In the jungle along the Rain–Fire border,
Inuzuka Ryoha led a group of people riding ninja dogs, racing wildly through the forest.
Ryoha shouted loudly,
"Did you all remember what I taught you earlier?"
"Don't worry, young clan leader. Something that simple—how could we forget? Just watch."
"Hm? Young clan leader? Me? Why didn't I know about this?"
"You're definitely the next clan leader, but the old clan leader is still around. To avoid awkwardness—and since you're still so young—calling you 'young clan leader' shouldn't be a problem."
Inuzuka Clan Leader: To avoid awkwardness, then don't call him that at all, you idiot brat Ryoha! You kidnapped my Rinko and now you want my authority too—do you even have a heart?
"Oh, so that's how it is. Fine, it's not a big deal. I'm sure the clan leader won't mind."
Inuzuka Clan Leader: I mind very much. Some things I can give, but you can't just come and snatch them!
Ryoha continued, "Remember this. Ten people per squad. Number yourselves one through thirty. Squad Thirty stays with me. The key point—this time we only want corpses. A genin's corpse and a jonin's corpse are the same to us. Spending half a day killing one jonin isn't as good as slaughtering a dozen genin. Each squad's mission is ten bodies. If you encounter a large gathering of Rain ninja, return directly to camp. Understood?"
"Understood!"
"Good. Scatter."
...
At one Rain ninja outpost deep in the forest, five genin were stationed there.
Inside, they chatted idly about how great Lord Hanzo was.
Inuzuka Squad One's ten members arrived nearby.
The jonin leading them, Captain Inuzuka of Squad One, sniffed the air.
"Five people. Two by the first tree ahead. One diagonally to the right. Two behind the second tree to the left. Move in quietly. Remember—Explosive Tags to the face, kunai sweep the ground, shuriken to seal off escape. After the attack, if the Rain ninja are still standing, withdraw immediately. Got it?"
"Understood."
While the five Rain genin were chatting, they had no idea that ten ninja and ten ninja dogs had already surrounded them.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—several kunai carrying Explosive Tags shot toward the five genin.
"Enemy attack!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Explosive Tags detonated instantly.
Two Rain genin failed to dodge and were blown apart on the spot.
The other three rolled into an open space, standing back to back in defense.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The sound of kunai slicing through the air came from every direction.
One minute later, all three Rain ninja collapsed.
Their faces were frozen with indescribable terror.
Who was it?
Who killed us?
Members of Inuzuka Squad One stepped out.
One of the ninja looked at the scene and said,
"Captain, isn't the young clan leader's fighting style a bit wasteful? Those five kids were probably just genin. Three Explosive Tags for five genin—what a loss."
"Shut up. The Explosive Tags were provided by the young clan leader. You're not the one paying for them. Use them however you're told. But we should retrieve the kunai and shuriken. Even though the young clan leader said he'd reimburse us, money can't exactly be exchanged for ninja tools during wartime."
"Understood, Captain. But this is also helping the young clan leader save money, right?"
"You think the young clan leader cares about that tiny amount? Ever since he took over the kennel, look at what our ninja dogs eat—premium beef, all kinds of strengthening herbs. Every week they get one free claw sharpening, one full-body massage, and one hot spring therapy session. My god… even I've never lived that well."
"Woof! Woof!"
The ninja dog beneath Captain One couldn't help barking in agreement.
Now this is how a ninja dog should live! What kind of miserable life was that before?
"Yeah, yeah, we know you've got it good. No need to show off right now."
Captain One looked helplessly at his old companion.
"Woof! Woof!"
Of course I have to show off! You used to tempt me with food all the time. Now He has even better food. I have to brag about it three times a day.
"Let's go. We're still five short of the quota. Finish up and head back to rest."
"Understood."
...
In another part of the forest,
Squad Two rode their ninja dogs at full speed, fleeing.
Behind them chased more than twenty Rain ninja.
The jonin leading Squad Two glanced back at the twenty-some pursuers and licked his lips.
A big deal…
"Everyone! One kunai with an Explosive Tag every ten steps, one shuriken every five steps. Aim for the ones charging at the front. Got it?"
"Understood!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
After a hundred steps, the Rain ninja seemed to think they had successfully driven off the enemy and prepared to retreat.
Squad Two's captain immediately ordered everyone to stop.
He sniffed the air.
"The enemy is retreating. Turn around and chase them! Same procedure as before—this time aim at the ones running at the back. Got it?"
The remaining members of Squad Two all revealed cruel smiles.
"Understood."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The familiar sounds rang out again.
But the roles had switched.
The former cats had become mice, and the former mice had become cats.
"Stop! They're chasing us again. Retreat!"
Inuzuka Squad Two instantly switched from chasing to fleeing.
The transition was perfectly natural.
You chase me, I run.
You run, I chase.
The two groups played this game happily through the forest.
...
A moment later—
"Stop. A large force is gathering. Grab the corpses of the Rain ninja we killed and withdraw."
Up ahead, a Rain ninja unit of a hundred men
looked at the three figures who came running toward them in a disheveled state.
The squad leader hurried over and asked,
"Jonin Kaino, what happened? Your elite squad had more than twenty people—how did you end up like this? Did you encounter Konoha's elite jonin?"
Kaino panted heavily.
"They… they're disgusting."
...
Scenes like this continued to occur throughout the forest.
Sometimes Inuzuka squads surrounded and hunted isolated or small groups of Rain ninja.
Sometimes they dragged around groups of ten or twenty Rain ninja, playing with them like toys.
But any Rain ninja force larger than fifty had not encountered a single enemy so far.
...
Squad Thirty, led by Inuzuka Ryoha, had just finished off a Rain genin who had stepped out to relieve himself.
Rain Genin: Do you know what I just experienced? I'm only a genin! I just came out to pee! Forty-four eyes staring at me—twenty-two of them glowing green! What did I do wrong?!
Ryoha asked, "How's our quota?"
The original captain of Squad Thirty replied, "Twelve. We've already completed the target."
Ryoha nodded. "Good."
He stood up and made an OK hand signal toward a certain direction.
Three seconds later, a bug flew over.
A sealing technique was carved onto its body.
It flew in front of Ryoha and exploded immediately.
Bug: Couldn't you people use us properly for once? You always make us explode! We insects have rights too, you know!
A small slip of paper floated down.
"Leave a tail. Lead them to this location."
A simple map was drawn on the note.
Tsk. Always ordering people around.
"Let's go. Time to play with them again."
The members of Squad Thirty all smiled slightly.
Even though they hadn't used Fang Passing Fang once all night and their bodies felt a bit restless, this feeling—where the enemy couldn't catch them yet couldn't escape either—wasn't bad at all.
The Inuzuka clan had no idea that their family's proud tradition of fearless, head-on fighting was gradually disappearing.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo