Land of Waterfalls.
After days of marching without rest, Konoha's reinforcements finally arrived just in time—intercepting the Iwagakure forces before they could pass through the Land of Waterfalls and launch a full-scale attack on the Land of Fire.
A brutal battle broke out on the spot. Yet, compared to Iwagakure's force of over a thousand shinobi, Konoha's quickly gathered reinforcements numbered barely three hundred. The gap in strength was far too large.
To delay Iwa's advance, Konoha's shinobi threw themselves into a desperate fight, willingly sacrificing themselves to buy time.
After suffering heavy losses, they finally managed to stop the enemy's momentum.
In this unnamed, yet heroic campaign, countless unknown shinobi gave their lives for their homeland. They defended peace with their own bodies and fell without fame. But without question, they were all true heroes—brave, selfless ninjas.
At the same time, the strongest among them made their names legendary, shaped by blood and fire like gold sifted from a raging storm.
Among those ninjas—stood Renjiro and his team.
---
Boom! Boom!
Inside a thick forest in the Land of Waterfalls, a fierce battle was underway.
Even though they were outnumbered—only four Konoha shinobi and one ninken against twelve Iwa-nin—the fight was shockingly one-sided. And it was Konoha that had the advantage.
At first, the Iwa-nin had laughed at the small Konoha team—just four kids and a dog. But when the battle started, Renjiro's team gave them a hard lesson: numbers weren't everything.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
An opening wave of shuriken from the Iwa-nin forced the Konoha team to split up, and the enemy quickly tried to isolate them even more with formations.
They split into three-man groups—two teams of two to trap Meri and Maemon, while Renjiro and Tsugami were each left to deal with four enemies.
"Let's finish them fast!" Ordered the Iwa team leader. He didn't want to waste time on what he thought were just a bunch of young ninjas.
But Renjiro simply smiled. Being underestimated? Good. That gave him the perfect chance to take out a few of them before they realized who they were really facing.
Four against one. Confident in their numbers, the Iwa-nin didn't even bother using ninjutsu. They rushed in with kunai for close combat.
Renjiro's eyes lit up, and he whispered to himself with excitement: "Perfect."
This was a chance to test the Genjutsu-based sword technique that Arkain had developed after observing the fighting style of the Genjutsu specialist Special Jonin whom Renjiro had fought some time ago. Using the basics of Genjutsu theory that he got from the Third Hokage, Arkain had created a brand-new sword technique.
"It's time to die, you little Konoha bastard!"
The fastest of the Iwa-nin lunged forward, gripping his kunai in a reverse hold as he quickly closed the distance between him and Renjiro.
Renjiro's fingers moved fast, forming a single hand seal—the Ram seal. The moment the seal was made, he drew his blade from its sheath.
Sashh!
Genjutsu: Multi-Blade Slash!
In an instant, his single blade appeared to become three.
"You're dreaming if you think you can scare me with this cheap trick." The Iwa-nin said. He paused for a moment, then sneered again.
Renjiro's Genjutsu technique looked very simple, and its effect was clearly visible to the naked eye—like an optical illusion or an afterimage.
Whoosh!
"Tak—!"
Before the unlucky Iwa-nin could even finish his word, the sword afterimage he had ignored—thinking it was just a cheap trick—cleanly slit his throat.
Dang!
The Iwa-nin's lifeless body collapsed to the ground a moment later.
"One down. Three to go…" Renjiro said with a calm, cold smile that made him look like a demon in the eyes of the Iwa-nin.
"You bastard!" Shouted one of the Iwa-nin. He was furious at the sudden death of his comrade.
Renjiro didn't flinch, nor did he want to waste time. He didn't pause and instead charged at his next target.
Without letting go of his blade, he quickly raised his left hand. His fingers moved swiftly—forming the Ram seal with just one hand.
"The same trick won't work twice on us!" Yelled the Iwa-nin Renjiro had targeted.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
This time, the enemy was cautious—no longer careless. He deflected all three projected blades using his own weapon, wearing a smug expression.
"Ahh!" The Iwa-nin cried out in pain as he felt a sharp, burning sensation in his chest.
"When—?!"
He looked down and saw Renjiro's real sword had pierced straight through his heart.
Dang!
As the man fell to the ground, Renjiro calmly pulled out his blade and muttered in his heart: "I never said there were only three blades."
The number of illusions was irrelevant. Their purpose was simply to divide attention and hide the real attack. Three? Five? Ten? As long as it distracted the enemy—it served its purpose.
With two comrades dead in seconds, the remaining Iwa-nin—especially their leader—finally understood that their opponent was far from ordinary, despite his young appearance.
"Damn it!"
The Iwa squad leader clenched his jaw in anger. He had let his guard down, and now two of his men were dead. He was both furious—and scared.
"Krokosi, come here! We'll kill this bastard first!" The squad leader suddenly shouted to one of the young men fighting Tsugami.
"Right away, Captain." The Iwa-nin named Krokosi replied, quickly rushing to join them.
"Kill him!"
The captain's voice was cold. He wasn't going to let this drag on any longer.
"Formation A!"
At his command, the two remaining shinobi moved fast, forming a triangle around Renjiro, with the captain leading at the front.
Renjiro stood calmly with his blade in hand, watching them with quiet seriousness.
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison!"
Boom!
The captain began forming hand seals, his hands moving so fast they almost blurred.
A moment later, the ground under Renjiro shook. Thick stone pillars shot up in a circle, surrounding and trapping him inside.
"Hmm?!"
Renjiro tried to move, but the shaking ground threw off his balance. He couldn't dodge or move normally inside the rocky prison—it trapped him like a natural cage.
"Now!" Seeing Renjiro completely surrounded, a cold smile appeared on the Iwa-nin captain's face as he gave the signal.
All three acted at once and began forming a new set of hand seals.
"Earth Style: Rock Javelin Jutsu!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three sharp stone spears burst from the ground. Each shinobi grabbed one and threw it at the center of the prison.
With no space to dodge and the ground still trembling, Renjiro had no way to escape.
Boom! Boom!
The javelins smashed into the center with a loud crash.
"Is he dead?" One of the Iwa-nin asked cautiously.
But before their captain could reply, a cold voice whispered from behind him.
"Of course not."
"Wh—!"
The captain's heart filled with horror. He tried to spin around and defend himself, but it was too late.
Whoosh!
Renjiro's blade sliced clean through his neck.
Dang!
The captain's head dropped to the ground as his body fell.
Soru!
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Renjiro disappeared again.
When Renjiro reappeared, he was already behind one of the two remaining Iwa-nin who had surrounded him.
"Ah—"
The man gasped—but before he could even speak, Renjiro's sword had already pierced his throat.
"Four down. One left." Renjiro said with a calm smile as he wiped the blood from his face.
"You monster! Don't come—"
The last Iwa-nin screamed in panic and fear, almost begging for mercy. Then he turned around and tried to run away.
"It's too late to run now…" Renjiro shook his head. Without even blinking—
Soru!
Whoosh!
In a flash, he disappeared—then reappeared behind the terrified man. He raised his sword and slashed—no Jutsu, no tricks, just pure strength and a sharp blade.
Pufff!
As his sword flashed, the Iwa-nin's head separated from his body. Blood splattered on the ground. A second later, the last body collapsed in the dirt.
Genjutsu: Multi-Sword Illusion!
This technique was born from Renjiro's fusion of the Missing-nin's assassination style and Arkain's combat systems.
The Missing-nin's assassination method focused on one key idea: the distortion between illusion and reality. It used decoys, tricks, terrain, and carefully planned traps to confuse the enemy—until they made a deadly mistake.
But such a method required great skill. First, the user needed sharp judgment to know when the enemy had taken the bait. Second, it required the ability to shape the battlefield—leading the enemy step by step into a trap they couldn't escape.
Renjiro's Multi-Sword Illusion borrowed this core idea—but combined it with his Time Bullet and Combat Visual Assistance Mode. This combination pushed the technique to terrifying new heights.
By speeding up his perception of time, Renjiro could analyze enemy weaknesses and find the perfect counterattacks in real-time. Then, Combat Visual Assistance processed those findings, predicted enemy reactions, and showed him the best ways to respond. It was a combat style that worked perfectly with his sharp awareness and tactical thinking.
Most importantly—this technique still had room to grow. What he used now was only a rough prototype. But Renjiro was sure: one day, Multi-Sword Illusion would evolve into a deadly technique of unimaginable power.
---
As soon as his battle ended, Renjiro turned to help Meri.
To his surprise, her fight was both expected—and unexpected.
He had expected her to hold her ground. But what surprised him was how much she had improved.
Facing two Iwa-nin of about Chūnin level, she stayed calm. Using her sword technique, she held her position and fought them evenly—without being pushed back.
"My chance!"
Standing too close together, the two Iwa-nin had already sealed their fate. The moment Meri saw an opening, she made her move.
Soru!
Whoosh!
In an instant, she vanished from their view, closing the distance faster than their eyes could follow. They didn't even have time to react.
Iai – Crescent Slash!
Fushhh!
A cold, silver arc swept through the air like moonlight. Two bursts of blood erupted—followed by two heads rolling to the ground.
"What a powerful Kenjutsu technique!"
Renjiro arrived just in time to see the brilliant finish. His eyes widened—it was a stunning mix of swordsmanship and chakra. The chakra had been compressed to its limit, then released in a single explosive slash that combined incredible speed and destructive force.
"Wait a minute! Maybe—" Renjiro's face suddenly lit up with excitement. This might be the key to replicating Rankyaku!
Renjiro couldn't produce wind blades through physical force—but maybe he could substitute with chakra!
He made a mental note. The next chance he got, he was definitely going to ask Meri about the principles behind that technique.
---
After Meri wrapped up her fight, Maemon finished his own battle soon after.
The only one who didn't finish his fight alone was Tsugami—but that had nothing to do with his strength.
It was simply because of his different fighting style.
Tsugami's role in the team was that of a tracking-type sensory ninja and a medical-nin. Though he was from the Inuzuka Clan, he mainly served in a support role.
Even so—facing three enemies with only one ninja hound, Tsugami fought with great skill and control.
Over time, his enemies were unknowingly poisoned. One by one, their fate was sealed before they even knew what was happening. At that point, their death was only a matter of time—just waiting for the poison to take effect.
Not long after, Tsugami and Domaru killed their opponents successfully.
---
In the end: twelve enemy Rock-nin versus four Konoha shinobi and one hound.
Konoha won decisively!
The team quickly began clearing the battlefield.
To prevent any information leaks, Renjiro ordered his teammates to destroy the brains of all the Rock-nin completely. Only the squad leader's head was spared—to be sent to the intelligence team for analysis.
After all, a commander who led twelve shinobi likely carried some valuable intel.
---
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