"It seems that a few little bugs have come our way…"
After listening carefully to the report delivered by a patrolling ninja, Nara Ryusei calmly spoke to Sarutobi Sasuke. His tone was relaxed, almost as if the news did not surprise him at all.
"Little bugs?" Sarutobi Sasuke let out a cold sneer. "That's simple. Just clean them up."
For veteran warriors like them, spies and infiltrators were nothing unusual. In wartime, the battlefield was filled with hidden dangers. Anyone who attempted to sneak into the camp was immediately considered an enemy and eliminated without mercy.
Meanwhile, the "little bug" they were referring to had already successfully infiltrated the Konoha camp.
Uchiha Setsuna had used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself as a Konoha patrol ninja he had previously killed. Before killing the man, Setsuna had interrogated him using Genjutsu, extracting valuable information about the camp and its routines.
Because of this preparation, Setsuna's disguise was almost flawless. For the moment, there was no immediate risk that his identity would be exposed.
As for the other two squads that had accompanied him across the sea, Setsuna had given them a different mission. He sent them deeper into the Land of Fire, deliberately allowing them to leave traces of their presence. Their job was to attract attention and draw Konoha's focus away from him.
If Konoha's patrol forces were busy searching for those two squads, Setsuna would have more freedom to operate inside the camp.
"Nishikawa, were there any problems during the mission this time?"
A middle-aged ninja with a hideous scar running across his face suddenly called out.
Setsuna immediately recognized the man.
It was Shimoi Miki, the squad leader of the ninja whose identity he had stolen—Nishikawa Ōzora.
Without hesitation, Setsuna answered in a relaxed tone.
"Captain Shimoi, this mission was no different from the previous ones. Those people from the Hidden Mist Village are still staying in the Land of Waves. They don't dare approach our position at all."
While speaking, Setsuna carefully imitated Nishikawa's usual casual tone.
Shimoi Miki frowned slightly.
"You still need to be cautious," he warned seriously. "Recently it seems that the Hidden Mist Village has sent a large number of reinforcements to the Land of Waves."
He paused for a moment before continuing in a stern voice.
"And Nishikawa… this is wartime. If you keep maintaining such a careless attitude, you'll die sooner or later. Worse, you might even drag the entire squad down with you."
Shimoi Miki was known for being extremely serious about his duties. Among all types of ninjas, he disliked those who behaved recklessly or treated the battlefield lightly.
"Alright, alright, my dear Captain Shimoi, I understand."
Setsuna forced a playful grin onto his face as he replied.
This was actually one of Nishikawa's habits. The man was known for his carefree and joking attitude.
However, for someone like Uchiha Setsuna—who normally maintained a cold and expressionless face—making such a playful expression was surprisingly difficult.
Fortunately, Shimoi Miki did not suspect anything.
While continuing to lecture him about battlefield discipline and awareness, Shimoi led Setsuna back toward the squad's resting tent.
Inside the camp, each tent typically housed two or three squads during rest periods.
When Setsuna entered the tent, he saw two other members of the Shimoi squad already inside.
From their conversation, he guessed that the remaining squads had already been dispatched on missions outside the camp.
This situation was actually perfect for him.
The fewer people there were, the lower the risk that someone might notice something unusual about him.
After sitting down, Setsuna began chatting casually with the two teammates.
At first, the conversation was ordinary—complaints about patrol duties, discussions about food supplies, and jokes about the long hours of waiting.
However, Setsuna subtly guided the conversation toward more important topics.
Within a short time, he had managed to gather a considerable amount of information about the camp's structure, patrol schedules, and the current military situation.
Originally, his mission had been simple: infiltrate the camp, obtain basic intelligence, and return to report.
But now his thoughts had changed.
A new plan began forming in his mind.
Of course, he would still find a way to send the gathered intelligence back to the Hidden Mist camp.
However, he was becoming greedier.
Instead of leaving immediately, he wanted to remain inside the Konoha camp and act as an internal informant. If he stayed here, he could coordinate with Uchiha Su's future attacks and cause even greater damage to the enemy.
By the time Uchiha Su received the intelligence report sent by Setsuna, three days had already passed.
"The commander of this Konoha army is Sarutobi Sasuke…"
Su looked at the report with a strange expression.
The document recorded detailed information about Sarutobi Sasuke.
What made the situation unusual was that Sarutobi Sasuke happened to be the father of Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was technically Uchiha Su's former teacher.
However, that was not the most interesting part.
If Su remembered correctly, in the future Uchiha Fugaku would name his second son Sasuke precisely because he greatly admired Sarutobi Sasuke.
Thinking about this strange connection made Su feel somewhat amused.
After living in this world for several years, he had gradually become accustomed to many of its customs and relationships. Still, certain things occasionally felt rather bizarre.
For example, it sometimes felt as if Fugaku admired Sarutobi Sasuke so much that he almost wanted to become Hiruzen Sarutobi's father.
The thought was so strange that Su couldn't help shaking his head slightly.
Of course, Uchiha Su had not spent the past three days idly waiting.
Hidden Mist ninjas had been continuously crossing the sea in small groups, launching squad-scale attacks against the Konoha army stationed at the border.
These battles were not large in scale, but they were extremely brutal.
Small units clashed repeatedly in sudden skirmishes, ambushes, and surprise attacks.
Even though the numbers were limited, the frequency of these clashes gradually increased the pressure on both sides.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Mist Village had sent its limited number of medical ninjas to the front lines.
Their task was to treat the wounded immediately after each battle.
"I really need to train more medical ninjas…"
Uchiha Su rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
The Hidden Mist Village simply did not have enough medical specialists.
Even worse, there was no organized system for training them.
However, this problem was not unique to the Hidden Mist.
In fact, the entire Ninja World faced the same issue.
Most villages did not value medical ninjas very highly, and they were reluctant to invest resources into training them.
Even after Tsunade became a famous medical expert, her proposal to assign one medical ninja to every combat squad was rejected by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The reason was simple: it was unrealistic.
Training a medical ninja required exceptional talent, precise chakra control, and years of studying complicated medical theory.
All of this required enormous amounts of time, money, and effort.
From a purely military perspective, most leaders believed it was more practical to train additional combat ninjas instead.
It was not until Tsunade eventually became Hokage that the training of medical ninjas finally began to develop into a formal system.
"Hikari."
Su looked toward a girl sitting nearby.
She was holding a book and reading with great interest.
Sunlight filtered through the small gaps in the tent, scattering golden rays across the floor. The gentle breeze lifted strands of her hair, creating a peaceful scene that looked almost like a painting.
"I'll give you two hundred men," Su said calmly. "Go and try to attack the Konoha camp."
Hikari slowly raised her head.
"You don't need to break through their defenses," Su continued. "Just apply pressure and keep them busy. Can you handle that?"
Hikari closed the book in her hands.
Her expression immediately became confident and proud, almost resembling the imposing presence of Uchiha Madara himself.
"Are you looking down on me?" she asked.
"I don't need anyone else. I could break through the enemy camp by myself."
And she wasn't exaggerating.
Hikari truly possessed the power of a one-woman army.
Uchiha Su had carefully studied her abilities.
The sheer variety of powers she possessed was astonishing.
Her Mangekyō Sharingan granted her abilities such as Tsukuyomi, Inscribed Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, Flame Style: Kagutsuchi, and Yachihoko.
And that didn't even include her immense combat experience.
At the very least, Su believed that in the current Ninja World, very few people could match her strength.
Perhaps the only exception would be Uchiha Madara, who was rumored to be hiding somewhere in the shadows.
Of course, not all of Hikari's Mangekyō abilities originally belonged to her.
During the chaotic era of constant war, many Mangekyō eyes had been transplanted between clan members.
Despite all this, Hikari did not possess the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Her eyes were still ordinary Mangekyō.
Yet strangely, her ocular power seemed capable of recovering naturally.
Even without Hashirama's cells, her eyes functioned almost like an Eternal Mangekyō.
After researching the matter, Su suspected that the explanation might lie in one of her abilities—Yachihoko.
By placing a special mark on a target, Hikari could absorb their chakra or transfer chakra to them.
It was possible that this ability allowed her to continuously replenish her energy, producing an effect somewhat similar to Hashirama's regenerative cells.
"I know you could destroy the entire enemy camp by yourself," Su admitted calmly.
"But right now, I don't want this army to collapse too quickly. Do you understand?"
Hikari crossed her arms.
A mischievous smile appeared on her face.
"How sinister," she said.
"After spending so much time with you, I feel like my heart is slowly becoming filthy as well."
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)