According to the chūnin team captain, Claw Bear, it was the Falcon Squad that, while on patrol, discovered three suspicious individuals carrying ore and preparing to flee—illegal miners.
But in this era, those who dared to engage in such work were mostly wandering ninjas who were not skilled in combat, though they all knew a bit of low-level Earth Release. These three illegal miners were no exception.
After a round of fighting, the Falcon Squad accidentally let one of them escape.
By the time Claw Bear's group and another squad arrived as reinforcements, they did not dare to pursue toward the Land of the Moon in the direction of Kumogakure, and could only interrogate the remaining two illegal miners.
That was when they realized the seriousness of the situation. They immediately had the other squad escort the prisoners and the ore back to headquarters to report, while their two squads, led by the last illegal miner, went deeper into the mining area, preparing to defend Konoha's interests to the death.
As a result, the Kumogakure forces arrived too quickly and trapped them inside.
That was the course of events. It could only be said that their Will of Fire awareness was quite high.
After finishing, Claw Bear asked, "Makoto-sama, what should we do now?"
"Take the mined ore and leave first. The passage has been completely blocked—there isn't enough oxygen inside to last long."
"But there's so much. How are we supposed to carry it all?"
Makoto did not answer. Instead, he took out a new sealing scroll from his ninja pouch. After spreading it open, he formed hand seals with both hands. Chakra enveloped the ore, sealing all of it away.
With his current sealing ability and affinity for space-time, becoming a mobile storage-type ninja like Ajisai or Tenten was no problem at all.
Chakra was almost omnipotent. In the ninja world, there was no need to specially craft storage bags.
Unfortunately, those with this kind of talent were far too rare. Otherwise, during great ninja wars, the major villages wouldn't have suffered from logistical problems.
After finishing, Makoto said, "Everyone, hold hands. Oh, right—bring the prisoners too."
After everyone complied, Makoto placed his hands on Claw Bear and Falcon's shoulders. The Flying Thunder God Technique activated, instantly transporting them to a cave outside.
Falcon hadn't expected that he would one day experience being carried by the Flying Thunder God: "So this is the Fourth Hokage-sama's ninjutsu? It's truly amazing."
Claw Bear looked at the corpses scattered on the ground and said bitterly, "Those bastards got what they deserved."
"No need to worry about the dead. Bring the remaining two prisoners as well."
Since Makoto intended to drive a wedge into Kumogakure, he naturally couldn't just leave that captive to die in the underground passage. He had to bring him out and hand him over to his companions.
Medical ninjutsu in the ninja world was remarkable—even severed spinal nerves could be healed. But unfortunately, the two people capable of that were both in Konoha.
Even Tsunade, that top-tier healer, might not be able to handle it, because she didn't possess the sage arts of Shikkotsu Forest—while these injuries were all caused by sage techniques.
It was unknown whether the Fourth Raikage would be willing to lower himself for his subordinate.
And if he wasn't, how he would deal with the growing resentment.
...
In an instant, space shifted.
Makoto and the others suddenly appeared at the entrance of the underground passage beneath a rocky mountain. Before going deep underground, he had left a Flying Thunder God mark here.
After staying in darkness for so long, Claw Bear and the others were extremely uncomfortable when suddenly exposed to sunlight. But they all heard the sounds of chaotic battle. Forcing open their tear-filled eyes, they saw that the previously desolate outskirts of the Sakama mine were now bustling with activity.
In the distance, large forces of Konoha and Kumogakure ninjas were locked in fierce combat.
Makoto immediately ordered, "Falcon, leave the Kumogakure prisoner behind. Your squad withdraw into the passage and guard the two prisoners."
Falcon protested, "Everyone's risking their lives out there—how can we hide in the rear?"
"Stop talking nonsense. Follow orders!"
"…Yes!"
The battlefield below was complete chaos. The three members of Claw Bear's squad were all adult ninjas; whether they were strong or not, they had survived this long and were experienced enough to fight.
But the Falcon Squad was different. Though they looked mature, they had only become chūnin last year. Before that, they were essentially a genin squad doing D-rank missions in the village. Their combat experience was lacking, and joining such a chaotic battle now would likely cost them their lives.
Not all ninjas were the same.
The nearly adult Falcon Squad were still rookies on the battlefield, while Makoto—despite being younger—was already a seasoned veteran.
After giving orders, he grabbed the Kumogakure prisoner, flew into the air, and rushed toward the battlefield, tossing the man toward a Kumogakure squad.
Seeing that the person thrown at them was their own, the squad carefully caught him to prevent him from falling to death. Upon noticing his familiar injuries and looking up at Makoto hovering in the sky, they immediately turned and began a strategic retreat.
The demon of Konoha had arrived—if they didn't run, they'd be crippled.
Makoto ignored them. After scanning the battlefield, he noticed that not only had Hyūga Hizashi arrived, but Nara Suzaku was also fighting with his team.
Kumogakure's side had more people than before as well. It seemed both sides' reinforcements had converged here, fighting desperately over that large deposit of chakra metal ore.
Those barbarians really hadn't changed—always acting like bandits.
Without hesitation, Makoto flew toward a weaker section of Konoha's forces. The moment he landed, he began killing. Wherever he went, ferocious Kumogakure ninjas were swiftly cut down.
On the battlefield, what ninjutsu did one need? Fast blade strikes were the best ninjutsu.
At this point, he didn't bother leaving enemies crippled—killing was the goal.
After all, even if he crippled them, other Konoha ninjas would finish them off. It was meaningless.
...
On the battlefield, Makoto clashed blades with a Kumogakure ninja. Lightning crackled along the opponent's weapon, flashing brightly.
Aside from Lightning Release ninjutsu and lightning-based body refinement techniques, Kumogakure ninjas most commonly used this kind of high-speed taijutsu infused with lightning.
Ordinary people, even if they blocked, would be affected by the transmitted electricity, lose the initiative, and be killed.
But Makoto was not afraid. Like Hyūga clan ninjas, he was a natural counter to this kind of technique. The wind-attributed chakra on his short blade instantly disrupted the lightning on the opponent's weapon upon contact, and then he cut through both blade and man.
Chakra nature restraint was not absolute. In the end, it depended on each side's mastery of nature transformation. But who could train lightning nature transformation to a level that could counter him?
No one—not even the Raikage.
After killing the opponent who had been rampaging among Konoha's forces, Makoto looked to another side. There, screams filled the air as eerie blue flames, like a reaper, chased and ignited the bodies of Konoha ninjas.
This color of flame?
So it's you—the blue-flamed "hakimi," the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
He locked onto the big cat—and the big cat locked onto him.
But there was no cat here—only a fierce-looking young woman: the Two-Tails jinchūriki, Yugito Nii, about the same age as Kakashi.
She was very pretty—but also extremely bloodthirsty. Upon seeing Makoto, the "demon" in the eyes of Kumogakure ninjas, she charged without hesitation, ignoring her teammates' shouts to stop her.
After rushing over, Yugito leapt into the air, slashing at his head with her claws—real claws.
Not only her fingers—her toes also extended ten sharp claws, tearing toward Makoto's abdomen, attempting to disembowel him.
She really was like a cat—even her taijutsu resembled a cat's hind-leg kick attack.
Makoto raised his hand and blocked her with the "One-Horn Great Wall" technique.
Seeing she couldn't break through, Yugito kicked off and retreated, while simultaneously spitting out a mouse-shaped projectile wrapped in blue flames.
Makoto quickly drew a kunai, infused it with wind chakra to form a Wind Release kunai, and threw it at the blue mouse.
But the Fire Mouse Bullet seemed sentient—it easily dodged the kunai and continued attacking him.
The kunai did not destroy the technique and instead flew straight toward Yugito.
She smiled slightly, preparing to sidestep, feeling somewhat smug: "The Fire Mouse Bullet can avoid attacks and will actively—what?"
The scene she expected—where the hateful Konoha demon would be engulfed by the blue flames after the explosion—did not occur.
Makoto disappeared—and suddenly appeared in front of her.
With a kunai in one hand and a short blade in the other, he viciously stabbed toward her developing chest and slender neck.
'I'm finished!'
She had no time to react. She was struck instantly—her chest pierced open and her neck slashed, blood gushing out.
Makoto showed no mercy regardless of how pretty she was. No matter how beautiful, could she compare to the pretty boy of the Yuki Clan?
But this fatal strike did not kill Yugito. She was not fighting alone. At the critical moment, the Two-Tails intervened. Blue tailed-beast chakra burst out from within the black ink-like form, not only stopping the weapons from penetrating further but also forming a thick chakra cloak around her body.
Two massive tails struck forward, aiming at Makoto, while the tailed-beast chakra rapidly healed Yugito's wounds.
Makoto leapt back, hovering midair as he carefully observed the transformation.
Yugito was wrapped in tailed-beast chakra. Her pupils turned completely white, her expression ferocious, body low to the ground, hands touching the earth—combined with the tails behind her, she looked like a humanoid cat.
Her body hadn't enlarged—half transformation?
Makoto was puzzled. Not a full transformation? Was it because Yugito was too young to handle it, or had she not yet reached the level of a perfect jinchūriki?
The Two-Tails didn't care about any of that. Its jinchūriki had almost just been killed—if the jinchūriki died, it would die once as well.
This was simply bullying a cat too much.
Right now, it didn't want to use any techniques—it just wanted to blow this damn Konoha ninja to pieces.
In its half-transformed state, the Two-Tails opened its mouth and began condensing a Tailed Beast Ball.
If it was unhappy, it would explode things. If one explosion wasn't enough, it would do another. That was how tailed beasts fought—brutally straightforward.
The high-density Yin-Yang chakra gathering caused the entire battlefield to feel oppressive.
But then, Makoto used Flying Thunder God again and appeared in front of Yugito.
When he stabbed her earlier and felt resistance, he had already realized the tailed beast was interfering—so he had casually left a mark on her.
"Too slow, stupid cat."
Makoto extended his right hand, quickly using the Wind King's Barrier to wrap the incomplete Tailed Beast Ball, then forcefully shoved it forward—stuffing the massive bomb back into Yugito's mouth.
After that, he immediately used Flying Thunder God to retreat.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted on the battlefield—the Tailed Beast Ball detonated inside Yugito's mouth. Hopefully her teeth were strong enough to endure it.
If she got blown to death, that would be her own doing—it had nothing to do with Makoto.
Makoto's only thought was that the explosion's power was too small—it wasn't even worthy of carrying the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball's shoes.
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