Chapter 156: Confronting the Kumo-nin
Ishiro led a squad of over twenty to the coastal region. With his sensory jutsu, he quickly located traces of Kumo-nin activity.
Their actions were nothing short of blatant. Within Ishiro's sensing range alone, there were already three full four-man squads—two of which had jōnin present.
Such a high jōnin ratio was clearly not Kumo's normal deployment at their camp in the Land of Iron. This was clearly a provocation—a show of force.
These three squads had crossed into the Land of Earth, but hadn't gone far. They maintained formation and spacing that allowed for rapid support or retreat, clearly tactical posturing.
"Hmph." Ishiro sneered. This wasn't a reconnaissance—it was bait.
They entered Iwa territory but didn't push inward. There was little intel of value here, and this was the heart of Iwa's border patrol zone.
Their purpose was clear: antagonize.
And from their composition, Kumo was clearly prepared for escalation.
Perhaps their high command had ordered them not to strike first, so they hoped to provoke Iwa into making the first move—so they could retaliate under the guise of "defense."
Classic bait-and-retaliate.
As Ishiro and his force arrived, Kumo's position had subtly shifted.
"Hm… One of the chūnin squad leaders is missing. That speed-type Lightning user," Ishiro muttered, deducing that he had likely gone back to report.
Meanwhile, the three Kumo squads had tightened formation but hadn't merged—ready to coordinate if needed.
Ishiro glanced farther left. Four more shinobi were rushing over—outside his original detection range.
Ignoring them for now, and the two jōnin-led squads, Ishiro focused on the remaining Kumo unit—the one left with only three genin.
He turned to a chūnin squad leader on his side. "Captain Akino, have your team engage those three Kumo genin."
Akino nodded and immediately relayed orders to her team.
This unit was handpicked from the camp's elite. Each squad had specific specialties.
Akino's subordinates were Iida, Osamu, and Eriko Kosugi. Without hesitation, they charged toward the Kumo genin.
On Kumo's side, the two jōnin glanced at each other and silently reached consensus.
Since Iwa hadn't attacked outright, but chose to use genin, Kumo could stall and buy time for reinforcements. They didn't interfere.
On the Iwa side, Eriko Kosugi was the core—she came from a clan with inherited techniques. Though not considered top-tier among her peers and never part of the elite class, she was still a formidable shinobi.
As a Fire Release-focused ninjutsu type, she began hand seals as soon as they entered range.
But even earlier than her, Iida began forming seals.
Originally, Iida and Osamu had been taijutsu types. But after the Eastern Division formed, both were forced to study ninjutsu.
They were initially resistant—until they witnessed the sheer power of combined ninjutsu firsthand.
Especially after Ishiro led a mission where he killed a Konoha elite jōnin using team techniques, the two were completely convinced.
Then word spread that all three of Ishiro's personal disciples had been promoted to chūnin just a year after graduating. Chiko Tomoe's example in particular had stunned the camp.
And since Iida and Osamu were always training near Ishiro's disciples, they'd witnessed their rapid growth firsthand.
So Ishiro's reputation as a master teacher spread like wildfire.
Now, Iida had successfully learned a Wind Release technique, making their team one of the few that could perform a coordinated jutsu without requiring the captain's participation.
Due to his lower proficiency, Iida needed to start his seals earlier than Eriko.
On the Kumo side, the genin were already prepped.
One used Lightning Release, one specialized in kenjutsu, and one focused purely on taijutsu.
They didn't play defense. As soon as they saw seals forming, they fanned out and launched countermeasures. The Lightning user began hand seals, and the taijutsu user hurled shuriken and kunai to disrupt Iwa's ninjutsu users.
Osamu stepped forward to intercept the projectiles aimed at Iida, who lacked the ability to dodge and cast at the same time. Eriko, however, dodged nimbly while forming seals.
Ten seconds later, all three jutsu were complete.
"Fire Release—Flame Net Jutsu!"
"Wind Release—Breakthrough!"
"Lightning Release—Lightning Strike!"
Both sides launched their techniques—surprising each other.
Kumo hadn't expected the Wind-Fire combo. Though the individual techniques were C-rank, when combined, their power nearly reached B-rank—and with an expanded area of effect.
This was Eriko's strategy. Ishiro had originally assigned Great Fireball to most trainees, but she had opted for the wider Flame Net.
Though its base power was weaker, when supported by Wind Release, its destructive area ballooned—and it still packed a serious punch.
The Kumo genin had spread out slightly, but not enough to avoid such a wide-area combo.
All three tried to dodge—but it was too late.
Seeing this, the two Kumo jōnin finally moved, using Body Flicker to rescue the trio.
However, saving two genin while escaping themselves was a heavy load—even for them. All three took burns, with the jōnin suffering the most.
Iwa didn't escape unscathed either.
The Kumo Lightning user hadn't used an AOE move, but a powerful piercing technique aimed straight at Osamu.
It cut through their combined jutsu with deadly precision and nearly impaled him.
Luckily, one of Ishiro's own jōnin aides had anticipated it. He intercepted just in time, shoving Osamu and Iida aside.
In the end, both sides got bruised. But the cold fact was clear: without jōnin intervention, Iwa would've lost one and suffered another injured—while Kumo would have lost all three.
So it was a clear Iwa victory.
The shock hit Kumo hard. One exchange, and they'd lost.
To them, Iwa had always ranked lowest among the Five Great Nations in single combat power—tied with the still-unreformed Mist.
Konoha was strongest. Kumo and Suna both claimed to be second… or first, in Kumo's case.
Now? Kumo's genin were decisively outmatched in a 3v3 against Iwa.
Even if they tried to rationalize that these were Iwa's elite genin, the implication was clear.
The Kumo jōnin weren't as forgiving. They saw the truth.
These three Iwa shinobi weren't particularly strong individually. What gave them the edge… was their combined jutsu.
And that was even more alarming.
Iwa was already known for its numbers. Its affinity for Earth Release made it dominant in defensive and structural jutsu. Now it had found a way to maximize teamwork.
Was Iwa rising again?
"Thankfully, they weren't using Earth Release," one of the Kumo jōnin muttered. "There aren't many Wind or Fire users in Iwa…"
Meanwhile, Iwa's morale was soaring.
"As expected—Lord Ishiro's training method works! One round and Kumo's genin are already down!"
Everyone looked at Ishiro with reverence.
The match was halted, and Eriko's team returned. Though victorious, Osamu was still shaken. His teammates comforted him.
Ishiro gave the trio a nod. "Good work. That's a B-rank mission credit for each of you."
Their fear faded into joy.
Once both sides had calmed down, Ishiro addressed the Kumo-nin.
"Honored Kumo seniors. I am Ishiro, deputy commander of the Eastern Division of Iwagakure. We bear no ill will toward you. Please withdraw from the Land of Earth."
"If you are unsatisfied, we can settle this through matches. Just like earlier—three-on-three genin battles. For every match we win, you stay out of the Land of Earth for one day. What do you say?"
Before the nearby Kumo-nin could respond, a deep voice rang out from the distance behind them.
"No problem. But if we win, what does Iwa offer in return?"
A burly, dark-skinned shinobi dashed in from the sea—exactly the kind of thunderous, muscle-bound Kumo archetype Ishiro had expected.
Ishiro's eyes narrowed. He couldn't offer territory. Iwa's actions here were defensive—Kumo was the intruder.
But… he had a trump card.
The man arrived in moments, clearly a master of Lightning Stimulation. Once he stood beside his comrades, Ishiro replied:
"Iwa and Kumo share a common enemy—Konoha."
"If you win, I can provide you with intel on Konoha."
"What kind of intel?" the large Kumo shinobi asked.
"Haha. You think you can get information that easily, senior?"
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