The forest on the mountain peak.
The cold winter had passed.
New buds had just begun to sprout, but the area still looked bare, with just a hint of green.
The Konoha ninjas hiding behind the trees held their breath.
Someone swallowed nervously, suppressing the fear in their heart.
Fifty ninjas against three hundred enemies—they wouldn't even dream of such a scenario.
Only the thought of Sakumo in their group gave them some comfort.
Gin hid in the shadow of a tree, watching the black dots rapidly approaching from a distance.
They were moving so fast that he could only see flashes of black.
Boom!!
A loud noise rang out.
Then came a series of explosions.
The Cloud Ninjas were immediately attacked by explosive tags.
The battle had begun.
Sakumo drew the short blade from his back and charged in first.
The remaining Cloud Ninjas had no time to tend to their wounded comrades.
The Konoha forces were charging at them.
Sakumo became a white crescent moon, about to slice down a Cloud Ninja.
Suddenly, a Fuma Shuriken flew out.
Clang! With a slash, Sakumo deflected the shuriken.
It fell into the hands of a lazy-looking man.
"Never thought I'd face such a dangerous man right after arriving." The lazy-looking man held the shuriken, his previously slack expression turning serious.
"Konoha's... White Fang."
He was not an easy opponent to deal with.
"Troy." Sakumo recognized the man in front of him.
"I never thought Konoha's White Fang would know me. What an honor."
Troy pulled out a scroll from his lower back.
Bang! Four giant Fuma Shuriken appeared on his back.
"Although I'm no match for the famous White Fang of Konoha, I can at least stall you for a while."
Troy threw the Fuma Shuriken from his back and the one in his hand at Sakumo.
The five Fuma Shuriken automatically flew towards Sakumo.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.
Sakumo parried the shuriken while observing the surroundings.
Although the explosive tags had indeed taken out several Cloud Ninjas, they were still vastly outnumbered.
He leaped from the branches, dodging through the gaps between the Fuma Shuriken.
However, the shuriken turned and flew back towards him.
Sakumo didn't even glance at them; instead, he focused on the Cloud Ninjas pressing Konoha from all sides.
His pupils contracted.
An invisible ripple spread outward.
"Conqueror's Haki."
A powerful genjutsu composed of immense chakra, killing intent, willpower, and Yin release.
It could instantly make those without sufficient strength fall unconscious.
And it came with a targeting function.
Created by Uchiha Gin.
A guarantee of quality.
A Cloud Ninja who was hiding to form hand signs suddenly lost focus, his body falling from the branch.
He was spotted by a Konoha ninja, and a few shurikens ended his life.
Another Cloud Ninja, who was about to kill a Konoha ninja, also suddenly lost focus, his body going limp.
The Konoha ninja, who had been fighting back, thrust a kunai into his neck.
A Cloud Ninja engaged in fierce combat with a Konoha ninja suddenly lost focus while scanning the surroundings.
He was consumed by a Great Fireball Technique.
Aburame Shige stood on a prominent branch.
He had no opponents, as if he were invisible to everyone.
He seemed to understand why his father had sent him to such a dangerous battlefield.
He controlled his insects to assist his comrades.
But at that moment, large numbers of Cloud Ninjas fell unconscious, leaving only a few strong ones still conscious.
He looked towards Sakumo, who was being attacked by five Fuma Shuriken.
"So this is Sakumo-sama?"
Swish!
A white flash cut through the air, shattering all five shurikens.
Sakumo's gaze turned to Troy.
The fight wasn't over.
From what he knew—
Troy's name had been passed down in the Cloud Village for generations. This generation's Troy held the title of the strongest Troy.
"Indeed, fighting the White Fang of Konoha isn't that simple."
Troy sighed, but his eyes gradually sharpened.
"But you shouldn't have shattered my Fuma Shuriken."
Shing!
The shattered pieces attacked Sakumo again.
The tiny fragments were far harder to deal with than the larger Fuma Shuriken.
But in the next moment—
Sakumo was already in front of Troy.
Troy's pupils shrank.
The speed was so fast that he couldn't even track Sakumo's movements.
The blade had already slashed across his neck, but Troy's body turned into lightning.
"Magnet Release! Convergence Technique!"
Troy's real body suddenly appeared behind Sakumo, his hand finishing the hand signs.
The next moment—
All the kunai and shuriken flew towards Sakumo.
Sakumo's body was pierced in an instant.
But then it turned into smoke.
Sakumo appeared behind Troy.
The secret of Konoha's taijutsu.
One Thousand Years of Death!
Troy once again turned into lightning.
The real Troy, hiding in the shadows, was sweating on his forehead.
"That taijutsu is too sinister."
His face turned beet red; the lightning clone transmitted the memories.
The pain from before was still there!!
He forcibly shifted his focus, not wanting to dwell on those memories.
He observed the battlefield.
In just an instant—
All the Genin and most of the Chunin had fallen unconscious.
Only elite Chunin and Jonin were still fighting; five hundred had been reduced to just over ten.
If they weren't elites—
They wouldn't be able to continue fighting.
"White Fang, what a troublesome opponent."
Now he could only pin his hopes on his other comrade.
He wasn't the only one leading this group.
He wasn't a match for Sakumo; perhaps if there were two of them, they could hold Sakumo off for a while.
A white figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
Seeing the figure, he forced a smile.
He probably wouldn't last until his comrade arrived.
On the other side, Troy's comrade—
Looked grimly at the boy hanging upside down from a branch.
"Are you not going to run?"
He looked around and saw no trace of the other Cloud Ninjas.
He hadn't wanted to pursue this boy initially, but his strength was overwhelming.
With just one encounter, he had instantly killed several elite Chunin.
Even a Jonin almost died at his hands; if not for his timely intervention, they would have lost an important asset.
But unexpectedly, the boy had fled upon seeing him.
"Run?" Gin scoffed.
"You misunderstand."
"I just didn't want to reveal too much."
These words made the Cloud Ninja narrow his eyes.
"You're an elite Jonin of the Cloud, aren't you?"
Just like Tsunade and her two comrades in the beginning.
"And if I am?" The Cloud Ninja's expression darkened.
"Let me witness the strength of an elite Jonin of the Cloud."
Darkness unfolded behind Gin.
(End of Chapter)