A churning orb of orange fire grazed the shoulder of the lead Iwagakure Genin, slamming into the earth beside the medical stretcher with a bone-shaking thud. The resulting heatwave, thick with the scent of charred pine and ozone, sent a gale of blackened leaves into the air, forcing the two attackers to scramble backward.
Seizing the opening, Lin Yue lunged. His movement was a blur of calculated efficiency. The steel of his kunai found its mark, sinking into the back of the Genin nearest the stretcher with a sickening, wet slide. The man didn't have the breath to scream; he simply collapsed, the light vanishing from his eyes as he hit the dirt.
The remaining Iwa scout hissed, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. He spun on his heel, desperate to vanish into the thicket, only to find his path barred by a flash of crimson.
Uchiha Rin stood her ground, her fingers still warm from the Great Fireball seals. Her Sharingan—a single, dark tomoe spinning against a blood-red iris—locked onto him.
In the heat of the chaos, Lin Yue's mind cataloged the system's quiet confirmation. He had spent his initial 100 points the moment the crisis peaked, calling for a "reinforcement" his memories told him he could trust.
[Ding—Summon: Uchiha Rin has arrived.] [Status: Healthy. Points Consumed: 100.]
Yue didn't waste time with greetings or relief. He pointed a blood-slicked hand toward the fleeing scout. "Don't let him break cover," he commanded, his voice as sharp as a direct report in a crisis meeting. "Flush him out."
Rin didn't nod; she simply moved. With a burst of speed that sent the hem of her clan robes snapping in the wind, she vanished into the treeline, kunai held in a reverse grip.
Yue turned back to the main fray. Tanaka was still in pursuit of the Iwa ninja carrying the heavy tool bag. Blood was beginning to seep through the captain's bandage, marking the earth with dark, rhythmic droplets that betrayed his slowing pace. Sensing the gap closing, the Iwa ninja reached into his pouch and hurled a scroll of explosive tags back at his pursuer.
Yue didn't shout a warning—that would be too slow. Instead, his wrist flicked in a practiced arc. His kunai whistled through the air, the cold iron severing the ignited fuse of the scroll mid-flight.
Crack.
The explosion detonated three meters wide of Tanaka. The shockwave rattled the trees, but the captain emerged from the smoke unscathed.
The fleeing ninja dived into a dense patch of pines, heading straight for the sector Yue and the others had rigged earlier. Tanaka's voice came through the brush, steady despite his injury. "He's heading for the trap zone. Right of the third pine—that's the trigger."
Yue wiped a smear of grit from his cheek. "I'll take the flank."
The two moved in a silent pincer. On the other side of the woods, Rin utilized the Phoenix Flower Technique. Small, flickering fireballs rained down around her target like vengeful embers, not meant to kill, but to herd. Terrified of the flames, the Genin stumbled blindly toward the oil-slicked clearing where Yue and Tanaka waited.
Thump.
The man lost his footing, his boots sliding on the prepared grease. He went down hard. Before he could scramble up, Rin's kunai was a cold weight against the nape of his neck.
Simultaneously, the second Genin—the one with the tool bag—tripped the wire. A sharp snap preceded three wooden spikes erupting from the loam. They tore through his thigh and calf with brutal precision.
"My leg! Damn it, my leg!" The forest echoed with his agony. His tool bag lay spilled in the dirt, poisoned shuriken scattered like lethal coins.
Yue moved in, the edge of his short sword hovering a hair's breadth from the man's jugular. He began to apply pressure.
"Wait!" Tanaka held up a hand. "Keep him breathing. We need to know if there's a second wave behind them. If there's a pursuit squad, this camp is a grave."
Yue paused, the blade stilled. He knelt, plucking one of the scattered shuriken from the grass. A sickly, pale-green venom coated the metal. He held the tip inches from the prisoner's watering eyes.
"Is there another squad?" Yue asked, his voice low and devoid of empathy. "The Western Front is thin. Are you the vanguard or the whole show? Don't lie. You know better than I do how fast this poison works. One scratch, and you won't live to see the sunset."
The Genin stared at the green shimmer of the blade, his body racking with tremors. Cold sweat carved tracks through the grime on his face. "There's... there's one more!" he gasped. "Just a scout unit! They heard about a transport team on the western line... they sent us to test the water. Most of the heavy hitters were moved to the Eastern Front! I swear!"
Yue didn't take his word for it. He didn't have the luxury of trust. He leaned in, his Sharingan spinning with a hypnotic, rhythmic intensity. He channeled chakra into his gaze, weaving the subtle threads of a basic Genjutsu.
"Look at me," Yue murmured. "Tell me the truth. No other deployments?"
The prisoner's eyes went dull, the terror replaced by a vacant, glassy stare. His body slumped, the tension draining out as his consciousness was guided by Yue's will.
"No others…" the man droned, his voice a flat, wooden monotone. "Only the reserve team… Eastern Front is a bloodbath… every man sent there… we were six… confirm the location… no other orders…"
The flow of information was seamless, lacking the hesitations of a lie. Yue maintained the connection for a heartbeat longer before retracting the chakra. The scarlet tomoe faded back into the dark depths of his pupils.
He stood, nodding to Tanaka. "The Genjutsu held. He's telling the truth. One squad remains, but Iwa is overextended on the Eastern Front."
Tanaka's gaze went cold. "Send the signal. Tell your 'reserve' the mission is a success and the transport is destroyed."
The Genin, broken and terrified, complied, firing a flare into the darkening sky. The moment the light faded, Tanaka's wrist flicked. The short sword ended the man's fear forever.
Rin approached, dragging her captive. "I ran a basic check on mine as well," she reported. "Consistent. A temporary reconnaissance unit, hastily assembled."
[Ding—Mission Completed: Repel Iwa Infiltrators.] [Rating: Excellent.] [Rewards: 400 Summon Points, Basic Healing, Fire Release: Great Fireball (Proficient).]
Yue wiped his blade on a patch of moss. The 400 points felt like a solid quarterly bonus, but the real prize was the intelligence. The Western Front was, for now, a blind spot for the enemy.
Tanaka looked over at Rin, who was busy stripping the Iwa corpses of usable gear. "Yue," he asked, his brow furrowed. "Who is she? Where did an Uchiha girl come from in the middle of a forest?"
Yue had his 'corporate' cover story ready. He offered a tired, convincing smile. "My cousin, Uchiha Rin. She was with a unit on the Eastern Front that got torn apart. She was trying to find her way back to the lines when she saw our smoke. Luck of the gods, Uncle."
Tanaka accepted it with the weariness of a man who had seen too many strange things in wartime. "Good enough for me. Let's move the wounded to the cave. We clean the field, then we move out."
The transition was grueling. Yue and Rin carried a soldier who had lost a limb, their shadows lengthening as the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the forest in shades of bruised purple and gold.
Inside the dry, cool air of the cave, the tension finally began to ebb. Yue handed a soldier ration pill to Tanaka. "Eat, Uncle. Replenish your chakra."
Tanaka swallowed the bitter pill, leaning his head back against the stone. "You're a sharp one, Yue. We report this back to base, and there'll be a hell of a reward for this squad."
Yue nodded, but his mind was already elsewhere, navigating the system's interface.
400 points. He could summon four more Genin—a full security detail. Or he could save for a Chunin, a tactical lead to anchor a second squad. He looked at the sunset, the red light mirroring the eyes of his clan.
This victory was a pilot program. The real "rise" was yet to come.