By the afternoon of the next day, having advanced more than a hundred kilometers into the Land of Fire, the Konoha forces finally encountered several Cloud scouting squads.
The moment those Cloud ninja spotted Konoha's large formation, they immediately turned and retreated.
Standing at the very front, Uchiha Feiyu narrowed his eyes and spoke to Kakashi and the other two behind him:
"Wait here for a bit. I'm going to go collect a few heads."
Before the words had even fully left his mouth, his entire body burst into lightning and vanished from sight.
Namikaze Minato, who had been standing near Feiyu, narrowed his eyes, uncertainty flickering within them.
"Has Feiyu-kun refined White Fang's sword style to this degree? The lightning around him has already formed a Lightning Release Armor. It's far weaker than the Third Raikage's version, but strong enough to block ordinary C-rank ninjutsu."
Minato had seen Hatake Sakumo fight before, and understood the principles behind Konoha's White Fang techniques.
Using Lightning Release to stimulate the body and Wind Release to reduce air resistance, Sakumo's speed was comparable to users of Lightning Chakra Mode—but his defense was still that of a normal shinobi. A kunai could still kill him.
This thin layer of Lightning Armor might look unimpressive, only able to block C-rank jutsu and thrown weapons, but for ordinary Chunin, C-rank techniques were already considered powerful.
On the battlefield, ninety percent of attacks came from C-rank jutsu, kunai, and shuriken. Higher-rank techniques were considered trump cards; only jōnin could use them freely.
With this level of defense, Feiyu no longer had to fear stray attacks in chaotic battles. His killing efficiency would increase dramatically.
Orochimaru shrugged lightly.
"I don't know the details either. Even though I'm technically his teacher, Feiyu's strength isn't inferior to mine. His path is completely different from the one I walk."
"But… his progress is indeed frightening. Ever since he returned from the battlefield, it's as if something unlocked inside him. His strength has surged in a very short time."
While the two were speaking, several distant screams echoed across the forest. Moments later, Feiyu reappeared before them, casually carrying several severed heads.
"Sensei, hand these to the Yamanaka. We should at least get some intel out of them."
He tossed the blood-soaked heads to Orochimaru, who wordlessly passed them to a nearby ninja. A Yamanaka clan shinobi stepped forward to take them away.
The bodies were quickly dragged off by giant snakes Feiyu summoned, destined to become materials for his Blood Pool. Their souls were already bound to him.
Nothing would go to waste.
Recently, Feiyu had begun to feel more and more like a true practitioner of forbidden arts—every part of a shinobi had "value" in his eyes now.
"Maybe I should start developing something like a Soul Banner… With the number of spirits I've collected, my current binding technique can't control them all. And as my foundation grows, ordinary souls are becoming less useful."
While Feiyu was pondering, his three students were staring at him in shock.
Kakashi remained outwardly calm—his personality was composed, and his talent placed him among the elite. With his mask on, even his expression was unreadable.
Obito and Rin, however, couldn't hide their astonishment.
Obito's mouth hung open, eyes bulging. He even flinched backward when he saw the severed heads.
"F-Feiyu… h-how are you that strong!?"
The question was clumsy, but it was exactly what Kakashi and Rin were thinking. All three stared at Feiyu with wide, curious eyes.
Unlike Orochimaru, who had personally witnessed Feiyu's growth, or Minato, who had never known Feiyu before, these three had been his classmates.
Back then, Feiyu had been strong—but only strong within the academy, beating up bullies and problem students.
Yet in barely over a year, this "late admission student" had skyrocketed to Kage-class. Calling it rapid improvement felt insufficient—it was like he'd shed his entire skin and become someone else.
They had never previously seen Feiyu fight. Now, after witnessing his lightning-like movement, they instinctively imagined themselves in his place—and realized something terrifying:
If Feiyu wanted their heads, it would only take a single flash.
"As long as you three kill a few hundred—maybe a thousand—shinobi on the battlefield like I did, your strength will grow just as fast."
Feiyu smiled as he spoke.
Naturally, it was complete nonsense.
Without Feiyu's strength, where would they find the ability to kill hundreds or thousands of enemy ninja?
"A thousand shinobi…"
Obito shrank his neck and fell silent.
Despite having graduated for over a year, he had only ever killed a few bandits—not a single real ninja. The thought of killing that many people made his heart tremble.
Even Kakashi's pupils twitched slightly. He gave Feiyu a subtle look.
So this is what Father's student has become…
A genuine murder machine.
Still, in the shinobi world, psychopaths were hardly rare. A killing maniac wasn't considered a serious problem. Everyone simply kept their thoughts to themselves.
A Yamanaka ninja returned and knelt.
"Orochimaru-sama, the intel has been extracted!"
He had only been gone a few minutes.
"According to the memories we gathered, the Cloud forces have already constructed a base camp inside the Land of Fire—twenty kilometers ahead."
"Tch. Those brutes are fast."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
"Looks like they really intend to take a bite out of the Land of Fire."
Unlike nations, ninja villages did not collect taxes. Their finances came through mission commissions and stipends from their daimyo.
So even during large-scale wars, outright annexing another nation's territory was uncommon. Ninja gained no direct benefit from seized land—taxes still went through the daimyo, who might not increase military funding afterward.
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