36 - Espionage Operation?

Before the group of Iwa ninja could even confirm their identities, they were met with a massive Great Fireball created by Yuto Souta!

"Enemy attack!!!!"

One quick-reacting Iwa ninja shouted in a frantic panic, but by then, Kakashi Hatake's blade was already upon them.

Swordsmanship has eight forms: sweep, chop, skim, slice, slash, thrust, shave, and draw.

The Hatake sword style emphasized three: slash, thrust, and slice!

It was all about speed!

While everyone's attention was drawn to the enormous fireball in the sky, Kakashi Hatake transformed into a streak of white light, weaving and dodging in an instant!

"Waaahhh!"

"Take a punch from your great Lord Obito!"

"Fire Style! Flame Dragon Barrage!"

A certain spiky-haired kid wasn't about to be outdone either.

Stealing the spotlight was one thing if it was Souta, but why should this white-haired Hatake get in on it too?

The wisdom-flow tank-charge ninja was online.

Obito Uchiha looked like he was fearlessly charging in, each heavy step signaling his intent for hand-to-hand combat. But just as he reached the enemy, facing their wary stances, he started forming hand signs.

Three consecutive flame dragon bullets smashed into the group of Iwa ninja!

"Fourteen… eleven… nine."

Standing at the back, overseeing the situation, Yuto Souta counted the rapidly dwindling enemy numbers.

Just as the group seemed to recover and prepare a counterattack, the hand signs he was forming suddenly shifted.

"Turn into light, my Great Fireball!"

"Flame Dragon Chain Ray!"

The massive fireball in the sky shattered on command.

Fragments turned into a rain of light, delivering precise strikes on the remaining Iwa ninja below!

Thanks to the uniqueness of Nitrogen Style, Yuto Souta had been focusing more on Fire Style research lately.

The Water Style techniques he'd just acquired, after investing research points, had given him new insights.

Water Style chakra was characterized by its finesse and strong manipulability.

Right now, Yuto Souta wasn't using his Sharingan, but he could still manipulate the flame dragons within the Parent-Child Great Fireball, turning them into beams of light!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

The beams of light sliced through the air.

This encounter battle was brought to a decisive end.

Kakashi Hatake sheathed his blade, looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, a strange feeling stirring in his chest.

So… this was what killing felt like?

"You lost."

At that moment, Obito Uchiha's smug voice rang out beside him.

Kakashi Hatake blinked, caught off guard.

Oh.

He was the inexperienced one here.

He'd heard this guy nearly beat someone to death in a fight, then ended up snapping their arm.

And that time with the Hyuga—breaking arms seemed to be a habit for him. He'd crushed one with a kick without even blinking…

"I just don't like the smell of blood on me, that's all."

Kakashi Hatake said stubbornly.

"Three." Obito Uchiha shook his head, holding up three fingers.

"You only killed three. I got four."

"You lost."

"…"

Kakashi Hatake's face darkened as Obito Uchiha's grin grew wider…

But that odd feeling from his first kill was gradually fading away.

"Alright, hurry up and clean up. Pick up any explosive tags you find."

Yuto Souta remained as calm as ever.

Since there were Iwa grunts patrolling here, it meant that while this area was still within the Land of Fire, it was far from Konoha's frontline base.

Konoha was indeed the foremost of the five great ninja villages, occupying the richest lands and training the most exceptional ninja.

Almost every era produced prodigies in Konoha: White Fang, the Sannin, and the future Golden Flash.

But while the quality of Konoha's ninja was top-notch… their population couldn't compete with the other four great nations.

That was the downside of an elite-focused strategy.

With Konoha's strength, they had a high chance of defeating any single ninja village in an all-out war.

So whenever conflict brewed, the four great ninja villages naturally made Konoha their primary target.

Even if they couldn't win, they'd still fight!

With insufficient manpower on the front lines, Konoha would naturally adopt a defensive, attrition-based strategy.

Yuto Souta had prepared contingency plans for all sorts of encounter battles.

Honestly.

Killing for the first time—and winning overwhelmingly against greater numbers—didn't really stir much in him.

The corpses of the Iwa ninja lay scattered there.

But in his eyes, they were no different from NPC corpses.

Though… these NPCs' clothes…

Yuto Souta's thoughts began to churn.

A bold idea suddenly popped into his head!

If they wore the Iwa ninja's clothes and swapped their headbands for Iwa ones, wouldn't they share the same identity as these corpses?

He didn't think the Iwa ninja were all fools.

The ninja world's tech tree might be warped, but espionage tactics had been thoroughly mastered by the five great villages…

The key was, they didn't need to pull off something as complex as stealing intel.

They just needed to get close to the Kannabi Bridge—close enough for him to unleash Hydrogen Style!

"Obito…"

"How's your Transformation Technique coming along?"

Obito Uchiha, who was cheerfully looting the bodies, froze mid-motion at the sudden question.

He turned his head, looking at Yuto Souta's expectant face, and immediately wore a bewildered expression.

"It's the same as always. Don't you kn—"

"Wait!" Yuto Souta suddenly shouted, cutting Obito Uchiha off.

Now, not only Obito but even Kakashi Hatake was left dumbfounded!

"Y-Y-Y-You… What are you thinking now?"

"Let me just say upfront… I'm absolutely not okay with Obito turning into my dad!"

"No way!"

Kakashi Hatake's voice was thick with tension!

Yuto Souta gave him a deep look, then closed his eyes right there, sinking into thought.

Both of them were very familiar with this state.

The looting stopped instantly, and they even slowed their breathing, afraid of disturbing Yuto Souta in this mode!

After a long moment, Yuto Souta opened his eyes again.

Those clear eyes now shimmered with the light of wisdom…

"Obito, put on the Iwa ninja's clothes."

"It's time for you to properly show off!"

--- Translator Note ---

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