Chapter 33: War Breaks Out!

Looking at the scene that seemed to obliterate heaven and earth, Mura Maki felt a surge of shock: “This is insane!”

He had fought in countless battles and even endured the Second Shinobi World War, yet he had never witnessed such a terrifying jutsu firsthand.

When the storm passed, Mura Maki leapt onto the earthen wall and saw a massive crater.

Fujinaka Genma landed beside Mura Maki, glanced at the distant crater, and nodded solemnly: “Not bad. They’re all gone.”

Mura Maki’s face twitched, a sudden urge rising to abandon his stern teacher’s facade and punch this kid.

“Huh?”

“One’s still alive.”

Suddenly, Fujinaka Genma raised an eyebrow—a figure appeared at the edge of the crater.

Is this the first time the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken has ever been used so disrespectfully?

Then again, it makes sense.

The greatest damage of this jutsu lies at its core, where countless chakra needles sever internal meridians and even cells.

At the crater’s edge.

Junpei stared at the bodies lying in the crater, his legs trembling uncontrollably, beads of sweat the size of beans breaking out across his skin.

“Damn it…”

“What kind of jutsu could wipe out so many at once…”

Junpei could not suppress the fear consuming him.

If he hadn’t lagged behind just a little earlier, he’d be lying down there now.

At that moment, he saw the enemy approaching from across the crater—terror seized him completely, and he turned and bolted.

“Don’t chase!”

Mura Maki blocked Fujinaka Genma, who was about to pursue, then leapt to a corpse.

Blood had already soaked into the ground, but the man was still breathing.

Though cruel, Mura Maki still channeled chakra and unleashed a Fire Release, burying the lying Sand ninja in flames.

As he finished, Mura Maki said to Fujinaka Genma: “This keeps your new jutsu secret.”

If the enemy doesn’t know your secret, they can’t devise a targeted countermeasure.

Fujinaka Genma nodded, understanding.

Though cruel, in ninja confrontations, intelligence is often more vital than raw power.

The two swiftly cleaned up the aftermath and departed immediately.

Five minutes later, they caught up with Ebisu and the others.

“Teacher Mura, Genma, what was that just now?”

Ebisu couldn’t help asking.

The commotion had been too great to ignore.

The “extractee,” who had remained silent until now, also turned to look at Fujinaka Genma and Mura Maki.

Mura Maki volunteered to explain for Fujinaka Genma: “We planted a large number of explosive tags and detonated them all at once, driving off the enemy.”

“Amazing!”

Kai praised enthusiastically, fully believing Mura Maki’s lie.

But Fujinaka Genma suddenly had a thought—a jutsu came to mind.

Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tags!

Precision demolition!

After thinking it over, Fujinaka Genma silently shook his head: “No, this jutsu isn’t suited for me.”

“I’ll stick to my current path.”

“The Rasenshuriken still has tremendous potential.”

“Lei Dun is also good!”

…

Though they had repelled one wave of enemies, they couldn’t be sure a second would not come, so Fujinaka Genma and the others remained vigilant and kept moving until they entered the Land of Fire, where they finally stopped to rest.

“Finally, we’re safe!”

Ebisu peeled off his raincoat and plopped down on the ground.

Fujinaka Genma perched on a tree branch, keeping watch—he didn’t lower his guard just because they’d entered the Land of Fire.

After all, this was still the border.

If his guess was right, the Hidden Leaf spy they’d extracted had brought back news of the Third Kazekage’s disappearance.

That was a major event!

And it was also the spark that would ignite the Third Shinobi World War.

“The Sand ninja might launch war immediately after learning the secret was leaked, to divert internal village tensions.”

“Or out of fear, they might strike first.”

Fujinaka Genma analyzed silently.

The original story offered few details about the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War—only fragments of major battles.

From what he saw now, it was likely the Sand Village would attack the Hidden Leaf first, even invade it.

War was right on the horizon!

As he thought this, Fujinaka Genma suddenly realized he felt no fear, no tension at all.

Instead, he felt…

…anticipation?

The realization made him silently smile bitterly.

Anticipating war?

No—he was anticipating wartime missions.

Given the nature of the Rider-Cut mission system, the more dangerous the mission, the more Rider-Cut points he earned.

And wartime missions were undoubtedly the most dangerous.

“Through combat, Itachi’ve gained some improvement.”

“Level increased.”

“Your equipped gear has received a slight enhancement.”

The system notification suddenly rang out, interrupting Fujinaka Genma’s thoughts.

He immediately sensed an odd power strengthening the senbon clenched between his teeth.

This was no longer unfamiliar to him.

He hadn’t fought often these past few years, but he had fought.

Sometimes, during training with Minato or Kakashi, his gear had also improved.

So far, the Raiha Chakra Blade had been enhanced three times—he didn’t know exactly how strong it was now.

But in battle, no weapon could withstand its cut.

The senbon had now been enhanced twice, including this time.

“Two enhancements on the senbon are about enough. Next time, I should switch gear.”

Fujinaka Genma mused silently but didn’t immediately open the system to allocate attribute points.

Ten minutes later, it was time to switch watch.

Only then did Fujinaka Genma open the system and assign all his points to his Constitution attribute.

He was getting closer to 1100.

After resting half an hour, the team moved again, pushing hard to return to Konoha before sunset.

The next day.

While pondering sealing jutsu, Fujinaka Genma suddenly looked up and smiled.

Mission completed—the system notification came.

After thinking it over, Fujinaka Genma opened the system and spent it all.

Five attribute points gained—added entirely to Constitution, doubling to ten points.

His total attribute points instantly rose to 1077.

Only one point came from natural growth; the rest were from allocated points.

He swallowed super-concentrated ration pills like candy to replenish his energy.

For the next several days, Fujinaka Genma trained relentlessly with Kai, pushing his own limits.

Coinciding with his body’s rapid growth phase, his Constitution attribute’s rise showed as a daily increase of a few tenths of a point.

In the blink of an eye, five days passed.

Just as Fujinaka Genma had become completely immersed in training with Akai, a rumor spread through Konoha like wildfire.

War has broken out!

The Sand Village launched an unannounced attack, crossing the border and invading the Land of Fire.

Hearing the news delivered by Ebisu, Fujinaka Genma wiped sweat from his brow: “It’s finally here!”

“Huh?”

“Itachi mean the last mission?”

Ebisu reacted quickly.

Fujinaka Genma spread his hands and said, “Maybe!”

“But it doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is, when do we go to the battlefield?”

“By the way, we won’t be sent straight to the front line, right?”

Said Might Guy, panting with his tongue out.