Capítulo 63: 63 - Echoes of Another Life [Bonus]
After speaking, Pakura returned to her room without hesitation.
Her meaning was clear to Masashi.
Having sacrificed everything for Suna only to be betrayed, she didn't care much for the concept of a ninja village anymore, regardless of what it was called.
She wouldn't actively betray Suna's secrets, but that was merely out of the professional ethics of a seasoned ninja. Her loyalty wasn't to Konoha, but to survival.
Her arrival in Konoha stemmed partly from its reputation in the shinobi world as a relatively stable environment where she could settle down. Additionally, she could afford more trust and goodwill toward the man who had saved her life.
Although in Konoha, she was often teased as being romantically involved with him, from Masashi's perspective, befriending Pakura was great, and the idea of a romantic relationship wasn't out of the question either.
After all, she matched his preferences in many ways.
Pakura's mature attitude toward relationships was evident in how she handled the teasing from others in Konoha.
She clearly understood what they were implying.
As for the age gap...
It didn't matter. Ninjas, as long as they pursued excellence, had a very long "shelf life."
But those thoughts were far off in the future.
Teasing was just teasing. Turning it into reality was a different matter.
Masashi cast aside these distractions, finished his meal, and began treating his injuries with medical ninjutsu.
As he had said, his wounds were mostly superficial. They looked severe but weren't serious.
In terms of medical ninjutsu, while he wasn't on the same level as Tsunade's family, he had learned a few tricks during his previous experiences.
So, working in the medical division or leading a medical team wouldn't be an issue.
After treating his wounds, he prepared for his next encounter with the Kumo ninjas.
He didn't have to wait long.
After days of silence in the Land of Hot Water, the main forces of the Kumo army finally arrived.
Led by the Fourth Raikage, about 13,000 Kumo ninjas entered the Land of Hot Water, accompanied by the Two-Tails jinchūriki.
Once the Kumo main forces entered, the advanced troops, who had been eluding the Konoha ninjas, resurfaced and regrouped with the main force.
Quite adept at hiding, it seemed.
With the advance troops rejoining, the Kumo forces swelled to over 14,000.
It was clear they had brought out a significant portion of their strength.
However, before the 2,000 remaining Konoha ninjas in Yu could start panicking, Konoha's main forces also arrived.
Slightly smaller in number than Kumo but still over 10,000, the Konoha army advanced directly into Yu.
This force was commanded by Jiraiya, who, upon learning about the war, hurried back to the village, putting his search for the Child of Prophecy on hold to support his student.
He looked to be in good spirits despite the recent tension.
Incidentally, the first volume of his Icha Icha Paradise had already been published before the outbreak of the war.
Being a man of his word, Masashi bought a copy on the release day and gave it to Kakashi. The boy initially played it cool, but Masashi insisted.
Later that evening, Masashi discovered that his father had also bought a copy, though unfortunately, it was confiscated by his mother.
The next day, spotting Kakashi with dark circles under his eyes, he felt the entire ordeal had been worth it.
The clash between a tea and food enthusiast and a light novel fanatic ended in victory for the former.
Once the Konoha forces entered Yu, they fortified its defenses even more rigorously than the Kumo forces.
Jiraiya gathered the jonin for a strategy meeting, spreading a map across the command table. Gone was his usual grin, replaced by the stern look of a war commander. "What's the current situation with Kumo's forces?"
"The Hyūga clan has been tracking their movements," Hizashi reported. "Three main bases established in a triangle formation around Yu's central region. They're rotating troops every six hours through these points." He marked the locations on the map. "Total force estimate remains at 14,000, including their advance teams that rejoined."
"And their combat formations?" Jiraiya asked.
Masashi stepped forward. "They're not setting up for a prolonged conflict like Iwa or Suna would. These supply lines..." He traced the routes with his finger. "They're built for quick resupply. The terrain works against us here - there's no natural barrier to slow their advance."
Jiraiya absorbed this information, his expression thoughtful. "Hizashi, what about their high-value targets?"
"Both Jinchūriki confirmed present. The Two-Tails has been spotted near their eastern base." Hizashi's pale eyes narrowed. "And the Raikage is personally leading the front lines."
"Two Perfect Jinchūriki and A himself..." Jiraiya studied the map. "We'll need to adapt our usual tactics. Masashi, you've faced their advance teams. Your assessment?"
"These valleys give us one advantage," Masashi pointed to the narrow passages. "Their lightning techniques lose effectiveness in confined spaces. If we force close combat in these bottlenecks, their numbers won't matter as much."
Jiraiya and the jonin decided to test the waters with a head-on clash in the narrow territory of the Land of Hot Water.
The main forces advanced steadily while hundreds of smaller units scouted and engaged the enemy.
This was the kind of warfare Masashi relished. The Uchiha clan, as a whole, enjoyed it.
The deployment of personnel followed a simple pattern: four-person squads comprising one chunin and three genin, assigned to specific operational areas, were dispatched.
The jonin were divided into two groups: one stayed with Jiraiya to guard the central command and counter Kumo's jonin; the other formed independent teams to join the scouting missions.
The outcome of these skirmishes would determine which side gained the upper hand by forcing the other to retreat and lose intelligence.
Unsurprisingly, Masashi was paired with Pakura.
This was to be expected, as jonin could freely choose their partners, and their "relationship" was well understood by the former advance troops' jonin.
No one interfered.
Both Masashi and Pakura were fine with this arrangement. They were familiar with each other and worked well as a team.
"Alright, then. Let's move out as soon as possible," Jiraiya concluded the meeting. "Protect yourselves and retreat if necessary when facing overwhelming enemies."
He paused.
"And leave the Raikage to me. A needs to learn that losing to Minato wasn't a fluke."
Regardless of his musings, the meeting ended, and everyone set off to carry out their assignments.
Masashi and Pakura, needing no additional preparations, immediately left the village to begin their mission.
The two ninja armies moved in parallel, with hundreds of small units from both sides engaging in intense skirmishes ahead of the main forces.
---
Masashi pulled his sword from a fallen Kumo ninja and wiped it clean on the opponent's clothing.
He was already a seasoned jonin and understood the value of conserving resources.
Around him, three other Kumo ninjas lay dead in grotesque positions. One had been caught mid-jutsu, his hands still frozen in the final seal. Another had tried to retreat, only to find Masashi's blade waiting. The third had barely managed to draw his weapon.
Not far away, Pakura stood beside a scorched corpse, her flames just dissipating.
Her control is impressive. Different from my approach, Masashi noted as he observed her technique.
As a hero of Suna, Pakura certainly had her skills. Although her Scorch Release technique was a single move, she wielded it with impressive versatility.
For example, her Scorch Release fireballs could split apart, expand, explode, and move with unpredictable trajectories. They could accelerate or decelerate, catching enemies off guard.
Her technique was based on Scorch Release's nature transformation at its core. While it looked like fire on the surface, it was actually shaped chakra wrapped in a fiery form.
Unless the target could release chakra externally to create a shield, any contact would result in disaster.
Masashi, on the other hand, integrated the principle of the Scorch Release nature transformation directly into the Uchiha clan's Fire Release techniques.
Where Fire Release could go, so could Scorch Release.
Both methods had their strengths.
This was the sixteenth Kumo ninja squad they had encountered. This squad also included a jonin, clearly with an objective similar to Konoha's.
Unfortunately for them, they ran into Masashi and Pakura.
As a ruthless judge of enemy jonin, Masashi admitted that this jonin's fundamentals were solid. The way he'd coordinated his team's movements, the timing of their attacks—all showed proper training.
But still...
"I am inevitable," he stated flatly to the dying Kumo jonin, immediately regretting how the words came out. It had sounded way cooler in his head.
"What was that line you just said?"
Pakura approached, looking puzzled. The battle had been proceeding smoothly—systematic elimination of threats with minimal waste of energy—until Masashi suddenly blurted out that line with an expression that was ridiculously smug.
Maybe practicing Lightning Release fried his brain, Pakura thought.
This was no joke—during wartime, there couldn't be any risks like that.
"Oh, that? It's a famous quote from a strong individual," Masashi replied nonchalantly, waving it off.
To Pakura, this only confirmed her suspicions. It was clearly a symptom of something wrong.
Obsession with training, getting stronger while losing common sense... This wasn't her first time seeing cases like this.
She wasn't a rookie. She'd seen her share of "brilliant but broken" ninjas who ended up strong yet dumber than rocks.
Pakura decided it wasn't worth arguing with him. "So, where to next?"
"Let me think…" Masashi considered carefully, his eyes scanning the terrain.
They had been moving from the southeast to the northwest. But now, traces of Kumo ninjas were thinning out. More than half of their encounters had been along the way.
He deduced they were near the outer limit of the Kumo ninjas' activity range.
Farther out, any enemies they encountered would likely be chunin or genin, who lacked the ability to detect them.
They were in a good position.
"Let's head into the mountains and go north," he said, explaining his reasoning to Pakura. His fingers traced an invisible map in the air, pointing out key locations.
Pakura nodded repeatedly. Alright, not completely brain-dead yet. Still salvageable. "I have no objections."
The two adjusted their direction and moved northwest.
On the map, the Land of Hot Water extended in a northwest-to-southeast trend. Elevation rose as one moved northwest, with dense, high mountains marking the region. These mountains were part of the same range as those in the Lands of Frost and Lightning.
The Land of Frost, dominated by mountainous terrain, had most of its population along the eastern coastline.
The Kumo ninja army had entered the Land of Hot Water from this coastal area.
As in the real world, in this chakra-infused world, lower-altitude areas offered better living conditions. High altitudes meant less arable land.
Exceptions existed, but this was the norm.
From a strategic perspective, lower-altitude regions also facilitated large-scale troop movements and supply chains.
The Kumo ninja invasion adhered to these natural rules.
Masashi's target wasn't the main Kumo army. His goal was the Kumo army's supply corridor.
Due to its mountainous terrain, the Land of Frost's coastal area formed a narrow, hilly corridor between the mountains and the sea. This corridor was the main route for the Kumo army's invasion and included a fortress at the Frost-Hot Water border—a crucial logistics hub.
In his previous life, he had died near this fortress. He'd left a "stash" in the nearby mountains back then.
He hadn't used it then, but if it remained undiscovered...
This time, I'm going to top the merit rankings! His heart quickened at the thought.
The top ten on the list even received bonus rewards.
The first-place prize was 50 million ryō.
It would take at least a dozen S-rank missions to earn that much otherwise.
Even Minato's annual pre-Hokage income wasn't far off from this amount.
This prize is as good as mine!
With excitement in his heart, he led Pakura through the terrain, eventually reaching the silhouette of a sprawling mountain range in the distance.
Using the forest as cover, they entered a mountain region and followed the range northward. Their movements were ghost-like, leaving barely a trace of their passage.
Along the way, they encountered several more Kumo squads, but with his chakra sensory activated, Masashi detected them from afar and evaded them.
The squads were of lower rank, with no jonin among them, allowing the pair to avoid them smoothly.
Familiar with the terrain, Masashi found a "safe" route that bypassed the Kumo's main search areas.
As they advanced, time passed, and the sun dipped below the horizon.
When darkness fully fell, the air grew heavy with the rumble of distant thunder.
The two slowed their pace, deciding to find a place to rest. Pakura's eyes never left Masashi's back as he led them with surprising confidence through the darkening terrain.
They hadn't stopped to rest since leaving Yu.
With his guidance, they located a suitable cave. His movements were too sure, too familiar for someone who claimed to have only scouted the area before.
The path was well-hidden; few people knew of it now. Masashi himself was following old marks he had left behind, each one triggering memories of his previous life.
After a thorough inspection, he confirmed the area had been undisturbed for years.
They lit a campfire, laid dry grass on the ground, and sat down.
Thanks to Yu's provision for Konoha's jonin, they had high-quality rations and didn't need soldier pills.
After a meal, rain began to pour outside, creating a natural sound barrier.
Seeing this, Masashi rose to the cave entrance to reinforce sensory techniques, not wasting the cover the rain provided.
When he turned back, Pakura was sitting by the fire, watching him with a strange look.
"What are you staring at?" Masashi asked.
"You seem unusually familiar with this place."
"I've done missions in the Land of Hot Water before. While I was at it, I did some scouting." Not entirely a lie, just from a different lifetime.
"Makes sense," Pakura nodded, though her eyes remained watchful. "Come sit and rest for a bit."
"Almost done."
After finishing his sensory setup and adding a barrier, Masashi returned to the fire and sat down.
The workload had been heavy, and he was tired. Each mission brought its own kind of exhaustion, but this one carried the weight of past memories.
Stretching contentedly, he loosened his stiff muscles.
"Tired?" Pakura glanced at him.
"Manageable. Finding this route was exhausting, but thankfully I left those marks." He caught himself too late—that last bit had slipped out too naturally.
"Definitely tough work," Pakura said, eyeing Masashi's head for a while. Suddenly, she patted his shoulder.
Masashi turned to her, surprised by the sudden shift in atmosphere.
"Lay your head here," Pakura said.
She patted her lap seriously.
"I need to check it."
Check what?
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