Stepping out of the village gates, the ninja—already organized into several squads—quickly sprinted off in different directions.
As Hatake Seiko and Hyūga Kagami followed their assigned instructor toward another route, Uchiha Gen exchanged a glance with Seiko and gave him an encouraging nod.
Senju Gen watched the direction they had departed and said, "Seiko and Kagami should be heading toward the Kumogakure front."
Uchiha Gen frowned slightly. "Kumogakure isn't easy to deal with. I've heard they rely heavily on brute force. Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, they're the most aggressive."
"That's true," Senju Gen replied. "Which is exactly why the village deployed its strongest reinforcements to that battlefield."
At that moment, Shiranui Aoba and several other squad leaders finished their discussion and walked over.
"We're moving out," Aoba said.
Uchiha Gen asked, "Aoba-sensei, which battlefield are we assigned to?"
Shiranui Aoba glanced briefly at Senju Gen before smiling faintly. "The Sunagakure front."
Among all the major battlefields Konoha faced, pressure from Sunagakure was the lightest. After all, Sunagakure's strength had been severely reduced following the disastrous battle at Kikyo Pass.
Noticing Aoba's subtle glance, Uchiha Gen immediately understood—this assignment was likely the village's way of safeguarding Senju Gen.
Roughly three hundred ninja were dispatched as reinforcements to the Sunagakure front. Traveling at full speed, they arrived by nightfall at a temple deep within the Land of Fire—the Fire Temple.
The monks had already prepared food and bedding for the arriving shinobi.
After eating, the ninja—exhausted from a full day of travel—quickly settled in to rest.
Late into the night, a crescent moon hung high in the sky, its cold light washing over the silent temple grounds.
Inside one of the side rooms, around thirty genin lay asleep on woven mats.
Senju Gen had kicked off his blanket and was snoring softly. Beside him lay Uchiha Gen.
Suddenly, Uchiha Gen's eyes opened slightly, a faint glimmer flashing within them.
He sensed a patrolling chūnin squad leader pass across the rooftop outside.
The Fire Temple possessed a unique secret art known as Sage Art, and Uchiha Gen had been interested in it for quite some time.
He knew that Chiriku—one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve—had originated from the Fire Temple and wielded the technique Sage Art: Thousand-Armed Murder, a powerful jutsu that combined overwhelming offense with formidable defense.
Because of this, the moment they arrived at the Fire Temple, Uchiha Gen had resolved to locate the cultivation scroll for this technique.
From his perspective, the power structure of Thousand-Armed Murder bore similarities to the Mangekyō Sharingan's Susanoo—both manifested chakra constructs shaped by extraordinary spiritual force.
Carefully sliding open the side-room door, Uchiha Gen formed a Shadow Clone and quietly slipped outside.
Suppressing his chakra, he blended seamlessly into the night as he made his way toward the temple's rear courtyard, where the monks lived and practiced daily.
He heightened his perception to its limits—every whisper of wind, every shift of shadow registered clearly in his mind.
After a period of careful investigation, Uchiha Gen discovered a concealed compartment inside a side room adjacent to the main hall.
The room was lined with shelves of Buddhist scriptures. Behind one of the shelves, hidden within the wall, was the secret compartment.
He opened it cautiously.
Inside lay a single scroll.
Unrolling it slightly, Uchiha Gen confirmed his guess—it was the Sage Art cultivation scroll.
Moments later, he carefully returned the scroll to its original position and quietly sealed the compartment.
The Fire Temple remained silent beneath the deep night sky.
A gentle breeze stirred fallen leaves across the stone steps.
On the rooftop of a Buddhist hall, two patrolling ninja scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes.
Beneath the earth—beyond their sight—a figure moved soundlessly.
Outside the side room, Uchiha Gen emerged from the ground and used the Substitution Technique, exchanging places with his Shadow Clone.
Back inside, he lay down once more on his mat and closed his eyes. Around him, the steady rhythm of snoring filled the room.
In his mind, however, the cultivation principles of Sage Art and the execution of Thousand-Armed Murder replayed endlessly.
As I thought… this Sage Art is a legacy technique native to the shinobi world.
Unlike conventional ninjutsu, Sage Art focused heavily on refining spiritual energy—chakra derived from the mind and soul rather than physical vitality. It emphasized deep meditation and spiritual projection, aligning closely with Yin Release.
Uchiha Gen had yet to awaken the Sharingan, and aside from genjutsu, he lacked advanced methods to fully utilize Yin Release.
The golden Thousand-Armed manifestation described in the scroll reminded him of a rudimentary Dharma Body—a chakra construct formed through spiritual will.
Its characteristics were remarkably similar to the initial stage of Susanoo.
Uchiha Gen decided that he would first thoroughly analyze Sage Art: Thousand-Armed Murder, then attempt to develop a method to materialize his chakra into a comparable form.
If successful, even without the Sharingan, he would possess an alternative to Susanoo.
At dawn, after eating breakfast prepared by the monks, the group immediately resumed their journey.
Three days later, they reached the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
Konoha's camp was stationed atop a mountain ridge. From time to time, ninja could be seen leaping in and out of the encampment.
The moment they entered, the faint scent of blood lingered in the air. Suppressed groans echoed from nearby tents, where injured shinobi lay recovering.
The group halted in an open clearing.
Soon after, a man dressed in white robes approached, accompanied by several ninja.
His presence was cold and oppressive. With a single glance, the murmuring genin fell completely silent.
"Orochimaru-sama," one of the leading ninja said respectfully, stepping forward.
Orochimaru's gaze swept slowly across the reinforcements, a faint, amused smile curling at his lips.
Sarutobi-sensei… Sending only this many reinforcements. Enough to maintain a stalemate, but not enough to drive Sunagakure back. You really went to great lengths to restrain me.
Aloud, Orochimaru said calmly, "You've all worked hard. Your arrival is timely. The battlefield situation is constantly changing—be prepared to deploy at any moment."
With that, he turned and left.
Shortly after, a jōnin stepped forward. "All squads will temporarily disband. In ten minutes, squad leaders are to report to the command center for a combat briefing."
The ninja dispersed, heading toward their assigned tents as the war camp buzzed quietly with restrained tension.
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