In just one month, excluding rest and preparation time, Arai and Yuji launched nearly ten raids on the Land of Rain's outposts.
From their initial caution to their later ease.
Yuji's growth also filled Arai with joy.
The combat experience and techniques he taught Yuji... were ultimately meant to be applied on the battlefield.
How far a person can go in the future also depends on how quickly they grow stronger on the battlefield... not by practicing in isolation.
The routes they took into the Land of Rain were always far apart for each mission, to prevent the Amegakure border troops from being prepared.
However, as their invasion attempts increased, the enemy believed that the Land of Wind had been planning a systematic harassment campaign against their Land of Rain border recently... Therefore, after a slightly dangerous withdrawal on their last mission, Arai ended the competition between Sasori and Yuji.
In these ten missions, both had wins and losses... in terms of performance, it was a draw.
But in terms of the number of enemies killed, Sasori definitely had more.
Nevertheless... the talent and ability Yuji displayed could already be described as abnormal.
Especially that insidious assassination Ninjutsu, Blade Intent Manipulation.
In Arai's opinion, the power and effect of this Ninjutsu were astonishing.
Upon learning that it was a Ninjutsu Yuji created himself through the means of a Puppeteer, especially after Sasori gave him the inspiration... Arai was speechless for a moment.
An eight-year-old Genin, fresh out of the Ninja Academy, could create an A-rank Ninjutsu?
This was inconceivable throughout the entire Ninja World.
So, he also sent this news back to the Village via letter, reporting it to the Third Kazekage.
Every self-created Ninjutsu is a means to enrich the Village's combat power and a valuable asset to the Village, of course... whether to contribute it to the Village depends on Yuji's own wishes.
However, through his observations during this period, Arai confirmed that this A-rank Ninjutsu, while seemingly simple, was actually quite difficult to learn.
Although the Chakra consumption and control difficulty were not that high... simply the precision required to control flying knives from a long distance was not something an ordinary person could master overnight.
For Puppeteers with some foundation, it seemed relatively easier to get started.
Sasori tried it by deploying his Chakra threads; although he could imitate it... the power and effect were greatly reduced, only reaching the level of C-rank Ninjutsu.
The main reason was that the threads Yuji controlled, including the scalpel-like blades, once the distance was extended, the feedback to the body would become very weak and difficult to control, unlike puppets.
And if Chakra threads were used, the stealth of the Ninjutsu would be greatly compromised; the key lies in the special nature of the threads and the small knives.
Unknowingly, Yuji's mission period for patrolling the border also came to an end.
He was to return to Sunagakure with Arai to submit the mission report.
Over these past three months, his experiences were undeniably spectacular... allowing him to begin his transformation into a powerful Ninja... Meanwhile, on the other side.
Amegakure.
Leader Hanzo was seated in a Japanese-style room, drinking sake.
He was bare-chested, with several attractive women clinging to him.
Amegakure's growth from a'small Village' to its current scale was largely due to Hanzo's efforts.
Therefore, his prestige and status in the Land of Rain were unshakable.
Without him, there would be no Land of Rain today.
But with the Ninja World War reaching this point, Hanzo knew very well in his heart... it was over.
He had no way to deal with Konoha and Sunagakure.
The Land of Rain's territory could no longer expand... this war was nearing its end, and he didn't need to make any unnecessary moves.
What he was meant to gain, he had already gained.
He was now a Demigod of the Ninja World.
However, listening to the intelligence from his subordinate kneeling before him... his eyes turned cold, and a hint of killing intent appeared between his brows.
Compared to the family forces and talents of the great Ninja Villages, Amegakure's foundation was simply too weak... Although he had trained batches of armies and subordinates, compared to Sunagakure and Konoha, it was simply a joke.
There were no generals capable of taking on great responsibilities... he had to do everything himself, otherwise... this group of useless subordinates would not satisfy him.
"Three people... assaulted border outposts nearly ten times, and you actually let them escape!" Hanzo said coldly.
"My Lord... among these three, there's Arai, who is by the Third Kazekage's side; he's an Elite Jōnin of Sunagakure, and also a Kage Guard... and another is Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, a genius Puppeteer from Sunagakure..." The Amegakure Ninja, kneeling before the table, stammered an explanation.
Border skirmishes between Sunagakure and Amegakure happened frequently; it was nothing out of the ordinary.
There was nothing to be concerned about.
But this incident was different.
There were only three of them... and within a month, they invaded their territory ten times consecutively. Although Amegakure discovered them each time and they quickly fled.
But they only escaped after killing many Amegakure Ninja.
Using the same tactics, Amegakure only became alert after suffering considerable losses.
They hadn't managed to kill any of the opponents.
This negligence and laxity naturally angered Hanzo.
And now, his subordinate's explanation... was that one of the enemies was an Elite Jōnin, making them difficult to deal with.
Attempting to exaggerate the enemy's strength to make excuses for himself.
Bang!
Suddenly, Hanzo formed a hand seal, used the Water Body Flicker Technique, and flashed behind the kneeling Amegakure Ninja.
Then, he swung his fist violently.
The powerful punch instantly sent the unresponsive Amegakure Ninja flying, smashing through the wall several meters away, splattering crimson blood.
It would have been better if this subordinate hadn't mentioned Sasori; mentioning Sasori only made Hanzo angrier.
After all, he was the grandson of the old hag Chiyo.
He and that old hag were very much at odds.
Amegakure suffered several setbacks in the war against Sunagakure, ninety percent of which were due to that old hag.
Now he was told that the old hag had a genius grandson... Hanzo couldn't be happy at all.
The women, seeing Hanzo shaking the blood off his fist, were too terrified to even breathe.
"Sasori?"
Hanzo took a few steps forward, his cold eyes fixed on a piece of paper on the table, which recorded the details of Arai's trio's raids on the border outposts... and Amegakure's casualties.
Simple images were also drawn on the paper.
Hanzo knew Arai.
As for Sasori... he had also heard of him.
Who was the other child?
Another genius?
Hanzo narrowed his eyes... Geniuses, geniuses... why do these great Ninja Villages always have geniuses emerging?!
"Heh."
Suddenly, Hanzo let out a cold laugh.
He had seen many geniuses in the Ninja World, but few survived.
Most of them died prematurely.
If he remembered correctly, Chiyo's descendant... died at the hands of the White Fang of Konoha.
This Sasori... was an orphan.
Their Land of Rain's upcoming missions would primarily be defensive; they would no longer take the initiative to attack... but the war between Sunagakure and Konoha showed no signs of lessening.
"Someone!"
Hanzo said in a deep voice.
As soon as his voice fell, a shadow flickered in the room, and an Amegakure Ninja knelt behind him.
"Pass this intelligence to Konoha... emphasize these two youths, exaggerate their genius names as much as possible, and as for us, just say we suffered heavy losses..." Hanzo slowly began.
"This..."
The Amegakure Ninja looked up, somewhat surprised.
"Do as I say!"
"Yes!"