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Mission Center.
When Taiichi arrived, Yohei, Saori, and Kazema were already sitting around a wooden table, laughing and joking. Yohei's loud, energetic voice carried clearly even outside the tent.
"Taiichi!" Yohei spotted him first, leaping up with a cheer and slapping his shoulder so hard he nearly knocked Taiichi off balance.
"Finally! Nothing beats running real missions with us compared to playing doctor in that white coat!" He grinned, his familiar fire instantly lifting the whole group.
Saori stood up, a soft smile on her lips. "Taiichi, welcome back to the squad."
"Cap—Captain!" Kazema sounded nervous. His poor showing on the last mission still left him awkward around Taiichi. The past two days he'd been pushing himself extra hard, desperate to earn back some respect.
Looking at the three familiar faces, Taiichi felt genuine warmth. His smile turned real. "Yeah, I finally wrapped things up over there. Came straight here to link up with you guys!"
They chatted and laughed as they walked to the mission desk. The Chunin on duty was sorting scrolls when he looked up, saw Taiichi, and practically jumped to his feet with instant respect and gratitude.
"Lord Taiichi! You're… taking a mission?"
"Cool down, Ryosuke. Your leg still isn't fully healed, right? What are you doing back on duty already?" Taiichi recognized him instantly—the man whose leg he'd saved from amputation.
Ryosuke grew even more excited that Taiichi remembered his name. "Lord Taiichi, the leg's fine now. The camp's short-handed, so I can't go on combat missions, but desk work I can handle!"
Taiichi sighed inwardly. Konoha's strength came from people like this—loyal, lower-rank shinobi who never got the spotlight. But right now, he couldn't afford to dwell on politics. He just needed to keep completing missions.
He picked a simple patrol task. Everything here felt the same anyway.
"Got it, Lord Taiichi!" Ryosuke quickly pulled the scroll and handed it over respectfully. Yohei watched the exchange, a flicker of envy crossing his face.
They were all here together, yet Taiichi had earned everyone's respect so fast while he was still unknown. That moment made Yohei realize even more clearly how important raw power really was.
Next they stopped at supply to grab gear. The quartermaster handed over kunai, soldier pills, and signal flares, then gave Taiichi a small extra pouch of special medicines and antidotes.
"Lord Orochimaru gave strict orders to prioritize your requests, Lord Taiichi."
Taiichi accepted it with thanks. Yohei stood a little straighter beside him, chest swelling with pride.
Once they had everything, the squad set out on the somewhat boring patrol route. For Taiichi, who had just come from the exhausting medical tents, the quiet repetition actually gave him rare time to train.
Whenever there was a gap or short break, he slipped away to a secluded spot and resumed his Ice Release fusion practice.
The days blurred between the camp and the field. Whenever the medical tents filled up from escalating clashes, Taiichi would return. With his skill and shadow clones, casualties in the northern camp dropped by more than sixty percent. As long as a shinobi wasn't killed instantly, none of his patients had ever died under his care.
His reputation in the northern camp grew heavier with every life saved. Orochimaru noticed everything but never reported it upward.
When the medical tents were quiet, Taiichi would rejoin Yohei, Saori, and Kazema for field missions—patrols, sweeps, reconnaissance.
Every mission carried danger.
They ran into Cloud ninjas multiple times. There was only one answer: fight.
Thanks to the squad's overwhelming strength and perfect coordination, every battle ended clean and decisive. Not a single enemy escaped alive.
One time, during a deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines, they ran into a three-man elite Cloud squad led by a veteran Jonin.
The fight turned brutal instantly. The enemy's Lightning Release was fast and savage, and their taijutsu—boosted by lightning—was vicious. For the first time, the squad felt real pressure.
The turning point was Kazema's weakness being exploited. The Cloud ninjas repeatedly used him as bait to lure the others in. Yohei and Saori both took wounds covering for him.
In the end, Taiichi had to activate his Fire Body, trading lethal blows to finish the Jonin.
When Taiichi and his clones carried the three injured teammates back to camp, the sight drew everyone's attention. Facing the worried questions, Taiichi could only force a smile.
The fight had been too ugly, too frustrating. They had the advantage in strength, yet it still turned into this mess. It left a sour taste.
The commotion naturally reached Orochimaru. He was shocked when he saw the squad's condition—but once he examined the sealed Jonin corpse Taiichi brought back, it all made sense.
Zi Yina, one of Cloud's veteran elite Jonin. Not only strong, but a complete bastard who loved targeting the weakest link in any team. His style was tailor-made to counter leaders like Taiichi who cared about their comrades. It had worked perfectly here.
After sending the three teammates to the medical tents, Taiichi went straight to Orochimaru to report.
When the report was finished, Orochimaru dropped the real question:
"Taiichi… how about considering a teammate replacement?"
Taiichi froze. Even though Kazema's performance had been terrible lately, he had never seriously considered it. Everyone started weak once.
If not for Captain Yamaguchi back when they first graduated, none of them would be where they were today.
Reading Taiichi's hesitation, Orochimaru continued:
"Don't feel guilty. When you three first graduated, you were only taking D- and C-rank missions. But this is war now. The enemies you face aren't the same low-level trash anymore."
Orochimaru's words hit like a hammer, shaking Taiichi awake.
"I… need to think about this," Taiichi muttered, then left the command tent.
Watching Taiichi's slightly disheveled back, Orochimaru's lips curled into the smile of a predator toying with its prey.
"Taiichi… I wonder what choice you'll make. This should be very interesting."
When Taiichi returned to the medical tents, he heard Yohei's loud laughter before he even got close. Walking in, he found Yohei dramatically recounting how he had slaughtered enemies left and right, saved Saori and Kazema, and even taken wounds to create the opening for Taiichi to finish the Jonin.
Saori, who knew the real story, covered her mouth to hide her laughter. Even Kazema couldn't stop himself from chuckling despite his chest wound.
"Taiichi! You're back! Quick, tell them I'm not exaggerating! These guys don't believe me!"
Yohei jumped up the moment he saw Taiichi, dragging him over to back up his story.
"Yeah, yeah, everything you said is true!" Taiichi played along, gently pushing him back onto the bed.
The whole tent burst into laughter again.
Seeing Yohei still trying to get up, Taiichi put on his doctor face and snapped, "This is the medical camp. If you can't behave here, do you want to suffer more?"
The sudden strict tone actually worked. Yohei shrank back and stayed down.
Only then did Taiichi give them a proper check-up and treatment. Thankfully, while the wounds looked bad, they were mostly superficial. The real issue was blood loss; everything else would heal fine.
"Taiichi, when can we get back out there?" Yohei asked barely five minutes later, already restless.
Taiichi shot him a glare. "Now you feel the pain? Maybe if you actually trained properly instead of slacking off…"
Yohei shrank even smaller, mumbling, "I train hard every day! I barely even rest, okay?"
After finishing the check-ups, Taiichi still left them with one last reminder before leaving:
"Rest for two days. You can't do heavy training, but chakra control practice is fine. We're at war. Every bit of strength is another chance to survive."
He said it for Yohei, but also for everyone in the tent.
Watching Taiichi's back as he left, Saori finally spoke up. "Yohei, don't be mad. Taiichi only said that because he's worried about you. This fight really shook him."
Yohei shook his head. How could he blame Taiichi? If anyone was to blame, it was himself for being too weak to protect his comrades.
"Kazema, once we're healed, we have to train even harder. We can't keep going like this!"
"Yes! This was all my fault. I'll work much harder from now on!" Kazema's face burned red as he nodded earnestly.
Zi Yina's death hit like thunder. It caused quite a stir in Konoha, but in Cloud it caused an absolute uproar.
Not only was he a powerful shinobi, he was also a high-ranking officer. Cloud quickly investigated the cause of his death.
The name Matsushita Taiichi appeared in Cloud's high command for the first time. Soon, every piece of intelligence they had on him was compiled and delivered.
With this battle, Taiichi had officially made a name for himself in the ninja world.
Of course, Cloud's retaliation came fast. The border conflicts in the north suddenly escalated to a new level.
The sudden spike in fighting kept Taiichi extremely busy. Every day was either treating patients in the medical camp or being sent out on missions. An elite Jonin-level fighter couldn't just sit idle.
Yohei, Saori, and Kazema recovered quickly and rejoined him. The four of them started taking on all kinds of missions together again.
The relentless daily grind made Taiichi almost forget Orochimaru's suggestion. But the lesson had sunk in deep. On every mission now, he spent extra energy watching over Kazema, terrified the boy would slip up again.
One day, the squad came to the mission desk for a new assignment. With the fighting intensifying, the board was packed, but everyone still greeted Taiichi warmly.
Looking at the endless list of missions, they could all feel how tense the situation had become.
"Captain, look at this one! It feels like completing it would really help our side right now!" Kazema pointed excitedly at one scroll.
Everyone followed his finger.
Destroy Supply Depot – A-rank.
"Never seen a mission like this before!" Yohei exclaimed, then turned to the desk Chunin. "Why isn't there any briefing?"
"To prevent leaks, these missions can only be read after acceptance," the staff member explained while still working.
Yohei looked at Taiichi. The final decision was always his. But Kazema's words—"it would really help our side"—had struck a chord.
Seeing Yohei's eager face, Taiichi thought for a moment and nodded. Someone else would take it if they didn't. Might as well be them.
The staff quickly retrieved the scroll. After Taiichi signed for it, it was handed over.
The staff even wished them luck on an early completion.
Taiichi opened the scroll. The four of them gathered around.
Briefing: Recon recently discovered a Cloud supply depot on a small island near the Land of Hot Springs. Because it's out at sea, the guard force is light, so the mission was posted at the center.
Everyone agreed it looked straightforward. With their strength, sneaking in and destroying it shouldn't be difficult.
After preparing supplies, Team Taiichi set out for the target.
The next night, after two days and one night of hard travel, they finally reached the island. It was tiny—just big enough for the depot.
The four crouched in the shadows of the rocks, staring at the distant warehouse barely visible in the darkness.
Taiichi expanded his chakra sensing. In an instant, everything inside the depot appeared in his mind: two Jonin, two Chunin. Numbers well within their ability.
"Rest up first. We move in before dawn," Taiichi ordered.
The squad found spots and closed their eyes, conserving energy for the coming fight.
The sky was still dark when Taiichi gave the quiet signal. Everyone woke and gathered around him.
"Go."
His voice was softer than the sea breeze, but the order was crystal clear.
The squad moved like shadows, using the uneven terrain and low bushes for cover as they circled toward the rear of the main warehouse building.
There was no outer wall—just a symbolic wooden fence that they vaulted easily. Pressed against the cold stone wall, the darkness swallowed them completely. Taiichi and Saori exchanged a glance. His sensing showed nothing unusual.
They slipped inside. Taiichi signaled for everyone to split up and search for the supplies.
At that exact moment, a blood-curdling scream erupted right behind Taiichi.
He and Yohei whipped around instantly. What they saw made their pupils shrink to pinpricks.