Chapter 8 – Rainy Night
The Konoha forces followed Tsunade's command: hold the line and remain stationed.
Meanwhile, laborers from the rear lines began transporting copper from the Yūsen Mine.
The war had dragged on for quite a while, and even a resource-rich village like Konoha was starting to feel the strain. They desperately needed to replenish their reserves from the newly occupied territories.
At present, the Konoha army was divided into three groups:
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru remained at the main camp in Yuwaku Gorge.
A number of jōnin were assigned to escort the workers transporting copper.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio volunteered to take command at Yūryō Mountain, which lacked high-ranking combat personnel and needed elite presence to stabilize the area.
And as for the Hidden Rain Village—still no movement.
During this period, the Crown Prince Squad's workload was unusually light.
They stayed stationed at the main camp, occasionally learning practical ninja techniques from the senior shinobi around them. Life was, for once, relaxed.
No matter what, Tsunade would never assign Nawaki's team to act as scouts.
She would not send them into dangerous forests for reconnaissance. Not after what happened.
---
Nawaki's training had entered its next phase: learning a C-rank Water Release technique—Water Severing Wave (Suiton: Suidanha).
Minamoto Ren joined him in practice.
This technique, originally developed by the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, had been carefully selected by Orochimaru for Nawaki.
Orochimaru knew countless jutsu, but in his seasoned judgment, some were simply better than others.
Take the Lightning Release: False Darkness technique, for example—
Though it was classified as B-rank, its speed and power were devastating. In the original timeline, Kakuzu once used it so fiercely that even Kakashi had to meet it with a two-handed Chidori just to barely cancel it out.
Water Severing Wave was similarly elite.
Unlike other Water Release jutsu that simply sprayed large volumes of water, this one compressed a razor-sharp stream from the user's mouth—high in cutting power, long-range, low in chakra cost.
If you were going to specialize in Water Release, skipping this jutsu was a waste of potential.
Naturally, Ren devoted himself to mastering it.
This wasn't just any technique—it was handpicked by Orochimaru. Back in his previous life, this would be like receiving elite one-on-one tutoring from a top-tier test prep coach.
If you still couldn't pass the exam after that, you might as well go work in a factory.
Nawaki, seeing Ren so focused, couldn't bring himself to slack off either.
The two of them practiced day after day, correcting and refining their technique together. Before long, they had both mastered the jutsu, which—while not exceedingly difficult—still required effort and precision.
This success reignited Nawaki's confidence.
"I'm not the deadweight of the class. I, Lord Nawaki, actually have talent!"
According to Konoha standards, Nawaki was now eligible for the Chūnin Exams.
As a member of the Senju clan, he already possessed an immense chakra pool.
Now that he'd learned a few solid jutsu, he was only held back by his young age, lack of battlefield experience, and the fact that he hadn't yet taken a life.
Even so, he was more than qualified to become a chūnin.
Ren took stock of himself as well.
His chakra reserves didn't quite reach the chūnin level—but he wasn't far off.
His arsenal consisted of just the Three Basic Techniques and Water Severing Wave...
But he had a hidden trump card—the Kekkei Genkai: Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse)!
Bloodline limits like this allowed ninja to punch well above their weight class.
A genin Uchiha who awakened the Sharingan could fight on par with a chūnin.
A chūnin with two tomoe could stand toe-to-toe with a jōnin.
And Shikotsumyaku was a close-combat monster of a Kekkei Genkai.
It could easily push Ren from a "special chūnin" level into the territory of a special jōnin.
That said, Ren had never liked the way ninja ranks were discussed.
Battle between shinobi always boiled down to information disparity.
He didn't care whether someone was a genin, chūnin, or jōnin—everyone was a glass cannon.
One misstep, and even the best of them could end up dead in a ditch.
That night, Minamoto Ren was washing his feet in the tent.
Nawaki leaned sleepily against his shoulder while Hinata Haining sat nearby reading a book.
Ever since Ren had saved Nawaki, the boy's trust and reliance on him had grown almost absolute.
In Nawaki's heart, probably only his sister Tsunade ranked higher than Ren now.
A violent gust of wind tore through the flaps of the tent, blowing in cold rain from outside.
The chill carried a hint of the coming winter.
Ren glanced casually toward the entrance—and in that fleeting moment, his blood almost froze.
A pair of cold, emotionless eyes stared back at him from the darkness beyond the tent.
The flickering torchlight inside glinted off a drawn blade, its steely glimmer barely visible through the curtain of rain. Water trickled down the intruder's body, dripping from a forehead protector marked by two vertical rain streaks.
A Hidden Rain ninja!
They were here.
"Enemy attack—!"
All of Ren's sleepiness vanished. He immediately infused his voice with chakra and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Other tents echoed with similar alarms—but they were soon drowned out by screams, explosions, and the sound of steel piercing flesh.
"Rain-nin? How did they get here?! When? Why didn't the sentries pick up on anything?!"
Ren's mind was spinning. He couldn't understand how the Rain-nin had snuck past the patrols—let alone the ever-watchful eyes of Orochimaru and the other high-level shinobi.
The enemy ninja outside their tent hesitated.
He could see all three inside were already awake, and he sensed multiple chakra signatures converging rapidly on their location.
If he couldn't kill in a single strike…
He'd be the one to die.
He vanished into the downpour.
Nawaki, now fully awake, had jumped to his feet in a defensive stance—but the threat had already passed.
"Are you all alright?"
This time, the one who entered was Orochimaru himself.
His body was soaked, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
Only his eyes gleamed—cold, razor-sharp.
"We're fine. A Rain ninja tried to ambush us but ran off when he was spotted," Ren quickly reported.
Orochimaru nodded and turned toward someone outside the tent.
"I'm heading out to support Tsunade and Jiraiya. Watch over these three. If necessary, abandon the camp and evacuate with them immediately."
"Yes, sir!" came the reply—from a voice Ren didn't recognize.
Without another word, Orochimaru vanished in a blur of hand signs.
Hanzō had arrived—and without him, Tsunade and Jiraiya would be outmatched.
A moment later, a nondescript Konoha ninja entered the tent.
His face was stiff and unreadable.
"Uncle Mizudori?" Nawaki asked timidly.
The man gave a brief nod, his expression softening slightly at the boy's voice.
But when his eyes flicked toward Ren, something strange and unspoken passed through them.
Ren's heart sank slightly.
He remembered that name well—and he didn't forget debts, especially grudges.
"Young Master Nawaki, I'll get you out of here," Mizudori said calmly, kunai in one hand, the other extended toward Nawaki.
But Nawaki frowned.
Something didn't feel right.
He grabbed Ren's sleeve tightly and said:
"Chen—uh, I mean, Minamoto Ren, and Hinata Haining too. Uncle Mizudori, we go together!"
Ren clearly saw a twitch on Mizudori's face—but after a pause, he forced an awkward smile and nodded.
The four of them slipped out of the tent into the chaos.
The Konoha camp was in complete disarray—battles breaking out everywhere.
The Rain-nin clearly held the upper hand: they had the element of surprise, they fought best in rain, and their elite troops were highly trained.
"Summoning Technique – Salamander!"
A thunderous voice erupted from the heart of the battlefield.
A massive grey salamander appeared out of thin air with a boom.
"Secret Technique – Poison Mist Eruption!"
The ninja standing atop the beast wore a mask that concealed most of his body.
Strapped across his back was a chain-linked scythe.
There was no mistaking him—
Hanzō of the Salamander, leader of Amegakure!
Before they could even react, a wave of purple poison mist surged across the battlefield.
The Rain-nin were prepared—they all wore specialized gas masks.
The Konoha shinobi were not so lucky.
As the choking cries and collapsing bodies filled the air, Ren's entire body began to tremble.
This… this is what a top-tier combatant in the shinobi world looks like. These people aren't just powerful… They're monsters who can annihilate entire armies alone.
They are… Kage-level.
"Wind Release – Pressure Damage!"
Even Mizudori couldn't hide his fear. But his instincts kicked in: he unleashed a roaring gust of wind that blew the poison fog away, temporarily buying them time.
"We need to go, Young Master Nawaki! Hanzō came prepared—this battle is a lost cause!"