The next day around noon, the three-man squad finally trudged back into the main camp, covered in dust and looking beat to hell.
First thing they did? Head straight to Commander Orochimaru to report everything that went down.
Of course, Taichi, Yohei, and Saori had already hashed it out on the way back. They needed to hide the squad's real power—especially Taichi and Yohei's.
The ambush only had three jonin and six chunin. Still, when Orochimaru heard the body count, his eyes went wide.
He'd suspected Kazefuri before, but back then he figured the guy was just one of Danzo's pawns. Never imagined he was a straight-up spy.
Question was—did Danzo even know about Kazefuri's double life, or was this just another one of his twisted games?
"I've already got the full picture," Orochimaru said, voice smooth as ever. "I'll pass the details up to the village. You three making it back alive… that's the silver lining in all this mess." He looked at the three ragged teenagers, genuine respect in his eyes. "This mission's getting upgraded to S-rank. Call it my personal thank-you."
Classic Orochimaru—spending the village's money like it's pocket change, zero cost to himself, and still coming out looking like the generous boss.
Sure enough, Yohei lit up. "Haha, thanks a ton, Lord Orochimaru! I was worried the mission wouldn't even count!"
Taichi almost face-palmed. He grabbed Yohei mid-sentence and yanked him behind him. "Lord Orochimaru, our squad's down to three now. What's the usual move in a situation like this?"
Orochimaru studied Taichi with clear interest. Compared to the straightforward Yohei, this kid was way harder to bullshit.
"Normally the village sends a fresh replacement. But if you three have any special requests—as long as we're still in the Northern camp—I'll do everything I can to make it happen."
That was some real leader energy—confident, decisive, ready to take charge.
"Thanks, but we're good without a new member right now," Taichi replied smoothly. "We'd rather keep operating as-is."
They'd talked it through on the road back. Too many secrets in this squad. No way they could risk bringing in an outsider—especially after the whole spy nightmare. Who knew whose side the newbie would be on?
"Fine by me," Orochimaru said without missing a beat. "Request granted."
Mission accomplished, Taichi politely excused the team.
Orochimaru had a million things on his plate. Once he'd reassured them, he waved them off.
But the second they were gone, he picked up Taichi's mission report and started reading—slowly, carefully.
After going through it a few times, a sly, knowing smile crept across his face. He'd spotted the gaps.
The kill count should've been way higher. So why were they sandbagging their results? Distrust in the village… or something they were hiding?
Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils glittered with pure curiosity. His tongue flicked out, just like a snake that had found its next meal.
This was way too interesting to share. He'd keep it to himself—savor it slowly, see what else Taichi and his crew could do to entertain him.
But as commander, he still had a job to do. He drafted a scathing letter back to the village, ripping into the Intelligence Division for their screw-ups. One spy incident was bad enough—now two in quick succession? How many damn moles were still running around?
He knew the Third would take it seriously. Not just because the victim was his favorite disciple's grandson, but because it gave him the perfect excuse to tighten his grip on Root even more.
Meanwhile, at the Cloud Village front-line camp…
The jonin sent to investigate the island got back around the same time as Taichi's team. What was supposed to be a quick recon turned into the worst news possible.
"Reporting, sir!" The jonin captain's voice cracked. "No sign of our people. The warehouse zone is total rubble. The whole island's covered in burn marks and water damage. The barrier was smashed by brute force."
He swallowed hard before delivering the final blow. "Based on everything we saw… the ambush squad is gone. All fifteen members—dead. No survivors."
The words landed like a sledgehammer. The command tent went graveyard silent, the only sound the occasional pop from the braziers.
"Five jonin! Ten chunin!" A middle-aged Cloud officer in full flak jacket shot to his feet, face twisted in rage. "That wasn't fifteen random cats—that was a tenth of our jonin power! And you're telling me they got wiped out without a trace?!"
His voice shook with fury and disbelief. The ambush team had been stacked—water-style specialists, perfect counters. It should've been an easy crush.
"Any sign of other ninjas on the island?" the overall commander asked coldly from the head seat. "Was it that Matsushita Taichi squad being too strong… or did they have backup? Can we confirm anything?"
The jonin captain could only shake his head. "The whole place was flooded. Most traces are gone. We… we can't tell."
The commander's face hardened. He didn't blame the scouts—the enemy had clearly covered their tracks on purpose.
"Doesn't matter. Based on what we do know, this Konoha brat—Matsushita Taichi—his value, his threat level… it's way beyond anything we estimated before."
The commander's eyes glinted with icy dread.
"Top-tier medical ninjutsu, insane fire-style, sword skills that could cut through steel. The kid's a damn all-rounder. We cannot let him keep growing."
Another advisor spoke up, voice rough. "But… we've lost Senior Ziina and now five more jonin in such a short time. Morale's taking a massive hit. Our high-end firepower is already stretched thin—especially with that mysterious yellow-haired ninja popping up on the front lines lately…"
It was both a warning and a worry. The power balance was shifting fast. If Konoha stopped playing defense and went on the attack, Cloud would be screwed.
"Suspend all offensive operations and probes immediately," the commander ordered without hesitation. "Full defensive contraction across the line. Strengthen border defenses. I'll request reinforcements from the village."
"Also—spread the intel on the Matsushita Taichi squad. Let Sand and Rock lose sleep over him too. They'll love chasing this kind of nightmare."
"Yes, sir!"
As soon as Cloud pulled back, the pressure on the Northern front dropped like a rock.
Front-line troops, support units—everyone felt it. Cloud's harassment and sabotage basically vanished. Even small skirmishes became rare.
The sudden quiet felt wrong—like the calm right before a storm. It didn't bring relief. It brought unease.
Inside his command tent, Orochimaru drummed his fingers on the latest battle report. Cold light flashed in his golden snake eyes.
His intel network was on another level. Piecing together scattered reports from deep-cover agents and this weird defensive pullback, he saw the truth instantly.
"Hmph. Looks like Taichi made Cloud bleed more than we thought. They actually had to tuck their claws back in."
Orochimaru's raspy chuckle echoed in the tent, a mocking smirk on his lips.
"Never figured you barbarians would learn to be scared. Rare sight…"
But then he spotted the golden opportunity hanging right there.
Cloud's front line was crippled, morale shaken. This was the perfect moment to strike hard—push the front forward, wreck their border supply lines, and crush their war potential.
Yet the second his eyes landed on the latest orders from Konoha's higher-ups, all that excitement got slammed with a bucket of ice water.
His standing directive was still "hold the Northern line at all costs." Big unauthorized offensives? That was a direct slap to the face of the brass—and nobody liked the "disobeying orders" button getting pushed.
"No way I'm letting this slip away," Orochimaru muttered. He didn't hesitate. He called in his most trusted aides, and within minutes a tightly written, urgent memo—encrypted at the highest level—shot through the emergency channel straight to the Hokage's office.
In it, Orochimaru laid out the situation in brutal detail: Cloud had lost multiple jonin in a row and was forced into full defensive mode. This was Konoha's best chance to counterattack while the enemy was weak.
It would shrink Cloud's territory, crush their morale, and shove their forces in the Land of Hot Springs all the way back to the Land of Moon. He even attached a rough outline for limited, controlled raids.
As the letter vanished from sight, Orochimaru felt a rare flicker of real hope. If this worked, the pressure on Konoha—at least on the Northern front—would drop big time.
Three days had passed since the last mission. Other than light duty at the medical camp, the squad hadn't taken any field work.
Yohei and Saori were the same. Whenever they had downtime, the three of them stuck together—sparring, syncing up moves, or finding some empty patch of ground to train alone and get used to their new power.
During that time, Yohei and Saori finally learned about Taichi's latest trick: Ice Release.
The first time he used it in a spar, their reactions were unforgettable.
Shock. Doubt. Then straight-up rage. Even thinking about it now made the two of them want to crawl into a hole.
Still raw from the spy incident, their nerves were shot. Ice-style? First thought: some Yuki clan ninja had murdered Taichi and was wearing his face.
Yohei's Sharingan spun straight to Mangekyō. Saori's body crackled with lightning—she was already in lightning-body activation mode. They looked ready to kill on sight.
Taichi was touched… but also kinda wanted to mess with them. Plus, he needed to test the new ice-style anyway. Fight was on.
To keep them from getting suspicious, he stuck to pure ninjutsu—no taijutsu, no sword work.
Ice Release: Thousand Killing Water Spears. Hundreds of ice senbon formed out of nowhere and shot toward them like a blizzard.
While attacking, he backpedaled fast, hands already flying through seals.
Ice Release: Ice Snow World. A massive area-of-effect jutsu that turned the whole battlefield into prime ice-style territory.
A huge blast of freezing air exploded outward from Taichi. Frost raced across the ground in every direction. Ice spread under his feet like a living carpet.
The temperature plummeted below freezing. Yohei didn't flinch—he answered with Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, bigger and hotter than the one on the island.
Flames roared across the field, melting ice on contact. But Taichi's Ice Snow World was no joke. With his insane chakra reserves feeding it nonstop, fresh frost kept pouring in from all sides, pushing right back.
Ice was winning the clash… but Saori wasn't just standing around.
She'd used the fire as cover to flank him. Lightning orbs streaked in, and she charged right behind them—arms and legs wrapped in crackling electricity, moving faster than ever.
Taichi dodged the orbs with quick shunshin, but when Saori closed the distance, he blocked one hit and immediately retreated.
That electricity wasn't just boosting her speed—it carried a paralyzing shock. One touch and his unprotected arm went numb. If his body wasn't already super tough, the fight would've ended right there.
While backing up, Taichi kept waving his hands. Ice pillars and walls sprouted from the frozen ground, blocking Saori's path.
Not even a real jutsu—just advanced nature transformation. With his chakra control at Lv. 11, it was effortless and cheap on chakra. Perfect for stalling.
They weren't super durable—easy to smash—but they did the job.
Once he had enough distance, the next technique was ready.
Ice Release: Ice Dragon Strangle.
Three massive ice dragons erupted from the ground, twisting together as they roared toward Saori. Get caught and you'd be crushed into paste.
She was seconds from getting wrapped up—when a huge fireball shot in from the side, slamming into the lead dragon.
Taichi figured the fireball was strong, but not strong enough to melt them in time. He was already ready to pull back…
Then something crazy happened.
The orange flames suddenly flared brighter, shifting to brilliant gold. The heat spiked so hard the ice dragons melted instantly.
Even Saori froze, thinking it was Taichi's fire-style.
But Yohei didn't waste the opening. He closed the gap in a flash, fists flying like a storm.
The first solid block—"crack!"—Taichi's arm broke on impact.
"Shit—what the hell? Every punch feels like my own super-strength!"
Taichi staggered back, cursing under his breath. Ice-style alone wasn't gonna cut it. He yelled, "Stop! Stop! Stop! It's really me—Taichi!"
They still kept coming. Fine. Taichi dropped the act.
Golden fire flared around his body. The broken arm healed instantly, and the scorching heat blasted Yohei backward.
"Dude… it really is you," Yohei groaned, blood trickling from his right eye.