"However, a small team of jonin and chunin from the Senju clan has infiltrated. Young clan leader, please be careful."
Kazuki nodded and sheathed his short sword. "Sorry, I was a little nervous."
Masamichi gripped the hilt of his sword, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily. "As expected, young clan leader."
Seeing the tense atmosphere around him, Kazuki gripped his short sword tightly and then formed five hand seals.
"Ice Release: Ice Armor Technique!"
Chakra circulated, and a layer of ice armor protected his body.
Saving his life was the most important thing!
After all, it was pitch black now, and the enemy had sneaked into the camp. If he wasn't careful, what if a shuriken flew out from somewhere and stabbed him?
He still had a long life ahead of him, so he couldn't afford to die here.
"Aaah!"
A scream rang out, and then a genin in haori collapsed to the ground.
"Careful!"
"Earth Release: Earth Spike!"
Countless sharp earth spikes suddenly emerged from the ground, and several clansmen were caught off guard and were instantly pierced through.
After several people fell, the earth spikes didn't stop, but continued to emerge toward Kazuki.
"Lightning Release: Flash!"
Masamichi instantly drew his sword.
Whoosh!
The blade flashed with electricity, destroying the earth spikes from the roots.
"Young clan leader, be careful!"
After speaking, Masamichi's body crackled with blue electricity as he locked onto the strongest Senju enemy and charged at him.
"Gulp!"
Kazuki gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and couldn't help but swallow.
Holy crap, this scene is really intense.
The blood of the clansmen who had just died was everywhere, and the stench of blood kept irritating his nostrils, causing his body to tremble slightly.
Whoosh!
In the darkness, a shuriken suddenly flew toward Kazuki.
He instinctively reached out to block, but the shuriken flew too fast, and he couldn't block it.
Clang!
Suddenly, Kazuki felt an impact against his chest, and then the shuriken fell to the ground.
Looking down, he saw that the ice armor on his chest had cracked, and there was a gap in the very center.
"Damn! Luckily I had the foresight!"
Kazuki was sweating profusely. If he hadn't used the Ice Armor Technique beforehand, the shuriken would have killed him like cannon fodder.
"Go to hell, you brat!"
A Senju ninja with a ferocious expression, wielding a short sword, slashed at Kazuki with a crazed look.
Clang!
Kazuki raised his short sword to defend himself, but the next second, in an instinctive reaction, he was knocked back into the tent.
Seeing this, the Senju ninja was about to form hand seals to attack the tent.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"
Whoosh!
A shuriken imbued with wind-style chakra flew directly out of the tent.
Thud!
The Senju ninja tried to dodge, but the shuriken flew too fast and pierced straight through his chest.
Thump!
"How... How is this possible..."
The Senju clansman lay on the ground, his pupils dilated, his face filled with disbelief.
I'm about to become a special jonin... How could I be ambushed by a brat? How is that possible...?
Whoosh!
Kazuki lifted the tent flap and came out, kicking the Senju ninja lying on the ground.
"Ha! You little punk, you think you can ambush me?"
Looking at the enemy struggling to breathe, Kazuki touched his chest, his hands trembling as he gripped his sword.
Seeing his state, the Senju clansman lying on the ground let out a weak, mocking laugh. "Heh... brat, you've never killed anyone before, have you..."
"Shut up!"
Kazuki felt ashamed and angry, and roared.
"I can't believe... I was killed by a mere novice... I guess I should just die!"
Suddenly, the Senju clansman's eyes narrowed, and a senbon needle shot directly from his mouth.
Just as Kazuki was hesitating whether to finish off his opponent, an ominous premonition suddenly surged in his heart.
He almost instinctively held the sword horizontally in front of him.
Clang!
In the darkness, the senbon struck the short sword, scattering two sparks.
In that instant, Kazuki was so frightened that the hairs on his body stood on end.
After realizing what happened, he was instantly enraged. "You die!"
Thud!
The tip of the short sword pierced directly into the throat of the Senju ninja.
Blood gushed out as the Senju ninja stared intently at Kazuki.
"Heh, heh..."
Tch, lucky little brat.
With a lingering murmur of his remaining consciousness, the Senju ninja died with his eyes wide open.
"Huff, huff..."
Kazuki, splattered with blood, gripped his sword and gasped for breath.
Looking around, the Hagoromo clan members were fighting hard against the enemy, and the number of enemies was decreasing.
At this moment, Masamichi also defeated his opponent and, staying near Kazuki, helped the other clansmen kill enemies.
BOOM!
Suddenly, flames shot into the sky from the west side of the camp, followed by a massive explosion.
"Not good!"
Masamichi, who was fighting the enemy, shouted in surprise and used a Body Flicker Technique to appear next to Kazuki. "Young clan leader, something has happened to the supplies. Be careful, I'm going to provide support!"
After saying that, Masamichi's body crackled with lightning, and he unleashed his chakra, rushing directly westward.
Kazuki nodded, then gripped his short sword and went to support the other members of his clan.
The night raid ended quickly.
After leaving behind more than twenty corpses, the Senju clan withdrew from the Hagoromo camp.
The Hagoromo clan didn't suffer heavy casualties in this night raid, but the fatal blow was that most of their food supplies were burned, leaving them with less than a week's worth of provisions.
Of course, Kazuki was unaware of this information yet.
After returning to the tent—
[Ding! Mission complete. Congratulations, host, you have gained one talent point (skill). Would you like to use it?]
"Use it! Use it right away!" Kazuki ordered the system without hesitation.
After all, he'd almost been killed by that bastard's sneak attack, so he now had an unusual thirst for power.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have obtained an A-rank ninjutsu: Ice Release: Frost Domain!]
[The user can expend one-third of their chakra to create an ice field with a radius of ten meters. Within the field, the user can consume a small amount of chakra to perform ice leaps. The cooldown time for an ice leap is one second.]
The rising sun pierced the dark night sky.
A new day dawned, and the war between the Hagoromo clan and the Senju clan began!
"Hagoromo Reiryū, do you still like the gift from last night?!"
Senju Butsuma had a white cloth tied around his head, wore red armor, and carried a long sword on his back. He stared sharply at the Hagoromo clan.
Reiryū's face darkened. "Senju Butsuma! Did you have to be so ruthless?!"
Senju Butsuma looked at Reiryū and smiled. "That's not necessarily true. As long as Hagoromo becomes a subordinate ninja clan of my Senju clan, this war can be avoided."
Reiryū instantly flew into a rage. "Don't even think about it!"
If they became a subordinate ninja clan, would Hagoromo still be Hagoromo? What difference would there be between that and extinction?
"Then let's fight!"
Senju Butsuma shouted and made the first move. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Kill!"
With a wave of his hand, Reiryū's clansmen immediately roared and charged toward the enemy.
"Mud Release: Mud Python!"