This strike on the enemy was a perfect success—completely destroying their harbor and ending their scheme.
The frontline returned to peace once again. The Mist ninja chose to ignore Konoha's lightning-fast attack that destroyed their own base, rather than immediately challenging them to a decisive battle. Instead, they continued making careful plans.
Border frictions in Bear Country, minor skirmishes along the coastlines, even Konoha launching surprise attacks at sea—these brief encounters were now routine between Konoha and the Mist forces.
Both sides understood each other implicitly. The Mist ninja acted boldly, knowing that so long as they didn't initiate full-scale war, Konoha could do little about it. After all, Konoha ninja wouldn't go through the trouble of crossing the sea just for combat.
"Yosh!" Uchiha Huo leaned against the roots of a crimson tree, blood splattered across his face, surrounded by fallen corpses while catching his breath heavily.
"Hehe! So this is what war feels like!" Uchiha Yan gripped the kunai tightly in his hand, injured in many places but staring around at the enemy bodies, eyes slightly red. Supporting himself on one knee, the other hand clutched his abdomen.
"This is nothing! Real war isn't just a few guys—it's massive brawls involving hundreds or even thousands!" Saitama stood atop high ground, completely unscathed, his blade spotless without a single trace of blood, as if untouched by the recent battle.
In truth, he had just killed two Jonin. However, due to the power gap, those two Jonin stood no chance against him.
"That's amazing, Captain!"
Uchiha Huo looked at Saitama like he was a real hero.
Even though Saitama was younger, he excelled in every mission—he truly was a genius of the Uchiha clan, their so-called "Shinigami."
Oh right, over the past few months, although the clashes between Konoha and the Mist forces kept increasing, these fights remained small-scale.
However, Saitama's flawless performance during battles, his one hundred percent kill rate, and his expressionless demeanor during combat earned him the title "Shinigami," which quietly spread among the ranks of the Mist forces.
The vanguard units of the Mist already knew of his existence.
In fact, the Mist vanguard had already compiled Saitama's identifying features so their ninja could recognize him.
"Let's clean up."
Saitama ignored Uchiha Huo's gaze and glanced briefly at the several corpses lying on the ground.
They shouldn't underestimate the power of the two Uchiha brothers either—they had together eliminated four enemy ninja, although they were just Chunin and Genin.
"Yeah, sure!"
Uchiha Huo walked forward to collect the enemy corpses. He didn't have a single visible wound and moved easily.
"Thump!"
Jumping down from where he stood, Saitama landed next to Uchiha Yan.
"Captain!"
Uchiha Yan's face appeared pale as he pressed a hand against his abdomen, blood trickling between his fingers, staining his pants.
"Let me take a look!" Saitama instantly noticed Yan was injured, forcing himself upright despite the pain.
Meeting Saitama's firm and unquestionable stare, Uchiha Yan gritted his teeth and moved his hand away from his belly.
"Yes!"
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."
"Captain, you're amazing!"
Uchiha Yan looked at the wound on his abdomen—a ten-centimeter cut, not too deep but bleeding heavily due to its width.
"Hmm," Uchiha Yan nodded and raised his hand toward the wound again, attempting to slow the blood flow.
"Let me handle it," Saitama gestured for Uchiha Yan to move aside. As the younger ninja watched in confusion, green light began radiating from Saitama's right hand.
"Ahh!"
Uchiha Yan's eyes widened in shock. The icy coldness of Saitama's hand pressed against the injury sent a sharp reaction through him.
"When did you learn Medical Ninjutsu? Unbelievable!"
Uchiha Huo walked over after finishing off some corpses. His face also showed surprise initially, though he quickly recovered. After all, he'd long accepted Saitama as an extraordinary figure who exceeded normal expectations—whatever techniques the captain mastered simply came as no surprise to him. Truly brilliant people needed no explanation!
"Not that long ago, I just hadn't had much chance to use it," Saitama casually replied while treating Uchiha Yan's injury.
"That'll have to do for now. The rest can wait 'til we're back."
Saitama removed his hands. The bleeding had stopped, though the wound still looked serious—it didn't restrict movement, at least.
"Thanks, Captain."
Uchiha Yan examined the injury before nodding gratefully at Saitama.
"Let's head back. Our mission today is complete—this area has been cleared out."
After scanning their surroundings, Saitama adjusted the slightly shifted blade at his waist into a more comfortable position, then strode toward Konoha's camp location. Their assignment had been to patrol this region and eliminate intruding enemies, which they'd now accomplished.
...
"What are everyone's thoughts regarding Mist's recent activities?"
Homura Mitokado asked the assembly while wearing his reading glasses, his expression serious.
"Prolonged conflict will hurt Mist the most. I don't think they're so foolish as to keep sending small teams for mere nuisance raids along the border," Hyuga Xin, head of the Hyuga clan, spoke first. His white eyes briefly swept across Uchiha Tianming's face across the table.
"That's true. The longer this continues, the more Mist wears down. While we certainly take losses too, ours remain smaller than theirs. However, if they truly intend to continue this attrition warfare using only one village's strength, I don't think we'll come out ahead. Remember, Konoha isn't only fighting Mist right now."
Uchiha Tianming remained silent for several seconds before responding. He didn't entirely agree with Xin's analysis, although this had nothing to do with relations between their respective clans.
"Hmph!" Although somewhat convinced by Uchiha Tianming's reasoning, Xin still let out a discontented snort.
"That's right. If things continue like this, Konoha will eventually struggle financially," Tsunade remarked. From her recent communications with Orochimaru, she knew that the war against Sunagakure had entered its decisive phase—both sides had revealed their final moves, meaning victory or defeat would soon be determined.
That's exactly why Konoha has deployed even more ninjas on that battlefield, determined to secure victory. The outcome of this war is crucial—it may well be the decisive moment in Konoha's present crisis.
If we win, other ninja villages will have to rethink their stance; if we lose, well, it's common in the world of ninja politics—when the wall crumbles, everyone kicks!
"So what should we do next? We can't sit around waiting for Mist to show up at our doorstep! We must seize control ourselves!"
Homura Mitokado slowly scanned the faces of the ninja gathered around the long table, steering the conversation.
As an older ninja who had fought countless battles in the early days, he had seen Konoha at its height and stood beside the Third Hokage through the village's darkest days. That's why, no matter his age, he remained fiercely determined—he always wanted his side to stay on top!
Being stuck in a defensive stance recently was unbearable to him. But under the circumstances, with Konoha pouring massive manpower and resources into other intense battlefronts, this battlefield inevitably seemed quiet. Now that a glimmer of change had appeared, he absolutely did not wish for this front to remain defensive any longer.
The long table remained silent. If they were really to follow Homura's suggestion and launch a direct attack, the casualty numbers wouldn't stay as light as they currently were. Besides, nearly everyone here hailed from powerful clans and guarded their clan's interests fiercely.
"What? No one speaking up? Better a short sharp pain than a long drawn-out one. On this matter, my view aligns mostly with Advisor Homura—Konoha indeed needs to take command of the war! However, we need to work out the details carefully and come up with a truly effective and feasible plan!"
Tsunade-sama leaned back in her chair, her sharp gaze sweeping over all of them, her tone leaving no room for question.
...
"Phew! What a laid-back day this has been!" Saitama sat comfortably on a wooden beam, wearing an easygoing expression. Beside him sat Shizune, also without a mission.
"How come? Don't you have a task today? I rarely see you around during daytime!"
Shizune tilted her head toward Saitama, her nose twitching slightly, while the soft strands of her short hair fluttered gently in the breeze.
"You're always tagging along with Tsunade-sama—shouldn't you already know this stuff better than anyone else?"
Saitama didn't turn his head toward Shizune. He kept staring blankly ahead at the distant tents, sounding completely indifferent.
"How would I know? Besides, when important matters are being discussed by Tsunade-sama and others, I don't dare approach them anyway."
Feeling somewhat annoyed, Shizune lightly punched Saitama on the shoulder. Her attitude had grown increasingly relaxed around him the longer they spent time together.
"We won't wait much longer—we should soon make our move. They've been discussing strategies recently. Konoha has grown tired of staying defensive for too long."
Saitama had attended that meeting—he had become one of Konoha's rising stars and earned the right to join certain high-level discussions. Moreover, due to his outstanding performance, Uchiha Tianming had especially begun including Saitama in certain circles for further cultivation. He highly believed in Saitama's future potential and the positive changes it could bring to the entire Uchiha Clan.
"Oh, this? I heard about it from Tsunade-sama, but it doesn't have much to do with you not going on missions!"
"Too lazy to explain," Saitama shrugged, jumped off the log, and headed toward the camp.
It was already noon—lunchtime—and his stomach was growling loudly.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Shizune caught up, clearly annoyed that Saitama always left before finishing what he was saying.
Although she was a few years older than him, she was about half a head shorter. Saitama had experienced a growth spurt in recent months and now surpassed 1.7 meters—becoming what he remembered from his past life as a "second-class cripple" in terms of height.
"Where are you going?" Shizune asked curiously.
"To eat, obviously. Where else?" Saitama patted his stomach, his hand brushing over solid muscles—his perfectly sculpted six-pack abs.
"Oh, then I'm coming too! And I'll take some food back for Tsunade-sama as well!"
Shizune nodded and walked beside Saitama, her face calm and unreadable.
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