Temporary Konoha camp in the Land of Rivers.
Kitazawa lay with his head resting on Konan's black-stockinged thighs, reading the scroll in his hands.
The scroll came from White Zetsu—it was a summary of Sunagakure's recent movements.
After Chiyo was captured, Rasa adopted a much more conservative strategy and stopped taking the initiative. And precisely because of that, Konoha gradually gained the upper hand despite having the larger numbers.
On the battlefield, the best performers were without question Yakushi Kabuto's summoned-beast ninja unit. They were only a hundred strong, but wherever they went, Suna's ninjas were routed in panic, throwing down their gear as they fled.
Next came Kurenai Yūhi's squad.
After Karin exposed herself as the One-Tail jinchūriki, she stopped hiding it altogether—she quit pretending to be just a medical ninja and joined the front lines in direct combat. Paired with Kurama Yakumo and Kurenai's genjutsu, they were virtually unstoppable.
And of course, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru also had their place—sharp noses made them excellent sensory types, and their combat ability wasn't bad either.
After finishing that scroll, Kitazawa took out a second one.
This one was also from White Zetsu, but it summarized the actions of the other three villages.
Kirigakure and Sunagakure were using the same conservative strategy—and Kiri was even more cautious. They hadn't even come ashore; instead, they set up outposts on islands out at sea. Kiri excelled at Water Release, gaining a strong advantage in the ocean, and with their special Hiding in Mist Technique, they could fight or disengage at will.
As a result, the Third Ninja Force under Nara Shikaku ended up in a stalemate with Kirigakure.
Iwagakure was different—they chose to attack proactively.
Their advance unit used Earth Release to launch a night raid on the Second Ninja Force led by Hyūga Hiashi. But with White Zetsu in play, the raid failed, and Iwa suffered heavy losses instead. Now they had fallen back into the Land of Waterfalls, waiting to link up with their main army.
Meanwhile, Kumogakure's advance unit still hadn't clashed with the First Ninja Force led by Uchiha Fugaku.
It wasn't that Kumo didn't want to—it was that Konoha had deliberately given ground.
And the reason had to do with an idea Hyūga Hinata had proposed.
After reading, Kitazawa couldn't help but smile.
Looks like he should go to the Land of the Moon and watch the show.
"Konan, stop the massage for now. We're going to the Land of the Moon."
Konan nodded.
Flying Thunder God activated.
The two of them appeared inside Konoha's temporary camp in the Land of the Moon.
"Who's there?"
Hyūga Hinata instinctively tightened her grip on the Moonchaser Bow.
Only when she saw Kitazawa beside her did her expression turn to delighted surprise.
"Good morning, Hinata."
Kitazawa reached out and ruffled her hair.
Hinata carried one of his Flying Thunder God kunai on her, so he could teleport straight to her.
"This is your tent?"
Kitazawa glanced around and asked.
"Eh?"
Hinata suddenly remembered something and hurriedly packed away her sleeping bag.
Only after she finished did she nod, her cheeks faintly red.
"How's the situation?"
Kitazawa sat down cross-legged and asked.
"Kumogakure's main force arrives tomorrow, so we're planning to move tonight," Hinata replied.
"Take me to see."
Kitazawa pinched her cheek lightly.
"Mhm."
Hinata stood, slipped on her shoes, and led him to the main command tent.
"Hokage-sama!"
Uchiha Fugaku and the others greeted him at once.
"Don't mind me," Kitazawa waved them off. "I'm just here as an audience member. I won't interfere."
After that, his gaze fell on the Yin Release arrows laid out on the ground.
There were four thousand of them.
Quite a few jōnin were currently attaching jutsu seals or explosive tags to the arrows.
Kumogakure's advance unit numbered four thousand.
Fugaku's original plan had been to proceed carefully—after all, they only had five thousand on their side.
But then Hinata provided a plan:
Use a Multiple Shot, ultra-long-range volley to deliver a devastating strike on Kumo's advance unit.
Still worried the raw power might not be enough, Fugaku had people carve jutsu onto the Yin Release arrows or paste explosive tags onto them.
Honestly, Hinata had already stepped outside the traditional ninja mindset.
That was thanks to her Tenseigan and the Moonchaser Bow.
Konoha's temporary camp was on the western side of the Land of the Moon, while Kumogakure's camp was on the eastern side.
Kumo would never imagine being attacked from across the entire Land of the Moon—because under normal circumstances, ninjutsu just didn't reach that far.
[Current Mission: Help Hyūga Hinata rise to fame.]
[Mission Reward: Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa's heart leapt when those three lines of text appeared.
Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist?
That technique originated from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—a Kekkei Mōra.
Put simply, Kekkei Mōra was the ultimate form: the fusion of all seven chakra natures.
A Kekkei Genkai was just a fusion of two.
Judging from how it looked in the original story, Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist was essentially the absolute pinnacle of the Hyūga Gentle Fist.
And it really was.
In the official databook, it was classified as taijutsu, not a dōjutsu.
Its effect was both offense and defense at once—forming countless fists in an instant.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
Team Seven really did have only one member left without a matching title.
Uchiha Sasuke was the Konoha Kirin.
Uzumaki Naruto was the Konoha Dragon.
Night fell.
In front of Konoha's temporary camp.
Everyone's eyes were on Hyūga Hinata.
She activated the Tenseigan.
A flash of purple light—her vision expanded without limit, and she quickly locked onto Kumogakure's camp.
Four thousand Kumo ninjas were all within her sight.
She drew the Moonchaser Bow.
As she pulled the string back, the four thousand Yin Release arrows on the ground rose into the air.
Yin Release Chakra Mode!
The bow shuddered violently, and a surge of chakra spread over Hinata's body.
Her hair grew longer and danced in the air, and beneath the moonlight she looked eerily mysterious—cold, almost emotionless.
Hinata released the string.
Four thousand Yin Release arrows shot out.
They tore through the night sky at terrifying speed, vanishing from everyone's sight.
Inside Kumogakure's temporary camp in the Land of the Moon.
It was deep into the night. Other than the sentries, everyone was asleep.
Then a slicing wind screamed through the sky.
The night watch instinctively looked up.
Their eyes filled with Yin Release arrows.
But before they could even shout, the arrows pierced straight through them—then the explosive tags and jutsu on the arrows detonated and spread in every direction.
Blazing fire surged skyward, lighting up the entire camp.
Then came wind and lightning—wind feeding the flames into a roaring inferno, lightning crawling outward and paralyzing Kumo ninjas wherever it touched.
Earth and Water weren't attached, of course.
They conflicted too much with fire, lightning, and wind.
Kumo's advance commander was C.
C was a Kumogakure jōnin—one of the rare types skilled in genjutsu, medical ninjutsu, and sensory techniques, known as the Fourth Raikage's "left hand."
In the original story, he once tracked Sasuke's Hawk squad and crippled their fighting ability, and in the Fourth Great Ninja War he served as the head of the Allied Shinobi Forces' sensory division.
Even in his sleep, C suddenly felt his hair stand on end.
A sense of deadly danger fell from the sky and smothered him.
Body Flicker!
C sprang up, chakra blasting from his legs.
The next instant, a Yin Release arrow slammed into the spot where he'd been sleeping.
But before he could breathe out, he saw the explosive tag stuck to the fletching.
Boom!
The tag detonated.
Flames rushed toward him.
C was blasted away.
Luckily, he'd already moved away from the center of the blast, and he didn't pass out on the spot.
Mystical Palm Technique!
He immediately began healing himself.
Soft green chakra surfaced, restoring his body noticeably.
He scanned the chaos around him, staring at the ruined camp in a daze.
"Enemy attack!"
C snapped back to himself and shouted.
At the same time, he formed hand seals and used a sensory jutsu.
Then his face drained of color.
His expression twisted into pure disbelief.
He couldn't detect a single enemy.
For him, that was basically impossible.
And with an attack on this scale, there should have been violent chakra fluctuations.
Yet within his sensory range, there were none.
Outside his range?
That was even more absurd.
He was a sensory jōnin—his detection range surpassed most ninja.
And as far as he knew, no ninjutsu could reach farther than his sensing.
C inhaled hard and forced himself to calm down.
He immediately organized the surviving Kumo jōnin to put out the fires.
All four thousand Yin Release arrows had already fallen.
Now the only thing left was the flames—everywhere, unstoppable.
The whole camp had become a sea of fire.
"Did the enemy… stop attacking?"
C couldn't understand it.
Why stop now?
If they launched another volley, Kumo would be wiped out completely.
But whatever the reason, it was good news for them.
They had time to put out the flames, save the wounded, then retreat.
Konoha's temporary camp in the Land of the Moon.
Hinata canceled Yin Release Chakra Mode.
She could fire another Multiple Shot—but there was no need.
First, there were only those four thousand Yin Release arrows equipped with explosive tags and jutsu.
Second, the survivors were at least tokubetsu jōnin; Multiple Shot arrows would have a much harder time working again.
"Hinata—how is it?"
Fugaku demanded impatiently.
"Kumogakure's advance unit lost over two-thirds of its ninja," Hinata replied.
"Beautifully done!"
Fugaku praised.
Hinata unconsciously looked toward Kitazawa.
What she feared most was that the volley wouldn't work—and that she'd disappoint him.
Thankfully, everything played out exactly as expected.
"Itachi," Fugaku ordered at once. "Take men to Kumogakure's camp immediately. Capture every last remaining ninja!"
"Yes!"
Uchiha Itachi left at top speed with a handpicked team of jōnin.
Kitazawa blended into the group as well, along with his three students—Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto.
With jōnin moving at full speed, they reached Kumo's camp quickly.
But they came up empty.
C had already evacuated with the wounded.
Still, because he was carrying injured men, their speed wasn't especially fast.
And Konoha had Hinata's Tenseigan.
Before long, Itachi's group caught up to them.
"Damn it!"
Despair rose in C's chest.
They were all wounded—almost everyone had been hurt.
Uchiha Sasuke activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and charged in.
Tonight's biggest star was Hinata.
As a teammate, he wasn't jealous—but he refused to fall behind.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto followed right after.
A dense swarm of shadow clones completely surrounded C and the others.
Hinata glanced at Kitazawa and lowered the Moonchaser Bow.
At this point, she didn't really have a role to play anymore.
"You did well today," Kitazawa said, watching her.
"It's all thanks to you, Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata shook her head.
After all, both the Tenseigan and the Moonchaser Bow came from him.
"Don't be so modest."
Kitazawa lifted a hand and flicked her forehead. "This plan was yours. It has nothing to do with me."
Hinata smiled shyly, but she was genuinely happy.
After a bit more chatter, all the remaining Kumo ninjas were captured.
Itachi's group brought them back to Konoha's temporary camp.
Kitazawa didn't leave—he was assigned a tent of his own.
After returning to his tent, he summoned White Zetsu.
Hinata's single volley wiping out four thousand Kumo ninja was absolutely something worth writing about.
Even if she didn't fight in the rest of the war, this alone was enough to make her famous across the ninja world.
After all, feats like this were usually the stuff only the Five Kage were known for.
Kitazawa thought for a moment and gave her a title:
Konoha's Moon Goddess.
After all, her bow was called the Moonchaser Bow.
And the Hyūga clan's ancient progenitor was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
White Zetsu accepted the order and vanished into the earth.
Anbu already spread news quickly.
With White Zetsu added, it was like wings on a tiger.
Kitazawa estimated that once tonight passed, Hinata would be famous across the ninja world by tomorrow.
And then he would be able to complete his system mission.
The next day arrived.
Kumogakure's devastated temporary camp became lively again.
The late-arriving Fourth Raikage and Dodai stared at the familiar corpses scattered everywhere, stunned.
Four thousand Kumo advance troops had died in silence last night?
And the most ridiculous part was—they hadn't received a single warning.
In other words, not one of those four thousand escaped.
Every last one was either killed by Konoha or taken prisoner.
"How did this happen?"
The Fourth Raikage asked grimly.
Mabui immediately dispatched Anbu to investigate what happened last night.
The Raikage was impatient, but he could only wait.
Because Kitazawa had already had White Zetsu send the news—before long, Kumo's Anbu brought the intelligence report back.
"That's impossible!"
Dodai's eyes went wide. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You're saying Hyūga Hinata wiped out our entire advance unit with four thousand arrows—from the western side of the Land of the Moon?!"
The Fourth Raikage asked reflexively.
"To achieve that, two conditions are required," Mabui took a deep breath and analyzed. "First, you have to be able to see that far. Second, the range has to be wide enough."
"Especially the first point—it's critical."
Even if Hinata's bow had the range, if she couldn't see the target, it wouldn't matter.
Only by seeing could she hit.
"That's way beyond reason."
Samui frowned. "Are you saying Hinata's Byakugan can see the entire Land of the Moon?"
"A normal Byakugan could never have that kind of field of view," Dodai said with certainty.
"Forget Byakugan—I've never even heard of a sensory jutsu with that kind of range," Mabui rubbed her brow. "That would mean all of our movements are in her grasp."
Everyone fell silent.
Ninjutsu has limits.
To attack Konoha's forces, they would have to get close.
But if Hinata's vision truly covered that much distance, she could spot them in advance and relocate.
And tactics like ambushes would become meaningless.
"For now, it's still just a guess," Samui said, trying to reassure them. "Maybe Konoha used some special method last night."
"That's possible," Mabui said gravely. "We need to test it."
"How?"
The Fourth Raikage demanded.
"Launch surprise attacks on several of Konoha's key outposts or strongpoints," Mabui said after thinking. "If every attempt fails, then Hinata's Byakugan really does have a terrifying range."
"Fine," the Fourth Raikage said after a moment. "Dodai, handle it."
"Yes, Raikage-sama."
Dodai turned and left the command tent.
"If it's confirmed… what do we do?"
The Fourth Raikage looked at Mabui.
"Our conventional tactics will lose all effectiveness," Mabui said heavily. "Either we stall for time and wait for the other villages, or we gamble everything on the chakra cannon."
The Raikage sighed inwardly.
Stalling for time was impossible.
The war had barely begun, and Sunagakure and Iwagakure had already taken crushing losses.
Kumogakure was no different.
Only Kirigakure, relying on the sea, had avoided major losses so far.
The Fourth Raikage felt suffocated with frustration.
They had overwhelming numerical advantage—and yet the results were this disastrous.
Had Konoha become this powerful?
But asking Kumogakure to bow its head willingly was out of the question.
Inside the main command tent of Konoha's temporary camp in the Land of Waterfalls.
"Hahaha!"
Hyūga Hiashi couldn't help laughing.
In just one day, Hinata's name had exploded.
There was already talk of the "New Konoha Sannin," but compared with Sasuke and Naruto, Hinata's fame had lagged behind.
Now, the story of her single volley annihilating four thousand Kumo ninja made her fame catch up to her two teammates.
From that day on, the New Konoha Three Ninja truly lived up to the name.
Hiashi could even conclude that the next Hokage would surely be one of them.
"Hinata was incredible this time," Shion sighed.
"That's youth!"
Rock Lee raised a thumbs-up.
"Neji, could you do it too?"
Tenten asked curiously.
"Yes," Hyūga Neji nodded.
He was actually even better suited to Multiple Shot arrows.
"But it's too late to imitate now," Hiashi came back to himself. "Ōnoki has already linked up with Iwa's advance unit."
"They'll be on guard now. They'll definitely strengthen their defenses," Neji agreed.
"You're right," Hyūga Hōmon added. "Iwagakure's camp is now surrounded by thick earthen walls."
"But they'll have to leave their camp sooner or later," Hiashi said with a smile. "For them, Neji will remain a powerful deterrent."
Night fell again.
After dinner, Kitazawa went out to the open ground beyond Konoha's temporary camp in the Land of the Moon.
[Current Mission: Help Hyūga Hinata rise to fame.]
[Mission Reward: Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa looked at a tree not far away.
After absorbing the information flooding into his mind, he raised both hands.
In an instant, space warped—and countless fists appeared at once.
The tree used as a target was pulverized.
Kitazawa nodded in satisfaction.
With his current strength, there were almost no ninja who could withstand his Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist.
Unless they were Ōtsutsuki.
He felt that after the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, he could release Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Because judging from his recent system missions, he would soon obtain quite a few Ōtsutsuki abilities.
When the time came, dealing with Kaguya would be easy—almost boringly so.
Kitazawa lowered his hands.
Just as the official databook said, Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist was taijutsu.
Which meant he could teach it to Hyūga Neji and Hyūga Hinata.
As for the other Hyūga, they weren't strong enough—no one else was qualified.
After all, Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist was a Kekkei Mōra.
Neji and Hinata could learn it only because they had awakened the Tenseigan.
The Tenseigan could form Truth-Seeking Orbs by hand—in theory, it forcibly granted them mastery over all seven chakra natures.
Kitazawa snapped back to himself and was about to return to his tent when a White Zetsu emerged from the ground.
"Hokage-sama."
After a slight bow, White Zetsu produced a scroll. "Sunagakure has made a new move."
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.
Among the four villages, Sunagakure had taken the heaviest losses so far.
He didn't expect Suna to be the first to act again.
He took the scroll and read it.
The contents were simple:
Sunagakure had built five new strongpoints.
By itself, that wasn't a big problem—strongpoints were just larger outposts that could house more ninjas.
But Konoha had White Zetsu, so it was easy to discover Suna's real purpose.
They had placed a chakra cannon at one of the strongpoints.
In other words, the other four strongpoints were decoys.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
A chakra cannon had power comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb.
If Sunagakure brought it out, they'd want maximum payoff.
Which meant a major move was coming soon.
"I understand. You can go."
Kitazawa returned to camp, gave Fugaku a brief heads-up, then took Konan back to the Land of Rivers.
After all, something big was about to happen over there.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— This Fanfic is Completed in Patreon!