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At the edge of the swamp, the stifling heat was vexing.
A four-person Konoha patrol team was resting against a tree trunk.
"Damn it, when will this cursed mission end?"
A young genin, stuffing military rations into his mouth, grumbled in a low voice. "It's already the third day. We've been circling this damned place a dozen times every day, and my bones are about to fall apart."
"Exactly!" another genin echoed. "I don't know what the higher-ups are thinking, suddenly raising the patrol rank to the highest level."
"If those madmen from the Land of Lightning really wanted to attack, they'd come from the northeastern border. Who would be so bored as to take the long way around and come through this swamp?"
"Shut up!" The jonin leading the team opened his eyes, his gaze cold, and reprimanded in a deep voice. "Control your tongues during the mission!"
Despite his words, a hint of weariness still flickered in his eyes.
The daimyo manor's warning, Hokage-sama's orders—they had no choice but to obey.
But the entire eastern war zone had so few people.
They had to guard against potential movements from Kirigakure while also maintaining high-intensity patrols along this long border, so manpower was indeed stretched thin.
This seemingly solid defense network was, in reality, pushing every person within it to their limits.
"Rest is over. This is the last round tonight."
The jonin stood up, brushing off the decaying leaves and mud from his body, and the other three could only sigh and follow.
After clearing away any possible traces, the four figures once again disappeared into the dark, dense forest.
But none of them noticed.
Shortly after they left, more than a dozen dark figures flashed past the spot where they had rested, leaving no trace.
However, accidents always happen unexpectedly.
Just as the Raikage's team was about to pass through this patrol area, the Konoha patrol team, which should have already left, returned.
The jonin leading the team suddenly stopped in his tracks while moving.
He looked back at the spot where they had just rested, his brows tightly furrowed.
The three team members immediately became alert but found nothing.
One of the team members asked in a low voice, "Captain?"
"Something's wrong." The jonin's gaze was sharp, fixed on a broken vine in the distance.
"The mark there wasn't left by us."
As an experienced veteran jonin, his ability to control details was excellent.
The break was too fresh, and the angle was tricky, as if it had been snapped by some heavy object passing at high speed.
"Let's go back and check!"
The four returned the way they came.
And so, on a narrow, dark forest path, two groups of people suddenly met.
The air solidified in that instant.
The pupils of the four shinobi of the Konoha team suddenly constricted!
What did they see?
The man at the head was so powerfully built he seemed inhuman—explosive muscles beneath his bronze skin, and that distinctive light yellow hair... Fourth Raikage, A!
Behind him, the dark-skinned man carrying seven long swords and wearing sunglasses was looking at them with a mocking gaze... Eight-Tails jinchuriki, Killer Bee!
And the more than ten Kumogakure elites with condensed chakra and cold eyes!
A bone-deep chill rose.
"Run!" The jonin instinctively wanted to shout a warning signal, his hands already forming hand seals rapidly. "Enemy attack! Earth Release..."
However, his shout and ninjutsu stopped abruptly in an instant.
Splat!
A blue electric flash passed, and the Raikage's figure didn't even leave an afterimage before he appeared before him.
That muscled arm easily pierced his chest, crushing his heart along with it.
Warm blood gushed down the Raikage's arm.
"Too noisy."
The Raikage expressionlessly withdrew his hand, letting the body fall limply.
All of this happened in a flash.
"Yo, sending you on your way, idiot, fool!"
Killer Bee's strange accent sounded, and seven swords were already released.
A death vortex formed by blades instantly twisted the remaining three patrol team members, who hadn't reacted at all, into it.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
There were no screams.
Three heads flew into the air, blood gushing, staining the dense forest crimson.
From encounter to annihilation, less than two seconds passed.
A massacre of completely unequal strength ended swiftly and cleanly.
The Raikage glanced at the bodies on the ground, his eyes devoid of warmth.
"Don't bother cleaning up, speed up!"
"We'll hide once we reach the designated location..."
He didn't linger at all. His figure flashed, and he led the team, disappearing deeper into the swamp.
Half an hour later, the temporary camp on the border of the Land of Fire was brightly lit.
A jonin in charge of dispatch looked at the mission board on the wall, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Why isn't the Third Patrol Team back yet?"
"They're twenty minutes overdue."
A premonition of ill omen rose in his heart, and he immediately reported to the commander.
"You take three teams and go check their assigned area!" Hearing the news, the commander immediately assigned a jonin. "If there's an emergency, sound the alarm immediately!"
"Yes!"
The news came back quickly.
Bad news.
In the dense forest at the edge of the swamp, the bodies of the four members of the Third Patrol Team were found.
The shinobi who conducted the on-site investigation brought back their analysis.
Inside the command tent, the atmosphere was extremely heavy.
"All four were killed with a single blow, the wounds clean and precise, indicating the work of top-tier taijutsu and sword technique masters."
"The residual chakra at the scene was very faint, but it can be confirmed to be lightning release chakra... The preliminary judgment is that it was done by Kumogakure."
"Based on the traces left at the scene, the enemy's numbers were between ten and fifteen people."
After compiling all the intelligence, the jonin in charge of the investigation reached a final conclusion.
"A Kumogakure elite squad, numbering around ten to fifteen people, has torn through our defenses and infiltrated the Land of Fire!"
This news instantly made the commander's face turn ashen.
He knew very well that a patrol team led by a jonin could be silently eliminated.
The strength of this infiltrating team was absolutely extraordinary!
"Damn it!" he roared in a low voice, not daring to delay in the slightest, and immediately ordered, "Organize ten teams to track them."
They were already in the Land of Fire—who would play one-on-one with you now!
Immediately, he took out a scroll and wrote down an urgent military report.
"A team numbering approximately ten to fifteen people, suspected to be Kumogakure elite, has infiltrated our territory."
"Extremely strong, target unknown!"
"Hokage-sama and all departments are urged to pay close attention to defense!"
After writing, he sealed the scroll as quickly as possible and handed it to the communication shinobi.
A hawk soared into the sky, flying towards Konoha at maximum speed.
However, no one knew.
This seemingly accurate intelligence was, from the beginning, based on a fatal error.
They thought the infiltrators were just an elite team of a dozen people.
But they didn't know that this team's goal was to pave the way for a large Kumogakure army in the heart of the Land of Fire.
The clouds of war had already gathered.
Meanwhile, on the distant northeastern border, a small-scale skirmish was also unfolding.
Among those involved was the four-year-old Uchiha Itachi.