explosive tag detonated harmlessly against the wall. Uchiha Yuan turned toward the source of the shout and locked eyes with a fellow Konoha ninja.
Then, he glanced in several other directions—each one pulsing with murderous intent.
The air crackled. Thunder roared. Multiple streaks of lightning burst toward him from every angle.
"Die, Uchiha brat!"
Yuan's figure blurred as he dodged a bolt of lightning, his hands already flashing. Within seconds, a volley of shuriken shot from his fingers, cutting through the air toward the enemy who had launched the attack.
The battle raged for nearly an hour. Despite the Cloud-nin's ferocity, they were overwhelmed by Konoha's superior numbers.
The hundred-strong Cloud unit was utterly crushed—only a dozen managed to break through and flee. The rest lay dead on the field.
Yuan scanned the battlefield. Corpses of Cloud ninja littered the ground around him, their eyes wide open even in death, filled with defiance and madness.
He exhaled softly. What a bunch of lunatics. No wonder Kumogakure has been giving us the most trouble. That's why they stationed me here.
Yamanaka Mokuno approached, reporting grimly, "Captain, we lost four jōnin, seventeen chūnin, and thirty-one are seriously wounded."
"Send the battle report to headquarters," Yuan said flatly.
"Yes, sir."
Mokuno hesitated, worry clouding his face. "Captain, the Cloud-nin won't take this defeat lying down. Their counterattack could come any day."
Yuan's lips curled into a faint, cold smile. "Then let them come. I don't fear them."
A glint of sharp resolve flashed in his eyes. "To those crazed brutes, I'll be the name that haunts their nightmares."
At the edge of Hot Springs Town, several Hot Springs shinobi stood on a rooftop, watching the battle from afar.
One finally sighed in relief. "It's over. Konoha won."
Another shook his head helplessly. "That's only the beginning. Those hot-headed Cloud-nin will come again for sure. Let's hope Konoha keeps winning—if they lose, we'll be the first ones the Cloud take it out on."
Dozens of li away, at Konoha's main camp.
A messenger ninja removed a scroll from a hawk's leg and instantly body-flickered into Jiraiya's tent.
Jiraiya unrolled the note, his brows lifting slightly. "The First Squad of the Fourth Division engaged the Cloud-nin near Hot Springs Town. The Cloud-nin were routed."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke took the note, reading with surprise. "Six Cloud jōnin… all slain by Uchiha Yuan. That kid's something else."
Jiraiya chuckled. "Orochimaru's student, after all. He wouldn't take anyone ordinary. That boy's got real talent."
Shinnosuke frowned. "Talent, yes—but trouble follows him. The Hot Springs Village has already lodged a complaint. Apparently, Yuan's unit has set up their base inside the town itself. Should we order him to withdraw?"
Jiraiya hesitated, then waved his hand. "Forget it. He just fought a major battle—no point shaking the troops' morale now."
The next day, Hot Springs Town — Konoha encampment.
Yuan sat cross-legged on the tatami mat, idly twirling a kunai between his fingers. The blade spun fluidly, dancing through his hand like a living thing.
His face was calm but thoughtful. The patrol unit had just reported something strange—the burial site of the fallen Cloud-nin had been disturbed.
Several graves had been dug open, and the bodies… were gone.
Yamanaka Mokuno knelt to his left. "Captain, could the Cloud-nin have come to retrieve their comrades' corpses?"
The kunai stilled between Yuan's fingers. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Any sign of intruders around the camp?"
"None," Mokuno replied. "The patrols searched thoroughly. Apart from the disturbed graves, there's been nothing unusual."
"Then leave it," Yuan said evenly. "Ninja corpses often contain secrets worth stealing. Could be some underground group—or a rogue shinobi curious about the Cloud's techniques."
After Mokuno left, Yuan's eyes grew pensive.
The Hot Springs shinobi…
Among them was a sect rumored to worship some dark god. Yuan suspected it was those fanatics who had stolen the Cloud-nin bodies.
In the following days, more corpses went missing.
But the Konoha forces had no time to pursue the matter. Reports arrived from the forward scouts—multiple skirmishes had broken out between Konoha and Cloud reconnaissance teams.
One patrol had even sighted a Cloud scouting party near Hot Springs Town itself.
"Captain," Mokuno reported gravely one evening, "two chūnin from our recon squad were killed today. They walked right into a Cloud ambush. If two other teams hadn't arrived in time, we'd have lost the whole unit."
Yuan stood before a large map, its surface marked with red ink—each mark indicating Cloud movements.
"Captain," Mokuno pressed anxiously, "the Cloud are pressing hard this time."
Yuan didn't answer. He stared at the map, deep in thought.
"Have the scouts estimated their numbers?" he finally asked.
"According to our teams' analysis," Mokuno replied, "the current Cloud force numbers around five hundred."
Yuan's brows drew together in mild astonishment. "Five hundred? I thought their forces were already stretched thin."
He knew from messages sent by hawk that Jiraiya had opted not to pursue the previous battle's survivors—but had instead relayed intelligence to Konoha's units on the Iwagakure front.
Shortly after, reports came that the Iwa forces had shifted to the defensive—because a full-scale battle had erupted between Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
The Cloud had been crushed, driven back from the Land of Waterfalls all the way into the Land of Fields.
So how could they still field five hundred troops here?
Mokuno gave a wry smile. "Captain, you're the only one who's actually dealt the Cloud-nin a serious defeat lately. By Jiraiya-sama's orders, the other divisions have been holding defensive positions, only skirmishing occasionally. With their temper, it's no surprise they've come to settle the score—with you."
Yuan's expression remained calm, his gaze still fixed on the map. "Mokuno, with the enemy's strength so far above ours… what do you think we should do?"
After a brief pause, Mokuno pointed to a position on the map. "We should immediately contact the Third Squad and have them station themselves here. Together, we'll form a defensive crossfire—so the Cloud won't be able to concentrate their full strength against us."
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/nani_kaito