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These days, any Sand supply convoy traveling between the village and the front lines had to move in at least platoon strength—unless it was a special mission or the shinobi were unusually confident in their own power. Taiichi had made them paranoid.
The tighter security made logistics slower and more expensive, but it was better than losing men and supplies to one slippery attacker.
Right now, Taiichi was watching a supply convoy through his chakra sensing from a distance.
After weeks of clashing, Sand had figured out roughly how his sensing worked. Anything within two kilometers was visible, and the closer he got, the clearer the image became. But the stronger his sensing, the easier it was for their own sensor ninjas to pick him up.
So Taiichi had learned to be extremely careful. He kept his sensing light and controlled, constantly adjusting the range and intensity so he wouldn't get spotted too early.
When the convoy finally entered visual range, he dropped his sensing entirely and relied on peripheral vision instead.
It was nearly a hundred men escorting a long line of camels. The Sand shinobi had formed a tight defensive formation—front, middle, rear, and both flanks all covered.
What really annoyed Taiichi was their zigzag movement pattern. It slowed them down, but it made it much harder for him to set up an ambush.
Sand had learned from fighting him. They knew he liked to hide underground or use pre-placed Flying Thunder God kunai for surprise attacks.
But Taiichi wasn't out of tricks either.
A thirty-centimeter desert lizard was scurrying across the sand toward the convoy. Tied to its back was a small scroll with a Flying Thunder God formula drawn on it. Taiichi had used a special genjutsu to guide the lizard's path.
Genjutsu: Intent Path Guidance.
This was the first time he'd used the technique on an animal, and so far it was working perfectly.
Forty meters.
Taiichi watched the lizard closely, body tense.
Thirty meters.
He slowly stood up and drew his short blade.
Twenty meters.
He began forming hand seals.
Ten meters.
A kunai suddenly whistled through the air and nailed the lizard straight through the head, pinning it to the ground.
"Chiya, go check that lizard. It came running straight at us from way out there. Something's off."
"Got it, Captain."
Taiichi clicked his tongue. These guys really didn't miss a thing. His genjutsu still needed work.
But ten meters was close enough.
The Sand ninja named Chiya reached the dead lizard and immediately spotted the formula tied to its back. His eyes widened in alarm. He opened his mouth to shout a warning—
Too late.
A short blade punched straight through his chest from the front. Taiichi gave it a gentle push, and Chiya toppled backward.
"Enemy attack!"
The shout ripped across the entire convoy.
At the same moment, Taiichi finished his seals.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
A massive golden fire dragon roared out of his mouth and slammed into the middle of the Sand formation. It whipped its head sideways, sweeping through the ranks like a flaming wrecking ball.
Men and camels went flying. The whole convoy dissolved into chaos.
To the Sand shinobi's credit, the initial attack didn't kill many of them. Most managed to scatter in time. Only a few unlucky ones got caught.
"Damn it! Get the camels away from the fire—now!"
Taiichi, still standing in the distance, watched the Sand shinobi scramble away from the flames and almost laugh. His real target had never been the men—it was the supplies.
No way was he letting them put that fire out so easily.
He blurred forward with Body Flicker and charged straight into the disorganized group.
Most of the Sand forces were chunin. Against Taiichi's speed and golden-flame-wrapped blade, they had almost no chance. Anyone who couldn't reinforce their weapons with chakra was either cut in half or lost limbs in seconds.
Within moments, no one dared get close to him.
That changed when a Sand jonin finally reached him.
Even then, the jonin was clearly struggling to keep up.
"You idiots! Use long-range ninjutsu!"
"Oh? You still have time to give orders?" Taiichi smirked, his blade moving even faster.
The jonin immediately shut up and focused entirely on defense.
Meanwhile, the other Sand shinobi started launching Wind Release attacks from a distance—Wind Bullets, Wind Blades—trying not to hit their own jonin.
Taiichi kept pressure on the jonin with his right hand while casually glancing around. When the incoming jutsu got close, he formed seals with his left hand. Dozens of golden fireballs materialized around him and shot out to intercept the attacks.
Explosions of golden light erupted all around him. Burning embers scattered everywhere, turning the sand near Taiichi into a deadly minefield of lingering flames.
The jonin fighting him was in real trouble now. Not only was he being pushed back, but the ground around him was covered in burning golden fire that limited his movement. He was running out of space fast.
"Useless bastards! Are you trying to help or kill me?!"
The thought barely had time to form before Taiichi's blade found an opening. The jonin's foot landed on a patch of burning sand. He stumbled with a scream of pain.
Taiichi didn't hesitate. His short blade slipped past the jonin's guard and drove straight through his throat.
The scream cut off instantly.
The entire battlefield went quiet for a split second.
From the moment the jonin had engaged Taiichi until his death, less than thirty seconds had passed. The other Sand jonin were only just arriving.
They stared at the young man standing calmly among the golden flames, blades dripping with blood. Hatred burned in every pair of eyes.
Taiichi casually flicked the blood off his blade and looked at the circle of jonin surrounding him. His grin was pure arrogance.
"I'll be back!"
He vanished in a swirl of leaves before anyone could react.
The Sand forces were left standing in stunned silence. This wasn't the first time they'd seen this exact scene. Taiichi's hit-and-run style had become a nightmare they couldn't solve. All they could do was bring enough people to force him to retreat before he caused too much damage.
Taiichi reappeared in one of his hidden underground bases. He cleaned the blood off himself, then used Earth Release to leave the area.
Over the past few weeks, his shadow clones had been busy. He now had hidden bases scattered all across the Land of Wind, each one containing a Flying Thunder God formula. It let him travel and retreat quickly without burning through too much chakra on long-distance jumps.
This particular base was the closest to the recent battlefield. After a short rest to recover his stamina and chakra, Taiichi teleported back near the fight site.
The area had already been cleared. Only scorched sand, destroyed supplies, and a few dead camels remained. Vultures were already circling overhead, slowly descending.
Taiichi activated his sensing and quickly located the supply convoy. It had moved farther away. He followed the tracks and caught up after only five minutes.
The Sand forces were on high alert now. The moment Taiichi got close, the entire formation tightened up. A sensor ninja at the front pointed directly at Taiichi's position and started shouting orders.
Taiichi clicked his tongue. That sensor was sharp. He hadn't even felt any probing.
He tried circling around from different angles, but every time the sensor picked him up immediately. After a few attempts, Taiichi gave up.
There would be other targets. No point forcing this one when the risk was too high.
He turned and headed deeper into Wind Country. These days he moved openly, almost hoping a Sand team would spot him. It would save him the trouble of hunting them down.
Far away, deep underground in the Land of Earth, a massive withered tree stump served as a throne. Sitting on it was a thin, withered old man with white hair—Uchiha Madara.
Three thick tubes connected his body to a giant flower bud behind him, constantly pumping some unknown substance into his veins.
The underground hall was silent except for Madara's faint breathing. He looked more like a corpse than a living person.
Then the ground in front of the throne began to rise. A half-black, half-white figure slowly emerged—Black Zetsu, returning from his investigation.
"Lord Madara. I'm back."